OK, so we've owned our I30 for something like 11 years. Been great. Usual small things like MAF, coils, CV axles. Fantastically reliable, though.

Our VW is a huge PITA. Multiple trips to the dealer. Luckily, all covered under warranty. It's going back to VW cus of the whole "dieselgate" mess.

We're considering having THIS CAR shipped down from MI to FL. HERE IS THE CARFAX. It was registered as a fleet vehicle for the first owner. This could be a bad thing, and it might be a halfway decent thing. Some fleets are beat to crap, but those cars are usually like Altimas, Crown Vics, Taurus, etc. Usually upscale cars are business vehicles that are fairly well-maintained.
The pictures look fantastic for a northern car. I do see a small tear to the driver's seat on the apex of that hump that sticks out by your ribs. There's a TINY warp/bulge to the side skirt in picture 10 (bottom right near door jam). OK, so check out the mileage history. It sat for like almost 6 years!! From 06-12. In that time, it only got something like 5,000 miles put on it. Do you think this could be a sign that maybe it was wrecked and sat, waiting for a repair until 2012?
I'm trying to line up the dealer to drop it off at the Saginaw Nissan dealership and have them inspect it for $250. There is also a very nice fella at Enszer's auto repair that charges only $85 and says he does a really thorough job of body seams, oil leaks, rust, interior components, etc. I was kinda hinting I'd bump the price up for him if he treats it like a car he'd be buying himself. I wouldn't mind dropping $150, but $250 seems steep.

The second thing that worried me was that the 2nd owner had it serviced 3 times in the last 6,000 miles under the term of "tune-up" service. I called the Speedy Auto Service shop and had them look up the VIN. I briefly explained that I'm quite sure that vehicle history isn't an issue to share. Only stuff like personal information (license plate #, address, name, etc.). He rattled off some of the services done to it. Evap canister, Throttle Body replaced, Power steering flush, tranny flush, emissions test, and some usual little stuff. No history of fuel filter, alignments (sign of accident), etc.

I'm vaguely familiar with the oil consumption issue. I know these engines are slightly more irritating to work on than the oh-so-awesome VQ30, but can someone throw a quick list together for me of specifics I should have him check for?

Are there any confirmed symptoms of a neglected oil consumption issue? I know there's speculation of pre-cats and/or rings, but I didn't see any real confirmation. Compression test would cost me a likely $300+ since I obviously can't do it myself.

Thanks for any help and please don't be "that guy" and run over there and buy it before I can. We're really excited to have a twin sister to our I30 sitting in the driveway. If I can get 5yrs/60k miles out of the car, I'd be more than happy.

 

I had an 03 and sold it to my bf's mom, absolutely loved/love the car, bad turning radius (terrible actually) is the only thing bad I can say about it, price is a bit on the higher side, I'd say 5800, otherwise go for it..... Car is bulletproof, hefty on gas (premium) but no issues, awesome in the snow (but then again you live in FL so why the hell do you care) chew him down and go get that car!!!!

 

I had a 2000 and now own 2 2003s. Great vehicles. I have never had a throttle body replaced. The 2k has over 300,000 miles. The one 03 has 150,000+ and the other has 110,000.
OTher than normal spark plugs, coil packs, cv shafts, brakes I haven't had to do much. The only thing l can think of that will need to be done at that age is the struts.
They are easy to replace. Can be done in a few hours in the driveway.
Both my 03s consume oil. I just keep an eye on it and its all good.

 

Dieselgate is balogney. VW coincidentally helped the consumer. Anyone getting theirs reflashed needs their license revoked.

There is no speculation. Precats will kill the motor sooner or later. Unless driven hard, it should be fine as of now with those ultra low miles.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll see if I can get the inspection lined up in the next few days.

Do they still make headers/y-pipes for the 3.5? Any way to tune out the CEL if both are deleted? Who is still in business? I know cattman went under. I still have a y-pipe on my '00 and it resolved my CEL for 1/3 the price of replacing with a stock unit.

 

Exterior's clean but being a Northern car, the undercarriage will be a crusty mess. Look out for rotted oil & tranny pans, oil cooler line and rad $upport.

I bought my I35 with about the same miles back in 2012 from the original upstate NY owner. Things I've done to date:
- Struts
- Rear calipers and brakes
- New exhaust due to rust
- Radiator
- High pressure PS hose
- Tie rod ends

Nothing major but certainly pricey things if you take it to a shop. I burn about 1 qt of oil every 6K miles.

