My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep - Car Talk

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My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep - Car Talk - Nairaland

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My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 7:09am On May 03, 2019

So, I got tired of my old ES330. Great car, comfortable cruiser, and just all-around solid enough that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone buying a car in that price range. That said, it had a few issues:

- It rode like a boat
- It was not at all designed for my driving style. Ergo, aggressive, Mad Max driving. It's very much an executive car designed to get you from A to B in comfort
- It was EVERYWHERE! No sense of uniqueness with an ES.

Picking the Car to Buy
I needed to get something a bit more adventurous.
Budget: 3m

The idea was to pre-order and save costs, which would allow me get something a bit fancier. I quickly drew up a shortlist of cars.

- 2006 CLK 500
- Lexus IS350
- Porsche Cayenne S
- Audi A4/S4
- Mercedes Benz C350

However, my heart was already bent on one car: The 2007/2008 Infiniti G35. 2007 was the start of a new generation, and it brought a new design factor that Infiniti used on the G cars until circa 2014. Very important, since it meant that the G wouldn't look outdated for a few years. Also, it had a new engine, the VQ35HR, widely regarded as the best of all the VQ engines, and one of the best V6's of all time.

Also, most of the other cars had issues.
- The C350 is rare to purchase and the earlier years had a few faults that weren't fixed until the facelift in 2011.
- The IS 350's 2GR-FSE costs like 1.5m, and me I don't have money for that in case yawa gas. angry

- An old Porsche with a big v8 may be a thrilling prospect but I bet maintenance wouldn't have been easy.
- Audi's are...Audi's. Terrible to work on.

It was between the CLK and the Infiniti. The Infiniti being the faster, better handling car was a lot more attractive. The idea of the 5L M113 V8 on the CLK did entice me, but CLKs are built on the W203 platform and share a lot of parts. W203's aren't exactly the most reliable cars out there.

It had to be the G35.

10 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 7:10am On May 03, 2019

Finding Someone to Help Me With the Process
Since I Wasn't looking to get scammed or toyed with, I had to find someone who'd help me with the purchase. Country hard, and money is even harder to make. angry

If person by mistake scam me, I fit just die. grin

Did some research on Nairaland. Na we be VIN police, we sabi people wey their head fit touch.

Hit up the first guy. Not going to name drop them for obvious reasons. Their charges were fair but they didn't have much in the way of social proof. More importantly, though, their response time was very much lacking. In matters like this, it's important you find someone who responds on time. Someone who doesn't respond appropriately is likely to start being a pain as the transaction goes deeper, and may very well start acting like they're doing you a favor.

I found the right guy.
Cc: DelTel

Hit him up, did a background check, no misdeamenours on Autos and Cartalk, very straightforward by all indications. Perfect.

Asked him for charges, etc. He was plain about everything. Paid the deposit, and we set out to buy a car.

Buying the Car
Buying the car was by far the most stressful part of the process. We picked out about eight different listings on Copart, and sorted them by priority.

The problem with auctions is that most times, some of the cars picked were on live auction at the same, which left us in quite the bind. You see, if you bid and win, you have to pay up. So, bidding on two cars at the same time is a bad idea, because...what if you win both. We had to further prioritize cars.

Three days later, we'd gone through six of the cars and had nothing to show for it.

We turned to IAA.

Won a bid.

A few hours later, bid was deemed as inadequate and relisted with a Buy Now option. I chose to bid on another car on Copart and see if it went through. We lost the Copart bid, and by the time we tried using the Buy Now option for the IAA one, someone else already had it. From Nigeria, too.

Bloody hell.

Anyways, we won the last car that we shortlisted. Damage to the rear bumper and lights only. Paid for it, trucked, and shipped.

I'd have preferred a RWD model, to be honest. AWD is heavier, more complicated, and worse on fuel economy. On the other hand, it's better for safety. Oh well. I go use am like that

Ran a free VIN check by myself before purchase to ensure I wasn't getting anything with a horrid history. After purchase, I ran a check with CarGuidNG. Report was delivered on time and had all the necessary information.

Here are some screenshots of my conversations with DelTel.

5 Likes 2 Shares

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 7:10am On May 03, 2019

Buying and Shipping
Bid was won on February 27, trucked out of Copart on March 1, ship sailed on April 1, and was in Lagos on April 20.

Seven weeks from purchase to berthing. It's important to note that most of that time was spent at the port, which means that with some luck, a potential buyer may be able to cut the total time down to 4-5 weeks.

Ship berthed on April 20. A Saturday evening. Monday was a holiday, so clearing began on Tuesday. Car was out of the port on Friday evening. I think the longer clearing time was because the customs agent had an issue with insufficient documents, so a day was wasted.

