Newbie with Questions After Searching

[pweber5]

Hey guys, killer site. I hate being a newbie, but I've got to ask a few questions. I'm really interested in getting a Y33--I did some searching around the forums and couldn't find a lot of information about reliability, other than it's very good. I looked at the IOM and didn't find a buyer's guide for the Y33, so I thought I'd ask a few questions.

From what I've read the engine is indestructable if taken care of and the transmission is also nearly faultless. Reading about the G50, the paint process is very good, and I'd assume it'd be the same for the Y33. I'd get a PPI done (there isn't an Infiniti shop around here, except the dealer, but there is a very reputable place that would probably perform a good PPI), but are there any particular things I should have them look for? As far as maintenance, are there any fancy electronic or mechanical systems on the car (like the semi-active suspension on the Touring model)?

I'm looking at a 1998 Q45 with 112,000 miles. It's got a lot of miles, but the price is in line with what I can afford right now. It's for sale at a large dealer, so I doubt that they'd have service records. Should I bother looking at this car? I've seen a few of you with 175k+ miles, but those cars probably had more service history than this one. Does Infinit have a central service database that I can check service history with?

I'm looking for a powerful, rear-wheel drive car, and the Y33 Q fits what I want. I've currently got an old BMW that is nickel-and-diming me to death ($2500 since May and a good $3000 more to go ), and want something reliable but fun. I've been looking at Mercedes E class, but the cost of repairs is scaring me away. I'm a college student and want a good car, but I'm also an enthusiast, so a Toyota Corolla won't work

Any help (or even a link to an FAQ/buyers guide) would be really appreciated. I'll probably check out the car Wednesday if you guys say go for it.
Modified by pweber5 at 3:02 PM 12/6/2006

[Jesda]

The dealer will have the service history for that car, stored by its VIN number. The electronic suspension can be expensive to replace. Otherwise, enjoy the ride!

[lino]

If you call Infiniti USA, they will give you the In Service Date of the car, who sold it, what options it has, any outstanding recalls that may pertain to it, etc:

Infiniti Consumer AffairsP.O. Box 685003Franklin TN 37068-5003800.662.62008:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern / Central Time / Pacific TimeMonday through Friday

Once they tell you where the car was originally sold, you can contact that dealer, ask for the service department and provide them with the VIN to see if the car has any history. Start with this first.

Also, post the price here so that other members can tell you if you are paying the right money for such a car.

Be sure to have a specialist to the PPI, one who knows the Y33.

What BMW has cost you all that money?

Stay away from the E-Class unless you have access to parts for cheap, and/or you don't have to pay for labor. These cars are very expensive to keep up if you have to pay. I have to C124 cars and it's hell in expenses.

Good Luck and don't rush it. Take your time to find the right car.

[elwesso]

zerothread?id=157239

That little guy might come in handy....

WELCOME TO NICO!!! Bottom line about the Y33: in stock form, they arent as sporty as a G50, neither are they as fast above 70mph (0-60 theyre close), howver they seem to have less problems... most G50 related issues are due to age... Either way, no matter what USED LUXURY CAR YOU GET you will have to spend some cash to get it back to a reasonably reliable state.

[pweber5]

If you call Infiniti USA, they will give you the In Service Date of the car, who sold it, what options it has, any outstanding recalls that may pertain to it, etc:

Infiniti Consumer AffairsP.O. Box 685003Franklin TN 37068-5003800.662.62008:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern / Central Time / Pacific TimeMonday through Friday

Once they tell you where the car was originally sold, you can contact that dealer, ask for the service department and provide them with the VIN to see if the car has any history. Start with this first.

Also, post the price here so that other members can tell you if you are paying the right money for such a car.

Be sure to have a specialist to the PPI, one who knows the Y33.

What BMW has cost you all that money?

Stay away from the E-Class unless you have access to parts for cheap, and/or you don't have to pay for labor. These cars are very expensive to keep up if you have to pay. I have to C124 cars and it's hell in expenses.

Good Luck and don't rush it. Take your time to find the right car.

Sweet. Thanks for the help. The Q45 I'm looking at is listed at $8885 with 112,000 miles. Looking at KBB and NADA, it's in line with what a dealer would charge. There's a '99 Q45t with 75,000 miles (black, my favorite color) in my area that I'd like to look at, but it's $12,500, and since it's a private seller, I can't trade my car in.