 

Ya it's rated at 30city/42hwy MPG. Worst tank we ever got was 38.7. Best was just shy of 47. And I thrashed it for 2 weeks straight on that worst tank. Usually averages 41-43

There likely won't be a fix for our 1st-gen. Likely going to be forced to buyback. I don't mind. Sunroof has leaked multiple times. A/c condenser cracked. Radio died. Wheel speed sensors, tire pressure monitors, etc, etc... all in 2+ years of owning it.

Are you talking about the VW flash that "fixes" the issue or the flash to get it tuned? $500 stage 2 tune takes you from 135hp/230tq to 170hp/300tq but your DPF is gonna die a lot faster. Delete the DPF/EGR, you SIGNIFICANTLY improve the life expectancy of the engine. However, you're rollin coal under extreme loads and a little puff from a standstill.

While on the topic of diesel, though, ever seen a 335d? This is the dream car. Only ~$2k more than we have in the VW now. We'd have to buy the extended warranty to cover the insane repair costs, but 265hp/425tq stock and $1500 of mods later, 330hp/520-540tq depending on engine's life leading up to that point. (carbon buildup and such from EGR)

 

Why the $$$? Was the radiator support expensive? I thought it was just a couple of metal tabs like the I30.


Edit: Another question: has anyone successfully trained their 3.5 to run on 87 octane or at least 89? Our I30 took right to 87 after about 3 tanks of mixing octane boosters and such. Does putting a fresh tank of 87 in and doing the air learning curve reset have any effect on it?

 

Its fine on 87 if you aren't modding it. That's all my daughter puts in hers.

 

Thanks. Our 3.0 is, too. Good to know.

 

"software update" lol

Man, I knew the german cars were terrible, but that's absurd. And they're all bad. A little better interior and good stock suspension doesn't make up for the price or those pitfalls.
I can only imagine how bad it gets after a couple more years (which is why they have jack **** resale).

 

I would never ship a northern car into Florida. We have so many rust free cars here that it makes no sense. Even though the outside looks nice it'll be rusted underneath. If you look around the North and NW part of Florida you'll find lots of cheap rust free cars.

The "commercial" use most likely means it was a company car for someone. Not a rental or fleet car.

 

Just about any Euro car is crap. I work at a shop that specializes in high end Euro cars. We work on nearly any Euro car. We actually turn away most VW/ Audi customers just because the cars are such crap.

Porsche, Ferrari and a few older BMW are the only ones who aren't complete crap.

 

Can you point me in the direction of such a car that you speak of? Trying to keep cost under $8-9. $10 at most for like an I35 or '07ish G35 with like 40k miles. We're looking for something with leather. One word:KIDS. Preferably black leather. Don't care too much if it's manual vs Auto. Under 100k. Prefer under 75k. Mid-size. Accord, Maxima, I30, Mazda6, Camry *gasp* can't believe I said that.

What kind of issues could pop up in the next 5 years related to rust? I can replace a corroded oil pan or tranny pan.

I could care less about resale value. I'll drive it til it has a catastrophic failure. $6500ish shipped to last 5 years is totally fine by me. Anything more than that is a bonus.

 

I would search internet adds and dealers in the area. Many auto classified sites will allow you to search in and around specific zip codes.

I don't see any problems with rust on the right car. My 00 with 300,000 and my 02 with 220,000 have no rust at all. The underside of both cars looks like they just rolled off the lot. Silver bolts, black suspension and the rest is body color. Even the infamous front core support is still covered in glossy paint on both cars. I recently did some work on the 00 which required removing the stock exhaust and Y-pipe. Every bolt came off and I put it all back together with the factory bolts. Even the heat shields.

 

No salt braggart. Beatings incoming :P

 

I got an 02 I-35 from north carolina last year with 180K on the dash. It spent most of its life in New Jersey so there was a significant amount of rust on the undercarrige and parts of the engine. BUt it ran and i got it for a great deal that i could not pass up. The exhaust needed to be replaced, valve covers, coils and a wheel bearing and recently a water pump. BUt ive put 20K miles on the car and for the price i got it for is pretty good.

 

This is Prly the stupidest thing I've read today. First, porsche is owned by audi, so how are they perfect, and audi junk? Have you heard of ims failures...? What about rebuilding the air cooled motors. Ferrari isn't the pinnacle of reliability either, but they're exotics so they're supposed to be expensive.

I've had several newer vw's to 200-300k plus (not even tdi's). Compare a 2003 jetta to a caviler, or a B5.5 passat to a Taurus. See which ones are junk and which ones are still around.

