Hey all,

I just bought a 2009 G37 yesterday!! I am so excited and am also looking forward to being involved in this online community!! It's the 2 door coupe, sport model (manual trans) with the journey package (nav and some other bells and whistles). 42500 miles. I bought it through Carmax, so am still in the 5 day evaluation period and would like to get some feedback/advice on some questions that have come up.

1) Carmax extended warranty
Carmax has the option to purchase an extended warranty. Now generally, I am against these as I know they statistically favor Carmax. However, I went ahead and purchased coverage for 6/years or 100,000 miles whichever comes first (likely the 100k would come first, I average 12k miles per year). This cost me roughly 1200. With this coverage I would pay a $200 deductible, and then Carmax would pay the rest for repairs on pretty much anything including the nav system, back up camera, transmission, etc etc. Do you think this coverage, in this case, is worth it? The car seems to have been well taken care of, but I don't know historically speaking if anyone has had issues with the nav or audio system, transmission, back up camera etc.

2) Engine Whine
I noticed the engine makes a bit of a whiny sound while driving. For example, cruising at about 45mph in 3rd of 4th gear I can hear a fair amount of "whine" and I am not sure if this is normal or not. When I accelerate the whine dissapates (or gets masked by that glorious ROAR of the engine ) I haven't driven or been in any other G37's in person, so don't know if this is normal or not.

3) Clutch
The clutch pedal seems very "loose." Maybe a poor description, but I dont know how to describe it. To shift, it seems I have to press the pedal only slightly (maybe an inch or so) to be able to shift. I have always associated this with older/worn clutches. Is this normal/expected? Or should I need to push the clutch a lot further towards the floor to make the shift? Likewise, it feels like the catchpoint is out there as well when releasing the clutch.

Any other advice or things to look for would be much appreciated as I evaluate the car. I have 30 days to tell Carmax to fix anything.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Congrats! I bought my '08 S Coupe from CarMax as well - w/ 17,000 miles on it, but that was 6 months ago and now I've got 30,000. It's a great car!

Avoid the warranty. They really pushed that on me, and as a former commissioned salesman myself I could tell it must be a 'spiffed' add on. These cars are unlikely to experience problems in the time frame of the coverage.

My engine whines, too. It's normal.

 

What you're describing is normal with our clutches. They have a very narrow range of engagement and it's nearly at the top of the clutch pedal stroke.

 

An '09 will have another year on the basic warranty, and another 3 years on the drivetrain.
I just bought same year myself and the local (Nashville) dealership has been awesome with the few probs I had. Charging me only for my 15K service I got.

I would recommend taking the car to the dealership and have them look it over.
They have more info on the car than Carmax or CarFox. And will try to find things wrong, so you will be sure to know if there are any or if past history is not reported.

 

Likely you have peeling door trim or trim that has been very scratched up. Take it in to the dealer and ask them to replace it, and while its there have them look it over for any other problems. Seat bubbles are also a big problem with these cars (you'll know what I am talking about if you have the problem).

Regarding your warranty, I am fairly certain that for 1200 dollars you can get an extended Infiniti warranty (do some searching on the forum), and the deductible is only 100 dollars. Might be worth checking into and getting a refund from carmax; additionally, maybe they will negotiate down to 1000 or lower once they know you are about to take back your cash.

 

Theres a DIY if I remember on how to change the engagement point on the clutch pedal...check it out if its too high

 

You have a nice ride there.
In my opinion, you probably can get a full refund for the warranty. If you want a warranty, I'd use the refund $ to purchase an Infiniti Elite warranty from one of the online Infiniti dealers (or maybe a local dealer will price match). Zero deductable bumper to bumper more or less.
Drive safe and ENJOY!

 

Hmm you sure your car is a Journey? Sports can't have the Journey package. That is for the auto. If you have 6MT you should just have the sports package and the navi package.

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys, it is much appreciated. I will definitely look into the Infiniti extended warranty and will most likely cancel the Carmax warranty.

Glad to hear the whining sound is normal!

So far, no seat bubbles so that is good. And I haven't noticed any trim issues with the door either, but I haven't looked too hard.

I swear it said the Journey package but maybe I misinterpreted. Sports package with nav then, I assume.

Sorry I have been really busy the past few days, but I will be posting on here a lot more frequently now! Thanks again for the help, and if there are any more words of wisdom feel free to let it all out.

-Dan