2 Q or not to Q

[Sixty8panther]

Okay so for the past 4 years I've been driving 2/3 used cars of varying

degrees at a time. Other than my Datsun the one commonality was they

were all GM. From my 87 Fleetwood Brougham to my 83 Firebird, and

from my 90 Suburban to my 86 Fleetwood Brougham.... lots and lots of

buying and selling and I love it that way. Marcia had her STS for a daily

driver but I wanted an all RWD fleet for myself. I did not need or want

a modern car. I was happy having three cars that averaged out to over

quarter of a century old. My Camaro was the toy muscle car, the Fleet-

wood Brougham was my cushy daily driver/family car/baby limousine

& the Datsun was for racking up business miles... well it was a second

toy in all honesty, but the fuel economy savings made it justyfiable as a

long distance road trip $h!box etc. In reality the point of the Datsun

was I was bored of having three automatic equiped cars.

But now I've found a really nice car I could see myself driving every

day. The Infiniti Q45 has for the past few weeks been a great alternative

to the modern B-body that never was. I wish it had a quick responding

pushrod V8 instead of that high-reving-tuner DOHC boat anchor but other

than that and a few other MINOR complaints the Q45 is as close as you

can get to a 1996 Roadmaster while still having a "J" for the first letter

in your VIN.

In the late 1990s while GM was busy trying to make Japanese-wannabe

cars, Nissan made a great ripoff of the big, luxurious, lower-longer-wider

V8 powered RWD sedans of the American classics. I've said when the M45

(Infiniti) was launched that DOHC aside its embodies everything a 21st

century Impala should be.

Well now I'm going to go on record saying that if you want a big, cushy,

V8 powered, RWD land yacht with BOF-soft Cadillac style suspension

then the 1997-2001 Infiniti Q45 is the car for you... so long as you can

deal with it being Japanese. Thsi has been a tough pill to swallow for

myself. I mean it's a far cry from a Civic or Camry, nothing at all along

the lines of the car of the masses but it still was manufactured by the

rising sun.

So now that we'veh ad the Infiniti for a month and about 3,000 miles we

(Marcia & I) are seriously considering buying a second one. The oter day

XP told me about a silver 1999 Infiniti Q45t at a local used car dealer.

It's the same exact place where my buddy Duffy bought his 1991 Pontiac

GTA. That Tunned-port 350 with a 136,000 or so miles is still his only ride

five years later. So the dealer has good karma to me.

Anyway as of last night Marcia is approved to finance the car and we're

just trying to bring donw the interest rate & by extension payment down

before we pull the trigger. If this happens, then the Cobalt idea is

history. I'll finally hae my 100% RWD fleet.

1997 Infiniti Q45

1999 Infiniti Q45t (touring edition)

1984 Datsun Maxima

1968 Chevrolet Camaro

(and a demolition derby 1983 Volvo 240, also RWD)

I'd regret not having given GM a sale like I planned with a new Cobalt,

but I'd have not one but two modern RWD, V8 luxo-chariots. That would

be a pretty sweet fleet. After the excellent white-glove treatment I got

at Infiniti of Nashua yesterday I think I could get used to driving an

Infiniti Q45 as my daily driver.

Here's a front & back picture of the car:

My only question is this. If we were to buy this second Q45 would my

eventual 1959 Buick ownership still balance out three Japanese cars.

I mean I love Infiniti but the idea of owning three Japanese cars is kind

disturbing. The Q45 is a very unique and rare whip but it IS still a product

of Nissan Motors. Every time I drive the Q I get a little closer to justifying

(in my mind anyway) the idea of us owning a 75% Japanese fleet.

So I guess it's like this right now:

The car that will eventually get traded for a 2009 Chevrolet Camaro will

be a Q45, Cobalt base coupe or possibly a Cobalt Supercharged SS. In

any case there will be a compromise made but I'll have two reliable &

*gasp* modern daily drivers so that I can concentrate my efforts on a

1959 Buick hardtop of some sort. After all, that's te most important goal

I've set up for myself this year... I want to own one before Halloween

of this year.

[z28luvr01]

Steal the headlights, grille, and wheels off the silver Q and call it a day.

Seriously, though, if you're only going to keep this new car for three years or so, you may want to think in terms of which car will fetch you more when it's time to trade in. Cobalts seem to be holding their value rather well. I've seen 2005s at used car lots with stickers of $1000 off MSRP from when they were new. My estimation is that both the older Q and the newer Cobalt will be worth about the same money in 2009.