 

Have you done a google search of the VIN to see what shows up? I have found info our on perspective vehicles that did not show up on a car fax. In one case, I found a nice, clean older Dodge Dakota that was a wreck and repaired.

 

https://northtorontoauction.com/v/141748?media=print

Interesting... I wonder if mileage is KM?

Nothing else I could find gives additional insights into the history of the car.

 

I mean his username does began with VR6 yall .

 

I have to agree with this 110%. I live in NY & the road salt just destroys cars so unless you know for sure that the I35 you're looking at was never driven in the winter then I would stay away from it. Those of us in the rust belt always try to purchase older cars from southern states.

 

Here's one closer to you with 76K miles. It's within your price range however it does have tan interior. I also have little kids so I understand the preference for black interior but with some extra floor mats & some Britax Kick mats for the back of the front seats the tan interior is manageable.

http://giveawayauto.com/inventory/36...3-Infiniti-I35

 

That's alotta car for the money!

 

lemon to a brown banana

 

I sold my rust free 2002 i35 with 60k recently only for $4500..with brand new struts, mounts, you name it....mint..tan leather...it took me a while to sell at that price too (2-3 months).

 

I've seen how worthless nice cars are over there. It's a shame.

 

Rust is relative. I bought my '03 from MD and had it shipped to WI. A guy from an independent MD shop that inspected it before I bought it said there was rust. I thought that was pretty funny when I finally got it because the underside looks practically new compared to what rust looks like here.

Cars from snowy salty states are going to have all kinds of body rot on a 13yr-old car. I agree with the poster who said to not bring a salty-state car to you. IMHO buy one from a warm-weather state. It may have some "rust", but certainly not salty-state rust.

 

OK, so we ended up grabbing THIS ONE

1-owner, lived in a pretty rural area outside of Hanover, PA. Southern PA doesn't quite get hammered by lake-effect snows like MI, NY, etc. The only rust of any note was this muffler rot. Is that the original muffler or has it been replaced once? I thought it odd to have a company name branded on it. It's got a slight leak at the axle-back flange. Other than that, it's just got a tiny seepage coming from the power steering. Not enough to cause a drip. It was at the inspection shop for 2 nights, and he said it didn't look like it was an active dripper.

So where do I find a somewhat-OEM catback system to go ahead and replace the rusty exhaust? I wouldn't mind a TINY bit of rumble over stock, but the wife doesn't want this one to be loud. Any links are appreciated.

Are spark plugs on the 3.5 recommended at 75k? I'm assuming they probably haven't been done. I'm practicing removing the intake manifold on our I30 to replace a valve cover gasket. Then I'll tackle the plugs on the 3.5.

What life expectancy should I expect out of the VQ35? I know the 30DE-K is an easy 250k+ motor, but what seems to be about the average time of death for a well-maintained 3.5?

Also, what weight oil does the 3.5 use?
Thx, everyone!

 

Does anyone have links to audio clips of stock headers with an OBX catback? I can't really find one on youtube.

 

^^Nice ride. Mine is the exact same color combo. That exhaust is a Walker, so aftermarket.

 

So is our I30 in my sig. It'll have a twin sister except under the hood.

That means the exhaust has likely already rotted out once Everything else in the background looks clean, so hopefully we won't find any hidden surprises. I really should've specifically had them check the front radiator support as I know they're an issue.

Still wanting to know if anyone has links to OBX catback soundclips with resonator intact.


Anyone want to chime in on life expecancy of the 3.5? General consensus?

We have a bid out there for a shipper. Hoping to have the car picked up by Wednesday and down here by Friday/Saturday.

 

Well i had the chance to see one with 295K miles and still running.

 

I just bumped into an older couple at the post office with 280k on a 98 Max. I can only hope the 3.5 goes that long.

Car was picked up today. Be here Saturday.

I'm basically going to drive the I35 for the first month to see if I notice anything of concern before I stick the wife and kid in it. I'm gonna sink about $1k into the front end of the I30 meanwhile. It's in need of some ball joints, control arms, etc.

I think between the 2 cars, we should be set for a solid 5+ years til the I30 craps out. It's gonna be my daily until it dies. Then I'll use the 35 and buy a used G37 for the wife or something at that point.

Thanks for the replies. I'll update with pics on Saturday/Sunday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

Some of the best money spent on my 2000 SE - Rebuilt front end with PST/Moog parts and installed KYB struts all around at 127k miles. I'd recommend it!

 

My 3.5 car has 225,000 miles and my 3.0 car has just over 300,000.

Rebuilding the front end of the 00 car did wonders for how it drives. Surprisingly enough, It still has the original struts up front with no problems.