A tale of two Infiniti's

So I've found myself in something of a conundrum. I dd a 99 G20, which I love...except for the auto tragic transmission. She is a Pearl white base model with a sunroof and leather. I am the second owner and the original owner is my mother in law, so I know its background pretty well. She's got a few mechanical issues - broken cv boots, leaky valve cover gasket, a funky starter noise, brakes are somewhat lackluster, etc ...nothing earth shattering, overall in decent shape, but the nit picky stuff is starting to pile up , now that she's at 169k on the clock. Cosmetically she's got Knicks and dings a 14 yo car is gonna have. But over the last year or so, Ohio tin worm has started to rear its ugly head, with rust bubbling up on the rear arches, and some more underneath in the sub frames. prognosis is getting grim...

Recently, my G was hit while parked, and insurance will likely total it if I try to get the impact damage fixed. They cut me a check for the initial damages, but there will definitely be supplementals that will be filed, which will exceed the total value. I need this car to last another 3 or 4 years while we build a house, then it will be replaced by something like a Cruze eco or the like. My plan has been to use that cash to get the mechanicals fixed, then tackle the bodywork myself/using a guy I know out of pocket.

My plans changed when Craigslist searching turned up a 99 base example, this time with a 5 speed. I contacted the owner for more details. Its a Cali car, no visible rust, jade green (not my favorite color, but not terrible either). His son bought the car while in Cali in the military, and drove her home. The number of owners in unknown, but a carfax could probably tell me if I looked. Its got 174k showing, no sunroof (bonus) and has been serving dd duty with no hiccups for about 6 years. The Craigslist ad has a price listed just a few c notes above that insurance check. I'm betting that If I showed up with a stack of fifties, he'd take my a few hundred less than advertised.

SWMBO seems to think its better to trust the devil you know...knowing the history of my G, she thinks its better to stick to the plan: fix the mechanical stuff on mine, make her pretty later. I LOATHE that damned automatic, and lust for an H pattern once more. I want at least to test drive the listed car, but she's being a stickler...we have a lot going on right now and it will be hard to get time in this week for a test drive in another state (its 45 min away in northern Ky , I'm north of Cincinnati). I'm obsessed about the possibility of a 5 speed.

I'm not really sure what Im asking here...am I nuts to trust a strangers car over my own? Am I just being lured in by the siren song of a third pedal? Should I just fix mine, knowing its maintenance history very well? What says the braintrust ?

Buy new one. Use parts off old one to keep it running forever. Think of all the money you will save.

Also if you're pressed for time already, it 's a lot faster to turn the key on the new one than spend lots of time doing bodywork.

Will the new one suffer the dreaded 5th gear pop-out?

A lot of times you can get a feel for the seller by talking to them and asking questions. If it's really been serving DD duty for 6 years, there's a decent chance it's already sorted out. I'd at least go look at it. Worst case is you walk away and stick to the original plan.

Agreed. Buy the green one, keep the parts from the pearl.

I just found the CL ad. Since there's no pics, I'd be a little leery of trusting their description, unless they can email a few to you before you make the drive down to look at it.

I will say that if I was looking for a cheap DD right now, I'd probably go check it out myself.

Yeah, Im going to go at least check it out. A test drive cant hurt. I got a few pics texted to me, thats how I know its a Jade green, non sunroof car. The 20' view looks pretty good - 3 views front, back, side, and none show any rust.

The guy sounded pretty legit when I spoke to him on the phone. The pics show a normal suburban neighborhood, so my guess is the story of it being a DD and generally maintained at least has a snowballs chance of being true. Says his wife has been driving it, but they got a newer car also through the family, so this one is not needed any longer. I cant say if its got popout issues, but a good friend is an ASE cert tech, who cut his teeth on Nissan while at wyotech. He said he can probably fix 5th gear popout in the dark.

Pics:

The majority of the body damage to my car is on the drivers rear quarter...but theres some internal damage to the inner fender and the rear bodywork is shifted to the right a few inches, enough for the trunk lid-to-fender seams to appear a little off. I havent had it on a rack yet to get a look at whether its just cosmetic, or if the frame is actually tweaked. That will happen next week.

