i too, have a young child as well(19 months).

i used to have a camry and a Lexus SC400 coupe. The thing is, i never drove the Lexus and ended up selling it. This is what keeps me from getting another "fun" car.

Your situation may be a little different, being you will drive it a lot, and not just on the weekends, if it's nice out, etc etc...

My suggestion is to give it a year with the new baby. See how the car situation works out with just using the wife's 24/7. I think you're going to be using your car more than you think to haul around the little guy.

I'm actually going the complete opposite direction next year.... sell the TL to get an SUV.
The SUV makes life so much easier with the little ones

lastly, congrats on your new baby. It's a very exciting time. enjoy it!

 

Being a previous owner of an '03 Maxima SE which is basically 2002-2004 I35, I would avoid buying one since these cars can turn into a big headache

Personally my car was pretty good to me most of the time but a lot the VQ35 from the early days isn't exactly their strong suit due to decline in reliability in these engines from oil burning, timing chain tensioner issues as well as how picky these vehicles are when it comes to putting in any new parts that are anywhere near electronically related

If I were you I would get an I30/Maxima from the years 2000-2001 since these engines were Nissan's finest IMO or some sort of Lexus product.

I totally understand your urge for these crazy cars, I myself really wanted a Pontiac G8 GT (granted more tame than a C5 Z06) but I couldn't justify RWD and the fuel economy of a 6.0L V8

 

^^i agree.
I had a 97 maxima SE 5spd... Great car
I also had a 02 SE 6spd... POS

 

Thanks for the info guys. Didn't realize the issues on those Infinitis. While I still have no idea if I'll actually pursue this or not, if I do, I'm now thinking along the lines of a 2002-2004 Lexus ES or maybe a Mazda 3 (hatch preferred). The Lexus would be close enough to a stock TL and would probably last forever, and the 3 would have reliability, fuel efficiency, and practicality for normal commuting. I suppose I'd rather have the Lexus over a Mazda though. Can't say I like the body style of it, but I like the rest of what it offers.

The Z would bring more than enough fun to make up for it...

Oh, and that's the issue I suppose, how much I'll actually drive it vs the DD. Honestly, I think I'd drive it a good amount. My kid isn't in daycare this year, and even next year when he is for 2 or 3 days a week, it will be near my wife's job and not mine, so she'll be driving him. So I'd probably drive it every nice day to work for 8 months a year. Weekend stuff, besides joyrides, I guess would just depend on what was happening. I definitely know I'll be driving him around sometimes, no doubt about that, but even for the past year almost while she was pregnant, she didn't want to be in my car since it wasn't comfy. So we've already been using her car nearly exclusively when we go places, which kinda takes the fun out of having the TL sometimes...

And I know that if I went back to stock it would be comfier...but I think my interest in it would die down if I did that too. I remember JayVee saying if he wasn't riding it in slammed, he wanted a different car. I think I know how he feels.

 

seriously...how is a guy supposed to make a major life decision without people on the internet giving their 2 cents??? If I was Mr. Bell I suppose I would just get a brand new Vette. Unfortunately, the only way I could justify even the C5 would be by getting a cheap daily...Can't have two car payments, nor do I need that much money sitting in the garage/driveway.

 

I bought my TL when my son was about a year old (Previously had a 98 Civic hatchback but there was no room in there) and it was definitely worth it!

I needed a bigger car and I'm not an SUV kind of guy so I was on the prowl for a sedan. I looked into the Subaru Legacy and a few other cars but the TL really caught my eye so I had to get one and I've always wanted one since the 3G came out back in 2004.

What I do when I have my kids in my TL is put a towel on the rear leather seat for my youngest son's car seat that looks like this: otherwise it puts indents into the leather seats and for my oldest son, I bought him one of these: This seat works perfect too because the bottom of the booster seat is flat so it doesn't leave any indents.

 

The dealership wants my C7 badly, badly. But they would NEVER give me enough for all the mods I've done. They want me in a ZO7. I told them to forget it-I don't want the overheating issues.


