Returned a car as a LEMON buyback. Anyone?

Forum for Infiniti M37, M56 M35h Hybrid and Q70 owners.
EdBwoy
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I am posting this here because we are looking at a car that was bought back by Infiniti as a lemon. In case the previous owner reads the forum, or someone else might be able to shed some light on the specific situation, it is a 2016 Infiniti Q70.
The last owner was based in California according to Carfax.

We like the car, not really afraid of branded titles; but for the money we are about to spend, it would be prudent to do more research beyond what the seller (a dealer) is telling us.

Outside of that exact car, I would love to hear from anyone with a 2011+ Infiniti M37, M56, M35h or Q70 who either got rid of, or acquired it as a manufacturer lemon buyback - what was wrong with it, or what was claimed to be wrong with it?

Best way to contact me would be by email - edbwoy at gmail.com.


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Ilya
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How much they asking for it with the branded title? I hope its significantly less than not branded.

EdBwoy
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Nope! They seem to have priced it just like a car with an unbranded title.

But we've gotta start somewhere. Determine condition, then discuss price. This is a wonderful time to be car shopping.

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biggie
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Have they told you what the issue(s) were that caused them to return it? I have a '16 right now, don't know of any issues at all.

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Rogue One
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2016 Infiniti Q70 Recalls & Safety Issues
Zero Recalls. 3 complaints.
1) WHILE DRIVING IN A SNOW STORM, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS SEIZED IN THE DOWN POSITION.
2) THE AIR BAG WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE.
3) THE HEATED STEERING WHEEL GETS TOO HOT TO COMFORTABLY HOLD CONTINUOUSLY. THE SERVICE MANUAL PROVIDES A RANGE OF 68F - 86F. THE DEALER MEASURED MINE AT 120F.

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biggie
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So the wipers froze to the windshield and the person had sensitive hands? The airbag seems to be the only issue probably.

EdBwoy
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biggie wrote:
Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:42 am
Have they told you what the issue(s) were that caused them to return it? I have a '16 right now, don't know of any issues at all.
The paperwork mentions that it kept eating brakes. That is very interesting to say the least, and maybe the previous owner has a different version of events from what Nissan says.

I am having a hard time seeing how they would rather take a car back as a lemon than perhaps overhaul the brake system. And then after the title has been marked, they jump up and say, "JK guys! We fixed the brakes!"

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biggie
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Seems like a good buy assuming it is a pretty low price. Assume should be low mileage I assume too.

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Ilya
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lol...dealers. Even at dealer rates, a full brake job + MC is what...$2-3k? No. We'll lemon the whole $60k car lol.

eclipse95blk
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usually they only do lemon buy back after dealer tried to fix issue and was not successful. would waste time unless you are mechanically inclined to do repairs on your own.

EdBwoy
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The story got funnier.
The paperwork from Nissan/Infiniti seems to indicate that it was returned because it kept chewing brakes.

I called the dealership where it used to be serviced and they said it was a brake module issue that always kept it in limp mode. They claimed that it took everybody such a long time to figure it out, but the dealership finally sorted it out after replacing this module. Unfortunately the owner was tired of dealing with it so he got the car lemon-lawed.

This dealership refused to give me the Infiniti service records, which to me makes the whole story even sketchier. I'll ask the seller to get those records for me.
Meanwhile I've been keeping an eye on the listing, noticing that the asking price keeps dropping.


I don't mind the challenge. It's the shadiness around the details that bothers me...oh, and the asking price north of $20k

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I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole unless your getting a huge discount. I had the experience, albeit many year ago on a 97' Q45, it was Kelly Blue at the time of $34k from an original sticker of $52k. I paid $24k and kept for 19 years, i was positive the issue was resolved and when I sold it in 2019 sure it was worth less than without the Lemon Law Buyback branding, but manybe 1-2k less vs. the 10k I saved in 2000.

EdBwoy
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That's exactly what I was banking on. Although it would lose some resale value in the long run, that would be waaaaaay down the line. I intend to keep this one for a pretty long time, and being a depreciating asset, the immediate discount matters to me more.

The seller probably doesn't see it like that. They have it priced like a clean title, low mileage car. It's a beaut, but I'll have to pass.

Welcome to the interesting world of pricing rare, yet non-exotic vehicles.

2016 Q70 hybrid,
50k miles,
Title - lemon
Fully loaded, rare & gorgeous blue color
$23,000
Image


2016 Q70 hybrid,
70,000 miles
Title - clean
Fully loaded, gallons of mocha
$20,000
Image


2016 Q70 hybrid,
21,000 miles
Title - rebuilt/ prior salvage
Base model interior, beautiful exterior
$19,500
Image

BadQ45t
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Yup, when I bought mine a high school buddy of mine was a GM at an Infinti dealership out of town. When the dealership was asking 34k for this 97' in 2000 he laughed, at the time the 2nd Gen were selling so slowly that he could have given me a brand new Anni Edition for 40k, sticker was like 56k on that car...so I was still kicking tires and actually was looking at Lexus GS400 when the dealership called me and said the price was now $24k due to the owner of the dealership getting arrested and then commiting suicide in Jail!!! He was a Japanese due that got caught with hookers :).

So for 24k for 97' I saved 10k in 2000 and when I sold it for $6500 in 2019 (it has only 120k on it and was very well maintained) would I have gotten $7500 with no Lemon? Not sure, but warning it was harder to sell and I had to find people that looked past that Lemon Law Buyback issue and saw I had B/C Coilervers, nice tires/rims, every fluid Amsoil changed regularly etc.

If you cannot get a 25-30% discount up front take a pass.......


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