Where Your Author Sells an Infiniti Quickly, Then Starts a Search

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Recently, I’ve shared musings about selling my old Infiniti, as well as the coupe or sedan options pegged to replace it. You readers had your helpful hearts in the right place, with funny suggestions of Challenger, Charger, and Mustang. A couple of weeks have elapsed since then, and there have been developments. Let’s chat.

The initial expectation was that the M35x would take some time to sell. It was very clean and had low miles, but was also a decade old and forgotten by everyone who’s not a Nissan VQ35 enthusiast. I threw a listing on the local Craigslist in the last week of February, with no real urgency to sell. After a couple of disinterested “Will you take five grand?” phone calls, a more serious buyer came forward. We arranged a time to meet the morning of March 2nd. Said buyer showed up on time and with cash in hand.

A test drive and an hour later, the Infiniti’s title was notarized to a happy new owner. After just over five years and with 14,000 miles added to the odometer, I received back 53.9 percent of what I paid for the M. Not too shabby, right?

The green Outback has enjoyed some garage time the last couple of weeks, but it’s banishment back to the driveway is imminent. Only this weekend did I get some time (and decent enough weather) to check out the one option I hadn’t drive: the GS 350. I’d narrowed it down to the Infiniti Q60 or the Lexus. Both are available for similar money and with similar miles and fulfill the desired criteria. They were roughly equal, or so I thought.

The wind changed on Saturday. I went to a local dealer to drive an overpriced black-on-black GS 350 AWD. Not the specification or color I wanted, but all examples in a reasonable radius had all-wheel drive. The busy salesman let me loose with the GS on my own, and what I found was pleasantly surprising. Notable at first blush was the delta in quality from the Q60 to the Lexus.

“Oh,” you’ll say, “these cars aren’t comparable!” But I say they are. There’s considerable price overlap between them, and they have the same luxury pretensions, V6-type power, and rear-drive basis. The GS felt better sorted and engineered, and its materials were about two or three steps above the Q60 with regard to quality. The superbly padded doors and fine dash materials did not go unnoticed, nor did the actual metal knobs on the stereo. Underway, the ride felt more composed, the cabin notably more quiet. Even at the extra-legal speeds of interstate traffic, the interior was hushed (apart from the slightest wind noise). The steering was too light, but felt precise. Seats were comfortable, just like the second-generation GS430 I had long ago. The infotainment system was overly complicated, and the mouse control would be much better if replaced by a more traditional dial. The sun visors felt a bit flimsy for this level of car. And in this particular example, there was a slight whine from something transmission-related when accelerating from a standstill. I was unsure whether to peg that to all-wheel drive related noise, or something funky in the gearbox itself. Either way, I’d obtained the information I needed to make a decision. Vastly superior in most ways to the Q60, GS was the answer.

Spreadsheet ready, I started the search for the right GS late on Saturday, via AutoTrader and eBay. Requirements are as follows:

  • 2015 model
  • No black exterior or interior
  • Rear-drive
  • Under 50,000 miles
  • Heated seats
  • Under $25,000
  • Clean history

So far, the black exterior and interior restrictions have taken the largest number of cars out of the running. I’m fine with literally any other interior color. Many for sale have shown past damage on the history report. I’d accept an F-Sport version if the red leather were present, though I’ve given up on finding any examples with the Mark Levinson audio or Luxury package. Seems those two options weren’t too popular. The spreadsheet currently contains four potential cars that passed all the hurdles. It’s all sort of a time sink, but of the enjoyable kind for me.

The next entry in this story will be after a purchase is made.

[Images: Corey Lewis/TTAC, Lexus, seller]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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  • Manic Manic on Mar 21, 2019

    6-series BMW, 2 or 4-door would be something I'd check.

  • Cbrworm Cbrworm on Mar 27, 2019

    Congrats on finding your next dream car. I'm still searching for mine. A Lexus GS, not in black, is definitely on my short list. I prefer the ultra white or either of the darker greys on that particular car.

  • Mike-NB2 This is a mostly uninformed vote, but I'll go with the Mazda 3 too.I haven't driven a new Civic, so I can't say anything about it, but two weeks ago I had a 2023 Corolla as a rental. While I can understand why so many people buy these, I was surprised at how bad the CVT is. Many rentals I've driven have a CVT and while I know it has one and can tell, they aren't usually too bad. I'd never own a car with a CVT, but I can live with one as a rental. But the Corolla's CVT was terrible. It was like it screamed "CVT!" the whole time. On the highway with cruise control on, I could feel it adjusting to track the set speed. Passing on the highway (two-lane) was risky. The engine isn't under-powered, but the CVT makes it seem that way.A minor complaint is about the steering. It's waaaay over-assisted. At low speeds, it's like a 70s LTD with one-finger effort. Maybe that's deliberate though, given the Corolla's demographic.
  • Mike-NB2 2019 Ranger - 30,000 miles / 50,000 km. Nothing but oil changes. Original tires are being replaced a week from Wednesday. (Not all that mileage is on the original A/S tires. I put dedicated winter rims/tires on it every winter.)2024 - Golf R - 1700 miles / 2800 km. Not really broken in yet. Nothing but gas in the tank.
  • SaulTigh I've got a 2014 F150 with 87K on the clock and have spent exactly $4,180.77 in maintenance and repairs in that time. That's pretty hard to beat.Hard to say on my 2019 Mercedes, because I prepaid for three years of service (B,A,B) and am getting the last of those at the end of the month. Did just drop $1,700 on new Michelins for it at Tire Rack. Tires for the F150 late last year were under $700, so I'd say the Benz is roughly 2 to 3 times as pricy for anything over the Ford.I have the F150 serviced at a large independent shop, the Benz at the dealership.
  • Bike Rather have a union negotiating my pay rises with inflation at the moment.
  • Bike Poor Redapple won't be sitting down for a while after opening that can of Whiparse
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