My Q45 Is Ready To Be Put Asleep - Seeking Appropriate Method

[lino]

Fist of all, I would like to say that all you awesome guys here on Nico have been incredibly helpful and supportive through the 3 years that I have owned my Q45. I have the utmost respect for some of you (you know who you are) that have been extremely generous and kind in so many ways. Thank you.

In the 3 years of ownership I have accumulated 20,000 miles total. Now, I find myself in a position where I can no longer afford to fix the car or replace it. I don't have access to a CONSULT to service the car properly and anything and everything that can go wrong has gone wrong with this car, and more. I don't even drive it unless I absolutely have to. I would rather walk for 1 hour than have to drive it even if it were raining.

Last night I drove the car for 10 minutes to pick up a friend that was stranded and the side mirror fell off the car! This car can easily absorb another $20,000 in repairs if not another $30,000 or more. (Dennis your calculations were modest in my case.) I would love to sell the car, but I never have nor will I will be that kind of person; a person who deceives another. I don't have the heart to do that to anyone. All my life I have helped people and I refuse to compromise my values over a car.

I am not the same person I used to be since I have owned this car. It has mentally broken me down. Sometimes I wonder how much better my life would have been if I owned ANY OTHER car. I have never had such a bad experience in my life. I don't think even Chip Foose could fix my car.

The purpose of this post is to ask you gentlemen if anyone knows of any natural disasters or Acts of God that I can expose my car to to get rid of it. Anyone aware of any hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, acid spills, tsunamis, explosions, demolitions, flooding, war/conflict zones, land mines, gang areas, expulsion by catapult, high vandalism, etc...

I sincerely hope that no one of you ever, I mean ever goes through what I have with this car.

[Victor]

In California and Texas, and possibly other states, the state will pay you $1000 to $3000 to take a car that fails smog test off the road. Does Canada have any similar programs? In Canada do private parties part out cars? If so that is another alternative. If not, what would a junk yard give you for it?

[Jesda]

Park it in Detroit for 5 minutes and walk away. You'll never see it again! I completely empathize with you.

[Q45tech]

Any 4,000 pound imported lux V8 with air suspension will give the same heart burn. A 4 cylinder FWD weighting 3,000 pounds without any flashy gizmos and crank up windows will save lots of money IF you buy new and get 100k warranty or used WITH AN EXPERT INDEPENDENT PAID INSPECTION lasting 4-8 hours testing everything.

Can't you donate to charity and get a tax reduction?

"I am not the same person I used to be since I have owned this car. It has mentally broken me ".............................."Own one and you will understand", was an Infiniti slogan

[OnTheRoadAgain]

In my earlier days (1970-80) our dealership sold and specialized in used Corvettes; some of us had a saying that the reason a Corvettte owner would wave to another Corvette owner is they BOTH felt each other's PAIN: rain leaking in convertibles, leaking and rattling t-tops, hard ride....

back then, if a car lasted 100k miles it was a milestone; anything over that was a gift. You generally did not make major repairs on anything with 100k+ miles.

Today, that figure seems like 175-200k miles, since people are actually BUYING cars with 100k miles on them.

This all assumes normal driving; I used to buy off lease cars from oil companies that had 30k miles per year; those cars were well maintained and the highway miles were never an issue; by the time I sold the car it had "normal" miles and I sold it for often what I paid for it.

It seemed like at 50k you would be replacing starters and alternators, shocks and some steering parts.... later that seemed like 80k;

So, when my Q45 needed some of these things at 140k, it really WAS a credit to it's longevity. I think 100k is reasonable now for routine replacement of certain items.

Of course today, with so many more expensive electrical components, and the fact that those components give no warning prior to failing, it is a shocker sometimes.

My car was dealer serviced since new, but taking it to a DIFFERENT dealer produced nothing other than, "this way to the showroom mister". They did a Consult balance test and never ohmed an injector, told me 8 coils, 8 injectors and it would take 2 months to get parts. $3,000 estimate.

I should say, that during my days "in the business", no repair and no amount of maintenance was ever a problem; but I got OEM parts at cost + 10%, free assistance whenever needed, use of a lift and specialized tools, spare autos in the family and so on....

It is different if you have one car; or even 2 cars and one driver in your household. Unexpected repairs are a real headache.

