09 G37X AWD, Blue slate/graphite. The car looks beautiful. It's my first luxury car and absolute first high performance car. I was driving a '96 Civic until two days ago. Anyway, I'm a total noob and had a few questions.

1) The dealer convinced me to buy into their maintenance program because they said my trusty, local mechanic does not have the tools/equipment and know-how to deal with a machine like this. Aside from being unnecessarily insulting, is this true? Are these cars that hard to figure out mechanically? Mind you, I have no mechanical skills of my own.

2) In another effort to get me to buy the maintenance program they told me Infiniti has a proprietary blend of oil that is vastly superior to all others and that if my mechanic used regular oil on my G37 the gaskets would leak eventually.

3) They also told me I had to use super premium fuel. If I didn't, I'd get less mpg and hear all sorts of knocks and pings etc... Is this BS?

Any answers you can provide are greatly appreciated. I love my car and I am so psyched to have it.

 

Welcome!! You will absolutely fall in love with this car.

1)With the maintenence program, its nice b/c its all pretty much paid for ahead of time. There are a few things that you CANNOT get changed anywhere but at Infiniti (microfilters and a few others) but everything else any competent mechanic can do. I didnt do it for a few reasons, but you didnt really lose out if you did do it, so dont sweat.

2)The oil in the car now will be good for the "break in" period (if you subscribe to doing that) but then MY OPINION is to use a fully synthetic oil (I use Mobil1). These engines are absolutely amazing and so whatever oil you choose (make an educated decision at least) should be fine.

3)I'd have to check the manual to make sure but I think it does need to be the high premium fuel. Look through your manual and double check, just go with what it says.

Have an awesome time with the car, and post some pics!!

 

Hey thank you so much for those answers. I am really so naive when it comes to cars. I am totally psyched about this one though. I will post pictures.

 

Hey, welcome to myg37!

maintenance programs aren't bad, its just for people that aren't into maintaining it themselves, i guess. The oil that they are talking about is Nissan Ester oil, which is indeed quite pricey. There are better and cheaper alternatives out there though. I use Motul 8100 in my car, but theres a long list of other full synthetics that are good as well.

By super premium fuel, they mean 91-93 octane? Thats generally recommended for performance cars, however it is possible to use a lower octane. Its just a few cents more, so whenever possible try and stick with atleast 91 octane.

The higher the octane, the more resistant it is to premature combustion. When the engine detects potential knocking via a sensor, it will retard the timing and fuel mixture, and you will notice a decrease in performance.

Anyways, do post pics of the new ride! Blue slate is one of my fav colors.

 

I just took delivery of my new G37 recently. My dealer told me to consistenly use either midgrade or premium gas.

The manual does indicate unleaded premium of at least 91 AKI (Anti Knock Index) number octane.

 

1) I bought the maintenance package also but I have always liked to get my cars serviced by the dealer. I really believe that is one of the reasons my 95 Celica is still running as well as she is.

3) You can use mid grade without problems. I have used it and there is a performance difference but it doesn't hurt the car. It can also very temporarily run on 87 but this is only in an emergency situation. Take a look at the owners manual for details on that.

 

Thank you all for your help. It is very much appreciated. I will stick to 91 or higher fuel. And I guess I don't feel too bad about buying the maintenance program. I just hope they are honest with me all the time (ha!).

 

welcome. maintenance program isnt worth it to me but i still go to infiniti for warranty work. they dont know what they're talking about the nissan oil - you only have to use it if you get knocking without it. and yes you should use premium fuel.

 

Congrats - I also just joined the Blue Slate club and picked up my car this past weekend.

The maintenance plan is good considering the cost of maintenance over the timespan of the plan. The major services (i.e. 30K miles) can cost upwards of $600 alone and the Ester oil changes are over $100. My dealer (sales) told me though that they will only use the Ester oil if you tell them you're hearing the valve knocking, and it will be covered by the plan. I'll want to ask my service person the first time I take it in since I would prefer that they use the Ester since it's recommended and I paid for it in the plan.

But yes, the car can be maintained by other shops. However the dealer is the most familiar with the car and the service requirements considering it is a higher end car. The story about leaking gaskets is baloney. The Ester oil has a property that optimizes it's performance with the valve's special coating, but is not required. This is clearly stated from Infiniti.

For fuel you should use premium - 91 or higher, and most stations now sell 93 octane as their premium. Higher performance engines are designed for the higher octane and run with higher compression. Using a lower octane fuel is OK temporarily but can result in pinging especially during acceleration. My sales person actually told me that I could use regular octane and the computer would compensate, and this was acceptable even for warranty coverage but when I started asking about the compression and performance requirements he couldn't answer. What he said is basically not only false but also clearly against what's in the owner's manual.

This car is great - still getting used to all the features but it's definitely one of the best car's I've ever driven.

 

Welcome fellow Blue Slate Noob (me one too)! Here's my take on the premium fuel issue. Let's say you drive 15,000 miles per year and get 23 mpg. You'd use 652 gallons of gas. If the price differential between premium and regular is 20 cents, then you'd save about $130 a year. To me, the risks waaay outweigh the reward. Why take a chance on detonation damaging your $40K car for $130 savings?