turning my 240sx into a g35 sedan? thouhts??? please help a brutha out....

[ampsucker]

ok, we are pregnant and i'm thinking sedan. i LOOOVE my 93 240sx, but can't justify keeping more than three cars for just the wife, baby and me.

soooo, lots to think about, but was hoping you all could help. (yes, i've searched around the forum a bit - found lots of good info - thanks!)

i drove a g35 sport sedan last week and liked it pretty well. i really wanted to drive the 6 speed manual, but the sales guy was like there are only two in the region. nearest one was in st. louis about 4 hours away. they offered to truck it down, but i wasn't ready for that level of commitment yet. so, the one i drove had the 5 speed auto, but otherwise was similar to what i wanted.

i found the ride to be stiff but well controlled. didn't care too much for the feel of the drive by wire throttle as others have complained about as well. jury is still out on the electric power steering feel. i think i am probably the type who would prefer the sport suspension with 17" wheels or the regular suspension with 18s but not both. since the manual seems to only come with the sport, i guess i'll consider inching down to 17s to get the ride i want.

my other vehicle options that i like (and in same price range) would be the acura TL (front wheel drive so really not the best choice for me) or the lexus ES 350 or IS 250. i am seeing this as "my" car that the family can ride in as well. my wife has a toyota with automatic and we got the tundra truck with auto so she can drive it, too. so, this is really going to be my "fun" ride to replace the 240. i'm going to try to drive the lexii in the next few weeks and the TL just to be sure.

any feed back or thoughts from you all with experience? my plan would probably be to sell my 240 this spring and sit on the money until the 08 g comes out this fall and then try to score a really good deal on the 07 sedan with the 6 speed. i think this would give me a lot of the fun driving experience i'll be missing from the 240 bu still carry the baby seat in the rear with reasonable ease and safety.

thanks for the responses and for not flaming me too bad ;-)

[zozoka1212]

I tried all g35 sedan g35x, TL and lexus. To be honest comfortvise the lexus by far. To fun drive G(both) were the best I couldn't find anything special with the TL. Soooo that was the first one to go out. Left with the G and lexus than we had lots of snow a week later. I told my wife lets go for a test drive again. I tried g35s and g35x than lexus. That's where I made up my mind. A dealer took me out with the x. 4" snow. He said to me just try it. wooow. I loved it from that moment. That's how I picked G35x. We have snow a lot. I've never regret it. I know it is a sedan but beleive me it takes the corners crazy no matter what the road or weather condition is. Your situation is different than mine. But I thought it might help. Let us know what you think about the TL an the Lexii.

zozoka

[soul_hfk]

im wit zozoka i to test drove the TL,A4, the AWD charger,lexus and a BMW but the G35x had everything me and the old lady was lookin for

[zozoka1212]

just another think. The x is the worst on gas I think it worth. I don't know if that bothers you just let you know.

zozoka

[ampsucker]

thanks for the response! keep 'em comin'....

i will drive the X to give it a fair shot. thanks for the recommendation. unfortunately, the sales guy said the manual shift only comes with rear wheel drive/VLSD. i think i'm really leaning toward the manual shifter and want to drive one real bad so i'll know if i'm jonesin' for something real or fantasy. the issue with oil consumption and the 6 speed manual kind of bothers me. from what i read, the lexus 306 hp engine may be a bit more reliable and bullet proof, but their execution with the suspension isn't as enthusiastic. does that about sum it up?

we have the truck (4x4) for bad weather and the wife's car is front wheel drive so we are pretty set for the few major snow storms we see each year.

i really like the AWD concept in theory. the folks at subaru have a great little sport sedan in their WRX. the manual shift paired with the turbo is pretty sweet. unfornately, their execution is way off in the amenities department. if i was in my early 20's again and all i cared about was performance at any cost, you probably would find me driving one of those just for the pure thrill of the cornering abilities and acceleration. now i'm more into a little something different.

this week i'm cleaning up the 240 and taking my last rides. sales day will be a sad day, but i've had a good run with it and it's time to look toward the future. i'm second owner since 1995. that car has seen me through a lot of life and always delivered whether towing a u-haul trailer 500 miles or powering through corners on fresh toyo rubber. i've always had a weird attachement to my favorite cars. i need to learn to say "so long" and let the next kids enjoy the life left in 'em.

[zozoka1212]

To be honest I think oil consumption is a problem with every brand no matter what. We are talking about a small amout of cars. It can happen to all brand. Also this engine was redisigned this year. they say 80% of the engine parts are new. Well it could be good or bad also but I think nissan learned from their mistake and made the parts better. I also would like to give you my congratulation to the coming baby.

zozoka

[ampsucker]

was just on the lexus site. i thought the IS 350 was available with the MT. it isn't. only the 250. it only puts out a shade over 200 ponies, so that's not much more than the stock 2.4 on the 240 from 15 14 years ago!

the ES is frontwheel drive, so that's out.

hmmm. what does that leave besides the G? in the 30-40 price range?

i sure do like what i read about the lexus 3.5 engine, though. it's really a shame they don't mate that up with the manual shifter. will try to drive it next time i get the chance along with the other G models....

[zozoka1212]

you'll end up buying the G. I think so anyway. Lexus is too luxurious. You can't feel the same what you feel in the G. Let me know how it goes. Why don't you wait till the new coupe comming that should be even better with the all wheel steering.I'll go and try when it is comming out. I told the dealer to call me a day before they'll have the first one so I can get 10 minutes in that car.

zozoka

[zozoka1212]

man,

check out the clublexus.com and go "how big the problem is" or the "what problem do you have with your 2007 es 350". We only have a grille or some minor on the redesigned 2007 G. Look at these poor dudes with the toyota quality. transaxle and transy problems noise engine etc.

tell me what you think.

zozoka

[eyekutr]

Have you considered a used gs300, you can get an 06 with around 10k miles for much below $40k, more like 35K

[ampsucker]

checked out the gs300. thanks for the tip! don't think they are up my alley, though....

i did check out clublexus and yep, you are right. there do some to be some transmission issues, etc. much like acura had with the 03 and older TLs, seems to me. i particularly like this one post by the guy who just traded his IS into a G because baby seat wouldn't fit right in the back of the IS. he thought the G had a lot more room in the back!

starting to look like the only real choices are the g and bmw 335 i. for the price, the g is going to be the best value.

i'm still going to try to drive some of these other rides. you can only tell so much from forum reviews. i live in a pretty small town, so have to do my test driving in "the big cities" nearby. maybe next weekend the wife and i will spin a few.

thanks for all the feedback so far. please keep it coming if you have a different idea no one's thought of yet!