Faults:

166000; blower motor went.

169000 miles; starter went.

175000 miles; struts and shocks went.

190000 miles; bad fuel injector.

196310 miles; bad ignition coil pack.

General Comments:

This 1994 Infiniti Q45t has very slow take off, but once the car is past 30 mph, the car is a fearless beast.

Faults:

At 120,000 miles, the throttle body control module that controls the limited slip TCS went, and of course dealer wanted $300 just for the part.. not happening. Runs fine without this, but the annoying dashboard light stays on.

The head gasket went at 130K. Rebuilt engine installed.

Then the starter went at 135K.

Shocks at 135K.

General Comments:

I have not been lucky enough to experience the acceleration that others seem to get from this 4.5 liter engine. It performs well from 40 - 60+ MPH, but not off the line. However, this car has the nicest seats in a sports sedan. I would not get rid of this car (but just deal with the other mechanical issues).

Faults:

The car had an electrical problem where the idle would not hold steady. It would die after a few seconds.

Replaced all the wiring took care of it. Something to do with a ground wire?

One fuel injector went bad, car vibrated badly at idle.

Replaced injector, stopped vibration.

Rough idle, needle would go up and down, felt like the car was wheezing.

Cleaned the fuel injection, idle is smooth.

General Comments:

I bought this car in Denver in 2002 while I was in Seminary. I had just wrecked my white Ford Explorer and needed some transportation. I found this dark blue beauty on Federal in Denver and when I saw it had a Georgia Bulldogs sticker on it from my undergraduate school of choice. I knew it had to be a sign.

The car ran well at first until the electrical problem started. I took it to Meineke while I had it. The guys over there replaced all the rubber and wiring in the car, which had started to rot I guess. They got her working after a couple of trips back.

The major problem I had was one of the fuel injectors going bad. Fortunately there is a great forum with tons of info for Q45 owners, which I read religiously. I finally diagnosed the problem as a bad injector, which is common on these vehicles. The problem was how to fix it. Estimates to fix this ranged in the thousands; because of the way the car's engine is made you have to go deep inside to fix it. Most of the charge is the labor.

More research. OK I found a set of used injectors on eBay for under 100 bucks. I sent them to a company that tests and rebuilds them, also for less than a hundred bucks. I then found a guy to put them in. He was in Atlanta and only charged me about two hundred for the labor. I saved hundreds of dollars and frankly couldn't have afforded to do it any other way. She is so quiet now. You can hardly tell the engine is on.

This is a great car when it is running right. The V8 is so strong and is a joy to drive on the highway. This car is fast, don't let the looks fool you. BMWs and Mercedes are surprised by me cruising past them.

Small nit picky things. The seats are worn out and some leather is cracked in places. The passenger window is a gamble if I try to close it. Loose connection somewhere. The wiper fluid holder is cracked and needs to be replaced or fixed. And the sunroof mechanism broke because it is flimsy plastic.

I bought the car for 4 grand and spent about 2 grand fixing it up. These cars are a steal considering they used to be 50 grand. I love to drive this car.