Currently I've got an '88 BMW 325i cabriolet (E30), and it's been a nightmare. The car always starts, and it still drives like a BMW (more or less), but it needs a new front suspension (shocks, control arms, bushings, etc.), new steering rack, new door wiring harness ($450), new dash, new seat frames, door hinge welded, has a chronic idle problem that will cost $$$ to fix...the list just goes on and on. If it needed only a couple of things, I'd hold onto it. But with all this stuff (and many I haven't listed), plus BMW's reputation for poor auto transmissions, I just think it's time to move on. I'd sell it privately, but with it's problems I don't know what I could get, and it's winter, so selling a cabrio would be very hard.

I'm going to call the dealer today and see what shape the car's in, and grab the VIN. There's one Infiniti dealership in Salt Lake, so I'll see if they do PPIs. Thanks for the FAQ link--it's funny, but I put in "Y33 FAQ" and nothing came up.

[pweber5]

Forgot to ask: does a regular Q45 have an electronic suspension, or is that limited to the Touring model, at least during '98-'99?

[Falkdesigns]

Touring model 97 & 98 do NOT have electronic adjustable sus, only 99+ T model has that feature and you can easily convert it to a Non-T suspension if you want.

[pweber5]

Touring model 97 & 98 do NOT have electronic adjustable sus, only 99+ T model has that feature and you can easily convert it to a Non-T suspension if you want.

Good. I don't like anything that's electronic for no good reason. I was interested in the Cadillac Seville STS until I found that each shock was about $700 because it had an electronic suspension.

Called the dealer and they said they have some service history with it, so I'm waiting for them to call me back to tell me what they've got. I also called the local Infiniti dealership, and they offer a PPI for $100. Things are rolling along...

Thanks for all the help you guys have given. I will never buy a car that doesn't have an enthusiast following and forum.

[ceningolmo]

Good. I don't like anything that doesn't have to be electronic. I was interested in the Cadillac Seville STS until I found that each shock was about $700 because it had an electronic suspension.

Good thing you weren't looking for an Active Q45. I would, however, get used to looking for creative solutions to problems on the Q...sometimes the dealership is not your best means of repair. And, far too frequently, is not a good resource for information.

[pweber5]

Good thing you weren't looking for an Active Q45. I would, however, get used to looking for creative solutions to problems on the Q...sometimes the dealership is not your best means of repair. And, far too frequently, is not a good resource for information.

LOL, yeah, I've heard about that. And I've gotten pretty good at finding stuff for my BMW, since it's so old nobody has worked on one in years. It's no fun to look for parts unless it's a little challenging

[johngalt]

A year ago I picked up a '99 Q45t that I absolutely fell in love with. I miss it to this day (even though I am now riding on her wheels :P). I am particular to the Y33 not because of power, which there is a lot less in compared to the pre-97s and post 02s, but because of the overall feel of the car - it has power as you need it, it is smooth, even with noisy semi-performance tires like the Kumho Ecsta KH11s, but god is it sleek - it turns heads, even this late after its manufacture. I picked the '99 for its price (the guy wanted 10.9K and I talked him down to 9.7K) plus the sheer comfort and elegance of the car - The body style is awesome, that is really only how I can describe it.

I am so addicted to the body style that I am next going to start looking for M45s - almost the same sleek body style, but the Q still holds a special place in my heart.

Another reason I selected that car was that, after doing the research, there were no major recalls on that particular year. If I had to do it all over again, I'd get the exact same car - a '99T, or (possibly) a 2Kae.

If you do get the '98, let me know where that '99 black one is - I should be getting my check from the insurance company this week...

As far as maintenance, I knew from the get go that the belts were bad, as well as the tie rods, and the adjustable suspension was leaking oil in the back - I got the tie rods and belts fixed, and had to put a new A/C compressor in it, but I got it with 137K miles on it and put another 27K miles in 9 months, and the damn thing still didn't leak any oil, and compression was damn near perfect on all 8. You really cannot argue with that level of performance and durability.

[pweber5]

Johngalt, here's the Autotrader ad for the black one. I'd seriously consider it, but $12,500 is a little more than I want to spend.

[pweber5]

I found another Y33 that I'm going to check out. It apparantly was listed today. It's a '98 Touring with 75,000 miles, so according to Falk, it doesn't have an electronic suspension.

