The only bad thing about your Q was the sludge and you took care of that with valve cover clean and a machine (non 5 min)flush right?
All other symptoms you are describing are not mechanical.Have you had a consult on it?
Fred...
To sell or not to sell??
Wes-- I don't know how much "total expense" not counting the price of the car that you have shelled out, but I can give you a quick breakdown of what my 1990 has been for a comparison.
Bought the car new from a Phoenix dealer and had it serviced regularly, used Mobil 1 and cared for it meticulously throughout the warranty period. No big deal, no problems other than the obvious things you would do to any car of this breed (tires, brakes, etc.).
Fast forward 12 years and about 125,000: Still meticulous maintenance yet all the years of Phoenix gas took its toll on the injectors-- 4 ohm'd bad and all were replaced-- $2000.
About the same time I replaced the struts w/Tokico blues and also the upper links-- DIY @ $500.
Misc. water pump, sun roof motor, antenna, window regulators, etc. -- maybe add another $700.
4 months ago: Transmission, drive shaft (carrier bearing rubber brittle and separated, u-joints marginal, and IofS said NO REBUILD so only option was new)-- $3300
Same time: Valve cover leaks, main seals, etc.- $500
3 months ago: A/C compressor, et. al.- $800
Today: Dropped the car off at Euro Imports for chain guides... thanks to this forum! Dodged a bullet I think since the car is now at 138,000 and this had not been done-- didn't know about it until Tuesday... in shop on Thursday... that's how freakin' much it scared me. Bought the parts from IofS (Joe, who is as good as his reviews- spoke to him for 20 minutes at the counter today) and the bill was $300 and quote for labor- $800, total: $1100
DIY parts I also bought: Fuel pump, under plenum hose kit (more will be necessary according you you), and tension strut bushings-- $450+
So add it all up and lets just call it $10k spent in 2 years-- but divide that by 14 years and you get about $60/month amortized expense BEYOND the normal wear and tear (if there is a true delineation between normal and abnormal).
What does this mean to you? It depends. How much did you pay for the car? I paid $40k. With all of the above, $50k... for 14 years of a helluva lot of fun. Also, since most of the expense came after 12 years and 125k miles, I drove it with no real costs for at least 7 years (after paying off the $40k). For me, the total cost per month is about $300 which is about 1/3 what a new car payment of this caliber would run. Plus I hope to be able to stretch it at least another 100k miles and maybe 10 years (have a "like new" 1978 Chevy 4x4 I bought new when in high school-- so I try to make em last).
For me... the Q is the funnest car I've had. I am specifically comparing it to my former 1995 740i and an 89 Ford Taurus SHO (neither of which were dogs, in fact the SHO was a real qship with eibachs, Konis and some engine mods-- it was a fun car to drive-- maybe not in the same league as the Bimmer and the Q but fun just the same). So keeping it in lieu of the 7 series made sense even though I figured I would be dropping some coin into it. It was just funner to drive IMHO. That combined with the fact that I new the entire history of the car and it has been extremely reliable makes keeping THIS car a pretty easy decision. It really comes down to how much you like that specific car and how much your wallet can bear.
That said, I echo the words of the older wisdom here in that all of this is proportionate to your current station in life. It is definitely a WANT for me, not a NEED. For me it cost justifies and it may very well for you too. Just remember that you can only spend the same dollar once.
Bought the car new from a Phoenix dealer and had it serviced regularly, used Mobil 1 and cared for it meticulously throughout the warranty period. No big deal, no problems other than the obvious things you would do to any car of this breed (tires, brakes, etc.).
Fast forward 12 years and about 125,000: Still meticulous maintenance yet all the years of Phoenix gas took its toll on the injectors-- 4 ohm'd bad and all were replaced-- $2000.
About the same time I replaced the struts w/Tokico blues and also the upper links-- DIY @ $500.
Misc. water pump, sun roof motor, antenna, window regulators, etc. -- maybe add another $700.
4 months ago: Transmission, drive shaft (carrier bearing rubber brittle and separated, u-joints marginal, and IofS said NO REBUILD so only option was new)-- $3300
Same time: Valve cover leaks, main seals, etc.- $500
3 months ago: A/C compressor, et. al.- $800
Today: Dropped the car off at Euro Imports for chain guides... thanks to this forum! Dodged a bullet I think since the car is now at 138,000 and this had not been done-- didn't know about it until Tuesday... in shop on Thursday... that's how freakin' much it scared me. Bought the parts from IofS (Joe, who is as good as his reviews- spoke to him for 20 minutes at the counter today) and the bill was $300 and quote for labor- $800, total: $1100
DIY parts I also bought: Fuel pump, under plenum hose kit (more will be necessary according you you), and tension strut bushings-- $450+
So add it all up and lets just call it $10k spent in 2 years-- but divide that by 14 years and you get about $60/month amortized expense BEYOND the normal wear and tear (if there is a true delineation between normal and abnormal).
What does this mean to you? It depends. How much did you pay for the car? I paid $40k. With all of the above, $50k... for 14 years of a helluva lot of fun. Also, since most of the expense came after 12 years and 125k miles, I drove it with no real costs for at least 7 years (after paying off the $40k). For me, the total cost per month is about $300 which is about 1/3 what a new car payment of this caliber would run. Plus I hope to be able to stretch it at least another 100k miles and maybe 10 years (have a "like new" 1978 Chevy 4x4 I bought new when in high school-- so I try to make em last).