Another piece of advice...drive the Cobalt before you make the decision, and take Marcia along. You'll be surprised at how tight it feels when you drive it. Fling it around a few twisties and smile as it keeps its composure. I do every morning.

[Camino LS6]

Flip a coin.

[speedingpenguin]

Silvester.....SERIOUSLY..... You are the ONLY one who would think that anyone would be upset or disapointed with you for buying a *gasp* SECOND japanese car. For the love of god, dude, the Q45 isnt like a rice burner or anything, and it is V8 powered and RWD, so i mean.... whats the problem? Its clear that you LOVE the Q you have now, so if you can finance it and stuff, why not get a second one? haha

buy it dude! I'd rather see you in that than a Cobalt (honestly.....not saying Cobalts arent cool, but I just like the Q as well)

-Chris

BTW you doing anything later today? my friend from Framingham might be coming up with his jeep and if his 4WD is working, i'm sure he's gonna wanna mess around, LOL

[Cory Wolfe]

Speeding Penquin is right, Sixty8.

[Sixty8panther]

Speeding Non-flying-Antarctic-Bird:

I'm at home today with Sofia... Marica is going out tonight since

I've been screwing around a lot lately and I have two big

roadtrips coming up.

Now as far as the Q.... where to start. I'm really being super

indecisive. On the one hand having two Q45s would be pretty

sweet I don't know if I want two 100+K mile luxury cars. The

repair bills will be serious no doubt. Our Q has already had the

MAF, 2 Knock Sensors & 1 Oxygen Sensor replaced. It was under

the dealer's 1250 mile/30 day warranty but all that and the

front brake pads was damn near $1000.

I think a Cobalt SS with a blower wouild be fun but then again

I could just hold out and buy a new Camaro in 3/4 years. In

a few years I'll be less upside down on the Q than on the Cobalt.

I'm really begining to fall in love wiht the idea of a 100% RWD fleet.

[VenSeattle]

don't ask how my post ended up in the wrong 68 topic... just one of those things....

I've always liked that generation for the Q, despite the downsized 4.1L V8. It had plenty of power, so that really isn't a legitimate complaint. Inside and out, reminds me of a RWD flagship Buick. I agree, it would have made a great Roadmaster.

Go for it. If I were to buy used, I'd probably be looking for a Q also.

[ocnblu]

ooo, and that's a Q45t... sporty. Amazingly, I could even live with the subtle rear spoiler. Nice car!

You can bet the Infiniti will be much more expensive to repair if something goes wrong, though. Remember the shocks on the STS...

[VenSeattle]

OH GAUD YES! Regular scheduled maintenance alone is extremely expensive compared to GM vehicles... I remember looking at the prices for all of Infiniti vehicles when getting serviced... and the 4.1L engine doesn't go 100k between tune-ups if I remember correctly. It's every 60k I think, with minor tune-ups every 30k.

[Camino LS6]

Find a decent B-body and call it good until the Camaro shows.

[capriceman]

Find a decent B-body and call it good until the Camaro shows.

Or jsut save up right now and put a huge down payment on a camaro SS.

12k is a lot to spend on acar that you are going to keep for 4 years though. in practicallity both cars are really not smart investment wise. i would find a 96 B bod for chaep no more than $2500 and keep it runing off of junyard parts untill the SS.

[Petra]

If you must have an American car that fits your specifications, well... you really don't have a lot of options. Other than a used GM B-Body or a Ford Panther, I can't think of anything. I say: The Q45, despite being Japanese, is about the least "evil" Japanese car around. Live with it for a little while until the new Camaro rolls around. Also, in the case of an unforeseen occurance, you wouldn't have as large a debt as you would buying a brand-new Cobalt. Don't stretch your resources too thinly.

On a slightly unrelated topic, what kind of mileage have you been getting out of your Q-Ship (post O2 Sensor repairs, obviously). My Mercury fluctuates between 22 and 23 MPG right now on mostly freeway driving (@ 70-ish MPH).

[Cory Wolfe]

*Using his super duper mind control powers* Sixty8... you will buy the Q45t... you will love it... just think... all RWD cars... Japan isn't evil... China is... just don't buy from them and you'll save your spot in someone's, I don't know who's, heaven. *laughs like a guy with super duper mind control powers* Okay... bye-bye...

