Anyone have an Infiniti?

[Anonymous]

Oh and for maintenance costs, here's an example: on most German cars, when the brakes wear out you can't "turn" the rotors.. You have to replace them. The reason is that they use a softer material that can't be turned, but gives great brake feel. That means a brake job can top $1k. Same with oil changes -- most German cars use long-life oil with variable service intervals, so just the oil on an oil change runs $100+, then there's the filter + labor.

On our Audi, it doesn't go in for scheduled service often, but when it does, I know I'll be paying $500-1k each time. I've owned 5 Audis, all A4s, and none of them have broken while out driving, but I take it in for service as prescribed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy Certified Used, then it comes with a warranty. You can also buy a prepaid maintenance package if you are concerned about cashflow, and often even roll that into the loan. Good deals on certified used are when all the cars come off lease and the new model year is about to arrive (so now is a decent time to buy).

300hp BMW 3-series is overkill for around here. Fun to drive is a mix of performance and handling. The smaller engine on the BMW is fine.

I am one of the PP. I had a 335i and a 328i with the straight 6, not the current more powerful turbo 4. I actually felt the 328i was a more balanced car for this area. The 335i of course was better performing in every sense.

The more recent turbo 4 328i is plenty powerful to make any automobile enthusiast smile because of how well it is executed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and for maintenance costs, here's an example: on most German cars, when the brakes wear out you can't "turn" the rotors.. You have to replace them. The reason is that they use a softer material that can't be turned, but gives great brake feel. That means a brake job can top $1k. Same with oil changes -- most German cars use long-life oil with variable service intervals, so just the oil on an oil change runs $100+, then there's the filter + labor.

On our Audi, it doesn't go in for scheduled service often, but when it does, I know I'll be paying $500-1k each time. I've owned 5 Audis, all A4s, and none of them have broken while out driving, but I take it in for service as prescribed.

Personal anecdotes doesn't help anyone. This is why I stayed away from sharing mine. Look at the bigger dependability studies - Audi ranks higher in dependability than both Infinity and BMW, but below Mercedes. So your good experience with Audi reliability isn't pure luck. To a larger extent, we are all just splitting hairs, a modern car is going to be fairly reliable unless you buy something esoteric.

Regarding rotors: they do not need turning on a BMW or Mercedes or any other vehicle for that matter. Turning the rotors is an additional service that the shops try to sell because it's not covered under warranty and something else they can add to a brake job. New pads will quickly bed down to match the existing grooves in a rotor. Turning rotors artificially reduce their thickness, and make them more prone to warping. There is nothing "soft" about the rotors on a BMW, Mercedes or Audi, they simply do not recommend turning them because it's a bad practice. If the rotors are badly grooved, warped, or worn down to the minimum thickness, they should be replaced, simple as that.

Regarding oil changes: most German cars use euro-spec synthetic oil that lasts 10k miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. My wife's C300 has an 7.5-quart oil capacity, needing 1 and 1/2 jugs of Mobile 1 from Walmart for about $38. The genuine Mann filter is $12 shipped from Amazon.com. If I wanted to get the oil change done by the dealer, it's $99 for the whole thing, parts plus labor. $99 per year versus, what $20-$30 a year? Is that really a big difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and for maintenance costs, here's an example: on most German cars, when the brakes wear out you can't "turn" the rotors.. You have to replace them. The reason is that they use a softer material that can't be turned, but gives great brake feel. That means a brake job can top $1k. Same with oil changes -- most German cars use long-life oil with variable service intervals, so just the oil on an oil change runs $100+, then there's the filter + labor.

On our Audi, it doesn't go in for scheduled service often, but when it does, I know I'll be paying $500-1k each time. I've owned 5 Audis, all A4s, and none of them have broken while out driving, but I take it in for service as prescribed.

Personal anecdotes doesn't help anyone. This is why I stayed away from sharing mine. Look at the bigger dependability studies - Audi ranks higher in dependability than both Infinity and BMW, but below Mercedes. So your good experience with Audi reliability isn't pure luck. To a larger extent, we are all just splitting hairs, a modern car is going to be fairly reliable unless you buy something esoteric.