Basically, expect your car's clearance to take three days. Car was out of the port on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, I set out to Lagos with my big boss. At the Niger Bridge by 7 am, at Ore by 9. Traffic held us there for about two hours tho. Entered Lagos by 2 pm.

The car was delivered to Gazzuzz's office early Saturday morning.

First picture at Ore.
Second at Berger.
Third at Ikeja
Fourth at... lipsrsealed

you all know.

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 7:11am On May 03, 2019

Gazzuzz was not around. angry

I did meet Seun, though.
Cc: Oluwaseunla

Great guy! Helped me with a lot. Also met a few Nairalanders whose monikers were either not revealed to me or escape me at the moment.

Anwyay, we got to Lagos on Saturday evening and planned on leaving first thing Sunday morning. That turned out to be a Pipedream grin

The crase painter didn't even touch the car until we arrived. We ended up getting the car on Sunday evening by half past six. Urgh. Stay till Monday morning and risk Lagos traffic on the first day of the school term? Fook it, we hit the road.

It's important to note that the car had no single powertrain fault. Not a CEL, nothing. Was serviced at an Infiniti dealership and its next service is still 1500 miles away.

Full tank of gas cost 10k. 70 litres. Hit the road by 8, was at Ore by past 11. Onwards to Biafra. Smooth sailing for the most part though there was an incident at Benin with police shooting. We got to Asaba and na there wahala land. Car refused to rev. Throttle Position Sensor. I think we hit a speed bump that dislodged the sensor or something. We managed to crawl to an Army checkpoint and fixed the issue.

Got to the Niger bridge by 3 am on the dot, and were home by 3:40. 7 hrs 30 mins.

4 Likes 1 Share

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by CarGuidNG: 7:41am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

Anyways, we won the last car that we shortlisted. Damage to the rear bumper and lights only.

Solid choice. Congratulations!

2 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by GAZZUZZ(m): 7:56am On May 03, 2019

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by nurey(m): 8:25am On May 03, 2019

Batman spotted
DC fanboy freak found grin

3 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by nurey(m): 8:25am On May 03, 2019

Why risk driving midnight to East with all the gory tales of highway robbery and kidnapping in Naija? Next time exercise patience thank God for journey mercy.

12 Likes 1 Share

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 8:26am On May 03, 2019

And for the part most of you are concerned about. What are my thoughts on the Infiniti G35?

It's a brilliant car. Honestly.

Interior
The fit and finish is better than on my ES. Keep in mind that my ES was a fully loaded model. The sound system fuckin bangs, and the entire cockpit is just so well designed.

Handling
The car's steering is fuckin heavy! Stop whatever you're doing and go drive one. Heavy as hell. I'm a skinny dude and I feel like my biceps are going to grow if I drive this for three more months. Heavy and precise. There's a reason why the G knocked the BMW 3-series out of the way for a while. These cars are designed to make you enjoy driving.

Power
I have 306 horses under my hood, I'm not sure what you expect. The car moves. Fast. Wickedly fast. And AWD ensures I never lose traction at takeoff. Let me put this into perspective: Bar the E550, CLK550, and S550, there are no non-AMG Mercs faster than this car. None. And it will hang with those three cars until 80 MPH or so before they pull on it due to their 80 HP advantage. Let that sink in: It takes an extra 80 HP for a naturally aspirated V8 to be able to keep up.

That said, this thing is a gas guzzler! I have a heavy foot, so I'm probably at fault too. But, God, it drinks fuel.
Let me put this into perspective: I bought 40 L of fuel yesterday. I've driven about 50 miles, and I have just 50 miles of range left. The previous owner averaged about 14 MPG combined. I'll be happy to get 12.

That said, a full tank of gas took us back home from Lagos, which is about 290 miles (465 km), and I had about 15 litres left. I should be able to get 20-21 MPG if I keep the car at 2000 RPM, doing 80-100 KM/H. Basically the ideal speed for fuel economy.

Anyway, smiles per gallon are more important. Not a big deal. And anytime I step on the throttle--which is often--I'll be reminded of why I pay so much for fuel.

That is all.

Much thanks to everyone who helped.

- Nurey, Kingreign, thebigkendo, obekediamondfuto, banky3w, diportivo and the host of demeanors for their advice when I was picking the car to buy.
- DelTel for running the show.
- Gazzuzz and Oluwaseunla for their hospitality.
- OPUSDEI1 for everything.
- CarguidNG for the report
- And Pattybf for handling my registration.

All pictures were shot on my Huawei Mate 10 Pro, then screenshotted and cropped to meet Nairaland's size requirements.

E go be.

17 Likes 1 Share

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 8:30am On May 03, 2019

CarGuidNG:

Solid choice. Congratulations!

