Just put a deposit on an AWD limited edition sedan. its not local to me, but it is local to family (they've seen the car, its all in one piece, etc). Ive driven the sedan up here so I know I like it, but before I take ownership of it I was just wondering if anyone here has advice on things to check. I couldnt drive the exact car as the dealers around here wont let the LEs out of the showroom, but I drove the closest equivalent they had

I see transmission TSBs so Ill look out for any rough shifting, but anything else to check for would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-Chris

 

make sure you tell them early if you dont want the front bumper drilled for the license plate holder. Also check the paint for damage in the sun, and the NAV screen for any scratches.

 

Drive the **** out of it. That is my only recomendation!

 

be sure to mind the break in period before driving it hard... imo

 

How many miles is the break in period? I always baby my cars for a lot longer than any break-in period, but Ive heard differing numbers (500, 1000, 1500 miles)

The '11 is actually 500 miles from home, so Ill be driving it the 500 highway miles back. Nice that my parents live nearby so I get free lodging and dinner before coming home in the shiny new car. They also visited the car, salesman guess who they were when they started looking at it. Said they only made 200 this year (which differs from my local dealer who says they made 350)

 

i would say 1000 miles, I am not sure of the official period from infiniti but I was nice to my engine for 1k, before taking it close to redline. I also changed the oil after 1k , was free anyway but my mechanic said it looked very clean and was probably over kill. I like to play it safe though.

 

Yeah dealer service is the one thing that is gonna kinda stink by buying the car away from home. Obviously all Infiniti dealers should have no problem with warranty work, Im just not looking forward to testing that theory.

 

I think 1500 miles is the official break in. This is one of the reasons to avoid new cars with more than a few miles on them. You can bet that on every test drive, it was redlined through the gears a couple times, and probably a few testers stomped on the brakes to test them out.

I once bought a new car with about 150 miles on it, because I got a significant discount. I'll never do that again. It had several engine problems beginning around 20000 miles. Spent way too many hours/days in the shop. While I can't be sure it was due to abusive test drives before it was broken in, there were no engine-related recalls so that's the only thing that made sense.

To the OP, definitely inspect the exterior and interior very carefully. Showroom cars get fondled and touched by hundreds of passers-by with no intention of buying them.

 

omg, sounds like showroom cars are ******...

 

definitely test drive it for rattles. search the forum for common rattles and look out for it before you sign the car.

 

Did the search, a little disheartening to see a bunch of people with rattles, but I noticed they only show up after some miles are on the car. Ill definitely listen for them during a test drive but it wont be 100% positive they'll never show up.

Also interesting is that the 2010 (and presumably the 2011) has a rattle in the rear package shelf from the speakers/sub. My 2001 i30 has the same darn thing! Youd figure they would fix it by now.

 

I don't have any rattles or wind noise on my 2010 after 7,500 miles.
On your 500 mile drive home it would be a good idea to vary your rpms. some. It's not a good idea to put a new engine on cruise, which keeps it at the same rpm for several hours.
Pull into rest stops and take some exits and come right back on the highway, so you can alter the revs some without driving overly aggressive.
Tom

 

What rattles is the third brake light hitting against the glass, I had the same issue. What I did was put a piece of black foam inbetween the glass and the top plastic, my windows are tinted so you can't even see the rubber. The Sub sounds GREAT now without any annoying rattles. Except of course the Homelink buttons are rattling because of the sub.

 

make sure it's the right version limited edition -- 175 of them are made AWD, 175 of them are made RWD

other than that there were no options to it. You get limited edition key chains too whoo hoo

 

The Official Infiniti suggested break-in period from the manual is 1200 miles.
The manual just say to idle 30 sec after startup and not to go pass 4k RPM during the first 1200 miles.