Regarding rotors: they do not need turning on a BMW or Mercedes or any other vehicle for that matter. Turning the rotors is an additional service that the shops try to sell because it's not covered under warranty and something else they can add to a brake job. New pads will quickly bed down to match the existing grooves in a rotor. Turning rotors artificially reduce their thickness, and make them more prone to warping. There is nothing "soft" about the rotors on a BMW, Mercedes or Audi, they simply do not recommend turning them because it's a bad practice. If the rotors are badly grooved, warped, or worn down to the minimum thickness, they should be replaced, simple as that.

Regarding oil changes: most German cars use euro-spec synthetic oil that lasts 10k miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. My wife's C300 has an 7.5-quart oil capacity, needing 1 and 1/2 jugs of Mobile 1 from Walmart for about $38. The genuine Mann filter is $12 shipped from Amazon.com. If I wanted to get the oil change done by the dealer, it's $99 for the whole thing, parts plus labor. $99 per year versus, what $20-$30 a year? Is that really a big difference?

OP here. Thank you, you've given me a lot to think about. I guess on maintenance I was thinking about my sister who bought a corvette and everything on that car was expensive. The tires were $400 a piece, a brake job was $1,000, etc. I didn't want to end up in a situation like that.

Agree on the oil changes, the difference is negligible.

[Anonymous]

dang, new poster here, and now i'm thinking about a bmw 3 series.lol i was planning to get a prius or camry!

can you recommend a model, 4 door, low maintenance, for someone who is not very knowledgable about cars? i've always done certified used.

[Anonymous]

If you're worried about the cost of maintenance, avoid a MB, BMW or Audi. Yes, they usually offer free maintenance the first 4 years, but after then, get ready to start shelling out major money for routine repairs, maintenance. I speak from experience! Even new windshield wipers on a Mercedes cost over $200.

[Anonymous]

I used to buy German cars but after the warranty period they are money pits. I have bought quite a few Infiniti and they are not expensive to maintain and share parts with Nissan (just like audi and vw). The technology and reliability on Infiniti are top of the market second to only tesla. The suvs have a multi camera view that makes it very easy to maneuver especially

[Anonymous]

I prefer the infiniti over any other midsize car other than the jaguar.

[Anonymous]

Infinitis are cheap and look like you're trying wwaayyyyy too hard to impress. Trashy "think I'm new money" sort of vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Infinitis are cheap and look like you're trying wwaayyyyy too hard to impress. Trashy "think I'm new money" sort of vibe.

No. That would be the Mercedes or BMW. Look who drives them. New immigrants

[Anonymous]

Now you guys are arguing which luxury car says "I am trying to impress people"? lol. Try "all of them". That's kind of the point of luxury cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now you guys are arguing which luxury car says "I am trying to impress people"? lol. Try "all of them". That's kind of the point of luxury cars.

Infiniti is not a luxury brand. It's faux-luxury.

One step above Hyundai, but at least hyundai is honest about who they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now you guys are arguing which luxury car says "I am trying to impress people"? lol. Try "all of them". That's kind of the point of luxury cars.

Infiniti is not a luxury brand. It's faux-luxury.

One step above Hyundai, but at least hyundai is honest about who they are.

That's kind of my opinion as well. I'm not big on any of the Japanese luxury cars. If I am buying a luxury car it's going to be German. If I am buying a practical car it's going to be Japanese. I just don't like the styling, image and owner community around any of the Japanese luxury cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now you guys are arguing which luxury car says "I am trying to impress people"? lol. Try "all of them". That's kind of the point of luxury cars.

Infiniti is not a luxury brand. It's faux-luxury.

One step above Hyundai, but at least hyundai is honest about who they are.

enlighten us oh great one about your definition of a luxury car, rolls royce ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now you guys are arguing which luxury car says "I am trying to impress people"? lol. Try "all of them". That's kind of the point of luxury cars.

Infiniti is not a luxury brand. It's faux-luxury.

One step above Hyundai, but at least hyundai is honest about who they are.

enlighten us oh great one about your definition of a luxury car, rolls royce ?

Oh come on - infinitis are cheap and wannabe. Even Lexus is nicer - and I'm down on Lexus.

When I see an Infiniti, I see cheap babywhore perfume, sorority stickers, and daddy's barely upper middle class wannabe-baller money.

Or, I see two gs-14s who think that not only have they made it, but that you in your dodge 3500 (more $ btw), hasn't.

It really is a "luxury" car for 105-110 IQs with poor insight.

Enjoy your "G" wagon, PP.