Recently purchased a 98 i30 t 5spd
 

Hey guys, It's a 98, one owner, clean title, 63,000 original miles. Hope you guys enjoy the pics, i don't see too many 96-99 i30's anymore.

A few more pics...

That thing is freaking mint!!

Yeah, definitely nice.

Thanks guys. I'll try my best to keep her that way.

Jealousssss.

How much did you pay?

The stealership wanted 5,500 before taxes and fees. But i ended up paying 5,000 out the door. I still feel like i over paid but I'm ok with that because i could not find another one like it.

That is a RARE BEAUTY. Where did you find it? The t-models use thicker strut top hats.

If you ever need Infiniti parts, this place has about the best price in the country. Many times I find their prices are lower than Nissan parts.

https://www.orderinfinitiparts.com/

Thanks, I found her on cars.com. I searched for about 2 months before this one came up. I have dealt with orderinfinitiparts.com before when I owned my I35. They do have good prices.

I was getting a "ghost code" P0325 (knock sensor) . I replaced it with a new one from Nissan. While I was in there I went ahead and cleaned the throttle body and MAF sensor.

Finally got a chance to drive the car today after replacing the knock sensor and cleaning both the throttle body and MAF. Throttle response and acceleration feels alot better, and there are no other codes.

Picked up a i30 trunk mat from a member here, 95naSTA.

Nice ride! Best of luck with it!

Great find. Yes you probably overpaid a bit, but find another in that condition with the manual. You wont. Believe me, I've looked for years.

Thanks. I knew it was priced high, but the dealership was aware of what they had. The general manager called it "a rare beast".

Awesome car! Any rad support rust? It otherwise looks mint!

Thanks, there is a very small spot of rust on the rad support but nothing serious. One of the members on here got to see the car and also agreed that the rad support was in good shape.

Check out the prices on parts.com, they usually are the lowest.

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

looked at a 96 i30 a few years back, wasn't as quick as my 95 maxima and it was beat up. it was at an infinti dealer, so they were asking like 6,000 and it had 117,000 on it. you did not overpay considering what that car went for new, nice find.

Thanks! I've seen a few on different websites since I purchased my car that have been going for as much if not really close to what I paid. Some looked very clean but none were a T model let alone a manual. Also, they all had more mileage. There was one being auctioned recently on b.a.t, it was a 99 t with a 5spd (white/w tan interior). It was very clean with about 134k miles. Sold for 4,200.

That reminds me, about 2 months before I found my car, i came across a 98 t with a 5spd (white/w tan interior) that was local to me. It had 200k miles and after checking the carfax i realized the car had a very rough life but I called the guy and went to go see it anyway just because of its rarity. The car was worse than I expected, it was beaten to hell and back. I didn't have the time to waste on trying to bring it back to life. The guy was letting it go for as little as 800. Last I saw someone purchased it and was trying to resale it after a week of ownership.

yup, found a really nice looking 98 maxima forest green a few weeks back, had low miles but was highly neglected and would'nt even start. i ran a scanner on it and came back with 6 codes, guy said he'd get his mechanic to get it up and running but he got ripped off for a 500.00 alternator and i let it go. thank god for all my years of being on this board, saved me from wasting a lot of money and time.

Congrats on the car! You didn't get ripped off...low mileage clean older Infinitis are hard to come by! Manual shift is a unicorn!

Thanks.

That thing is super clean.

Thanks!

This thing is ridiculously MINT!!! thanks for the spin man..miss my max now haha enjoy the part!!!

Anytime! Want to say thanks again for the stillen front strut bar.

Wow, that sure is a clean I30! I must say that I'm a little jealous. Granted, I paid only a little more than that when I bought mine in 2003, but it is "a rare beast" so it's not an unreasonable price. You must be local to the DMV if you met up with Miguel! That trunk mat is pretty sweet too, and it fits better than the I35 mat I grabbed at the junkyard! What are the plans for the car?

Thanks! Yeah, I'm in MD. I kept my i35 trunk mat also, but it doesnt fit right. The plan honestly is to keep it stock. I eventually want to do a suspension refresh. Any suggestions or advice? Go OEM or would aftermarket make these cars handle better?

Using aftermarket parts will certainly allow you to make the car handle better, but there are always trade-offs, and given how small our aftermarket has become, getting quality parts is going to be tough. I don't know if full OEM will be necessary though. If you want to make the car handle better without killing ride quality, stock Touring/SE shocks and springs combined with an aftermarket RSB and good tires should be a nice combo. Once you start lowing these cars ride quality quickly goes to sh!t, oftentimes for little real benefit.

Man, I love those dark I30s. Cypress Pearl and Black are just so nice.

The stillen strut bar I picked up from lux97Max.

A little update. Almost a year of ownership. She's currently sitting at 69k miles. I've decided it's time to do a suspension refresh along with a couple of other things. Just need to get a few more things before I start this lil project.

Holy crap, you bought OEM control arms?!? Those things are like $250 each, right? As much as I love my car and want to give it the best, I couldn't justify those over the $40 Moogs. Props for buying the good stuff!

Please don't remind me lol. I plan on keeping her for as long as possible, so I don't mind using OEM parts as long as it goes with what I'm trying to do. Thanks for the props!

Beautiful car, inside and outside. Nice to see you treating it with the care it deserves.

How does that phone system work?

Thanks! The IVCS doesn't work anymore. If I press one of the buttons it just says "no service". From what I read, Infiniti dropped the service after 1 year. It was basically for roadside assistance, air bag deployment notification, unlock door via satellite, stolen vehicle recovery, one touch emergency.

I figured it was something like that. Too bad they don't offer service now. Neat conversation piece for die hard enthusiasts at least.

Found a set of Limited door sills in black.