Thanks.

nurey:

Batman spotted

DC fanboy freak found

Black is my favorite color, by far. cool

3 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 8:32am On May 03, 2019

I plan on doing a few mods.

- Aftermarket air intake.
- A muffler delete.
- Paddle shifters
- Sway bar install from a 370z

When I do them, I'll be sure to update the community.

2 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by dannybrasky(m): 8:33am On May 03, 2019

Can't be any better baba, Car is super duper dope!! congrats on your new baby wink

Cc Deltel,good job. Looking forward to do business with u.

HeavenlyBang:
Gazzuzz was not around.
I did meet Seun, though.
Cc: Oluwaseunla

Great guy! Helped me with a lot. Also met a few Nairalanders whose monikers were either not revealed to me or escape me at the moment.

Anwyay, we got to Lagos on Saturday evening and planned on leaving first thing Sunday morning. That turned out to be a Pipedream
The crase painter didn't even touch the car until we arrived. We ended up getting the car on Sunday evening by half past six. Urgh. Stay till Monday morning and risk Lagos traffic on the first day of the school term? Fook it, we hit the road.

It's important to note that the car had no single powertrain fault. Not a CEL, nothing. Was serviced at an Infiniti dealership and its next service is still 1500 miles away.

Full tank of gas cost 10k. 70 litres. Hit the road by 8, was at Ore by past 11. Onwards to Biafra. Smooth sailing for the most part though there was an incident at Benin with police shooting. We got to Asaba and na there wahala land. Car refused to rev. Throttle Position Sensor. I think we hit a speed bump that dislodged the sensor or something. We managed to crawl to an Army checkpoint and fixed the issue.

Got to the Niger bridge by 3 am on the dot, and were home by 3:40. 7 hrs 30 mins.

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 8:44am On May 03, 2019

dannybrasky:
Can't be any better baba, Car is super duper dope!! congrats on your new baby

Cc Deltel,good job. Looking forward to do business with u.

Thanks, bro.

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 8:49am On May 03, 2019

nurey:
Why risk driving midnight to East with all the gory tales of highway robbery and kidnapping in Naija? Next time exercise patience thank God for journey mercy.

Na strong men we be. Iyalaya anybody. cheesy

4 Likes

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by nurey(m): 9:04am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

Na strong men we be. Iyalaya anybody.

strong men do pee in their pants too ask Nwanneni when he heard the growl of a fx35 when he reached 180km/h @ gear 2 he didn't know grin

7 Likes 2 Shares

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by Eddee(m): 9:18am On May 03, 2019

Congratulations � chief

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by GAZZUZZ(m): 9:20am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

Na strong men we be. Iyalaya anybody.

hear hear! Best time to travel. Kidnappers don't operate at night.

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 9:22am On May 03, 2019

nurey:

strong men do pee in their pants too ask Nwanneni when he heard the growl of a fx35 when he reached 180km/h @ gear 2 he didn't know

Na that thing make e gear blow so. Shey I talk am that time. Dem no dey ever hear word.

1 Share

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by nurey(m): 9:22am On May 03, 2019

GAZZUZZ:

hear hear! Best time to travel. Kidnappers don't operate at night.

I am suspecting you, are you a professor of kidnapology? tongue

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 9:23am On May 03, 2019

GAZZUZZ:

hear hear! Best time to travel. Kidnappers don't operate at night.

You know it. Even kidnappers need to sleep. cheesy

Besides, the risk to reward ratio is not high enough for them to operate at night.

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by thebigkendo(m): 9:47am On May 03, 2019

Bros your gist no complete oh..
No breakdown of landing/fixing cost

Somewhere in my mind, I have been romancing the idea of an Infiniti M35

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by obekediamondfuto(m): 9:51am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:
And for the part most of you are concerned about. What are my thoughts on the Infiniti G35?

It's a brilliant car. Honestly.

Interior
The fit and finish is better than on my ES. Keep in mind that my ES was a fully loaded model. The sound system fuckin bangs, and the entire cockpit is just so well designed.

Handling
The car's steering is fuckin heavy! Stop whatever you're doing and go drive one. Heavy as hell. I'm a skinny dude and I feel like my biceps are going to grow if I drive this for three more months. Heavy and precise. There's a reason why the G knocked the BMW 3-series out of the way for a while. These cars are designed to make you enjoy driving.

Power
I have 306 horses under my hood, I'm not sure what you expect. The car moves. Fast. Wickedly fast. And AWD ensures I never lose traction at takeoff. Let me put this into perspective: Bar the E550, CLK550, and S550, there are no non-AMG Mercs faster than this car. None. And it will hang with those three cars until 80 MPH or so before they pull on it due to their 80 HP advantage. Let that sink in: It takes an extra 80 HP for a naturally aspirated V8 to be able to keep up.