[balthazar]

>>"My only question is this. If we were to buy this second Q45 would my eventual 1959 Buick ownership still balance out three Japanese cars."<<

As powerful and iconic as a B-59 is; No.

BTW, I am both upset AND disappointed with you for buying a THIRD japanese car.

Seriously, Buying a 4th car for a 2-driver household seems totally nuts financially. It's no investment, that's for sure. $15K (don't forget the interest) will pick you up a real solid B-59 hardtop; you are wasting your money with a 3rd nissan. Unless you came into disposable income and didn't tell us. Halloween is only 7 months away, and weren't you saving up for a house?

[Sixty8panther]

Well I must say Petra nailed it... the Q is so very plump, old school

and cumfy that I can excuse the lack of a "1" in the first digit of the

VIN. At the moment I think we're on fillup #7 wiht the Q... tomorrow

I'll grab the receipts (with the milage noted) and figure out my MPG

for comparisons' sake. I'm thinking 18 or so for the Q. The STS

averaged about 18 year round but is a lighter car and more

aerodynamic, althought the northstar's 4.6 liters is a half litre more

than the Q's little baby 215 wannabe.

Ocnblu: Yeah the G/F loves the decklid spoiler but to me it's kind of

cheesy. Not a big deal though, but the electronic shocks in the Q45t

are probably just as much of a bitch as the STS's but screw it at

least it's RWD and big.

Caprice: Maybe I'm bored or something... I don;t know. I've been

driving, buying & selling used GMs for half a decade now... first my

1994 Oldsmobile then my Grand Am, then my 1997 Grand Am,

1968 Camaro, 1987 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance, 1983 Firebird,

1997 Cadillac STS, 1991 Blazer, 1990 Suburban, 1986 Cadillac

Fleetwood Brougham, then I had possesion of the 79 Coupe DeVille

or a while and in the mean time I'm working on other people's cars

all the time.

I'm going to hopefully own a 1959 Buick soon. That will be more

than enough to keep me busy. Betwen all these cars I'm always

dragging home and working on I can never focus my energy on

one car and do it 100% right. I'm always cuting financial corners

and I can not and will not do that wiht my '59. The Qs, if we get the

2nd one will get me from point a-to-b and in the mean time I can

concentrate 100% of my energy on the Buick. Frankly, that's all

the GM car I need. I think a 1950s classic pretty much makes any

car I've ever owned look like a Corolla. (except the Camaro)

[Sixty8panther]

Balthazar: You posteed while I was responding to Petra...

Well... this second Q will not really be a 4th car. The Datsun has been great to

me as a daily driver but I can not continue to drive it 2,000 miles a month. It's

got 154,000 miles on it as of last week and the clutch, front brakes, shift

linkage and RR wheel bearing will need to be done in just a few thousand miles.

It's a fine back up car but now that Marcia's rollin' in a nice luxury car again I'm

starting to wonder why I drive a cramped little econobox everyday. The Datsun

started off as a good-MPG little long distance runner.

Mean time I have to get rid fo the STS... 143,000 miles and tons of bull&#036;h&#33; in

need of service. If I had known about the whole reg-to-synthetic-to-reg oil

fiasco that caused my poor STS to burn like a a quart every 200 miles I'd have

never bought it. At least I did manage to find out that it's not the car's fault.

Cadillac is not to blame for 90% my STS's problems except for the FWD.

So this leaves me in a position where I HAVE to trade the STS. If it was just me

and Marcia and there was no need to transport Sofia in the car and we lived in

Arizona or whatever I'd buy a 1959 Buick in heartbeat for a daily driver, but that's

not realistic. Whatever money I get for sellign some of my toys and ebay-junk

plus whatever I fetch for the Camaro I'll put into a '59. That sale will be cash.

I know you can finance a classic car these days but I think it's silly.

I'll probably end up wiht about $5000 to spend on a 59. I've got one I'm going to

look at up in Maine for $5900. First thing's first, I gotta sell the Camaro.

Edited April 8, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[Sixty8panther]

oh, and as far as the house it's a long story... there's a good chance

we're basically going to end up adding a big separate addition on

Marcia's grandmothere's house and live there. This will be a great

move financially and it will work out in terms of babysitting etc.

The only thing that sucks is that there's only enough room to build

a 2 or possibly 3 car garage... I was really hoping for a barn so I

could plot & execute my crazy car ideas like a BMW 2.8 I6 & 5-speed

swap into my Maxima. This would mean that I'd get space enough

for the '59 and that's it. Oh well.