I never had a need for AAA towing until electric fuel pumps, crank sensors, and ecu's became common. And, my Infinity used up ALL my tows before the year was up. But I AM getting to KNOW this car. That was not necessary on other cars. Other cars, you serviced, maintained, and repaired, scrapped and bought another. Usually the body parts were breaking down at the same pace as the engine, or just annoying engine leaks or expensive air conditioning repair, said time to go.

I feel your pain. However from my brief attendance here, there are probably some Infinity afficiondos that would like, appreciate, and maybe be able to do their own service on, your car. Even if the car is running and donated, they will try to sell it, and who would buy it if it needed an expensive or unknown repair?

Leaving a key in it would definately work, but suppose the driver hit and killed someone?

Take another look at your situation, maybe you need to look at it from a different perspective? The next repair might be the last major thing you need to do.... for awhile.

Let me know what you do.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Can't you donate to charity and get a tax reduction?

That's what I did with my Cadillac.

[cptndoosh]

Do a chiki run! Or loan it to Harrison Ford for a few hours...

[maxnix]

In the 3 years of ownership I have accumulated 20,000 miles total.

I don't think even Chip Foose could fix my car.

Wow, so few miles per year! What did the Infiniti preforomed service history and the Infiniti tech who did the pre-buy inspection say about your car? There had to be some glaringly obvious deferred maintenance and outright abuse.

So sorry you never had the experience of owning a properly restored one.

[qship96]

I am always shocked people buy old, high mile , multiple previous owners lux. cars- always seemed like a recipe for expensive trouble to me.

I either buy brand new, or maximum 3 year old one owner less than 25,000 mile vehicles while still under original factory bumper to bumper warranty,and then only if complete service records are available, it has never had paintwork, and passed a complete independant pre-buy inspection paid for by me.

[lino]

In California and Texas, and possibly other states, the state will pay you $1000 to $3000 to take a car that fails smog test off the road. Does Canada have any similar programs? In Canada do private parties part out cars? If so that is another alternative. If not, what would a junk yard give you for it?

No smog tests where I live. They thought about doing it then realized that more than 80% of the cars would fail and so it has been postponed.

A junk yard might pay a couple hundred dollars. There are no Q45s here so having one for parts is not a good investment for them.

Park it in Detroit for 5 minutes and walk away. You'll never see it again! I completely empathize with you.

My key sticks. Wish my luck, they probably wouldn't be able to get it started.

Can't you donate to charity and get a tax reduction?

I cannot get any kind of tax reduction unfortunately.

It is different if you have one car; or even 2 cars and one driver in your household. Unexpected repairs are a real headache.

Take another look at your situation, maybe you need to look at it from a different perspective? The next repair might be the last major thing you need to do.... for awhile.

Let me know what you do.

It is the only car in the household with 3 drivers and it ALWAYS has unexpected repairs.

Every day I have been thinking it's the last major thing since the first day I bought it. It hasn't stopped.

Wow, so few miles per year! What did the Infiniti preformed service history and the Infiniti tech who did the pre-buy inspection say about your car? There had to be some glaringly obvious deferred maintenance and outright abuse.

So sorry you never had the experience of owning a properly restored one.

You know Brian, when I bought my car it had been serviced by Infiniti since new. I have all the records. It was maintained pretty well with synthetic oil and the guides were done, etc. The previous owner even had Infiniti detail the car very often too. When I took delivery of the car, I knew I had to spend money on it as one does with any used car. First thing I did was buy 9 accumulators from Keith. Then I did a full service, new tires, etc... I spent $6000 in one month. I then spent more than $5000 since and I'm scared to actually add up the grand total. The worst thing is that I never drove the car and enjoyed it, except for the day when the accumulators were put in. That was a great day, but it didn't last long. A day or 2 later the Vertical G-Sensor failed and with no ACTIVE parts in Canada it's not fun.
Modified by lino at 7:47 PM 8/17/2008

[Victor]

I have read just about every post for the last few months on both the Q45 forum and J30 forum. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps Infiniti's reputation for reliability is unearned in many cases. It seems the cars fall into two classes. Old reliables like my 1994 J30T with 193,000 miles on it which just keep chugging along with almost no need for repairs and just regular maintenance, and lemon money pits which require their owners to constantly throw good money after bad.I think the key to buying an old luxury car is to first make sure everything that is important to you works on it before you buy it as any luxury car repair could cost you almost what you paid for it. Then say to yourself the first time you are presented with the need for an expensive repair you will immediately sell it if it is still driveable, or junk it or part it out if it isn't. Don't make the mistake of starting to spend large amounts of money on repairs, because most likely your car has reached the nickle and dime stage, or in the case of Infinitis the $800 to $3000 stage.

