Potential 2012 M37 purchase

[ebrobb]

Howdy folks, noob here.

Seeking advice on the potential purchase of a 2012 M37, Malbec black with Java interior. It has the Tech package, Deluxe touring package and Premium package, 87000 miles, clean 'Auto Check' which sucks compared to 'CarFax' was a 1 owner trade in at a local Ford dealer. They are asking $15900, they just got it in a few days ago, so I'm thinking there will not be much bargaining room at the present time. Test drove it tonight after work, my wife wasn't able to come along so I went by myself to give it a 1st look, everything seemed fine except rear sunshade did not seem to work, everything in excellent condition, except for a few surface scratches here and there, I loved pretty much everything, the color, ride, power, handling and the size, not to big, not too small.

We are wanting to replace our 06 Chrysler 300C Hemi, which we purchased used but has been the demon possessed car from hell, we lost the engine, then the transmission, needed brake, suspension work, just non stop problems but it seems that the gremlins have been worked out for the last 20k miles or so, (knock on wood) planning to give the car to my daughter, as I have way more invested in it than I could ever sell or trade it for.

On this quest we have looked at Lexus ES 350, Toyota Avalon limited, nice cars, but nothing exciting. Buick Regal, liked it way better than I thought but too small, Nissan Maxima SV with premium package, liked it really well but too many horror stories of failed CVT's. Infiniti G37x, liked it but a little too much road noise and back seat a little cramped for the family.

Wife and I both REALLY want a Plum Crazy Challenger, but after the luck we have had with the 300C we want performance WITH reliability, and need 4 doors at this point in our life, once our daughter graduates in 3 years its Challenger time!!

So at this time the M37 is on the top my list, this is subject to change, because, well, I'm married.

We have owned many cars over the years but never an Asian car, have owned 2-Jaguars, 4-Volvos, and 8-Mercedes and an assortment of Chrysler & Ford products, very few GM products. Love the European stuff but just so expensive to keep on the road. We don't even know anyone who has owned an Infiniti, know 3 people that have Altima's of various years, my sister purchased an 07 Murano, new and it served them well for 120k, they now drive Acura's. That's about it for my experience with Nissan products.

I have never purchased an extended warranty in my entire life, do all my own maintenance, and run around with some car guys, however none of us are very knowledgeable about the Asian products. I handled most of the repairs myself on the 300C except the transmission with the help of a couple friends. Yep, I pulled, rebuilt and reinstalled the 5.7 HEMI mostly by myself, just a couple hours help from a friend, Transmission problems scare me the most.

The 3 top questions in my mind at this point are A. Since the car already has close to 90K how is it going to hold up after 100K?? B. There seems to be no way for the average guy to check transmission fluid, this concerns me a great deal. C. resale in 3 years with approximately 120k on the clock??

I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting, but this is getting long, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[EdBwoy]

Howdy! And welcome to NICOclub.

With these modern Nissans, I'd say your biggest concern is the electronics of one of the features that make it loaded (is it a sport model, with 4WAS?), not even the drivetrain. This V6 platform is very common and has a lot of support in the aftermarket. And the electronics themselves aren't what I'd consider that troublesome anyway.

Regarding the reliability, I want to say it's gonna be as reliable as it was at 60k miles. There's nothing that should surprise a modern car at the oft-mythical 100K mark.

Resale value, that's a crapshoot and if I had that knowledge, I'd be playing the lottery for a living. The model has been around for pretty long, and the only thing cannibalizing the resale is the existence of the Q70 nomenclature. That seems to kick the M37 and M56 guys down a little.
Well, that and the multiple and superior performance options from the Q50 side.
One thing I'll guarantee is that when it comes to resale, this is no Jaguar - in a good way, hehe.

Transmission fluid, yes it scares a tinkerer like me to not be able to check my fluids often, but honestly transmission fluid shouldn't need to be messed with that often. My 05 XJ8 was the first car with no trans dipstick, and it wasn't too terrifying to maintain. The only reason I even had to deal with it is because the pan gasket was leaking. Like diamonds, fluids might be forever but gaskets and seals ain't! Oh, and the old 160k mile fluid was just as clean as the new one going in.
Honestly, the dealer charges about 300 bucks to do it, if you're concerned I'd pay them to do it.