Edited April 8, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[balthazar]

OK; you didn't mention selling the Camaro up top, so I counted the 4 you listed. Still sounds crazy to me, even if you could buy it for cash. I've bought numerous cars and at one time owned 9 at once, but none of the 3rd, 4th, etc were ever even $4-digit cars- so I never carried payments on them. And I had my house at that point.

Use your head and don't get in over it!!! Debt is a real killer...

[Sixty8panther]

Yes indeed I have been all over the map.

If I did not have to hear the G/F complain about my

quirky fleet I'd just keep the Datsun for a beater &

buy another BOF boat for like $1500. Like a high

milage Roadmaster wagon. The thing is she's got

this huge anti-wagon (& esp. minivan) stigmata.

But even that plan is thwarted by my STS. I still

owe about $2900 on that piece of work, os I kind of

have to finance somethign so I can roll in that payoff

and get rid of the STS since I' m a lttle upside down.

I was all about the Cobalt until XP told me about

this Q45t, then when I took a look at it I got the whole

anti-FWD car thing again that I've had since my teen

years. I wanted so bad to purge my fleet of the STS

because it's FWD and now I'd be getting another FWD

car. The Q was very appealing so I just put it on the

back burner in my mind, kind of like let fate decide.

Then one day recently I showed Marcia a photo of

this 99 Q45t and she pretty much said she's much

rather have another Q than a economy car.

So now as it stands we decided that if we can pick

up the Q for about $240 or so we'll do it, but if the

payment on the Q starts looking more like $280

then we just might buy an supercharged Cobalt SS.

In the end which ever car we go with we'd still have

two nice cars for a combined payment of $390 -$450.

That's about what a few of our friends are paying

monthly for ONE new-ish car. Not a bad deal. The

way things work in Mass is that weather you drive

a new car or used car you get fu#%ed on insurance

so I'm sick of driving two 20 year old cars, one late

90s one and my 68 and paying $3000 a year.

Also, the 59 will go on antique plates... screw

paying for vanities again. my PANTHR plates cost me

exactly 4 times as much as standard plates!

The Volvo is getting junked in short order. I'd already

have junked it for the $100 Holland's gives if Marcias's

brother had come by to grab the parts he wants off of it.

Edited April 8, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[04monteintimidator]

yur selling your camaro? hmmm... this intrigues me... alot... details?

[04monteintimidator]

hahaha wmj thats classic!

[balthazar]

Not exactly the same from what I've seen, but if that one isn't called 'neon', it must be an obvious reference to it.

'honda' is pretty straightforward- you could get away with something close... or 'spell' it out using other letters there.

[Sixty8panther]

That's a great sig!

Monte04:

It's in need of a wiring harness, about $2000 worth of small cosmetic pieces,

rear quarters, and some idiot punched a sunroof into it back in the 1970s.

Worse of all the brakes are &#036;h&#33;... everythig except the pedal is crap.

Litteraly. It has the original non-power 4-wheel drums on it... except for about

a year now I've had only the fronts hooked up. No rears at all.

If I sell it for $4000 wiht the motor I'l be happy.... $2500 and I keep the motor

would be ideal.

[Camino LS6]

68, I'm going to give you a serious response and you're not going to like it.

Take it from a fellow car buying addict, your plans need new priorities.

My advice is to sell the Camaro on Ebay with a high reserve (it will sell, trust me).

then pay off and repair the Caddy. I'd tell you to sell the Datsun, but that won't net you enough to matter. Drive the Caddy until you find a more fitting daily driver to trade it on. Or sell it outright and drive the Datsun until you find something. Either way, your credit will get a boost along with your buying power while giving you more time and flexibility in making your daily driver decision.

[Sixty8panther]

like you said the Datsun is not going to get me enough cash to make a diff.

As far as putting the STS back on the road... I honestly can not justify

the cost of reregistration and insurance since I'd have to do at least 2 of

the 4 O2 sensors, air pump & some associated electronics (plus the air

ride shocks I already bought), a windshield (including the rain sensor

B.S) and at lest one wheel bearing.

In the end I'm left with a $167/month payment on a car that looks like

crap (tree sap ate the paint when the broad kept parking under the pine

trees against my firm advice) and to top it all off the car burns

more oil than a Duramax Diesel.

I honestly would rather pay another $100 a month more than keep that

car. The vandalized windshield as the last straw on the camel's back....