[Q451990]

The only way to avoid the "nickle and dime" stage is to proactively replace things that don't absolutely need it at that time. For instance, I did a full suspension rebuild on my Q after hearing the first noise... that gives me a good 40K to not worry about it. Same for plenum hoses... replace them all when you're in there and then it's good for several years. Replace just the one that's leaking or cracked and you'll be back again soon. Replace one brake bulb and you'll probably replace the other three one by one over the next year... or just swap them all out at the same time.

This assumes that you're keeping the car long term and want to maintain a reliability level somewhere near that of a new car. If you're keeping the car long term, you'll save $$$ by not repeating labor time over and over again. The only downside for this process is that you're screwed if the car is totaled in an accident... lot's of new parts that don't have a book value.

The new and final strike for me may be repeated injector replacements... I'm hoping that the aftermarket units that I found will work out long term... or that we will stop making fuel out of food and biowaste.

Lino strikes me as someone who's just fed up with the whole process, and located in an area where parts aren't as available as in the US. That's why people buy new cars...

I wish he was closer to me... it would be a hell of a parts car!

Heath

[elwesso]

can I have it?

[Q45tech]

Notice how the vultures circle. Those that understand MSRP parts can be 60% of the repair ticket.

For years I've been referencing the need for any old Q owner to have his yard or storage space filled with junkers in the same color.

The only components I have changed more than once in 19 years are fuel pumps, ac compressors, plenum hoses, idler pullies and transmissions. Of course shocks, filters, bulbs, sockets, rotors, pads, and bushings.

[maxnix]

Gosh, Lino, so what are you missing? I mean outside mirrors shouldn't just fall off. Have you rehabilitated the under plenum hoses and intake path?

Surely your problems are minor and can be addressed?

[Jesda]

Any reputation for reliability that a manufacturer earns is during the first few years of ownership. After that, most quality surveys don't follow up.

[lino]

Have you rehabilitated the under plenum hoses and intake path?

Under plenum hoses job and knock sensor harness, fuel injector harness, etc...completed just recently.

Surely your problems are minor and can be addressed?

My Q me.

[maxnix]

So exactly why is the car undriveable and unreliable?

[Q45tech]

There is no one else to blame but the buyer of a vehicle that needs immediate excessive restoration. Buyer ignorance pure and simple.

Unfortunately new buyers seem to come to NICO after they have purchased the problems not before, failing the number one rule to research before you buy anything.

Since 2002 we have been pointing out that every Q [absolutely every one no exceptions] we see for sale in a prebuy inspection needed $3,000 to $12,000 in immediate rehabilitation.After you rehabilitate, then the $2500- $3500 per year normal wear and tear and mainteance expenses kick in.

Even Texasoil discounted his prices saving member thousands vs dealers.

Failure to do it [economically] is a buyers personal problem.

NICO has given posters every bit of information they need to solve every problem except those created by modifications [4.083, lowering, intakes and exhausts].

This past week we had 2 Q owners spend $4500+ each to fix a few problems, these had owned their Q for at least 4 years.

[qship96]

Gosh, Lino, so what are you missing? I mean outside mirrors shouldn't just fall off. Have you rehabilitated the under plenum hoses and intake path?

Surely your problems are minor and can be addressed?

I just replaced my passangerside mirror mount. as it was becoming loose and causing a chirping sound as it vibrated. The problem seems to be the 3 bolts that secure the mirror screw into PLASTIC studs on the mirror assembly, and after years of use, this plastic becomes brittle and cracks, leaving nothing for the bolts to grab on to. Infiniti does not sell just the mount{triangle shaped black part of mirror that attaches to outside of car}

Options are to buy new mirror from Joe for $350 or bid on one on EBAY and swap the good mount onto your mirror assemby.....I had mine fixed for $15 this way....simple job to complete

[lino]

So exactly why is the car undriveable and unreliable?

