Hello, I'm new here and I have to say this seems like a nice automotive community. I spent the last few days reading & searching the site. I've for a long time wanted a convertible & I always liked the G37's. I found a 2011 with 64K miles and of course I started searching the internet to see what type of issues there may be with these cars. I'm very concerned about the rear timing gasket maybe being an issue. There are some posts that say it was years 2009-2011 and others that say it may have been solved by 2011. There are also some that say the paper gasket was used for model years well after 2011. I guess I'm wondering how big of an issue this is and if I should just stay away from anything prior to the 2013 models or just stay away from these cars in general. What would you all do? I put a link to the car below. The other thing is that I'm in NY and the car is in Texas, I would of course get a pre purchase inspection from a independent shop.

Thanks so much in advance for any insight or help that can be provided.

https://www.nissanoflewisville.com/i...v6fe9bm952434/

 

Hi there,

i have a 2011 premier edition that i bought in 2013 with 80k km (about 48k m), i run the car all year long (im in Québec, Canada) with tuff winter, untill last year(i want to keep it for many years).

the only issues i had where:
- Change the battery, who is normal maintenance after couple years on the road.
- Had problem with the "passenger seat occupancy airbag sensor" , the dealer ask 6k to replace all bottom seat...I bought a gizmo "airbag360" emulator for aboit 100$, and it does the job to make airbag fonctionnal again.
- had many problems with top side flaps, who is very common on the Gs, get the linkage assembly...cost me over 1500$. The second one broke couple months later, try to fix it ( its the pastic gears , who run the flap motor, who is very weak made from cheap plastic...So i decide to get metal gears machined by a local machine shop, and still work like new since.

other then that, never had engine or electrical problems. Thats a great summer car with good performance and handling, and it have a very nice look!

never regret my choice!!!

 

The known gasket issue shouldn't be a hard stop for your plans. Let's say the repair is $1500, in what is mostly labor costs. Set aside a good chunk of the expected repair cost, say $500 or more, and forget about it. If or when the time comes, it will lessen the blow of an unplanned repair by actually planning for it. And once fixed, you won't ever have to worry or wonder about it again.

And if you never actually use the money, well there it is waiting for you to put into your next car.

 

+1 to Rochester's comment.

There probably isn't many 6MT 'verts out there, so I wouldn't limit my search to 2012+

 

Thank you for the reply. The thing is though that when I was searching this site there were some posts where people said the repair cost them $3,000 or even $4,000. I don't want to say that $1,500 is not a lot of money but it's certainly more tolerable than $3,000-$4000. In fact if I had seen only posts saying it was $1,500 for the repair than I may have not even started this thread. But if the repair ends up being required in 2-3 years than $4,000 would probably be half of the cars value at that point. Does the repair cost for this issue vary that wildly?

 

Yeah that is a problem, the manuals are much more difficult to find.

 

The variation would be for unforeseen problems, not the gasket replacement alone. A shop should be able to pull that number right out of the book. I've had this $1500 number in my head for years, always wondering if or when it will happen to me. I believe that number is reflective of 10 hours labor plus materials and tax. But I don't really know. If this is seriously an issue for you, reach out to your local Infiniti shop and ask for a best-case, non-binding quote. Let them know you're looking to buy a 2011 G and want to know what you should prepare for if the gasket fails. They might be helpful, or they might blow you off, every place is different. Also, searching a car forum for hard facts isn't maybe the right approach. Advice is free, but opinions aren't facts.

Good luck.

 

I understand what you're saying and to be clear I wasn't looking for hard facts. I was just surprised by the large differences in what some reported for the cost of repair. I do plan on contacting my local Infiniti dealership although I'm not expecting they'll be very helpful. I'll see how it goes. I really like the car so if it turns out okay in the pre purchase inspection then I'll probably take a chance on it.

 

The first G37 that I ever drove was an old friend's 2010 6MT Vert. He loaned it to me for a few days, so I could get a feel for the car, because all my reasearch brought me to the 6MT Infiniti. It was a very kind gesture on his part, and after two days of living with that car I was sold.

I didn't want a Vert, but the overall car... it was pretty special. Obviously heavy, sure, but the short gears in the 6MT Vert made it pretty responsive.

You're going to love owning that car. Hope this discussion helped.

 

This discussion definitely helped. I forgot to mention that is going isn't going to be my daily driver, it's going to be an extra vehicle to enjoy on nice days. Also it looks like the one I was looking at has been sold already so obviously that won't be happening. I'm going to keep looking for one though.

 

I installed a remote oil pressure gauge to keep an eye on the oil pressure. If it's low, then you gotta pull over fast and stop the motor. Most likely it's the timing galley gasket if it is low.

 

I got mine done with water pump at a nissan dealer for about 1650 out the door. Infiniti wanted 3500+ because the service advisor i spoke with didnt understand that the gaskets were replaceable and wanted to sell me a timing cover with pre installed gaskets. You just have to know what to say to the dealers or shops and insist there's no need to replace the cover at all. But I wouldn't worry about the gaskets too much. If it makes you feel better call some shops and Infiniti and nissan dealers and ask for water pump job cost as its the same intrusive job as gallery gaskets and you'll know where you'll be at price wise should they ever go bad.

 

Right after i bought my 2013 G37S coupe 6MT CPO ... they just got a G37S vert 6MT CPO on the lot a couple days later ... I was bummed. My only justification is that I put louvers on my coupe ... can’t really do that with a vert. Oh well. If they ever make a q60 vert (which nissan already said they wouldn’t) i’d sell both my cars to get it LOL

The vert is also way heavier ...

 

I would worry more about the top working or not.

Buy an extended warranty.

 

Are there known issues with the top?