Why did you buy your Q45?

[maxnix]

I'm still driving around with the manufacturer's sticker glued to the back window, and the dealer's tag on the keyring, too...

Off the lot classic!

[Jim1999Q45]

Ken K,

When you get a chance, please post the name of your mechanic in san Luis Obispo. Would be worth a 45 minute drive from Lompoc to see a mechanic who knows Q45s. Thanks, Jim

[1991q45]

had an 06 civic ex with 30k miles on her and the alternator was going...along with a couple other problems so....

moms was looking for a lexus es300.seen one for 2 grand, 80k miles, cliamed they always took to the dealer, garage kept it etc.

thought wow thats perfect.went to check out the car had quite bit of rust, needed brakes, tune-up, exhaust work.the typical gauges out type thing.

then she said how about a maxima seeing a RARELY had any problems with mine.

no luck they were in worse shape at an rediculous price.

then we seen a 91 pearl q45.all it needed at the moment was an injector.test drove it and for a heavy car she held her ground. my mom fell in love with the q.

but me at first i was worried because of what i read on here and what work was needed.

but so far so good.

[elwesso]

Very good stories everyone...

Easy to tell the old schoolers from the newbies because theres a distinct cutoff when people bought them for what they are (regardless of year) vs for what they cost.

[maxnix]

Very good stories everyone...

Easy to tell the old schoolers from the newbies because there's a distinct cutoff when people bought them for what they are (regardless of year) vs for what they cost.

That's because most of the latter group didn't do the research and didn't truly understand the cost of maintaining an imported luxury V8.

[northt]

Test drove my first one, a 90 in 92 and loved it. Bought it with 25,000 miles on it. Transmission failed at 76,000. Infiniti refused to fix it under warranty wanted 7 grand for a transmission. Traded a '69Z28 motor for a transmission job and traded it off on a 93. Drove that till 240,000 miles when I was rear ended on the expressway and received an insurance settlement. Bought a 1 year old Lexus GS300 and loved it but sold it to start a business and bought myself a 94 with about 1,000 miles and drove it to just over 200,000 when I totaled it myself (brain fart). Didn't think I could find another one but just happened to be driving by a dealership and saw one on the lot. Bought it last year with 96,000 miles and a complete set of service records. Had to put about 600 bucks into the interior but other than that it has been great. My two younger kids grew up and pretty much can't remember me driving anything else. Tell me I'm boring. Still the best bang for the buck in the marketplace.

[tfvesquire]

I fell in love with the exact car I have (1998 Ivory Pearl base model with tan interior) when a fellow law school collegue of mine bought it brand new in January 1998. It only had 21 miles on it when he pulled up to my apt to give me a ride downtown. I thought it was the best looking car I'd ever seen and I thought it rode as smooth as a Bentley. No wind noise, no rattles and the car idled so smooth I thought it was off!! The heated seats were a bonus on that cold evening. He let me drive it back from school and I was amazed at how well it handled the crappy streets in Chicago with ease and also how much power the engine had when merging onto the Edens expressway. From that day on, I vowed to own the exact same car because I loved the color combo. The pearl white is so elegant in my opinion and is the best color for this model. The main caveat is that it had to have heated seats for our cold Midwest winters.

Flash forward 10 years and I was looking to unload my 1998 Maxima SE. I bought that car in 2003 from a one owner who literally had floormats on top of the original floormats. The car had 106K highways miles on it when I bought it, but there wasn't a scratch, door ding or wear mark anywhere. I drove that car another 35K miles and the only thing I replaced was the KS and tires. Never had a problem with it. I felt if I could get a decent price for my Max, then I would use that $$ to find my Q. I sold the Max for an unbelieveable price of $5,100 since I kept the car so clean. I searched high and low for a 97-98 pearl white/tan leather Q with heated seats, no rust and low miles. I thought about looking for a 99-01 model, but honestly, I hated the way Infiniti just stuck the rear backup lights in the trunk lid. It looks unfinished to me. So, after lots of wild goose chases to see local cars, I searched out of state and found a bunch. Carfax and Autocheck were my best friends and I weeded out a ton of potential hidden grenades.

