Old time NICO guy, but first time over here in G35 land. My high mileage Q45 is going to be totaled, and the wife has her eye on a G. Obviously I married her for good taste.

From the pricing I see out there, I think we'll end up with a 2004, or possibly a 2003. I live in Columbia, SC - but the prices seem to be much better in Atlanta - probably due to the greater competition. There are a couple of low mileage 2004s (less than 7K) for about $26K.

I breifly talked to Joe at Infiniti of Scottsdale and he mentioned the brake issues, and a few quirks with the throttle body. Other than that, is there anything else I should be looking for? Are there any substantial differences between the 2003 and 2004?

I would also like to get the Infiniti Elite 7/100k warranty on the car as the extended warranty on "Q1" paid for itself several times over. If any of you have experience or suggestions on the best way to negotiate for the warranty - I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

Heath

There weren't any major changes between 03 and 04. Some minor things. The early 03 model had a different trunk lid, but otherwise on looks they are the same. I would personally go with a low mileage 04 over an 03, but I'm a sucker for a newer lower mileage car.

Just remember a G is the bottom of the current Infiniti barrel and don't expect too much other than performance...........3.5 years isn't much time to see longevity problems. Will be great if they hold together like the old G20.

Every G sedan I ever drove was a blast - Great car, even if the styling is starting to look a little "dated".

Skip the dealer-sold warranty and grab an aftermarket one (see our sponsor, Warranty Waerhouse) - same product as the dealer sells for 1/2 the cost, I had this one on my Q and loved it.

I'd recommend the 04 as well - The 03 had a dorky-looking trunklid.

Definitely a good "bang-for-the-buck" car, and I'll bet if you search you can find one around $22K.

Q45tech wrote:Just remember a G is the bottom of the current Infiniti barrel and don't expect too much other than performance...........3.5 years isn't much time to see longevity problems. Will be great if they hold together like the old G20.

That's a little discouraging but come to think of it, I can't think of any former or current Nissan product that we've owned that had major problems. The worst of the bunch was my dad's 87 Stanza wagon/van thing. Had the dual sliding doors which gave it the structural rigidity of a cracked solo cup. The two Maximas and the Q's have been stellar - especially when compared with any domestic car. My Truck is a little noisy and so forth, but for a former Terminx fleet truck (with the corresponding maintenece quality you'd expect) it doesn't drink a drop of oil, and gets the job done. Granted, I don't think anything on the market is as solid and over-engineered as the G50 series Q - but I think with a 100k warranty we can keep the wife happy for at least 7 years.

As an update - we're still working on a settlement with State Farm. I'm down to the final few dollars, but at this point we're both sort of "entrenched" in our positions. We'll see what happens...

Heath