JWGrosse

Hi, this is my first post. I have benefited from all the information on this site, and finally decided to join in. I am likely going to purchase a 6sp G37S in the next few weeks.

I have a question that I have not seen addressed. I like the Nav/Music box system, but have some concern about the hard drive technology. In my experience, hard drives tend to last for about 5-7 years. This one might even fail sooner since it will be cycled on and off more than the typical home PC disc drive.

I inquired at my dealer about what happens when the hard disc drive fails. All the data will of course be lost, the car will apparently continue to run, and the repair requires replacing the entire cluster in the middle of the dash for about $4000 - you cannot purchase the hard drive and software separately. I am not aware of any means to "back up" the data on the disc.

Any thoughts on this? This is a relevent question for me because I kept my last car for over 10 years, and may well do the same with the G37 if I like it as much as I expect to.

Thanks,

Jay

jadams

A recent study indicates that drive failures range from 1.7% for drives 1 year old, to 8.6% for drives that are 3 years old or older. Heat and vibration play a major factor. (another good reason to have the extended warranty)

JWGrosse

Thanks for your reply. So it sounds like my concern is valid for those who keep their cars a long time. I think it is likely that the aftermarket will offer a repair that will hopefully involve just replacing the hard drive. It is my understanding that the hard drive Infiniti uses for the G37 is a commercially available one that anyone could buy. The tricky part is going to be getting the relevent baseline data in there to run the associated equipment, and there will be unavoidable permanent loss of user-specific data such as the music box files.

Jay

marsb007

I've had hard drives which fail after a week, after a month, and never. It's really the luck of the draw with a lot of them.

Your understanding is wrong as far as being a commercially available one (kinda of). It's a special version, designed for extreme conditions (heat, vibration, etc.). I suppose you could search long enough and find it, but you will never be able to go to your friendly Best Buy and get it.

As far as losing data, albeit an inconvenience, I dont see it being all that bad. I mean, you have a hard copy of everything anyway... except your addresses.

If you're leasing your car, dont worry about longevity, because I'll be covered under the warranty. I've had hard drive based nav units in several cars, and not one has failed on me (knock on wood!!)

If you're buying, know for how long you're buying, and buy an extended warranty. The more electronics a car has, the more likely problems it will have (thank god it's not using a windows operating system or we all would be crying right now).

finagle69

iTrader: (3)

two minutes of searching. it is readily available on the net.

http://www.compsource.com/ps/ST930813AM/Seagate_394/