I did a few searches and found that the shock cartridges can be replaced, but I can't find how much that costs. I've been to a few of the merchant links around here, but can't find a price. Anybody know?

EDIT: Okay, I found some info when I did a search on Google.

"I would call Joe and have him price check just the cartriges. Like Andy said the "strut" assy includes the hub which you do not need to replace... When you call Joe or whoever you talk to at scottsdale, tell them the part code is:

56105K for the front56210K for the rear

He will then give you the correct part NUMBER based on your VIN number or options and such.... They dont list the CARTRIGES on the internet... Plus, if you call them you can tell them Wes sent you and theyll take really good care of you!!!"

From the same post it looked like the cartridges were about $125 a pop. Who is Joe, and where can I contact him? Seems like he's the hookup.

[goody90q45]

Who is Joe, and where can I contact him? Seems like he's the hookup.

Joe is the parts guru at Everything Infiniti, AKA Infiniti of Scottsdale. See Wes' signature above for a link and phone #.

NICO members get 25% off what you pay for the same part if you walked up to the parts counter at the stealership, more in some cases depending what part of the country you live in (CA) and the markup.

[pweber5]

Okay guys, you've all been a big help. I went and test drove the '98 Q45t with 75,000 miles I mentioned, and it's a nice car. You can't even tell it's running when it's idling! And at full throttle it has a great engine note.

It had a couple of things wrong with it, but nothing major I don't think. The Bose head unit has a button or two that have come detached, but I imagine I could find another on eBay or for sale here. There's no keyless entry fob. There's a little bit of windnoise at the A pillar on the driver's side, but it's probably a rubber seal on the body or door.

The two biggest concerns I have are my main questions. A couple of times the transmission shifted a little harder than I thought it should, but I haven't driven a Y33 before, so I don't know if that's the way they're supposed to be. Most of the time it was fine. The other concern was that the car shimmied a little at speeds over 70 mph. This might be solved because the dealer is putting new front tires on, and the current tires are really bald. But I thought I'd mention it to you guys. I know on BMWs a shimmy can be anything from a steering rack to control arms to uninflated tires. Or it could just need an ailignment. The lumbar adjustments in the front seats didn't seem to work, and neither did the headrests (although I'm not sure if they're power or not).

I'm going to have a pre-purchase inspection done at a private shop that specializes in import luxury cars. They have the capability to pull engine/computer codes too, so I figure it's better than the Infiniti dealer; the dealer acted like I was the biggest annoyance of the day, so the hell with them.

Any suggestions on the above items would be great. It's an awesome car for $10,000.

Oh, one more thing. The dealer offers an extended warranty for $2000 that's 48 months/48k miles. Should I consider this? On German cars I always considered it, but the Q seems like it's a pretty solid car, and from the info on here, I don't think I need a warranty.

[maxnix]

Read the article attached to several of the posts.

99 and up have some deisrable additions, including HID low beams and rear shade.

[pweber5]

I took the '98 Q45t down for a pre-purchase inspection today, and they did a fantastic job. I say that because they found out everything that was wrong with it.

There were only two deal-breakers: number one, the car had been in a much more serious accident than I was led to believe. I had been told it had had a light fender bender that had scuffed the corner of the front bumper. It wasn't a big deal (happens all the time), but it turned out that wasn't true. The entire driver's side of the car had been smashed in. New doors were put on, the body was put back together, and the whole thing was painted. They did a good job, but you could tell were there was overspray and peeling once it was pointed out.

The other deal breaker was that the transmission fluid was burnt. They said the transmission looked fine, but from past experience burnt transmission fluid is bad news. Since these cars are sensitive to transmission fluid, I stopped considering it right there.

One knock sensor was also dead, but that seems like a common issue on these cars.

I am disappointed because I was looking forward to driving my new Q. But I'm certainly glad I got the PPI done, and I'd highly recommend getting one for any used car purchase.

My search for a Q continues.

[johngalt]

pweber5 - I still have both of my FOBs, since I installed an Aftermarket (Python 881XP) unit with remote start. Let me know - I can get rid of them cheaply.

[greenwar]

http://www.carsoup.com/used/de...oupID=

Here is a 98 Q45T black with 110K miles for around $7K. I have no clue whats wrong with the car, but it's been for sale for a long time.

Its black with 18" wheels. Might be worth checking out..