What do I look for before I buy this car from a dealer? I test drove and loved it, now I am getting ready to plop down the cash and getting nervous. I found the passenger door mirror did not work and a little carbon on the exhaust. They have lowered the price to $16,200. Any advice would be appreciated. I have a son who is a mechanic and he can look at it. What should he look for?

I bought and so far I love it. Thanks for reading it anyway.

That's typically a pretty good price,

I highly recommend getting a dealer to look at it ASAP. Pay the 1 hour check out and have them give you a thorough estimate for anything that may not be working and evaluate the maintenance history. They can print you the complete history of your vehicle (or at least note any trip to a dealer). Instead of getting a basic oil change inspection ask for pre purchase inspection.

As with most high line cars Infinitis' love to be maintained and driven hard.

Congratulations and Good Luck
Enjoy the ride.

Thanks Steve

That price seems a bit high to me unless everything is up-to-date. I bought my 2004 FX45 over 2 years ago with 24,400 miles on it for $22,400 and it was from an Infiniti dealership and I think it has every avail option except the rear entertainment system (all service was done before I bought it). If you're going to pay that price for this one, ALL of the service should be totally up-to-date ....all fluids (oil/transmission/transfer case/F & R diffs/coolant/brake/power steering), battery, brakes (rotors/pads), tires, drive belt, filters (fuel/air/in-cabin). Also, the exhaust system on mine crapped out early so I upgraded it but it was a thousand bucks (cat back system). This should be checked, too. My guess is the dealer likely took care of all of this but def have another dealer or indy Infiniti mechanic look at it and give you their advice. Also, is the dashboard showing any signs of bubbling or cracking at all? You've got until next year to take care of this before the extended warranty on that expires. This dealer may have already replaced it. Ask them if you can't tell by looking at it. Otherwise, this car is bullet proof. I have not had any issues other than my slightly bubbling dashboard (replaced under warranty by Glendale Infiniti) and my rattling and corroded exhaust which I paid to have upgraded. I still have the original battery in this car! And it's still showing over 12 volts, although it's life is probably over soon. Another problem I currently have which is not major is the finish on my wheels is starting to bubble a bit near the center caps, pretty much on all 4 wheels. I will probably have them refinished by a local wheel shop next year.

Thanks for the very detailed reply, especially the part about the dash. It does have minor bubbling in it and I will check with a dealer on it. The rest of maintenance items you have mentioned were NOT taken care of. The dealer Matthews Ford in Broken Arrow (Tulsa) said they had done a 128 point check and not to worry. The only thing I noticed was a very small vibration in the steering. They said they had already reduced the price $4000 and could not put any more money into it. Clean retail was $21,825, so you got a great price on yours. My son said it is just the tires need balancing. I was astounded to find out that the car had not been serviced. The air filter and cabin were extremely dirty. The belts were cracked and the oil had not been changed. Luckily I am an amateur mechanic and my son is a professional mechanic and took care of replacing the filters, oil, belts and plugs (which were original). The battery died on the second day and had to be replaced (it was a Ford battery). I still need to get the tires balanced and transmission/transfer case/F & R diffs changed. I put new coolant in. I bought a used blank smart key and need to get it programmed, any advice on that? Thanks Matthews Ford SUCKS

Great news on you (and your son) getting the car back in order with the service. That place is full of sh*t if the said they dropped the price by $4K. What money did they put into it if no maintenance was done?? They didn't even change the oil! That was a line to have you think they drastically lowered the price, which is BS. I thought you meant the car was at an Infiniti dealer from your original post. A Ford dealer would probably not have done any service as they would have had to pay Infiniti to do it since they don't have mechanics qualified to work on those cars other than simple oil changes or a battery replacement. That clean retail price you quoted seems real high ...is that from KBB or Nada? I don't think these cars hold their value quite that well.

Anyway, first order of business now is to call your local Infiniti dealer and tell them your dashboard is bubbling and that you want it replaced under the warranty that was issued for this problem. Check your car's build date ...it should be on a plate in your door jamb. Add 8 years to that date and that is the new date that you will need to have this dash replaced by. Don't wait on this ...the material they used was crap and these dashboards can get real ugly if not replaced. I believe the new dashes are comprised of a different material that shouldn't buble over time. The Infiniti dealer should know exactly what you're talking about but if for whatever reason they play dumb on this, let us know and I'll search for and send you the warranty letter that was issued on this.

On the smart key blank, I, too, just bought a new to me (used) one and need to program it. When I bought the car, only 1 smart key was given to me. I then bought a used one in real nice shape on eBay and had it reprogrammed (and key cut) by the dealer but they charged me nearly $200 just to program it and cut the key. Well, I ended up misplacing that remote when I moved last so then I was back down to 1 key. I just bought another smart key and will attempt to program it myself this time. There are instructions on how to do it on the web that I came across one time but not sure they actually work. I will try and post my results.

The dealer gave me a NADA print out that shows clean trade in $18250 clean loan $16575 and clean retail $21825. KBB show trade in excellent $16950 private party excellent $19550 good is $16000 and $18550. I have an appointment with Jackie Cooper Infiniti for Monday, they have the dash in stock and are going to give me a loaner car. Thanks for the tip. They want a $105 to do the smart key programming, I do not know it that includes cutting but it should. I have found lock smiths that will do it for 60-$85 and I have been told and my son confirmed that you need the programming box to do it. I think you can do the remote but not the key. Another option is to tape the key under the dash and use a non smart key, I tired holding the smart key and using a non smart key and it did not work. I do not like the hassle these key cause. Good luck with your key and let us know how you do.

halschmidt wrote:What do I look for before I buy this car from a dealer? I test drove and loved it, now I am getting ready to plop down the cash and getting nervous. I found the passenger door mirror did not work and a little carbon on the exhaust. They have lowered the price to $16,200. Any advice would be appreciated. I have a son who is a mechanic and he can look at it. What should he look for?

Wish you given this purchase a bit more thought. But I imagine the price lured you into the purchase. I'm sure it's obvious why the dealership listed the FX for the price you paid. The best FX's to get are the 07/08 model years.

Wow,

I had no idea people were willing to pay that much for a car with almost 100k miles on it. I bet the dealer didn't give much over 10k on trade for that. Glad you are getting the repairs done these are great cars. I never heard of the dash bubbling issue though. I