I wanted to ditch the car before but after that I just have nothing but

feelings of bad karma with that poor Caddy.

This is not completely a knee-jerk reaction.... I've been thinking about

a 2nd Q45 since about a week after I bought it. I'd consider a 94-96 one if I could finance it but that's next to impossible.

I honestly think that the Q is just about perfect for what I want for a

daily driver these days. Yes it's Japanese but other than it's lack of BOF

construction it's pretty much a modern day iteration of a Roadmaster.

Seriously it's got a super-hefty curb weight, a decent V8, soft as a down

pillow ride, luxurious interior and sharp but conservative styling coupled

with RWD and a traditionla proportions.

[Camino LS6]

like you said the Datsun is not going to get me enough cash to make a diff.

As far as putting the STS back on the road... I honestly can not justify

the cost of reregistration and insurance since I'd have to do at least 2 of

the 4 O2 sensors, air pump & some associated electronics (plus the air

ride shocks I already bought), a windshield (including the rain sensor

B.S) and at lest one wheel bearing.

In the end I'm left with a $167/month payment on a car that looks like

crap (tree sap ate the paint when the broad kept parking under the pine

trees against my firm advice) and to top it all off the car burns

more oil than a Duramax Diesel.

I honestly would rather pay another $100 a month more than keep that

car. The vandalized windshield as the last straw on the camel's back....

I wanted to ditch the car before but after that I just have nothing but

feelings of bad karma with that poor Caddy.

This is not completely a knee-jerk reaction.... I've been thinking about

a 2nd Q45 since about a week after I bought it. I'd consider a 94-96 one if I could finance it but that's next to impossible.

I honestly think that the Q is just about perfect for what I want for a

daily driver these days. Yes it's Japanese but other than it's lack of BOF

construction it's pretty much a modern day iteration of a Roadmaster.

Seriously it's got a super-hefty curb weight, a decent V8, soft as a down

pillow ride, luxurious interior and sharp but conservative styling coupled

with RWD and a traditionla proportions.

I hear and understand.

I'd still advise you to sell the Camaro first and payoff the caddy. If you don't want to fix it, sell it as is and cut your losses. That Camaro will sell fast on Ebay this time of year.

[speedingpenguin]

Silvester

Why not go to the auction and buy an old Caprice cop car or something? For what you'd be paying for, yeah it'd be up there in mileage but I'm sure it wouldnt let you down, it would be GM, V8, and RWD so you could sleep with yourself at night, and its big/safe enough to haul around Sophia without having to worry about safety really.

[Sixty8panther]

Right, but if I sell the Camaro and pay of the STS I end up with very

little if any money for a 59 Buick. As much as I know I'm upside down

on the STS replacing it with a slightly higher payment and stepping up

to a newer car that I find much more enjoyable makes it less painful

to "loose" money on it.

The Bitch of it is that if I pay off the Caddy I'd be using $3000 cash to

do what a low increase in monthly payment will do in the next few

years. These days auto loans are easily refinanced so I can get

rid of excess interest. We have very few other debt these days, just

like maybe $2000 combined between 3 credit cards.

This tax season Marcia did very well and almost doubled her clientele

this year while we just might go down about 500 in terms of monthly bills once we get the hell out of here... a $250 car payment versus

$167 is not going to break the bank.

Honestly I think the STS and a 1999 Q45t are worlds apart. And it's

not because the Q is better built in terms of being Japanese, it's just

a much more traditional uxury car with much more practicality built in.

[Sixty8panther]

Silvester

Why not go to the auction and buy an old Caprice cop car or something? For what you'd be paying for, yeah it'd be up there in mileage but I'm sure it wouldnt let you down, it would be GM, V8, and RWD so you could sleep with yourself at night, and its big/safe enough to haul around Sophia without having to worry about safety really.

You can't trade in a 1997 STS at the auction if you still have a lienholder.

Trust me if a B-body was in the cars somehow I'd go for it. I already told Marcia

that if this Q does not work out I'm going looking for a 1996 Fleetwood Brougham.

I think the last gen. Caddy B-body is just about the only modern luxury sedan

that embodies style, elegance & modern design better than the Q or a

Lincoln Town Car. I'd also consider a low milage T.C. or even a Crown Vic. but

Marcia is not a fan of Fords, and honestly for the money the Q is more

bang for the buck, even if my repair bills end up higher.