For me... the Q is the funnest car I've had. I am specifically comparing it to my former 1995 740i and an 89 Ford Taurus SHO (neither of which were dogs, in fact the SHO was a real qship with eibachs, Konis and some engine mods-- it was a fun car to drive-- maybe not in the same league as the Bimmer and the Q but fun just the same). So keeping it in lieu of the 7 series made sense even though I figured I would be dropping some coin into it. It was just funner to drive IMHO. That combined with the fact that I new the entire history of the car and it has been extremely reliable makes keeping THIS car a pretty easy decision. It really comes down to how much you like that specific car and how much your wallet can bear.
That said, I echo the words of the older wisdom here in that all of this is proportionate to your current station in life. It is definitely a WANT for me, not a NEED. For me it cost justifies and it may very well for you too. Just remember that you can only spend the same dollar once.
-
docsmile71
- Posts: 205
- Joined: Sun May 11, 2003 4:16 am
desertq45 wrote:Bought the car new from a Phoenix dealer and had it serviced regularly, used Mobil 1 and cared for it meticulously throughout the warranty period. No big deal, no problems other than the obvious things you would do to any car of this breed (tires, brakes, etc.).
Fast forward 12 years and about 125,000: Still meticulous maintenance yet all the years of Phoenix gas took its toll on the injectors-- 4 ohm'd bad and all were replaced-- $2000.
More proof that the Q is not the maintenance hog that this board makes it out to be. I really think that you can keep a Q running well with less than $1000/year.
Our Q, even though it only has 60K miles has gotten to this point with minimal maintenance...just the regular 15K, 30K, 45K and 60K service, brakes changed a few times, shocks once, belts changed once so far, and upper links done once. That's not too bad for a 9 year old car.
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elwesso
- Posts: 30810
- Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2003 4:52 pm
- Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
2007 BMW M Coupe
2007 Infiniti G35 S 6MT - Location: Indiana
- Contact:
You all bring up good points....
I will stop by some places tomorrow afternoon for an envirultron flush.... See what we can work out.. After that, Ill run on durablend 5w30 for the rest of the winter, and then switch to M1 0w40.....
I have not had the car hooked up to a consult.... I'll talk to the nissan dealer and see if they can do something for me!
Whats weird is, the car runs VERY weak when cold.... Today was the first day i didnt let it warm up and it ran AWEFUL... I guess thats just the wear and tear of it all..... I think I saw some blue smoke, but it does that sometime from running rich when warming up...
100k would be golden, even if it smokes for a while (doesnt bother me as long as its still kinda strong).... 225k on minimal maintenance is a hellofadeal..... Plus I bought the car for 5500....
And seeing what other members are spending, I am still WAYYY ahead of the game... Even if i go crazy with all kinds of stuff...
So worst being worse, heres what im looking at......
Bought car for 5900 (after all the other crap like tags and stuff)...
Put 1300 into it, and now I have a perfect suspension, a close to as new running engine (HP wise), and all the annoying stuff done (fuel pump, tstat, all fluids, etc)..
Now what I have left....
$50 for a transmission cooler$40 for a transmission filter/pandrop and new fluid (not sure if im gonna or not, maybe just the cooler)$100 for an envirolution flush~$70 to fix my EGR problem (I dont care enough, i may not bother for a while, EGR doesnt get used with my driving anyway)$100 for good measure and misc items (like touchup paint for scratches)...$900 for leather redo (complete new interior)$possibly free rims
So about 350ish I'll have a great Q, and for 1200 ill have a near mint Q.... I wont be able to get a new car for anywhere near what my Q is!!
THE Q IS STAYING!
I will stop by some places tomorrow afternoon for an envirultron flush.... See what we can work out.. After that, Ill run on durablend 5w30 for the rest of the winter, and then switch to M1 0w40.....
I have not had the car hooked up to a consult.... I'll talk to the nissan dealer and see if they can do something for me!
Whats weird is, the car runs VERY weak when cold.... Today was the first day i didnt let it warm up and it ran AWEFUL... I guess thats just the wear and tear of it all..... I think I saw some blue smoke, but it does that sometime from running rich when warming up...
100k would be golden, even if it smokes for a while (doesnt bother me as long as its still kinda strong).... 225k on minimal maintenance is a hellofadeal..... Plus I bought the car for 5500....
And seeing what other members are spending, I am still WAYYY ahead of the game... Even if i go crazy with all kinds of stuff...
So worst being worse, heres what im looking at......
Bought car for 5900 (after all the other crap like tags and stuff)...
Put 1300 into it, and now I have a perfect suspension, a close to as new running engine (HP wise), and all the annoying stuff done (fuel pump, tstat, all fluids, etc)..
Now what I have left....
$50 for a transmission cooler$40 for a transmission filter/pandrop and new fluid (not sure if im gonna or not, maybe just the cooler)$100 for an envirolution flush~$70 to fix my EGR problem (I dont care enough, i may not bother for a while, EGR doesnt get used with my driving anyway)$100 for good measure and misc items (like touchup paint for scratches)...$900 for leather redo (complete new interior)$possibly free rims
So about 350ish I'll have a great Q, and for 1200 ill have a near mint Q.... I wont be able to get a new car for anywhere near what my Q is!!
THE Q IS STAYING!