Of course, these are my opinions. I've driven and owned different makes and models but when I want quality, luxury, performance and reliability I'm back in an Infiniti.

[ebrobb]

Thanks for the reply, I was able to call the dealer that sold the car new today, my local Infiniti dealer gave me the name of the selling dealer, several states away, but no more info than that, so I called them. The service advisor I spoke with said my local dealership could log onto the national database and tell me the same stuff but apparently they just thought if they told me they didn't have access to information pertaining to what was done at another dealer, I would just go away. Anyway, he remembered the car and the owners, he looked through all the records he had for it and said it was all just routine maintenance with the exception of a ECM & TCM reprogram at 32k due to a bulletin Infiniti put out, a new battery at 42k with necessitated the ECM be reprogrammed again, then a new heat box with all the actuators at 55k in 2015, after that the owners moved out of state.
So there are still the most recent 2 years and 32k miles that i haven't been able to trace down but the service advisor told me they are generally very reliable cars and the main problem they saw with the M was the heater blend door that wouldn't put heat to the passenger side of the car, and that has already been fixed on this car.
His advice was buy it and drive it, should be good for at least 150k with proper maintenance.
But alas, it may all have been for naught as my wife says she doesn't want to buy anything now until after the 1st of the year, the holidays are too stressful for her as it is let alone adding car shopping into our already busy schedule, and to be truthful we have been car shopping for the better part of 1.5 months and I had hoped to have bought something quite awhile ago.
If the car sits on the lot until after the 1st of the year we may still end up with it, only time will tell.

[EdBwoy]

"Happy wife, happy life," I've heard them say. It's understandable.

I really don't know why the dealership you went to did not want to give you that info. What happened to customer service or rather basic human decency? If you manage to speak to someone else, they should be able to provide you with the missing 2 years of records that you need... The national Infiniti records usually mention what recall/ campaign was done and the parts involved; and when you see where it was done, the local dealer records will go into further detail of the regular maintenance. Both are usually helpful.

And thank you for keeping us updated with your progress.
If you don't mind, touch base with us in the beginning of the year if the car is still available. I usually have a theory that this is the cheapest time of the year to buy a used car. Come mid-January and the prices start creeping up again and stay high till around March/ April. The price goes up, the negotiability goes down, or both happen simultaneously.

[ebrobb]

I agree, the end of the year and/or just after the 1st of the year are the best time to buy, the week between Christmas and New Years is especially a good time. Many years ago a car salesperson told me that the dealers try to get as much inventory off the lot as possible before Dec 31st, looks better for the accountants or some such thing, not sure if there is any truth to this or not.
I think folks are more interested in getting all the presents and holiday cheer bought than purchasing a vehicle unless theirs was involved in an accident or blew up, after the holidays it takes everyone another month to recoup and get back to some kind of normal, plus most of the country is in the middle of winter at that time.
Also Infiniti only has records up to 2015 and 55,000 miles on the car, apparently the owner then started taking to an independent shop for maintenance or somewhere that doesn't report to a database, or however that works. I have not tried CARFAX to see if they have any maintenance records on it, the dealer that has the car only uses Auto Check, which doesn't show anything other than it was a 1 owner and no accidents, other than that its basically worthless. If we get closer to buying the car, i will bargain with the dealer for an actual CARFAX or just go online and purchase it myself.
But I'm definitely keeping my eye on it!

[stm37s]

The M37 is a good car and great value and you will not be disappointed with the purchase, as long as you keep the maintenance on any car they will last, I got my 2011 M37S in 2013 with 58,000 + miles and she has been great, she now has 83,000 + miles and running like a beast. You can't go wrong. Just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Larz]

Welcome to the forum! I agree, no worries about when the car hits that magical 100k mile mark. However, the first thing you should consider is an after market warranty. There should be no problem finding one while less than 100k miles, but the prices may be higher than they would have been at say 50k miles. Make sure the warranty covers ALL or near all electronics, engine, transmission, cooling system, radiator, water pump, etc. Even if you spend 3,000 on the warranty, one major system like the transmission or cooling system will get you most of that money back.
My car is just now at 100k miles and I barely used the warranty until recently - it paid for a new radiator, 2 oxygen sensors, transmission re-programming, hood struts, and radar unit for the cruise control - all after 75,000 miles. Before then, no repairs were ever needed. I still have 50,000 miles or until Sept 2019 remaining and have gotten nearly all my cost of the warranty back. Its a Max Care warranty for 125,000 miles /5 years from warranty start date.

