Another used car poll

Hello everyone, wow it has been ages since i posted on here and wow i feel like a teenager again.....hahah anyhow let us get right into my enquiry.

so after many years and many cars later, recently sold my baby, 2007 Audi A6 (4.2) and now looking to get another car and have narrowed the choices to these as i no longer live in Quebec and the choices are really small.

i have googled, i have test drove them i have watched almost every YouTube video i could. These are the cars i am looking to get and calling on the MontrealRacing gods to give some input.

For my situation;

-I work on the road, a lot of highway (not Montreal roads so very nice and smooth)
-have two kids (7 and 2) however this car will not be the family car, i have an SUV for this, but could have times they will be in the car.
-winter out here (Saskatchewan) is not like Montreal, the roads don't get cleaned out as much.
-budget, don't want to have a princess that needs a mechanic on speed dial. even though i had an Audi.

choices are;

1. 2006 Infiniti G35 coupe - RevUp edition - manual.
2. 2006 Infiniti G35 coupe - manual
3. 2007 Lexus IS350 - RWD - automatic
4. 2008 BMW 328Xi - Automatic
5. 2006 BMW 325i - automatic
6. 2006 BMW 325Xi - Automatc
7. 2010 VW jetta - Automatic
8. 2007 Acura TL - Automatic.
9. OTHER- please tell me what you think would be a good car to look into, keeping in mind my budget is up to 8000$

Ask me anything about g35's I can give you all the answers. Are they good cars? If properly maintained, yes. Rev ups are fun as they have the higher hp of the de's but tend to burn more oil than 03 and 04's you will at one point need to change bushings, or control arms as a whole. Do you have access to a garage? If so replace the bushings for the polyeaurathane ones. They are slow, even with bolt ons. They are a very balanced car though. The exhaust note is what had me sold on this car.

05 to 07 manual coupes are all rev ups.

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hey, I did a quick look and they seem to be taken care of, one more than the other and shows in the price. I did not know that all coupes were revp models, good to know.

other than the bushings, i am also told the gears go quick as well, and what you mean slow? even with 300hp? hmm i would have thought they were quicker.

These are pretty much the same cars...

4. 2008 BMW 328Xi -
5. 2006 BMW 325i -
6. 2006 BMW 325Xi -

Issues are well known it's likely most have been fixed by now. Oil leaks from valve cover, oil filter housing gasket, vanos solenoid, ignition coils, broken front coil springs, front driveshaft failure, transfer case noise, loose 02 sensors causing exhaust rattle, CAS module failure. Water pump failure/ stat etc blah blah blah... Older E90s are starting to rust along the bottom doors. We are starting to see more and more steering rack failures as well. Repairs? Some are DIY some require a good scan tool. Reliable? Get the best one you can afford... Just remember these are likely on their 3rd or 4th owner now.

Pre face lifted cars don't look really good and are started to look dated.

07 TL, Budget for a transmission replacement.

IS of that gen. Wheel bearings front and back, maybe an ABS sensor. They had early issues with VVT-i and springs but likely thats been already fixed by Toyota. Rear calipers love to jam up and water pumps leak.. I drove an 07 IS250 AWD for winter beater and it was fine at -35.

8k for an IS350 seems really low unless it has a crap ton of mileage...

Gregster said:

These are pretty much the same cars...

4. 2008 BMW 328Xi -
5. 2006 BMW 325i -
6. 2006 BMW 325Xi -

Issues are well known it's likely most have been fixed by now. Oil leaks from valve cover, oil filter housing gasket, vanos solenoid, ignition coils, broken front coil springs, front driveshaft failure, transfer case noise, loose 02 sensors causing exhaust rattle, CAS module failure. Water pump failure/ stat etc blah blah blah... Older E90s are starting to rust along the bottom doors. We are starting to see more and more steering rack failures as well. Repairs? Some are DIY some require a good scan tool. Reliable? Get the best one you can afford... Just remember these are likely on their 3rd or 4th owner now.

Pre face lifted cars don't look really good and are started to look dated.

07 TL, Budget for a transmission replacement.

IS of that gen. Wheel bearings front and back, maybe an ABS sensor. They had early issues with VVT-i and springs but likely thats been already fixed by Toyota. Rear calipers love to jam up and water pumps leak.. I drove an 07 IS250 AWD for winter beater and it was fine at -35.

