After a few months of test driving cars, I ended up getting a 2011 G37 Journey (Auto) with Sport, Nav, and Premium packages for a total of:

$35977 (final VPP price, incl. $2,750 in cash incentives)
+ $2248 Texas Sales Tax
+ $66.16 Inventory tax
+ $100 Doc fee
+ $33 title fee
+ 77.30 license
+ 23.75 state inspection
=
38,525.77 subtotal
+ 1547 extended warranty ($0 deductible, 6 yrs, 84k miles)
=
40,0072.77 OTD @ a 2.44% rate, with $15,000 down.

Overall the buying experience was a pleasant one -- my sales associate (Troy) worked with me to find the exact car / model / color I wanted. The sales manager I worked with played games with numbers (as expected).

My one mistake: I didn't do my homework on the extended warranty.
When I bought my first G35 in 2005, I managed to get a 6 yr, 84k, $0 deductible warranty for $920 (or so) by dealing directly with NMAC. This time around, I couldn't contact the VPP assistance line since they're "out of the office until 1/3/11," so I went ahead and bought the warranty with the dealer.

I eventually agreed to the warranty at a cost of $1,547, but only when the sales mgr lowered the rate on the note to 2.44% @ 60 months (from 2.9% @ 60 months). By my math, this saved about $190 in interest (compared to not buying a warranty at all), so he effectively gave me a $190 discount on the warranty.

Should I invest time or energy into getting a similar $900-ish deal on this warranty, or is the price I paid "set in stone" now that I've taken delivery?

On a sidenote: the sales manager really pushed pre-paid maintenance. The price for the maintenance plan dropped $1,000 during our discussions. This is only the "schedule 1" maintenance, and does NOT include any premium or optional maintenance (like transmission flushes). I declined it because of that. A different dealer (200 miles away) offered to include maintenance for 2 years, by the way.

 

Sounds like a nice deal you worked out. Don't know on the warranty, but what the heck is this maintenance plan that DROPPED $1000?
Is there something more than oil and filter changes in the first 24000 miles? I thought I looked that up at one time and there wasn't much more than that (and there shouldn't be!)

 

The schedule 1 maintenance is only oil change and check ups. Don't think it's worth a grand.