That said, this thing is a gas guzzler! I have a heavy foot, so I'm probably at fault too. But, God, it drinks fuel.
Let me put this into perspective: I bought 40 L of fuel yesterday. I've driven about 50 miles, and I have just 50 miles of range left. The previous owner averaged about 14 MPG combined. I'll be happy to get 12.

That said, a full tank of gas took us back home from Lagos, which is about 290 miles (465 km), and I had about 15 litres left. I should be able to get 20-21 MPG if I keep the car at 2000 RPM, doing 80-100 KM/H. Basically the ideal speed for fuel economy.

Anyway, smiles per gallon are more important. Not a big deal. And anytime I step on the throttle--which is often--I'll be reminded of why I pay so much for fuel.

That is all.

Much thanks to everyone who helped.

- Nurey, Kingreign, thebigkendo, obekediamondfuto, banky3w, diportivo and the host of demeanors for their advice when I was picking the car to buy.
- DelTel for running the show.
- Gazzuzz and Oluwaseunla for their hospitality.
- OPUSDEI1 for everything.
- CarguidNG for the report
- And Pattybf for my documents that she's supposed to send today.

All pictures were shot on my Huawei Mate 10 Pro, then screenshotted and cropped to meet Nairaland's size requirements.

E go be.

nigga u got me drooling....

fix a date @ Gazuzz workshop make we come test drive this babe na.....

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by zevous: 9:57am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

You know it. Even kidnappers need to sleep.
Besides, the risk to reward ratio is not high enough for them to operate at night.

CC: heavenlybang.. Hope say the complete engine of the G35 no cost? Like the Lexus ES and IS I heard the engine cost almost 1M!!! .. And baba upload interior pictures.. let's fall in love with you car more

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by Eddee(m): 9:58am On May 03, 2019

thebigkendo:
Bros your gist no complete oh..
No breakdown of landing/fixing cost

Somewhere in my mind, I have been romancing the idea of an Infiniti M35

Whenever I push to start- the growl the engine makes dey gimme joy!

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by thebigkendo(m): 10:04am On May 03, 2019

Eddee:

Whenever I push to start- the growl the engine makes dey gimme joy!

smiles per gallon mehn

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 10:10am On May 03, 2019

zevous:

CC: heavenlybang.. Hope say the complete engine of the G35 no cost? Like the Lexus ES and IS I heard the engine cost almost 1M!!! .. And baba upload interior pictures.. let's fall in love with you car more

ES engine costs 400k.
IS250 costs 100k or so.
IS350 costs 1.5m
03-06 G35 costs 180k.
07-08 G35 costs 350k.

The steering wheel and door trims are peeling off. It's a known issue with the cars. I'll respray them myself.

161k miles on the Odo. Very well maintained.

2 Likes 2 Shares

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by Eddee(m): 10:12am On May 03, 2019

thebigkendo:

smiles per gallon mehn

City driving is 19l for every 100kms. My Merc does 20.5l on average (both with A/C on.

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by HeavenlyBang(m): 10:13am On May 03, 2019

thebigkendo:
Bros your gist no complete oh..
No breakdown of landing/fixing cost

Somewhere in my mind, I have been romancing the idea of an Infiniti M35

Car cost + fees: 930k
Shipping + trucking: 490k
Duty: 510k

Total expenditure: 2.4m or so.

22 Likes 3 Shares

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by zevous: 10:14am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

ES engine costs 400k.
IS250 costs 100k or so.
IS350 costs 1.5m
03-06 G35 costs 180k.
07-08 G35 costs 350k.

The steering wheel and door trims are peeling off. It's a none issue with the cars. I'll respray them myself.

161k miles on the Odo. Very well maintained.

Omo see interior.. The car looks nice.. Impressive.

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by dannybrasky(m): 10:16am On May 03, 2019

Woow! Not bad at all.

HeavenlyBang:

Car cost + fees: 930k
Shipping + trucking: 490k
Duty: 510k

Total expenditure: 2.4m or so.

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by obekediamondfuto(m): 10:19am On May 03, 2019

guy we need cost oh....
make we for dey plan our own now....

as cartalk members it wouldn't be nice to only be "talking" about car and not driving them...

kudos, at least now some people know how to buy a car now!!! full payments only...

please share costs oh....

modified: seen
that's really wonderful

1 Like

Re: My Infiniti G35: From Boston To My Doorstep by Philadelphia: 10:39am On May 03, 2019

HeavenlyBang:

You know it. Even kidnappers need to sleep.
Besides, the risk to reward ratio is not high enough for them to operate at night.

How much did you get the G35 and what year?

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