[hulk1602]

If you were able to work on the European brands yourself I'm sure you'll be able to handle the M (curious what your experience with the MBs was like).

For piece of mind I would do some preventative maintenance like fluids since it sounds like you may not have the more recent records, although a full CarFax report may show those things. You can always take it to Infiniti for a PPI as well. Good luck and keep us posted!

[ebrobb]

This is in response to hulk1602 post...
We have owned at least 8 Mercedes over the years, I'm trying to remember all of them off the top of my head,
1. 1987 300D Turbo (diesel) in silver with blue interior, found it on a used car lot, needed quite a bit of work, didn't own it very long, sold it to a guy who used it as a father/son project and I ran across his number a few years later and decided to call him up, they got the car fixed up and his son drove the car all the way through college and even afterward.
2. 1987 300E in cream with tan interior, bought it off the original owner who was 82 years old, she decided she wanted a VW New Beetle, was kept in immaculate condition all of its life.
3. 1988 420 SEL in cream, found it under a shade tree while on vacation, had been sitting for a couple years, talked the guy into selling it, went down the street, bought a battery, fired it up and my wife drove it home, 5 hours. Yeah we are kind of crazy like that!!
4. 1998 ML430, forest green with tan interior, liked it a lot, should have kept it but traded it off for something that got better MPG.
5. 1987 300SD Turbo (Diesel) maroon with tan interior, saw it on the local CL, needed a lot of work, my wife told me I was nuts, she was right, brought it home, started dumping money into it, had 260K on the clock, used it as a work car for awhile then it blew the head gasket, so that sealed it's demise.
6. 2007 CLK550 convertible, silver with cream leather, only 28k on the clock, LOVED that car, smooth, fast, handled great, rode great, if i didn't drive it for a couple weeks I had to get it out so i could have my 'fix', got rid of it as a 'self preservation' move, i liked to drive it fast, and was afraid I would eventually lose my driving privileges!!
7. 1987 300D Turbo, cream with tan interior, while helping a friend search for a used car we ran across this one, we ended up buying it and sold her the car we had at the time, so it worked out for everyone!! Again from the original owner who had purchased it upon her retirement, kept in a climate controlled garage all of its life, had 62k on the clock when we bought it, just sold it this past spring, with 125k on it, we had to do front and rear suspension bushings, shocks, etc, not from wear but from age, always got 28 mpg with it, mixed city/hwy. Probably should have kept it but didn't want my teenage daughter to end up with it, plus we stored it over the winter because the car was so nice, so it wasn't any good to us during that time.
i'm pretty sure there was another one, but just can't remember right now, I always did all my own maintenance on these cars, and figured out how to fix most things myself with the help of the internet and books and repair manuals, we did have 2 local independent shops, both owners were former MB techs then went out on their own, so i used to have them do the stuff I couldn't handle or go ask questions until they ran me off!! Unfortunately both of these shops have closed up, one of the owners went to work at a local NAPA auto care center, the other I'm not sure but he was old enough to just 'hang it up' and retire. I always thought it interesting how we ended up with so many 1987's, it's not that we planned it that way just what we were able to find. Anyway hope this helps and it was nice to reminisce a little!!

[ebrobb]

I finally talked my wife into going to look at the M37 this past Saturday, we pulled into the dealership where it was and drove through the lot but did not find it, my wife was kind of in a hurry, many things to do with the holidays rapidly approaching so we went on with the days business. I called the sales lady I had been dealing with later and she confirmed it did sell. I was somewhat surprised that it went that quickly, as my research seemed to suggest they sit on the lots awhile, nevertheless I guess we won't be purchasing that one.

Thanks for everyone's help, that was the only one around here at the current time, but they do pop up now and again.