I finally found my car in Georgia. 72K miles, one owner, correct color combo and it had heated seats. Do you know how hard it is to find a southern car with heated seats? The price was reasonable and I kept wondering why it hadn't sold earlier except that it when through one auto auction prior. After exchanging numerous photos of the car and extensive negotiations about airfare and guarantees, I flew down to Atlanta and went to see the car in person. When I pulled up, they had the car all cleaned and prepped and I thought I was getting a sweet deal. The exterior was excellent and the usual things that plague these models (faded, foggy headlights, stone chipped hood and bumper and dull, faded black rocker trim) were already fixed. I knew the car had been in one front end accident, but everything was fixed with factory parts and the paint job was decent. Then, I saw the interior up close and my heart almost sank. It was thoroughly trashed from top to bottom. It was one of the dirtiest interiors I've ever seen and there was clear evidence that it had been eaten it, dranked in, smoked in, probably who knows what else. Now I was faced with a huge dilemma. Walk away from a car with a complete maintenance history and low miles/great exterior for a reasonable price or negotiate a new price while standing in the dealer lot holding my return airfare ticket.

I decided to take a leap of faith and offer a ridiculous price and told them I was ready to fly home. After 15 mins of "talking to the owner" they agreed. I drove car home to Chicago and never looked back. Over the past year, I slowly restored the car to its original glory, even redoing almost the entire interior from numerous parts cars and using every bit of automotive and artistic skill I could muster. I learned more about this one car, than all of the past cars I wrenched on and repaired/restored. The good part is that the maintenance history was fully documented and the car ran and shifted great. If you read some of my threads and posts, there were some strange issues I was able to work out with the help of this forum's members and I hope I also helped some out in the process.

My wife originally thought I was out of my mind for doing all the work I did, but she now comments on how nice everything is and amazed that the car is 11 yrs old and still gets lots of attention wherever we go. Bottom line, I wanted to have a car that no one in town had. I have only spotted one other FGY33 pearl white in a neighboring town since then and it was all beat up. Front bumper was damaged, headlights were crooked and front grill was missing teeth. Worst of all, RUST!! If I were to total up all the hours I spent chasing down decent replacment parts and the miles I drove to visit salvage yards for a part here and a part there, most would say it wasn't worth it. But every time I put my key in the ignition and the seat/steering wheel memory settings shift into place and engine fires up, I know I wouldn't trade my car for anything else right now. I've had a few toys and still have my Vette, but for an everyday driver, they can't compare to the Q.

Remember, no matter how bad a car looks (and runs) it can be fixed with some knowhow, a reasonable amount of $$ and lot's of time and patience. But, if I wasn't able to redo all the things on this project myself with the exception of programming a set of keys and one shop visit to compress my front springs to replace the strut mounts, I would not have been able to afford the restoration costs. Comparable 98s with around the same miles were selling for $12,500 in late 2007. I bought mine for $6,900 out the door, but also spent quite a bit in parts too in the last year.

I will keep the car as long as I can and hopefully I don't lose it to a careless driver. with only 79K on the clock, it can potentially have a long (now pampered) life.

Keep wrenching and be good to one another on this forum.


Modified by tfvesquire at 1:55 PM 4/13/2009

[brymax]

I was in the market for a luxury sedan because I was about to start doing the most F'd up daily drive to and from work.... 77 miles thru Orange County, north up the 405, thru LA to Northridge CA.

4 hrs. coming home sometimes.

I went to Edmunds.com and did tons of research on BMW's, Audi's, MB's, Saab's, Lexus, Acura, Caddy's... you name it.

If you go the review section you can read what the average Joe says about his or her experience with a car they bought. THE 1 make and model that had the fewest bad things said about them was the Infiniti M45. Even people that liked their cars, like BMW owner's always still had something negative to say about them. But virtually no negative comments about the M45.

I drove one and it just wasn't quite big enough and then a 2002 Q45 with 33K miles fell into my lap for $18K and baby I jumped!

I haven't looked back since.