Hi everyone I've been looking for a car and my old passion for Infinitis re-ignited. Me being a grown up now-a-days, I decided to shop for a grown up car (also I'm pretty tall). Also I should add that for reasons I won't get into (but they are good ones), I decided to go the cheapo route for my next car. My previous cars were a BMW X5 and a Jaguar S type. I didn't have a choice for either of them.

So, I found a 2008 m35 that's going for about $1800 less than what everyone else is listing there's for where I live. I live in a small GCC country. Very small.

I go to check out this vehicle, and the upholstery looks like crap. It's reupholstered two tone cloth on what may have been leather, not sure. That I can deal with. Glove compartment doesn't close...I can fix. Broken tail light, no problem.

That said the screen and back up camera work. Didn't try the radio, A/C works. Windows work. Has the A/V inputs, sensors (hope they work)...very high mileage at 225,000 Km / 140ish K miles. In this desert country, cars get destroyed by the heat, rubber deteriorates etc. Surprisingly, the car didn't seem to have any leaks, except possibly an A/C leak.

As for the A/C, it kinda worked when I took it on a short "test drive". Didn't get to open her up at all, lots of traffic, and didn't feel comfortable going on an extended drive as the owner didn't want to come with me. The A/C worked and was weak and then stopped being cold, but I made the owner take the car to a close by mechanic and fill up the freon, air became cold again but not sure how cold as I didn't get into the car after that (well, I did for literally 1 minute). I was planning on coming back the next day to test the A/C system in our 125F/50C noon temps.

The car seems to have been in some kind of accident/fender bender. The frame doesn't seem to have been damaged but the front bumper was re-installed and cheaply at that. A mechanic will need to verify the extent of the damage.

From the test drive, wasn't sure how powerful the car was. The transmission seemed to "lag" when I tried to floor it for a split second, but didn't have a chance like I said to really accelerate at all because traffic was horrible and the streets were full of potholes and there were speed bumps every few meters.

Anyway, as I said, the car is going for a steal. The next day the guy claimed the car was sold, and a few days later my friend called and he went to the meet the guy and the guy never showed up. I drove past the place a few days ago and the car was still there, unsold. The guy is a car salesman which explains some of the behavior. The car is legal etc.

I really liked the car and am willing to spend a bit of money making it look better etc. That said, I don't know much about Nissan/Infiniti transmissions. I was told to stay away from Jatco transmissions, and from my research I guess the M35 doesn't have a Jatco one. I may be wrong. At that mileage, I'm kind of hesitant as my x5 and Jaguar had transmission failures at lower mileages. My Jaguar's transmission failed at 60K miles!

After two cars that ate up a good chunk of my money on repairs, I want a non-basic car that's fun to drive and much more reliable. I am hoping this could be the one (I have a beater I take to work). The price is about $2500, not a burden for me at all. I'm not sure if the ugly upholstery and minor damage justifies the cheap price from a guy that seems to know how to buy and sell cars. It's a cutthroat market over here. Before purchase I will be taking the car to a mechanic to test the transmission/engine and check for any leaks.

What do you guys think? I can go take pics of the car tomorrow morning and post them here (the ones I have were taken at night and aren't that great).

If you can get an independent inspection of the vehicle and it checks out other than the obvious stuff that you will be repairing (mainly, make sure no check engine lights are hiding, etc., drive train, suspension), then I say go for it. If any of those things how red flags, run.

Is that true, that our M's are not using the Jatco transmission? I also have heard negative things about Jatco but could never find anything definitive on the type of transmission the M's have.

First of all, the car sounds like it's in a ROUGH condition. I would personally not buy this car unless you're ok with having lots of repairs. Secondly, yes these cars have JATCO transmissions. Keep in mind that these manufacturers will build transmissions to whatever standards the car manufacturers want. Nissan wanted Jatco to make a VERY good transmission for this car, and it is. Jatco will also build cheap transmissions as Nissan requires for cheaper cars. The RE5R05A is bulletproof if it's maintained well. These transmissions aren't "known" for anything specific unlike other cars.

My 2008 m35s is 140k miles and it shifts strong, no lag. I have done 2/3 refills with Matic S fluid and I am getting to replace the tranny pan gasket (clean the filter while im at it), then install an inline filter and finally a tranny cooler. This should extend its life to 300k as I intend it to.

CarGuy87 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:06 am

First of all, the car sounds like it's in a ROUGH condition. I would personally not buy this car unless you're ok with having lots of repairs. Secondly, yes these cars have JATCO transmissions. Keep in mind that these manufacturers will build transmissions to whatever standards the car manufacturers want. Nissan wanted Jatco to make a VERY good transmission for this car, and it is. Jatco will also build cheap transmissions as Nissan requires for cheaper cars. The RE5R05A is bulletproof if it's maintained well. These transmissions aren't "known" for anything specific unlike other cars.

My 2008 m35s is 140k miles and it shifts strong, no lag. I have done 2/3 refills with Matic S fluid and I am getting to replace the tranny pan gasket (clean the filter while im at it), then install an inline filter and finally a tranny cooler. This should extend its life to 300k as I intend it to.

Thanks for the info. I have 118k and haven't had any transmission issues so I was curious as to why the negative ideas of this transmission. Mine is up for a fluid change so will get that done soon.

Yes, just because the transmission is made by Jatco, does NOT mean it will be trouble. Companies like Nissan Renault, Mitsubishi, Fiat, and others have developed a reputation of late for being poorly built with cheap materials, resulting in low reliability, often have Jatco transmissions that often go titz-up much sooner than expected. Jatco is responsible for their products. However, It's the car companies and their engineers who provide the specs desired for these cars. A car maker that consistently produces low quality cars is not going to tell Jatco: "the sky's the limit - give us your very best'. They are going to provide specs for a transmission of 'that'll do' quality, like the the rest of the car. In fact, globally, Jatco is regarded as one of the highest quality transmissions. Car companies like the ones mentioned above cause Jatco to be rated low by producing inferior cars with inferior spec'd equipment from all of its vendors including Jatco.
The same can be said for the carpets, the radio, the air/con, etc. If the carpet in your crap Fiat wears out in a year, don't blame the carpet maker - its Fiat who specified the crap-quality of carpet to be put into their cars.

The guy dropped the price to $2,135, and I may be able to get it dropped to $2000 without too much trouble. At this price point, what is acceptable and what isn't? I do recall one check engine light now that I think of it, something that I almost missed. Of course that could mean a lot of things, so even though it's seemingly a steal, I'd have to get the engine and transmission checked out for sure.

The car can be seen here: https://olx.com.kw/ad/m35-2008-ID6OD7J.html

The car looks much worse in real life. I really want to avoid another money pit, and I'm not stingy when it comes to fixing/repairing but I'd like a year off from that.

Looks good , offer $1900 or less , pick it up,or max to that $2000 is OK. But no-one would think you got a YEAR OFF
regarding repairs , you know

The Jatco transmissions that people are referring ot are the CVTs in the many lower tier Nissan products. CVTs in general aren't seen to be very reliable regardless of brand, and the Jatco ones are no different really. But the M and most other Infiniti, save for the QX60 and AX50, don't haveCVT transmissions. The regular JATCO transmissions are great though. Other than Aisin, I cannot think of transmissions that are just as reliable..with proper fluid changes you'll be tired of the car before the transmission fails honestly

I would not buy any car that was that unkept.
You can find M35s for $4k that haven't been abused.

If you have doubts id offer $2k max, atleast then youll be able to recoup costs parting the car out worst case