Run, walk or buy 2002 Q45? Help with oil consumption issue.

[Sidetone]

I have a chance to buy a 2002 Q45 w/ 70,000 miles for $14,000. It is the base model with zero options and doesn't even have a sunroof. Overall nice shape body wise. I like it to be honest, but is it a good price or is it not that is the question?

The service history shows the car had been in for a check engine light and the entry reads:

Code P1135, Valve timing control failure because engine ran low on oil from over due service." Then it says, OK now after LOF was done.

The car had been driven 3 months and 7500 miles prior to this visit without an oil change. Today I called the service department at the dealership and asked them if they believe the engine was damaged from that incident. The clerk I spoke to went and asked a tech and came back and said since the car has been driven another 40,000 miles and 30 months without another check engine light, he felt that real damage had probably been avoided.

I don't know what to think.

First of all is this a very low price for this car or not given that it is a base model?

Second, if I can get a proper extended warranty do you think I should take a chance on it?

Thanks all.

I had posted this last night on another forum but hopefully nobody minds that I seek the advise from both sources in such an important matter.

Thank you again.

[MattB]

I would be very concerned about the loss of oil incident.

[qship96]

too many other 2002 q out there for sale to risk buying this one-seems sellers cant give them away- just like dealers couldnt sell them when new-look at e bay-lots of 2002q to choose from

[Qproject]

that is a good price for 70,000 miles but I'd be careful about the engine light..

I can't wait till a few years when they drop in price some more!

black f50, ambition full kit, 20" Lorinser RSK and JIC coilovers fully dumped, damn what a fine piece of azz.


Modified by Qproject at 3:10 PM 2/26/2007

[MattB]

The F50 has a 5-speed transmission.

[bullittandy]

I'd say for that incident, I'd take $3-$4000 off whatever the "good" blue book value is.

Low oil is always bad, the engine was certainly damaged-but how much?

[Sidetone]

that is a good price for 70,000 miles but I'd be careful about the engine light..

Modified by Qproject at 3:10 PM 2/26/2007

Yes, the price is the only reason I was considering it.

Maybe I can get them to drop the price another $1000? That and an Infiniti extended warranty might make it worth the risk.

It is a tough call since most Q's trade in the $20's this looks like such a deal, but on the other hand nothing is a bargain if you get burned by it.

I can't help thinking that at the right price this is worth it, i'm just not sure that $14,000 is that right price?

Do any of you think that the 40,000 miles on the car since the incident speaks in its favor?

[Qproject]

I think so, it's been 30,000 miles since the incident so u should be all good.

tell them 14,000 with extended warranty, now that's a good dealio.

remember, Ambition+20" lorinser RSK+coilovers on full DUMP should be the F50 in all it's glory.

Yes, the price is the only reason I was considering it.

Maybe I can get them to drop the price another $1000? That and an Infiniti extended warranty might make it worth the risk.

It is a tough call since most Q's trade in the $20's this looks like such a deal, but on the other hand nothing is a bargain if you get burned by it.

I can't help thinking that at the right price this is worth it, i'm just not sure that $14,000 is that right price?

Do any of you think that the 40,000 miles on the car since the incident speaks in its favor?

[maxnix]

Same answer as on that other Far Away forum, RUN!

New engines cost as much as you will pay for the car. If you don't have an extended warranty from the dealer, you are up that creek with no paddle.

[elwesso]

If HOT oil pressure on BRAND NEW OIL AND FILTER is acceptable Id say its probably oging to be fine.. 7500miles in 3 months isnt aweful, thats mostly highway driving.. Just depends if the engine was truely starved for oil.

Have them check the oil pressure for you.

[Sidetone]

If HOT oil pressure on BRAND NEW OIL AND FILTER is acceptable Id say its probably oging to be fine.. 7500miles in 3 months isnt aweful, thats mostly highway driving.. Just depends if the engine was truely starved for oil.

Have them check the oil pressure for you.

I will have them check the hot oil pressure tomorrow. What kind of pressure indication is within spec for this engine? I ask because this car is being sold by an Infiniti dealer so their own service department may be under sales pressure to lie to me.

I didn't think the 7500 in 3 months was terrible either, the early oil change interval was every 4000 miles then from 12,000 to 22,000 no dealer service. But hey the owner could have just went to a lube dude.At 22,000 dealer performs cam / crank sensor campaign and idle pulley campaign (whatever the hell those things are).

