Stargazer's Garage

Now that I'm looking for a new car I'm getting a little excited despite the upcoming loss of my R. My absolute requirements are navigation and HIDs. Navigation from manufacturers are often massively over-priced, but with my R I've realized the exorbitant prices might be worth it. More beneath the fold.... There was no nav option with my R, so I've been making do with a portable GPS. Except I don't carry it with me all the time, and I don't leave it in the R. A few occasions I found myself wishing I had brought my GPS with me -- only a few occasions but nonetheless highly aggravating ones. Anywhoo, I liked the navigation system on my dad's G35 so that's what I looked at first. The dealer has an excellent deal ($7-8k I looked at the 1- and 3-series, but they're expensive and not too practical. Pity. When I think of practical I think of space, which means hatchbacks. I kind of like them. Big surprise, eh? I looked at a MazdaSpeed3 -- great pric...

One of the things I really appreciated during our road trip to Washington, DC was the ceramic window tint that was installed on the Honda Odyssey just before we left. Ceramic tint has excellent heat rejection properties that made a significant difference in our comfort, especially with the 35° C and above weather. One thing that I didn't think about was tinting the sun roof.... The way the sunroof is positioned in the Odyssey, any sunshine that came through would feel uncomfortably intense, so much so that I would have the shade closed almost all of the time--even here in Vancouver. I didn't have that problem at all in our Toyota Sequoia. So when I took my dad in to get his 2007 Infiniti G35 to get tinted, I brought the van in to get the sunroof done also. It only cost about $30 and even though it doesn't look much darker, I can now keep the cover open and let more light in without getting uncomfortable. Here's my original post about getting the Pinnacle Formula One cer...

Update: added pictures and additional info Advanced Window Tinting (on Westwood in Port Coquitlam) did an excellent job tinting the rear windows on our Odyssey today. Just in time, too, because today's high was around 30° Celcius! The heat rejection with ceramic tint is excellent and the difference was very noticeable. It will definitely make the van much more comfortable during our road trip. Click below for more pictures. I was worried about putting metallic tint on the front windows because the owner's manual specifically warns that it could affect GPS reception (the antenna is under the dash). I was going to put Huper Optik ceramic tint (like the Subaru) but the shop I went to doesn't do automotive tint any more. That's when someone on NASIOC recommended Advanced Window Tint in Port Coquitlam. They carried Formula One Pinnacle Series ceramic tint which, unlike Huper Optik, is designed specifically for automotive use . That's good news because when I installed Hu...

Another really nice feature on the 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport is that the ones with a navigation system also come with a 9.3 gigabyte "Music Box" hard drive. What it can do is rip about 200 hours (2,900 songs) from CDs and store them for playback. All you have to do is insert a CD, tell it to record (or you can set it to do it automatically), and it will start transferring the music.... The only downside is that it records in real-time, so you do have to listen to the entire CD. The good thing is that you can stop the engine, leave the car, and the hard-disk will resume recording when you return. Another great thing about this system is that it includes a built-in Gracenote Database so that it can recognize albums and song titles. Once the CD has been ripped, you can play back the songs sorted by Artist, Album, Date, or Mood. Cool!

I was doing a bit of reading on the forums today and was surprised to find out that the Infiniti G35 does not have automatic door locks. I find this very unusual and disappointing for this class of vehicle. Especially since my 1999 VW Passat had it. My 2003 Toyota Sequoia had it. And my 2006 Honda Odyssey has it.... I know this is a very minor detail and it's simple just to press the door lock button yourself after you drive, but this vehicle is a "luxury" class vehicle and should not be missing things that are standard on lesser vehicles. Especially since the very first warning in the section on doors is: Always have the doors locked while driving. Along with the use of seat belts, this provides greater safety in the event of an accidnet by helping to prevent persons from being thrown from the vehicle. This also helps keep children and others from unintentionally opening the doors, and will help keep out intruders. Maybe if you've never had this feature before, you m...

One of the first things we setup on the 2007 Infiniti G35S was the Automatic Drive Positioner. When the feature is turned on, what it does is move the driver's seat back and the steering column up and out of the way to make getting in and out of the car more easy.... Once you are in the car and you start the engine, the driver's seat and the steering column move back to the normal memorized position. When you stop and open the door, everything moves out of the way again. There are several nice things about setting and storing the driving position in the G35. First, when you use the power tilt/telescoping control to adjust the steering column, the entire gauge cluster moves with it so that the gauges never get blocked. Second, when you memorize the seat position in one of the two available memory slots, the position of the mirrors as well as the steering column all get stored at the same time. Very nice.

The owner's manual that comes with the 2007 Infiniti G35 comes in a supple, black genuine leather cover. The manual itself is pretty thick. Definitely thicker than the other ones I've had. And definitely a lot for a single reading. So what I've been doing is reading different sections and learning about different features of the car.... The Intelligent Key System allows you to operate the vehicle without removing the remote control from your pocket. It's a neat idea. When you approach a certain distance to the car, it recognizes the remote and allows you to press a button on the door handle that either locks or unlocks the doors. It works with the trunk and fuel-filler door, too. Once you are inside the vehicle you can also press the start button to start the engine. I think the best way to work the system is to use the button on the door handle to enter the car, and then simply use the remote to lock it as you walk away. I did find out from reading G35driver.com today ...

The three amigos.

Today was the day my dad picked up his new 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport. It's also the first time I've been able to look at the car more closely at different angles. As I drove behind the Inifiniti on the way home, I found that I really like the curves on the redesign. The more I look at it, the sportier it looks.... There's a lot of technology in this car and I'm looking forward to learning all about it. Daylight was rapidly decreasing as the evening wore on, so I was only able to get a few quick pictures. I'll definitely get more this weekend:0)

The Infiniti G35 Sport sedan my dad bought a couple of weeks ago finally arrived at the dealership yesterday. Today the salesman gave us a call and we went over to take a look. It was the first time seeing the colour in person. I noticed that there were 3 newly arrived G35's in that colour: in addition to my dad's, there was another Sport model with exactly the same Navigation and Technology option packages, and the other one was a G35x (AWD). Next will be the first drive! Click below for more pictures....

...but not for me , of course! Last night my dad signed the papers for a new 2007 G35 Sport Sedan. I just helped my dad negotiate the price and I have to say that the process was quick and relatively stress free.... Actually, that makes 3 car purchases I've made in just over 1 year (Subaru, Honda, Infiniti) that were pleasant and didn't leave anyone with a bad taste in their mouth. I think that occurred because the sales manager was motivated to sell and they knew that we were serious about buying. Being a member of the Automotive Protection Agency really helped because it allowed me to walk into the dealership prepared and informed. The APA offers a member buying service that gives you invoice price and dealer markup. This greatly cuts down negotiation time because the sooner we get down to the bottom line, the less time we have to waste. I'm not trying to make the dealer loose money and what I offer is a reasonable profit. The salesman recognizes that and we are all happ...