Help; Debating purchase of '96 j30 w/ 101kmi

[dtr]

Hello everyone. I'm new here, and I'm debating buying a '96 j30 with 101k miles for $7400. I just learned from this forum that I will need to replace the timing belt very soon, and that will cost about $800. Am I crazy, or buying this a good idea as a second car? Also, there was a '97 with 87k miles at Carmax for $9990, but I was hoping not to go that high. I was also considering an older Avalon instead. Any help/thoughts/insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[felixxilef]

I have a '94 with 61K miles. Haven't ever tried to sell it but my impression is that I'd be lucky to get $7-8k. The dealer tells me he sees them come in with 300k miles and still going strong....but remember that is the dealer talking. I'm surprised to hear a timing belt is $800....thought I'd heard much less but not sure. I think transmissions are a common potential problem with these cars so you might want to look closely at that. A/C is an expensive problem too. If I were you I'd look for a '93-94 with fewer miles for maybe same money, since mileage is way more important than year.

[31rx7]

The pre-95 Nissan V6 tends to have fuel injector problems per my experience and my mechanic. I would go with the later one. Also, the quote on the timing belt is pretty accurate from my experience. Finally, $7400 seems a bit high. These are very nice cars, but they don't hold their value. I regularly see nice ones with similar mileage in the $5 - $6k range. Also, insurance is high.

[WA2]

Yeow. My 96 has 100k on it and I only paid $5200.00 It is in immaculate condition, too.

[ortron]

I have a 95 J30. I had the 90k tune up done on it at the Infinity dealership and it cost me quite a bit ($1300)

This included everything a regular tune up would plus new timing belts, transmission flush, water pump and a few minor items. The car is running really well. I spent the money since I will be keeping until its last days. Selling was not an option since J30 devaluate too fast. I hope my experience helps.

[bond41]

i bought my 95 j30 for $2,495. It has 156,000 on it, but it runs strong and the car is immaculate next to the wear on the interior of the driver door.

[J30 FaNaTiC]

Ok, I am not sure what a 96 J will go for. In my area of Virginia beach I have seen 96 -J30 with less miles 75-90K go for about 7500 and the price was neg. Do your research on the price but I will tell you Edmunds, Kelly's and NADA online quotes are generally higher than what you will/shoudl pay.

The J30 has a Nissan 300 ZX engine (exact) and the J30 is the only Infiniti with a timing belt. That is the most expensive maintenance item you will need to replace. MY dealsrhsip wants $700 without the tensioner (recommended that you replace the tensioner, water pump and possibly cam/crank seals) This will be more expensive. The J30s timing belt for that car should be replaced every 105K miles and because it is an inteferring engine if you break the belt you could possibly send the valve stem through the pisotn corwn - then you can jus throw the engine away. The timing belt is ONE item I do not take a chance with.

As great an engione as Nissan makes it seem that the transmission lags behind. Nissans's tranmissions are know for the tourque converter to go out with less than 200K miles. I myself chg the traaans fluid every year. Because my car has less than 100K I have done the flush although I am not a fan of it.

Overall, you can visit any web site on the J30 and they all say the same thing. The car is absolutely reliable,dependable and gives you the most bang for the buck. I have a 97.5 with less than 55K miles and no engine/AC/stereo/brakes/tarnsmission problems. Only issue has been the sunroof motor at 27K miles and the dealer took care of that.

I recommend that you take the car to an Infiniti dealership and spend $100 - $150 and have them do a thorough inspection on the car for peice of mind. Spend another $100 and have them hok it up to the doagnostic engine computer to reveal any malfunction codes.

/ron/