[Cory Wolfe]

*Yells "Yes! My powers are working* Yes, Sixty8, get the Q45... Don't listen to them... Selling the Camaro and fixing the Seville will put you through hell! Don't do it! It's a very bad decision... Don't listen to a guy who is selling his prized Firehawk... He must be insane!

[Camino LS6]

*Yells "Yes! My powers are working* Yes, Sixty8, get the Q45... Don't listen to them... Selling the Camaro and fixing the Seville will put you through hell! Don't do it! It's a very bad decision... Don't listen to a guy who is selling his prized Firehawk... He must be insane!

LOL@BV

[Sixty8panther]

Dude.... I still can not beleive you'd part with that car.

I'd rather sleep in the back seat and collect soda cans

for a living rather than sell a car that rare. It's about

as close to a modern day SD455 as you can get.

[pow]

It's got sat nav... go for it!

[mute]

i say go for the Q

its just too damn sexy and i dont think that alegiances to particualr makes or countries should get in the way of a damn fine car like that

cobalt is nice but is it really what you want in a car or where you getting it to say you had another gm product?

the electra will def balance it out too

[Sixty8panther]

To be honest my desire to buy a Cobalt is a mixed bag of emotions.

I have to say that honestly about 66.7% of the reason why is so

I can reward my favorite company i the world with a new car sale.

I may talk a lot of hate, but I love GM and always will. From the

LaSalle to Chevy & Oldsmobile to Opel. I love GM. I even liked

Subaru, too bad GM sold it to the evil empire.

After seeing the Camaro concept and having my dream of about

eight years come to life like that I've found a new appreciation for

the General.

[Sixty8panther]

On a slightly unrelated topic, what kind of mileage have you been getting out of your Q-Ship (post O2 Sensor repairs, obviously). My Mercury fluctuates between 22 and 23 MPG right now on mostly freeway driving (@ 70-ish MPH).

The longer we have the Q the better I feel about buying it. Marcia still says

she misses the power of the mighty Northstar and the Driver Information

Center but she "loves" the Infiniti and she's pickier than I am.

But speaking of less power & cu. in. in the 4100 Infiniti V8 it does have an

upside. I just calculated the fuel economy and the numbers are good. The

best we ever averaged with the STS was just about 20 mpg. Usually just

under 20. If I drove it a lot it was 18.0 on the nose. But with Marcia's

driving it averaged high 19s. One time I drove like 57 in a 55 for like half

an hour so I could bump up the average to 20.0 on the D.I.C. because

Marica had been averaging 19.8.

Well so far we've driven 1990 miles in the Q45 and in that time the car has

burned through 109.7 gallons. So the car has been getting 18.1 miles to the

gallon. Keeep in mind that 90% fo those miles were on 2 bad Knock

Sensors, a malfunctioning MAF and no 55mph driving was involved.

As a matter of fact Marica has done about 60% of those miles while the

other 40% was me doing 0-70mph runs at every stoplight and doing

business miles in light traffic at 30mph or at night going 83mph.

I'm pretty confident with more gentle miles & all the maintenance taken

care of now we'll get close to 20mpg. This is not bad since the car is RWD,

full size and hefty. It's also a lot less aerodynamic.

[Camino LS6]

Dude.... I still can not beleive you'd part with that car.

I'd rather sleep in the back seat and collect soda cans

for a living rather than sell a car that rare. It's about

as close to a modern day SD455 as you can get.

Happily, I've been dragging my feet on this successfully for some time now. I just put a new battery in and took a short drive or two last week. Saved the old batt with the assembly line inspection mark.

[Sixty8panther]

Happily, I've been dragging my feet on this successfully for some time now.

Drag your feet for about 20 years and you just might be able

to buy a mansion with the money you'll get at Barrett Jackson.

Edited April 10, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[Sixty8panther]

BAD NEWS:

While we were running around looking at houses

today we got a call that the Q45t sold for $12,400

cash this morning. The bitch of it was that we

were 95% done wiht the paperwork bull$hit at the

local credit union. Well, either way I guess it was

not meant to be.

GOOD NEWS:

We put an offer in on a gorgeout House in central

Massachusetts. It does not have a garage but

there's plenty of property where one could be built.

