Hi All - Very excited to be a part of the G37 club!

Been looking for the right car and came across an extremely low mile (10.5k) example that I just purchased. The car is a late 2012 (so hoping updated gallery gasket) and was bought and serviced at the same dealer since new. Was owned by an older gentleman, and was garaged its entire life. Underside doesn’t have a lick of rust either, so wasn’t driven in inclement weather either. Oil was changed often but outside of that and a battery change, not much done (as you’d probably expect given the mileage). I don’t even think the seats outside of the drivers were ever used. It drives literally how I would imagine it did off the showroom floor.

In any event, wanted to get everyone’s thoughts on fluids and anything to do now. I’d really like to own the car for a long term so wanna set myself up for that. I’m confirming any other fluids that have been changed in the last few years, but assuming nothing else has been changed recently, what are your thoughts on all the fluids and if I should do a change? I’m considering: diffs, transfer case, brake fluid, coolant, and ATF. In this case, any thoughts on which fluids may not hold up given the time (obviously not hitting mileage numbers to force change). Thanks for everyone’s thoughts!

 

You seem to be on the right track. I’d probably start with checking brakes and doing a brake fluid exchange as it normally needs to be replaced every couple of years, regardless of miles. How are the tires? Amazing find BTW (1k miles per year average?). How did you come across this car?

 

Thanks! I’m super pumped I found it. I’ve been looking at all of the usual apps (Autotrader, carfax, CarGurus, etc) and came across it on carfax. At first, I saw it was a northern car so wasn’t sure about it as I have been trying to find southern cars to reduce rust potential. But I called the dealer (literally the dealer that solid it new and serviced it), and it was available. So took a look and it’s just in amazing shape. It’s not cheap, but given the mileage, I actually think it’s a phenomenal deal all things considered. They said that a bunch of people came to look but they basically can’t finance it because of the age so I was able to scoop it up. Like everything is just in amazing shape. Under the hood, all the rubber parts look new. The headlight have no UV glaze whatsoever.

Anyways, thanks for the tip on the brake fluid. Was thinking that was more of a priority too, along with maybe diffs/coolant. Also may try to get a new battery at some point soon since it’s probably 5-6 years old now but gonna give it a little time before I start throwing too much at it.

 

True. Batteries normally last 4-5 years max. Coolant would be next as most models shipped with the green coolant, and later were recommended to upgrade to the blue “lifetime” coolant. I test with these strips: Phoenix Systems 8006-B Double-Ended Brake Fluid + Coolant Test Strips (15 foil wrapped test strips), 1 Pack https://a.co/d/43MgsWl

when it’s around 7, I drain and fill. Not a believer in lifetime anything.

 

Welcome to the forum and congratulation on your new toy. I wish you many happy, trouble-free miles. That said, if it were me I would just plan on replacing all of the fluids (AT debatable) within the upcoming months. This will give you a baseline by which you can schedule and plan your routine maintenance items. While the existing fluids only have ≈11k miles, DO some may have 10-11 years on them and even then they will slowly degrade. Thankfully most of the maintenance on these cars is silly simple.

I strongly suggest you make yourself aware of the common issues these cars have especially now that they are aging. Specifically, the sunroof drains are known to leak potentially causing electronic issues; the heater hose connector is known to crack/ break spilling coolant, the windshield cowl seals are known to deteriorate potentially causing cabin leaks, and, being a 2012, your cay MAY have the ESCL module (Electronic Steering Column Lock). This module is known to fail which ends up bricking the car. It is a very expensive repair.

Again, good luck (from a former (temporarily) NY'er)!

 

thanks for the heads up here. I have looked at/heard of most of those, except the cowl seals. I’ll dig into that. Also, I agree with your assessment that it’s easy enough to change most of the fluids so will target doing that over the coming months.

on the ESCL, I had heard about that but wasn’t sure about how to check if the car has one or not. It was manufactured in May of 2012, so hoping maybe it doesn’t have one. What’s the easiest way to tell if you have one or not? Thanks!