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After much research I finally made a purchase. About 6 weeks ago we bought an Infiniti G35x AWD, Premium package, genuine birds-eye Maple wood trim (only on the door pulls and a small bit on the gearshift, tasteful) for $250 over invoice. All in all we spent about 3k more than we wanted to but no regrets so far. Other models considered were the IS300 SportCross, Acura TL, 3-series, Bonneville GXP, all Saabs, Saturn Vue Red Line and the Volvo S80. It will be driven primarily on weekends for now (until we move to the suburbs). It really seems like a great car so far (but I am coming out of the wife’s 92 Paseo so anything is a huge improvement).
Overall, I’m happy with our new car. The only negatives that I have found so far are, in no particular order: there’s a prop rod for the hood, the controls on the center stack are backwards (the car is RHD in Japan and the dash layout hasn’t been modified for the US), no remote gas filler release (although the filler door locks when the car is locked). Also, the carpet seems a bit thin (but this is near-luxury I suppose?). I catch a reflection in the back window from the Bose subwoofer in certain light. Also, the center console appears to be made from the same material as my Sony boom box and seems like it will scratch easily (it’s not the painted ‘titanium look’). Time will tell. Styling-wise, I see a little Passat here (a good thing), a little Taurus there (not so good). The vertical front headlights remind me of a mid 60’s GTO that I’ll most likely never own.
Other than those minor annoyances the car is a joy to drive. Acceleration is effortless at any speed (again, we’re coming from a 1.5L Toyota) and the car feels substantial, solid with no rattles so far. The 3.5L VQ seems like a great powerplant with power at any speed/RPM. An early C/D test of the RWD sedan said the G35 had a “quirky” personality- “agile yet raw, luxurious yet slightly unsorted.” The addition of AWD to the FM platform should take care of that “unsorted” feeling, with the ability of the AWD system to pull the car through corners. I’ll probably never find out in everyday driving on the Long Island Exp. Maybe once the snow falls I can have some fun (controlled fun, of course). I wish they had Aero Academy for this particular model.
Anyway, this is still my favorite automotive website/forum bar none! I’ll still be lurking around here, probably more so than the Nissan forums. They’re rather quiet from what I can tell so far. Thanks Scott!
posted by 128.122.11...
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