It looks like the whole acceleration/lag update was done in response to the owner stating that the trans slams into gear under hard acceleration. This is actually on the same visit as the oil issue. They flush the trans and dealer orders all parts which install at 37,000. New TCM, reprogram ECM, New Gas pedal. I thought that part was good.

The rotors were resurfaced a few times and replaced once.

The car has generally been at the dealer at least once every 6 months for its entire life. If something was critically wrong I would think it would have been noted in the last 30 months? Well, I would hope anyway.

[elwesso]

Dont plan on the dealership telling you anything. Take it somewhere else, and PAY them to check the oil pressure. Its only gonna work with FRESH oil and filter, because as oil ages its viscosity increases and will give you higher oil pressure readings....

What we are looking for is that under the WORST CASE SCENARIO that oil pressure is not below 14psi. Use 5w30 oil and drive the car for a while to get the oil nice and hot.... Drive it for a while and let it idle for while.. You just want to do everything to get the oil as hot as possible under normal conditions...

Honestly, other than this potential issue, it may not be a bad buy, the car seems well maintained other than that!

IF the car consumes an uncanny amount of oil, you might be able to get infiniti to replace the motor under warranty.... If it truely ran dry after 7500 miles (lets call it 5 quarts/7500 miles), then thats a quart every 1500 miles, which is definitely excessive according to Infiniti's standards... If you buy the car and an extended warranty thru INFINITI and you can prove oil consumption is excessive, then you might get a fresh motor out of the deal making it the deal of the century.. The question remains, is that a risk you're willing to take?

[Jesda]

Looks like lemonade, with all of the tart and none of the sweet. AVOID!

[maxnix]

Looks like lemonade, with all of the tart and none of the sweet. AVOID!

If only they knew that at Jonestown!

[Sidetone]

I just wanted to thank everyone for helping me out with this car.

Since I could never seem to make up my mind about it, the dealer wound up selling it. One of the factors that held me up was I had gone back to look at it and noticed the hood was misaligned, I left thinking accident...no way. After reading the 1 page carfax one hundred thousand times, which finds the car accident free (means nothing), I formulated a new theory. It is quite likely that the hood is misaligned due to the headlights being yanked out of the car with a crowbar, or whatever else these fine, upstanding, oportunists use for leverage.

Yes, yes I was on to something here. I outlined the points that substantiated this angle:

- The car being from the same part of New Jersey where the R & D department for advanced vehicular theft and allied illicit acts is located, seems to favor this scenario, over a head on collision, hmmmmm.

- The vehicle service history doesn't show the purchase and installation of the replacement HID's, because the dealership was sold out of them. So the owner went on ebay and using "buy it now" bought back his own lights from the people who stole them. The criminal had positive feedback, they were less than the dealer wanted for them and he could pick them up at two in the morning, half a mile from his house, on the drive through line to a Dunkin' Doughnuts. What the hell could be more convienient than that? Again, very plausible.

Naturally after I had this clairvoyant episode I had decided to spend the two hundred dollars and see if another Infiniti dealer could substantiate my psychic ability and check on the overall mechancial condition of the vehicle while they were at it.

The moral here is time is the enemy of a cheap deal, you do have to act quickly and perhaps carry a OUIJA board.

On a more interesting note, the car was # 199 down the line in February 2001 (I wonder if that was day 1 production?) yet it didn't go into service until September 2002. So it sat for a year and a half, no doubt partially due to the lack of a sunroof.

Thanks again,

Walt

P.S. I am posting this in both forums where I asked for help about this car, not that I am rubberstamping, I just need every available second to help decide whether to buy a Q or M45.

[maxnix]

Good pass. Any car you cannnot have inspected is not worth buying.

[StarPD]

Say a prayer of thanks.You dodged a bullet.

Now go find a GOOD clean low mileage F50, have it thoroughly checked out, change all the fluids, and enjoy. There are some excellent deals out there.

Oh yeah, and buy it from a dealer and get the longest extended warranty you can.

[Sidetone]

Hopefully I'll find a nice one soon.That was the first time I ever drove a Q45. It exceeds the hype that it gets. What a great car.