I'm waiting for the mid-engine C8 Zora.

 

Awesome build man!

 

haha, well with my I suppose I would go in the route of what 96SC4 mentioned; giving it a year or so with the new baby & see how things go. Also another thing that this time frame gives is to mull over the thought if the C5 Z06 is really what you want

sidenote - your TL-S build is the car that got me into seriously researching and getting into a TL-S myself

 

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do actually. I think the problem is that I just can't imagine watching someone else drive off in this thing. It just seems like the perfect car to go the distance in.

And thanks for the kind words man! 4 years ago I never would have imagined that I would have the TL that inspired someone!

 

Exactly, let alone finding someone who isn't all talk & will actually take care of the car the way you did. You're right about the it being the perfect car to go the distance in as well. The year will give you more than enough time to digest all these factors & it is not like clean C5 Z06's are getting super hard to find for the most part plus you'll save another years depreciation if you end up buying it in the next year or so

Haha, your TL-S was my phone wallpaper for a bit until I got hands on my own

 

cute little fella

 

Not the best location, but I had a clean car, beautiful weather,and a new camera, so I figured why not. These are just the jpegs straight out of the camera, no time to edit anything unfortunately.


DSC00195 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00188 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00186 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00179 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00197 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00191 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00193 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00192 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00169 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00166 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

DSC00168 by KJ TL-S, on Flickr

 

Glad you decided to stay with it KJ! Looking awesome as usual!!

Have you thought about a few little performance mods to keep you interested in the car?

Exhaust will change your life.... ask me how I know

 

Thanks Q! I never really got into the performance side just because the $/hp was so damn high. And the exhaust certainly doesn't come cheap. Right now I have the RV6 V3 J-pipe and stage 3. If a legit exhaust ever came up that was cheap enough I could be swayed, but I think the cost will be the deterrent on that.

 

This car is beautiful man

 

Thanks man!

 

Looking good KJ ...nice house too BTW

 

Kurt,
Congratulations!
Awesome, man.

About your dilemma and mine...it's the enthusiast curse...most people are happy to have a reliable car to get them from point a to point b...for us, it's about the journey of making it cool and modding it. Once you've reached a point of not wanting to put any more money into it, or time...or you feel done with it...you feel empty and you start entertaining what would make you happy...oh, a truck, or a sports car, oh a 1998 prius ()

I will tell you, if I'm honest with myself...the TL is more car than I'll ever need for a future family...the SRX is great for going to home depot...and the S2000 puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. I need to just stand down and be happy...


you ever driven an S2000?

 

I'm with you man. When I look at the TL, I know that its above and beyond what I need in a car. I actually had a fully loaded 2011 Maxima before this, and it had all the fancy bells and whistles for the time. But I realized I didn't really care about most of that and went back to a TL that had the relevant tech that I actually used in a car that I loved. So I know the TL is the perfect car to keep forever. Problem is I have the itch for that sports car in addition to the TL. So I just need to keep my rational side at the forefront, keep my TL for the long haul, and then hopefully get the toy car in the not-too-distant future.

And I haven't driven an S2000 or Corvette actually, but when I was looking at S2K's a while back, I realized with the way they hold their value, a Corvette would be pretty much in the same ballpark, and I feel like it might be more my style. But I do think I would drive both before pulling the trigger on something.

What I'd really love would be a C6 widebody, either Grand Sport or Z06 (:fingerscrossed but I'm not sure those are going to depreciate enough to get to a price-point I'd be comfortable with. That or I just wait and find someone selling their base that they modded to a widebody. Oh, the fun is in the chase...

 

Sweet pics, brother.....very nice!

 

I'm not even hatin...I wanted a C6 ZO6 convertible in the burnt orange color...

 

Man, that C6 Z is sexy. They're just still so damn expensive.

 

I believe it's called Daytona Sunrise Orange Metallic (DSOM).

 

Sounds about right...gimme dat!

