Picked up my G37 yesterday. [LONG POST]

[carman63]

Two days ago, I closed on an Amethyst Graphite / Graphite G37 w/ Premium and Nav packages. Yesterday, I got the call that may car was ready for delivery. So we went to pick it up. After about an hour in the showroom going over the manual, the car, and the features, we were on our way.

First impressions, it handles nicely and has good pickup off the line. The ride is firm but not uncomfortable, and there's good feedback from the tires/steering wheel (this is the non-Sport version). The exhaust note is pleasant to my ear, it reminds me of my 350Z's note but a bit subdued.

There is going to be quite the learning curve for the electronics. There are LOTS of settings you can fine-tune to your liking. I'm still trying to figure out how to download my iPhone's address book. (It seems the car breaks the Bluetooth connection and wants you to re-establish it, almost like it wants to pair a second time. I get no response from the iPhone in this phase, and Bluetooth doesn't come back until I cancel the download operation.)

The Amethyst Graphite color seems to change based on the lighting conditions and angle. It always looks good, however. This wasn't initially one of my color preferences, until I saw it up close. Paired with the graphite/aluminum interior, it's an understated but gorgeous package.

I've got about 65 miles on the car so far, including the 15 miles that were on the odometer when I got it. It went from the transport truck, to the service bay for PDI, then to me. So I suspect the miles were from a test track shakeout but I can't verify that. No worries, I'm not going to lose sleep over it

Overall, I'm quite satisfied at this point, other than paying MSRP but that's what you get to be one of the first in a new car Finally, kudos to Paul Ballard and Carl DeShazier (spelling is off) at Infiniti of Chantilly for a great buying/delivery experience. Carl was the first person to show me around the car, while Paul handled the sale and delivery. And the dealership offers what they call the 500 Club, which entails - among other things - free oil changes for life, free car washes (hand-wash, dressing on the tires, etc) whenever you want one, and free maintenance for 2 years / 30K miles (including the 30K service).

I'll post pictures soon, but it'll look like any other AG G37 around here I prefer to keep my vehicles pretty much stock, and work around the car's (and my personal) limitations.

Thanks for reading!

[EDIT] Upon posting this, I realized that I failed to mention the other cars I considered. So here goes:

- Audi TT, in both the 2.0 and 3.2 configurations. The TT looks nice inside and out IMO. The coupe has tons of cargo space, especially if you drop the back seats. Ergonomically, Audi really knows how to place the switches and dials just right for the driver. Pedal placement is spot-on for me, as well. Problem here, as well as most European makes, is the Dollar's value against the Euro. Also, German manufacturers are usually slow out of the gate in making technology upgrades. For example, my 2006 A6 didn't have iPod connectivity - not even an AUX jack - and the retrofit kit isn't out yet (rumored for the past 2 years). And, price-wise I'd end up with a 2.0 turbo with the S-Tronic transmission (aka DSG). Nothing wrong with that package at all, but I own a GTI with the same setup so no reason to have 2

- Porsche Boxter was in the running, only because a local dealer has a 2006 still on the lot, priced to move at $42K. I liked the look, the color - bright yellow - and the option packages included. And amazingly, the insurance quote was the same as my A6. What I didn't like was the soft top (no garage) and the price of maintenance ($250 oil change, anyone?) along with the limited cargo space.

- The 2007 Corvette looked nice, and has plenty of room for cargo (20 cubic ft IIRC). It looks impressive, and GM's upped the ante every year, as far as fit-and-finish goes. There's a lot of horsepower and torque for the money, and if I were looking for a track car / DD option, this one would be hard to resist. Still, option packages would put this car out of my price range (even with the GMS discount applied). Also, entry and exit were a bit more engaging than the G37.

- The Audi A5 was on my short list, but the estimated base prices (low 40's for the A5, $55K or so for the S5) pretty much killed it for me. Not to mention that the A5 (3.2 6 cylinder) wouldn't be out until Spring 2008 at the earliest.

- I briefly considered the VW Eos, but after having some issues with the deployment of the hard top, I declined considering it further. Suffice it to say, it drives/handles a lot like the GTI, to the point of being redundant (IMO).


Modified by carman63 at 4:03 AM 9/5/2007

[Liam]

Carman, it appears we have identical G37s - non-sport, same packages, same color. At first I thought the color was purple but it changes with the lighting. Also had 15 miles on it when we picked it up.

We drove from Indy to Chicago to get it - local dealer had only sport models and the Lisle (near Chicago) dealer offered a better trade price for our 03 G35. Great dealer to work with - in and out in a couple hours.

G37 rides much better than the G35 - that may not please the "road feel" types but it sure makes it nice for a trip. And the Music Box is a much better way to handle CDs than a 6cd changer. Haven't utilized the compact flash yet. Nav system is excellent - especially appreciate the back-up camera. Liam

[carman63]

Liam,

I'm originally from Muncie, for better or worse

I was looking at online inventories for several dealers, but everyone wanted MSRP (if not more). So I went for the closest dealer, who happens to have several nice 'perks' (see: 500 Club previous posts). Otherwise, I may have flown out to Michigan for an Aspen Blue with the options I wanted

[carman63]

Basically, when you select the option to import contacts over bluetooth, the car breaks the connection so that the PHONE can establish the session for sending data.

And that's the problem. The iPhone doesn't have the ability (yet) to send contacts. In my Audi, I didn't have the disconnect/reconnect issue, things just ... happened. All my contacts made it to the Audi once I paired the iPhone. That's how I expected it to work on the G37, as well.

So either Infiniti will have to provide an update, or Apple will.
Modified by carman63 at 2:04 PM 9/5/2007

[Nismo_Nick]

Yeah they deff could have stepped it up there