Hi there, I'm thinking about buying a G37 vert, specifically a 2009 with about 75000 miles. I love the car; the one concern I have is ownership costs. I've always owned utilitarian, reliable cars that cost very little to own and maintain, so this would be a change for me. I know that with a G37 I'd be paying more for insurance and gas than I'm used to, but I was thinking that maintenance and repairs would be pretty reasonable since it's an Infiniti.

However, this site: Cost of Vehicle Ownership - Consumer Reports has me wondering about that. I think it's available to non-subscribers, but if not, it lists the G37 convertible as one of the most expensive sports cars to own, with annual costs of $11,750. This is a couple years old and refers to new cars (and I'm sure includes new-car depreciation costs), but even so I'm surprised that they are so high. Since the consumer reports article provides no details or breakdown, I thought I'd come here and ask: what are your maintenance/ownership costs like? Is a G37 vert reliable enough to be used as a daily driver with no worries?

Thanks,
Ben

 

I believe the verts come with more issues that a G37 coupe or Sedan. Mainly, with the roof mechanism from what I've read. I do not own one so I cannot speak from experience. 2008-2011 had an inferior gasket in the motor that would blow - resulting in a $2,000 bill. You can search "rear timing gasket failure" to find out more information regarding that. Upkeep is no where near that figure though. Tires, Oil, Gas kind of a car. Most maintenance can be done at Nissan dealership which will save you on maintenance costs as well if you don't feel like doing it yourself.

 

The engine and suspension is similar to sedan / coupe, which are considered rather reliable. The biggest difference is the roof, obviously, which can cost you quite a bit when it fails, but there are some success stories of turning 6-8k bill into ~1k by sourcing the parts yourself.

We use ours as a DD and it's been great.
Gas millage is meh, insurance kind of sucks, but otherwise it's tons of fun and makes me smile every time I drive it.

I'd look for a 12-13, honestly, to avoid that potential gasket issue. Plus, you are likely to have a lot less wear on the roof mechanism on a newer car. It'll cost you a bit more, of course, but I've seen them as low as 24ish(?) for 2012. ymmv.

 

OP the verts especially on a 09 will cause problems down the line on roof components.
The G37 is one of the most reliable semi high performance car you can get into.

My G after 8 years of ownership and 137k miles later(bought it new), only things that went bad was 02 sensor, thermostat, and clutch slave & master cylinder. Obviously maintenance on brakes, suspension is to be expected but it's not a bank breaker. Not like my M3 where the M tax empties pockets hah.

If you can turn a wrench part prices are reasonable.

 

The gasket issue was more prone on the 1st gen DE motors. They later revised the gasket material on the VHR motors and rarely fail(probably about 1% or less).

 

I've had an 09 before which a had a problem with the roof and found a local guy that reprogrammed it for $100 and it worked perfectly after that. I did have around 70k miles on it and I drove it hard each day with no issues until I sold it. Now I got a 2013 convertible with about 30k miles on it and the major issue I had was also with the roof. My hydraulic pump went out which costs over $8k to fix at the dealership 7500 being the price of the pump itself. I found an online vendor that sold used ones with a 3 year warranty (top hydraulics) for $700 and a $200 rebate for the core costing about $500 in total once you send in the core. I had to have the dealership install it, bleed the lines and reprogram it costing me about $1000 at the dealership. Good thing is that the dealership gives a warranty for their work and I have a warranty for the pump itself. I'd definitely recommend for you to get a 2012 or 2013 model because of some small details that I just personally like and I've heard the 09 have more issues than the newer ones. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you all for the info - I really appreciate it. $8k dealer cost to fix the roof is rough! It sounds like maybe I should look for a later-model G37, or stick to a non-vert...or just be prepared for high repair costs. Are roof problems more or less inevitable with a G37 convertible, or is it just a matter of luck?

 

If you're careful with it without trying to bump it or mess with it especially during operations you should be fine. They are pretty sensitive. I would definitely save up a bit more for a newer model since you're going to run into less issues down the road. Just my opinion.

 

I noticed this as well. A lot of issues stem from 'left it half open and it sagged' or 'trunk wasn't shut / divider wasn't placed properly' or anything else that's not consider normal operation.

If you haven't driven a convertible, I'd suggest test driving one and see if you like it. I really enjoy driving around without a roof so I'm willing to put up with the bs that potentially comes with it because daily fun with the car is worth it to me.

 

2008-2011 G37s are susceptible to failure. Plenty of threads on it. Mainly due to the paper gasket Infiniti used. When they switched to steel in 2012+ the issue became non existent like you mentioned.

 

Yeah, the gasket failure rate would be hard to determine since Infiniti doesn't even admit there's a problem, and has been reluctant to assist owners that have had this failure occur. They're keeping this as hidden as they can so ????
But looking for a 2012+ would be a good plan for the other reasons mentioned above as well.
G/L in your search and hopefully you'll end up in a G one way or another.

 

I have a late model 2010 G37s Convertible. I was made aware of this service issue people have been talking about. I asked my Head Service Tech at my local Infiniti dealer if my car would have this defective gasket. He said he knew well of this issue. That my late model 2010 made after March 2010 that this problem was addressed and the new gasket was being used. So, I'm crossing fingers and hoping that is the case! So far 70,000 miles and no issues.