Performance
Comfort
Fuel Economy
Fun To Drive
Interior Design
Exterior Design
Build Quality
Reliability
Review
Update: This car is still running well. Just had it serviced. The only problem is that it really 'does' use up a lot of gas. I'm going to have to switch back to the Sonata and use the G35 for the weekends.
My old car was wrecked, when a little old lady ran into it. Purchased a Hyundai Sonata, which is a great vehicle. But it is not as much fun to drive as the V6 powered coupe, I had. After looking more than a year, I found this 2004 Infiniti G35 with only 69,000 miles on it, via a referral. Had it checked out by a well-respected mechanic. Told me it was in excellent condition, but would eventually need one control arm and a valve cover gasket replacement. Using that information, I got it for a steal at $4500. Here's the main thing I don't like about it. It sucks gas with an average mpg of about 23 miles per gallon. Compared to the Hyundai's average of about 34mpg. It was expected, but it is different when you notice that you are doing fill-ups more than once a week. It is a little bit noisy, and you can easily hear the outsides sounds. But the purr of the engine makes it worth it. The good things though. Being a 2004 G35, that was a year before a horsepower increase, so it readily accepts regular gasoline. The accelerate is smooth and strong, a very slight tap on the gas at highway speed will have me up from 65 to 80+ in no time. Unlike the Sonata, this G35 goes exactly where you point it, sometimes it gets there before you do. It holds a curve perfectly at higher speeds, you don't have to worry about it jumping around, even on bumpy pavement. The cabin size feels just right, but don't expect for adults to be super comfortable in the back. Doing switchbacks in the nearby Smokey Mountains is absolutely fun. Last of all, if you get a little bit too happy and hit the brakes, they drag the car down to a stop very quickly. Visibility is pretty decent, too. Here's the 'worst thing' about this car. The infuriating entertainment system. It has a cassette player, multi-disk cd player and of course am/fm. The am/fm is horrible and with lots of static. But the craziest thing is if you attempt to play the radio, cassette or cd player, while the AC/HEATER is on, the controls of the ac/heater and/or the entertainment system, will lock up. When you have both on, you can't change the temperature or fan speed of the ac/heater, nor can you change the channel, the volume, the track, or the tone of the entertainment system. All of the controls just lock at the setting that you had initially. You have to actually shut the car off, then restart it, which will usually put one of the two things in off position. A review of youtube found this to be a common problem because the ac/heater and entertainment system both use the same circuit board. Putting in an aftermarket entertainment system usually solves the problem. However, because the radio is neither din or double din size, you must buy an aftermarket dashboard insert, which cost about $200, for essentially a piece of molded plastic. That doesn't include the actual replacement entertainment price! I've had estimates between $800 to $1700 to replace the system. Geez.