New Member Tfvesquire from Downers Grove, IL

Hi All:
 
I recently joined this forum in preparation of buying my first Q. I located a 98 that I hope to close a deal on shortly and would like to learn as much as I can while sharing my knowledge with other members. 
 
My current car is an exceptionally well maintained 1998 Maxima SE (Sage Mist Green and Tan Interior) that I will be detailing and putting up for sale -- so if you know anyone who is looking for an extremely clean Max, have them contact me.  I also own a 1960 Corvette that my dad and I restored from the ground up. I have been an avid gearhead as long as I can remember and have learned some great tricks along the way. Still open for new ideas and knowhow.
 
I will keep the forum posted about my purchase and what I discover has been done to it and obviously what needs to be addressed. I have already worked out a deal with a member of another forum (Nicoclub.com) to purchase the complete set of chrome outer door handle assemblies from his 97 Q parts car.  The PO on the 98 bought the car with factory gold plated handles which look nice, just not my style. Once I get enough posts on the boards, I would be putting those up for sale.
 
Take care and shoot me a PM if you want.
 
Ted

Ted,
   welcome to the forum. Hope we can help you with your questions. Curious to see what you have in store for the Q... good luck on the purchase.

Hi Again:
 
Well, I just picked up my first Q (1998 Pearl White, Tan Leather, Gold Package) with about 72K miles on it. I flew to GA and drove it back home Monday. I was pleased to find the mechanics of the car in better than expected condition. The motor, trans, rear end and exhaust system were excellent with no leaks or missing parts. I ran the ECU on my scanner and only came up with the KS ghost code for both banks. Strangely, the codes disappeared after I filled up with premium and BG 44K and ran the tank down on the way back to IL.  I was able to confirm the vehicle was properly maintained by an Infiniti dealer in Florida before it was traded in. The 60K miles service was performed which is fairly comprehensive. The exterior paint was also in better than expected condition with only 2 minor dings and both front and rear bumpers had been repainted so they were not all chewed up looking.  I will have to lightly wet sand and buff out the hood since they got some dust in teh clear coat, but the paint still shines up great.  
 
The gold door handles, well..........let's just say they weren't shiny gold, but a sort of tarnished copper looking mess. Thank goodness I was able to find a complete set of pearl white and chrome handles from a guy parting out his 97. Swapping them definitely made a huge difference.  I was also able to purchase several excellent trim pieces from the same guy which leads me to the interior.......
 
Not a total loss, but quite a disappointment. Considering the exterior condition, no one would expect the interior to be in such poor shape. I did find out that despite my 1damant request for a non-smoker car, someone had smoked in it at least several times (no smoke smells at all, which could be due to the cabin filters) in the past due to the burn marks on the center console trim, driver side carpet, head liner and even the cluster lens. How the F does someone burn the clear speedo cluster lens is beyond me. I am an ex smoker, but I never used the asjtray in my car. In fact, it still smells like factory condition.  That said, I tallied up the parts I would need to replace and the part out guy came through. I bought all the additional interior parts I need for under $200 and he sold me the complete set of door handles for $175.00. He was definitely a great person to find and deal with.
 
In addition, the headliner and rear deck pillar trim were very dirty to the point that I may consider removing the headliner and either recovering it, or spraying it with tan/beige carpet spray.  After cleaning each piece I removed one at a time and spot cleaning here and there, things started to look much better.  I still have to remove some dreaded window film tint from the rear window before I install the newer rear deck pillars and finish cleaning the headliner to see how it turns out.  The seats were actually sprayed with some vinyl/leather recovering spray and don;t look too bad. They were a little stiff like paper, but after several applications of Lexol, they are staring to soften up.
 
So, besides needing a detail both in and out, I have to clean/replace the shift lock solenoid switch, the lower hinge on the drivers front door, the antennae mast and the worst task -- removing the rear window tint without dmaging the defroster lines. I have talked to a bunch of people on this and there is no easy way to remove it. I actually burned out a hairdryer yesterday and only got about a one inch by 24 inch part removed. I am going to try some 3M Adhesive Remover this wknd and hopefully that does the trick. Expensive stuff ($25 per can) but may be worth the aggravation.  
 
On a side note, the OE rims are also in need of refreshing. Does anyone know a good product to remove the clear coat? Once it is removed, can I bring back the factory brushed finish our should I just find a decent silver wheel spray and shoot and clear them?  I just want them to look decent and be worry free with all the salt and crap they will endure where I live.
 
I will post some photos of my new ride once the weather warms up a little. It is supposed to be 20 below zero this wknd. So much for global warming!!!
 
Take care and I will post again soon.
 
Ted