8k for an IS350 seems really low unless it has a crap ton of mileage...

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Hey Greg, long time no see. Yeah the BMW's are mainly the same difference of AWD and 325 to 328 other than that same bs... but didn't know they had that many issues.

Low_Civic said:

Hey Greg, long time no see. Yeah the BMW's are mainly the same difference of AWD and 325 to 328 other than that same bs... but didn't know they had that many issues.

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The only thing that really changes is some of the front suspension and a transfer case. Issues are well known, it's never a shocker or WTF. Also 2006... It's a 12-13 year old car at this point

If there aren't many good european repair shops near you or if they advertise to be one but don't have any BMWs etc outside then get a Lexus. If something goes wrong almost anyone can fix it and the Toyota parts bin is large

The gears are fine as the transmission is a cd009 in those models. 300 crank hp, 243 wheel hp. Although I lose most races, I find it a fun car. Take it on the twisties and that's when the smiles come out. 6mt 05 06 and 07 are the rev ups.

Low_Civic said:

hey, I did a quick look and they seem to be taken care of, one more than the other and shows in the price. I did not know that all coupes were revp models, good to know.

other than the bushings, i am also told the gears go quick as well, and what you mean slow? even with 300hp? hmm i would have thought they were quicker.

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very helpful gentlemen

I would take the G35

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I would take a G37.

G35 are junk.


Ask Masaker lol

I would take a g37xs actually. Better motor, awd for your crazy snow storms.

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That Jetta is really out of place.

The Jetta is only because of price and year, as for g37... none available out here for the budget.

As for snowstorms, it’s not crazy out here just the issue is the snow removal. They do not remove snow instead push it to the side and let it melt our allow for cars to compact it down

Volvo S60 T5 AWD

Acura TL SH AWD ?

Why are all the BMWs automatic? It would be a tight battle between a 328 and a g35 for me.

twinturbos said:

Why are all the BMWs automatic? It would be a tight battle between a 328 and a g35 for me.

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long story short, the ones I saw that were manual were not worth looking into them further. From one having 300k+ kms to one almost needing a new engine (with work needed to be done itnwould be easier)

paradigmqc said:

Acura TL SH AWD ?

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no, unfortunately front wheel

lord_galathon said:

Volvo S60 T5 AWD

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hmmm had not thought of Volvo.. thanks

Out of your choices I voted IS350 because its the better package out of all your choices imho, very reliable, fast enough, comfotable although not as involving as BMW or G35. Gregster is right about auto transmissions in Hondas, which have been a plague for decades.

I also like the Volvo idea, picked up a S80 V8 AWD fairly recently myself. These cars are solid for highway cruising, durable against wear & tear, comfortable a-f, and if you go T6 or V8, fairly fast too. Reliability was a potential concern before i pulled the trigger but after lots of reading up online, major problems are few & far between. Added bonus: the are very cheap on the used market compared to germans or even japanese premiums. Hell, you can pick up a base 09 S80 3.2 with under 100k kms for +-7k (in Qc)! Lots of car for the money...

Good luck with your search, testing a ton of different models is key to finding the one that ticks off all the boxes.

If i was back home in MTL the choices would be much much greater, i have even thought of buying in mtl and ship it out here.

ive always loved Volvo. especially the V70's, but the choices of used cars are very slim compared to QC and most are trucks or SUV's which can be fun but not my cup of tea.

Seriously, take the G35. I may be biased but in a 6mt it is much better car than the ones listed. I have the 03 non revup 6mt and although it's only got 65,000k all the original parts are still on the car including entire suspension, gearbox even rotors. It also doesn't burn oil. Parts are everywhere, service is a snap, and reasonably priced. Masaker is correct, it isn't a race car but it's plenty quick and probably the last of breed, totally analog comfortable GT car available today. There are no nannies here, clutch bite point is tricky and takes getting used to, gearbox is short, quick and notchy, you feel every shift, steering is nice and stiff. There is no rev hang like you see on today's nanny assisted cars, let go of the throttle revs drop right away. You are driving the car, not the other way around. But put it in 6th on a long trip and the car transforms into a super comfortable long distance cruiser that gets you 9L/100km @110kph.