MORE GOOD NEWS:

After we buy a house, as in after closing and once

everything is 100% all set with the mortgage I

think we will buy a Cobalt. But better still, I

convinced Marcia that the Supercharged SS is

a great value and we should try to cough up

the extra $100/month or so in payments so we can

get all the extra goodies. I'd be very happy with

an SS coupe for $19,995 BUT she's insisting on

a sunroof. I'm not into bull&#036;h&#33; options like that

and see no real benefit in a sunroof but hell, if

she doesn't mind blowing $700 on another useless

item then so be it. I want a yellow one though! That

I do not want to budge on.

[z28luvr01]

Most of all, congrats on the house. I hope it comes through for you.

I'm glad you've revisited the Cobalt idea. After the 'I think I'm going to get a Prius' comment my dad (A '70 LS6 Chevelle owner) made last night, I shudder at the thought of another person driving another advertisement for Japan, Inc. Sorry if I sound biased, but that comment from a lifelong Chevy guy really threw me for a loop. As soon as you drive the Cobalt, I'm pretty sure you'll find something else to get rid of when the time comes to buy the Camaro.

How do your parents like their Cobalt?

[Sixty8panther]

My Mom likes the Cobalt, my dad's pissed the CD player is not MP3

compatible but for waht they payed he's happy.

[Cory Wolfe]

What? A Cobalt? Nooooo! Alright, get an SS SC if you must. Atleast an SS. No other Cobalts... or else. You should look for another Q45, though... You never know...

Anyways, my parent's are hellbent on getting another crappy car, so it won't be another Japanese rolling advertisement, Z. Most likely a &#036;h&#33;ty little Cavalier or Sunfire... or a &#036;h&#33;ty Dodge Stratus... or some &#036;h&#33;ty Ford Escorts... *shudder* We did look at a damn nice Alero, but they act like they're supposed to cost $3k! WTF? This superb-looking one was $5k with 94k miles... it was loaded except for leather. It had very little problems, just asthetics. It books for $8.5k... Come on, now... that is a god damn good deal! If they don't go for it, or get bit in the ass for not buying today... I am going to be pissed. How muchso will depend on what they end up getting. Grr...

[balthazar]

BV- your 'rents can always get a &#036;h&#33;ty little sentra or a &#036;h&#33;ty little accent- keep hopin'!

And lay off Sixty8- he's a kid with a kid and no house; he need a SECOND high-end infiniti to maintain, insure & pay off like he needs... I dunno... E boli. It's easy to spend someone else's money but you don't have real bills to pay or a family to provide for. You want him to go broke and move into your attic?

[Cory Wolfe]

Hey... my attic rocks, fool. Don't mock it... it's only burnt on the inside.

Besides.. do the math. A Cobalt SS SC like he wants would cost more than a used Q45.

[balthazar]

What about repairs, upkeep, insurance & fuel costs? You young punks get absolutely raped for car insurance; the disparity between an entry-level Chevy compact and a flagship infiniti must be huge when you're 25-ish.

[Cory Wolfe]

He's more like 28, I think. Besides... the difference between the two was great enough for all that to not make a difference. Seriously... forget how much a Cobalt SS SC costs?

[speedingpenguin]

He just turned 27 a few days ago

Silvester, what part of MA are we talking about? Hopefully nothing TOO far away, right?

Too bad about the Q, but hey, if you can get a Cobalt SS, I guess thats just as cool!

[Sixty8panther]

That's just it.... the house first, car second.

After seeing that gorgeous 1997 240SX notchback at the

Grafton, NY Nissan meet I went to this weekend I'm

almost considering a nice used one instead of the Cobalt.

I sure do love RWD lightweights.

Most likely I'll end up with the thing I least suspect. Maybe

a non-SC SS would fit the budget but still give me some

fun factor, either way I'm not doing the daily driver 1984

Datsun for much longer. Now that Marcia's got the Q45 &

drives it moer than I do I'm itching for a new ride.

[speedingpenguin]

Silvester, what are you up to today? I dont have work, I'll give you a call and you'll have to tell me about NY! I got your call yesterday but I was asleep (Bored to death so I took a nap, LOL) and when I woke up my family from NC had just arrived so I was busy with that. I'll call ya after school today

[Intrepidation]

Go for it, The current Q is kinda ugy but the one you're looking at looks classy and nicely designed. Of all the Japanese brands, I respect Nissan/Infiniti the most. They're not arrogant, their cars are nicely designed, and they just make good cars. Go for it! To quote blackviper: "Sixty8... you will buy the Q45t... you will love it... just think... all RWD cars... Japan isn't evil... China is... "

Get there car, it looks very nice, and since you like the one you have a lot, then you've got nothing to fear about getting another one