You know, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Big time.

I had a 1996 Q45 that I bought for $2,400 back in 2008, with 104,000 miles on it. I was the 3rd owner of the car. It was opalescent pearl-white with a creamy buttermilk tan leather interior so soft and gorgeous that I've yet see ANY modern car interior with leather seats that match the quality of this car. Bose audio -- all the options, including the regal 24 spoke aluminum wheels. I owned this car during a pretty challenging period of my life; I was still relatively young (36) and trying to finish college, since I'd dropped out in 1992, so I could get my real estate broker license. This car was noting short of perfection. Literally. It had no cup holder. Yet I could set a MUG of coffee from my kitchen on the center console and drive from Verdugo Hills to Echo Park -- all the way down the 2 -- without the cup moving so much as a centimeter. The suspension of the Q45 rivaled pretty much every German and Japanese luxury car in existence, and didn't even come close to that of my previous sedan, which had been a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE.

In all the time I owned my 1996 Q45, putting 44,000 miles on it in about 42 months, all I ever did (besides oil & filter changes every 3,000 miles) was make the necessary repairs on only TWO occasions it was ever in the shop:

1. About 7-8 months into my first year of ownership, the fuel pump failed. I was stranded a few blocks from my sister's house and walked there to call a tow truck. I didn't know anyone who worked on Infiniti -- much less the Infiniti V8s -- so I had the driver take it to Akbar Service on Foothill Blvd. in Upland. By this time I had been a Mercedes-Benz guy for many years and he had always worked on my W123 and W126 chassis vehicles. They said they'd look at it...

The next day they called and said the car was ready. I owed $315 out-the-door, for a brand new fuel pump, installed. And the car ran flawlessly for two straight years. Until one day, it died on Foothill Blvd. about a quarter-mile from my apartment.

2. That afternoon, I dropped it off at an import repair shop I knew nothing about who said he'd look at it. Next day, he calls me and says I owe him $305 out-the-door for a new fuel pump solenoid, installed. This part probably should have been replaced back when the fuel pump itself was replaced but hey... money was tight in those days, so no big deal.

About three months later, it didn't want to turn over one morning. Keep in mind this is now summer 2011. I pop the hood. The ORIGINAL INFINITI OEM battery from the FACTORY in JAPAN is still in the car! I walk to AutoZone at the end of my block. Buy a new battery for $120 and install it. Car fires right up as always.

I drove that Q45 for 4-years with effectively ZERO problems. None. Not one. Ice cold A/C, a luxurious ride and handling, power everything, sunroof, Bose audio and hands free cellular... just the perfect automobile, in every way. And with almost 149,000 miles on it, I was visiting friends in Las Vegas when a girl at the Red Rock asked if I wanted to sell it. By now, I knew it was due for a new starter because every 8th or 9th time you turned it over there's be a grinding sound for about 1-second. Meaning, the probe was going bad and not shooting out far enough to catch the ring gear, and each time it made that grinding sound it was stripping the ring gear a little bit more.

I advised her of this issue. She didn't care. She and her boyfriend wanted to drive it. So we went on a demo ride around the parking lot at the casino and she bought it. I got back my $2,400 cash that I'd paid in 2008 right there, on the spot, flew home on Southwest instead, and mailed the title to her the next morning. By then, I had a couple other cars anyway, and was mostly driving my 2001 BMW 528i.

The 1990-1996 Infiniti Q45 is one of the best cars in the world. One of the best ever made -- right up there with the W126 S-class, the W123, original LS400, LS430 and, well, Infiniti Q45 and Q45t. The Q45 is a car capable of lasting indefinitely with proper service and maintenance and is a car almost unparalleled in drivability; it is one of the ultimate touring sedans and is more dependable that ANY Honda or Toyota ever made. And I've owned a couple Nissan Sentras -- terrific cars capable of 400,000 miles or more. That same robustness and bulletproof longevity was put into the Q45, albeit with the added richness of impeccable quality finishes and luxury amenities, from the Bose surround sound system with aluminum buttons, to the little gold analog clock in the center of the dashboard. I can still hear the voices of all those little hotties jumping into my backseat for a ride to the clubs on Sunset Blvd... "What kind of car is this???"