Worst case scenario, I stick to the plan. Best case scenarios, I buy the Green car, take the motor and a few assorted other bits from the white car as spares to keep the green one alive for as long as possible, and sell the husk of the white car for scrap. Middle case scenario, I buy the car, and sell the white one for a grand to another buyer.

Hmm, looks pretty good, don't see any of the usual wheel arch rust.

If your G20 isn't tweaked too bad, it'd be an awesome start for a rallycross car

eastsidemav wrote: don't see any of the usual wheel arch rust.

No sunroof - besides more headroom for a helmet , it adds years of life to rear arches....

I think the best case scenario is buy the Green car and keep the white car in one piece until you HAVE to remove some vital part. It's way better to keep parts cars a pile of parts in the shape of a car, than a pile of parts in the shape of a ruined garage or a pile of stuff going bad outside or a bill for a storage unit, or anything else. The best way to store car parts is on an intact car. My .02.

Space will quickly become an issue - 2 car garage and no room for a third. We will hopefully be selling our current home, and be living in a rental in the next few months while we save to build. I wont have the option of keeping it under a tarp or the like. Id love to keep it, and turn it into an actual project car...who knows. The missus still wants to kabash the whole thing...

4cylndrfury wrote:

eastsidemav wrote: don't see any of the usual wheel arch rust.

No sunroof - besides more headroom for a helmet , it adds years of life to rear arches....

How does that work?

mtn wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote:

eastsidemav wrote: don't see any of the usual wheel arch rust.

No sunroof - besides more headroom for a helmet , it adds years of life to rear arches....

How does that work?

I'm guessing the sunroof drain tubes run down to the rear fenders. When they get clogged, water and debris build up and start causing corrosion.

yep...leaky seals and clogged drains = accumulated water in the inner fender and results in bubbling and eventual rot.

ding ding ding!

If there is no space to keep the 2nd car, i would sell it whole and keep whatever is left from Insurance Check + White car - Green car in a secret 'repairs/fun things' fund for the green car.

But bottom line, your idea of getting into this 5spd car is a resounding YES and white car issues are secondary. Sell it, part it, whatever.. just get the green car!

Jump on the green car, looks nice! I actually love that jade green color.

I'd want to know just how bad the white car is first. Are we looking at cosmetic vs frame bent or what?

It's automatic, has rust, and has quarter panel damage. Those are pretty much the three hardest things to fix about any car. Sure, it may not LOOK bad, but when you really think about it, that is a mix of issues that could easily lead to condemnation. The fact that there is a better looking, non rusty 5 spd car nearby that is mostly payable with cash in hand make it pretty much a given to jump ship.

Vigo wrote: It's automatic, has rust, and has quarter panel damage. Those are pretty much the three hardest things to fix about any car. Sure, it may not LOOK bad, but when you really think about it, that is a mix of issues that could easily lead to condemnation. The fact that there is a better looking, non rusty 5 spd car nearby that is mostly payable with cash in hand make it pretty much a given to jump ship.

yeah, I think this^^

Gotta get the missus on board at this point...which can be tough when her mind is made up.

4cylndrfury wrote:

Vigo wrote: It's automatic, has rust, and has quarter panel damage. Those are pretty much the three hardest things to fix about any car. Sure, it may not LOOK bad, but when you really think about it, that is a mix of issues that could easily lead to condemnation. The fact that there is a better looking, non rusty 5 spd car nearby that is mostly payable with cash in hand make it pretty much a given to jump ship.

yeah, I think this^^ Gotta get the missus on board at this point...which can be tough when her mind is made up.

I don't get what the rub is. You're not really spending any money to get a car that would make you happy to drive every day. Wouldn't she like to make you happy? The automatic in the G20 is soul draining.

I had a g20 once. The main reason i got rid of it was because it was automatic.

I hate rust and automatics. Of the last 4 cars I bought 3 were from California.

Buy that stick-shift G20 already.

So, you can buy the green car and sell the white one and come out with a better car and money on top? Right?

Body damage+rust sounds like a good reason to look for another car. Buy the green one, put the white one on CL for $1650 and take the first offer over $1k. I don't see any downside to that idea lol.