2005 INFINITI G35 COUPE

First off let me say how much of a pleasure it is to drive this car. The looks are astounding and the exhaust note at certain RPM's gives an exhilarating feeling while accelerating! It is a sure head turner and a favorite with the ladies ;) 

I loved the 6 disc, MP3, Bose System. Crisp, clear sound that sounded great at high volumes. I appreciated the overhead sunglasses compartment and the cup holders in the doors as well. The bucket seats gave that 'cockpit experience' with a nice touch of having the orange stitched steering wheel to top it off. The car handled well at top speeds and you hardly felt no roll or weight transfer at all. I've topped it out at 160 mph since the 6MT did not seem to have a rev limiter or governor. 

I have owned a Datsun 120Y (old school), a Nissan Pulsar, an Altima and a Maxima among other vehicles. The first thing I noticed when I drove the car was the stiffness of the suspension. I got the sport tuned, 6MT version and I was actually surprised that the quality of ride was not better. Well, I guess that goes with having a sport suspension. The clutch was also very stiff but that was to be expected with the sport tuned version as well. The instrument cluster panel was your typical Nissan panel and is virtually the same in all their cars; having that dull, boring 'orange lighting'. 

After reading all the other reviews I have come to realize that the uneven wear of the tires is a common problem that Infiniti has failed to acknowledge and address. After 10K miles I started hearing the dreaded heavy 'rolling sound'. Took it to the dealership who informed me that it was caused by the uneven wear of the tires. They said the car had no camber adjustment in the front which caused the tires to wear unevenly. They cut away very badly on the insides of the front and wore mostly in the center in the rear. They admitted that the car was 'hard on tires' but that was normal. I went through 3 sets of tires in 3 years. I installed a camber kit for the front which ended up costing about $600 for the kit and installation. 

One thing the car lacked was memory seats and mirrors. It's always hard re-adjusting your seats and mirrors after someone else drives your car and changes it. This would have been a nice feature. The heated leather seats were well appreciated during the winter but the leather itself seem to 'wrinkle' after time. 

At about 25K miles the clutch surprisingly started slipping. Took it to the dealership who mentioned that it was not covered under warranty and would cost about $2K in parts & labor to repair. I was shocked and upset especially after they hinted that the clutch was possibly abused. I have been driving manual cars since the age of 13 when my dad taught me and this is the first car that I have ever come across that went through a clutch so quickly. To make a long story short, after battling it out with 2 different dealerships they agreed to partially cover it. They covered the clutch but I had to buy the flywheel and pay for labor. Needless to say I still was not happy about having to fork out $1,300. Warranty on the parts and labor was 1 year. 

11 months and a new set of tires later the clutch starts making a loud squeaking sound at idle; when not depressed. I take it in and they tell me that the clutch is low and will need replacing soon. I was in disbelief! Not even 9k miles and not even a full year and they tell me that I need another clutch. Now keep in mind that they tell you that if you use an aftermarket clutch that you will void your existing warranty and that they will only honor genuine OEM parts.  

I wasn't going to spend $2,600 for 2 clutches in 1 year so I left the Infiniti dealership and drove straight to the BMW dealership. Their cars are expensive but their warranty covers brakes, clutches, even windshield wipers. Ended up trading the 6MT for a twin turbo 335i coupe. 300 hp and 300 ft lb torque. They have a stage 2 chip upgrade that costs $1,999 that takes the car up to 384 hp and 421 ft lb torque. That is very good considering that a stage 2 twin turbo kit for the 6mt costs about $6,500 and another $2,000 to install. 

I miss certain things about the 6MT but I don't miss the problems and the 'wasting money' aspect of it.

 The dipstick is the most ridiculous design I have ever encountered.  If you can get good visual reading off that thing after the car has been running, good luck.  If there's any oil in that chamber forget trying to get a correct reading.  It's a crapshoot.  Clutch noise - I dunno what it is but I can feel every resonance in this car in the clutch and brake pedals - a bit more feedback than I'm accustomed to.

The car looks great and the engine is very good, but unless you?re willing to spend a couple grand a year replacing tires and paying for alignments, look for another car.