I have too many issues to list right at this moment ....it's too depressing. One of the worst ones now is the car keeps stalling all the time. My HVAC control unit needs replacing since it doesn't work. My suspension has several issues. Lots of routine maintenance is due soon including tires and brakes. There is a loss of power, strong fuel smell, horrible fuel consumption maybe 10 mpg, and I just don't like driving the car anymore. It is a painful experience each and every time. I'm sorry, I need a break. My head can't take it right now. I'll answer your question better later.

[lino]

There is no one else to blame but the buyer of a vehicle that needs immediate excessive restoration. Buyer ignorance pure and simple.

Unfortunately new buyers seem to come to NICO after they have purchased the problems not before, failing the number one rule to research before you buy anything.

Since 2002 we have been pointing out that every Q [absolutely every one no exceptions] we see for sale in a prebuy inspection needed $3,000 to $12,000 in immediate rehabilitation.After you rehabilitate, then the $2500- $3500 per year normal wear and tear and mainteance expenses kick in.

Even Texasoil discounted his prices saving member thousands vs dealers.

Failure to do it [economically] is a buyers personal problem.

NICO has given posters every bit of information they need to solve every problem except those created by modifications [4.083, lowering, intakes and exhausts].

This past week we had 2 Q owners spend $4500+ each to fix a few problems, these had owned their Q for at least 4 years.

It's hard for some people or non Q owners to understand or believe what you've always said.... you have always been right all along.

[BadQ45t]

You shouldn't think that all Infiniti or Nissans are like that one...the 90-93 Q's were just ahead of their time. My 97' has had, knock on wood, ZERO problems, zero tows, zero issues in 8 years. Yes I have done 60 and 90 full services to it, flushed all the fluids, etc.

My 1984 300ZX has only been towed twice, once due to a problem with the aftermarket alarm screwing up and once due to radiator flush plug not being replaced by mechanic properly. Have I spent thousands on fluids etc over the years, yes indeed I have, and I have 160k original on it. I have replaced some things but overall I'm very happy with it.

You got a model that was bound to have issues, bottom line, a great car that was like buying an old Jag, fun car but lot of issues.

[Haitian_King]

You're selling that white beauty? Wow. I'd love to have that.

[Kiven422]

Lino... I hate that you are doing this.

The color combination is amazing on your Q45. To make it even better it is the Active model.

If there is one Q45 to restore... it would be YOURS!

My cousin used to have that interior in his 92 Q45. But back then I didn't realize how much it meant to me otherwise I would have taken it... but still his car was standard suspension GREEN.... yours is WHITE with ACTIVE.

[Skibane]

Find a mechanically-inclined kid at some local high school - perhaps someone in an automotive shop class - and give it to him as his first car. You won't have any worries about unloading it on some unsuspecting buyer, and he'll learn a whole lot about fixing cars.

Back in high school, I would have killed for a Q - regardless of what condition it was in.

[Q45denver]

Well at least you didn't get an old collector car that needs a lot of rust, paint and electrical work on top of the mechanical issues. That will really drain your wallet fast.

Just bought over $400 worth of parts from Scottsdale Infinfiti USA (belts, hoses, water and fuel pump}. BTW they have a 30% off special through August. Would have been twice as much at the local dealer. Good thing is I haven't had to do any repairs for the past few years as the previous owner did them.

[REC]

What part of canada do you live? I like to buy those seats and transmission ecu from you before you put her down.

[Victor]

I went on the website and didn't see anything about a 30% off sale, but maybe I am not looking in the right place.

[Haitian_King]

I have too many issues to list right at this moment ....it's too depressing. One of the worst ones now is the car keeps stalling all the time. My HVAC control unit needs replacing since it doesn't work. My suspension has several issues. Lots of routine maintenance is due soon including tires and brakes. There is a loss of power, strong fuel smell, horrible fuel consumption maybe 10 mpg, and I just don't like driving the car anymore. It is a painful experience each and every time. I'm sorry, I need a break. My head can't take it right now. I'll answer your question better later.

You're like Western Canada right? If it was closer to Montreal, I'd come get the car and leave it in the garage until I was able to fix it. I was thinking about getting another Q to leave in Canada. This would solve everything.