Need g35 guru

[echelonphoto]

As in a previous post...I bought a lightly hit G35 coupe...I already have a manual...but I really need a guru to answer some questions....probably someone who works for the dealer as a technician.

[joe603]

There are a few techs in the forum...and some really knowledgeable guys too. Ask away.

[echelonphoto]

Ok, I bought this 06 g35 as a salvage. It only has 11, 000 miles and very lightly hit...no frame damage. However, the engine misses on startup andhas kind of an up and down idle...now the entire aircleaner ***. is missingso the mass sensor is right there up front inside the metal "bell". Also, the radiator is cracked , so the cooling system is not pressurized...we are not running it for very long to avoid any overheating. The car does drive smoothly as far as we've taken it just a couple hundred yards thru all the gears. Any ideas to what might be causeing the idle problem?

[smockers83]

I'm guessing you're referring to the airfilter as the aircleaner *** that is missing. If that's the case, you may have a damaged MAF, which I'm guessing is the metal "bell". So I'm guessing there's no filter and the first thing on the intake is the MAF--that's probably your problem as the MAF is probably damaged or dirty.

[rn79870]

I think Mr Infiniti himself (if he existed) couldn't diagnose a series of problem over a forum when there has been damage or missing parts. I would strongly suggest replacing missing/damaged parts then take the car to a dealer for a complete diagnosis. Sure, it will cost you a little for that, but in the long run, you'll spend more swaping parts out trying to fix it than you will having it professionally diagnosed. Once you know what is needed, you can decide if you want to do it or have it done.

[wrb057]

For a car to be in salvage there must be something really wrong with the car becasue a car does not go out to salvage just for minor damage. Usually insurance only sells a car to a salvage yard after repairs are greater than 50 percent of the actual cash value of the car.

[echelonphoto]

Well, that worries me a little....but the outfit I bought it from does a lot of these and has a good rep. The car was a lease vehicle, so maybe the leasing agency put pressure on the insurance co. to total it.

Also, the parts alone come out to $5000 and with inflated estimates and high labor...this could have been around an $12000 repair....since I am doing my own labor and using some recycled parts...I am hopefully able to save lots.

[nissan jedi apprentice]

there's no real way to tell what's causing your problems over ther internet until the car is back to stock running form, then any ses lights or any running problems can be probably be assesed, not guaranteed. Most dealerships are going to shy away from any car that's been damaged, and for good reason, they don't know what you're getting in to. Wiring damage as well as moisture can creep into anything given enough time exposed and wrecked. I hate to say this but if you don't know what you're doing when it comes to these computer driven autos then a wrecked car may not have been the right choice, (unless you have an unlimited bank account to get things right).

[Q451990]

You need to make friends with another '06 coupe owner. There's no substitute for having one intact to figure out how to put yours back together.

Heath

[telcoman]

As in a previous post...I bought a lightly hit G35 coupe...I already have a manual...but I really need a guru to answer some questions....probably someone who works for the dealer as a technician.

I generally order a lightly buttered bagel.

Why would a lighly hit G35 be totaled?If it sounds too good to be true it probably is?You generally get what you pay for in this world.

The G35 guru's are the highly trained technicians that work at the Infiniti dealers. A top computer trained diagnostic technician can easily earn over $100k a year. A rule of thumb is the parts to build a $40k vehicle will cost 4 times the retail value or $160k. Add to that the labor charges and you begin to talk about real money.It could very well be cheaper for you to get rid of it and just go buy a new one with all new parts and a factory warranty?If a highly trained Infiniti technician with good connections did this, things would probabily turn out better for him than for you?Just my $.02

Good luck

Telcoman

[nissan jedi apprentice]

not a bad suggestion, maybe the next owner will be a 75 year old man or woman who won't notice the problems, they'll just love the acceleration and power of the dark side of the vq35.

[infinititech1]

hmmm i was tech lol...now i work on bmw mercedes and porsches

[telcoman]

For a car to be in salvage there must be something really wrong with the car becasue a car does not go out to salvage just for minor damage. Usually insurance only sells a car to a salvage yard after repairs are greater than 50 percent of the actual cash value of the car.

To those that think they may be getting a deal on the purchase of a salvage vehicle read this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02....html

IMHO once an insurance company declares a vehicle salvage, still useful parts could be removed & resold but the vehicle itself should be crushed and not resold to anyone.

Telcoman

[C-Kwik]

For a car to be in salvage there must be something really wrong with the car becasue a car does not go out to salvage just for minor damage. Usually insurance only sells a car to a salvage yard after repairs are greater than 50 percent of the actual cash value of the car.

I'll expand on this a bit. Different insurance companies have different thresholds for total losses, but may also calculate the total loss numbers a little differently when comparing to a total loss. 50% would be a very low threshold, but they may not factor in non-repair costs. Some use thresholds as high as 75-80% but try and factor in as many costs as possible.

In the end some of it is a judgement call. A buyer of a salvage car might get lucky in that the speculated hidden damages may have been much more than the actual. This is pretty rare though as more and more insurance companies are migrating towards a more accurate methodology in determining total losses (in particular with borderline totals). Basically, if it might be questionable, they'll pay for a tear down so they can inspect as much of the hidden damages as possible.

Ultimately, a total loss decision is an economical one. When the total cost to the insurance company is more than the total cost of settling a total loss, they will total it. They may consider rental expenses as well(especially if the insured has rental coverage).

How this relates to the purchase of a total loss is that when a total loss is settled, the insurance company recovers part of the total loss by selling the salvage (either to a salvage auction or to back to the owner). In either case, if it is repaired, theoretically, in order to make any money off it, they would have to cheap out on the repairs. Especially since vehicles with salvage titles generally sell for less than a comparable non-salvaged vehicle. The exception might be if the seller gets great deals on proper repairs, but even then, I would expect these types are in it for the money and would simply do minimal (read: shotty) repairs and leverage any discounts to maximize their profits.

Basically, buying a restored salvage vehicle is a bad idea. Personally, if I were to buy one, I'd be considering what was damaged and what my plans were with the car. And it would likely be one that wasn't restored so I could be in control of the repairs.

[rn79870]

...Ultimately, a total loss decision is an economical one. When the total cost to the insurance company is more than the total cost of settling a total loss, they will total it. They may consider rental expenses as well(especially if the insured has rental coverage). ...

This is the way I've heard it is done. They pay which ever is less, the value of the car or the cost of repair. Plus, in California, once a car is totaled by the ins. co., it can still be sold, BUT the title will always have the word SALVAGE in big print on it. There is no way you can sell it to another person without them being on notice of that event.

[echelonphoto]

Thanks all for your help and sympathy...really warms the heart. I decided toget into the motor and take the plugs out and check compression...200 psistraight across the board...then while reassembling, I noticed that there was a huge hole in the bottom of the tube between the maf and the throttle body...i guess some kind of damper goes under there which broke off in the accident...I covered the hole and the darn thing purrs like a kittennow...I is amazing it ran at all with that hole in there.