 

Yeah, DSOM was a great color, and I see they brought it make on the C7 now! That C7Z is almost NSFW material.

As for the TL, I finally finished my first 1x3. Went right to the dipstick fill this time with one of those cool measuring funnels with plastic tubing - was so much easier. I did end up using the floor jack to break the drain bolt free, but really, no issues at all doing it this way. Gotta say, I can already tell a difference with the redline d4. I think I'll try to do 2 more before it gets cold, then one more in the Spring. After that, maybe one every other oil change to keep it fresh. by then, my pressure switches will be nearing 50k on them, so I may change them again too. Not exciting, but should keep it running smooth for years to come.

 

those shots are fantastic, that car is ULTRA clean man

 

Thanks man, not too bad for an 8 year old daily driver. Thankfully it had an easy life for its first 6ish years with very short commutes. Last year and a half have put probably more than 25K of the total 69K miles on it.

OK, so I had some more time today and finally jacked up the back to put the 5mm spacers and then center caps on the back wheels. But then I learned that my jack doesn't go high enough to only do the back. Seems weird to me, but I had to jack the front first, then I could get the rear high enough to get the jack stands under it. Either way, got the job done and all is well. Finally back to looking nice and flush in my opinion. I also hated the unfinished look without these center caps on.





Next up is replacing the mirror glass. Should have been here a few days ago, but they got sent to the wrong address, so they won't be here until Saturday. Hoping to find a little time to replace the grease inside 'em and put the new glass in. My passenger side mirror is especially gross and brown.

Oh yeah, for anyone reading this, are these the other holes I'm supposed to use to switch the RSB to street setting?

 

yes those are the holes, when they "extend" the length of the bar (from left side mounting point to right side mounting point), it's less stiff (think of it as a spring less compressed). i actually just changed my setting from track to street a few weeks ago. i also put on rear moog end links and they are much beefier and sturdy.

i replaced both my side mirrors even though the browning wasn't that bad. i highly recommend taking some time and putting a silicone sealant bead all the way around the back side where the you can see the layers. that's where moisture gets in between the laminated parts. i haven't had any browning since i've done that on my new ones. and you can't see it during use. if you need a pic let me know i think i took one when i did it

 

Thanks for the explanation, now I understand the difference in the settings. So I see its just that bolt...is there anything to this besides just removing the bolt and putting it in the longer setting, and then repeating on the other side? Is it going to be crazy tight to try to do or anything? Not sure if that is a stupid question or not...

And please do post up a pic of the silicone. I'd rather do this once and do it right so I'm not spending another $90 on mirror glass in 2 years.

I got some new grease for the inside too, although I actually read a tip about just moving the mirror all around in all directions, and I did that for about 2 minutes straight, and it seems to actually have calmed down the clicking. I'll still replace it though.

 

Still looking awesome, brother!

 

that's track, the other is street.

 

So how easy is moving it? Anything to it? Is it crazy right to get into position? Juse wondering what to expect.

 

I can do it in under 3 minutes...jack up so both rear wheels are lifted to relieve tension, then allen to hold the bolt and 14mm to remove the bolt. Then it just pulls out and move to the other hole, so easy.

 

You da man J. I know I asked a bunch of questions about this, don't know why I made it a bigger deal than it was. I guess I just didn't want to run into any unexpected issues. Thanks!

 

looking good as always Kurt!


Yeah, J's right about the RSB... its fairly easy to swich over as long as your endlinks aren't rusted and beat to shit (seems like thats always the case with my TL's )


I have brand new rear endlinks if you happen to need them btw :wink:

 

Damn forums...did some more reading...it sounds like the track setting might be the better match to the Type S FSB. Maybe I should just leave it as is.

Also read of people stripping these hex bolts...makes me nervous that I'd strip the bolt where the allen wrench holds and then be out of luck.

 

Thats what happened to me; i had the right size and everything but the bolts were so tight the allen wrench I had in the hex slipped/broke anyway. Had to cut them off on one car.

On my current TL i ended up holding the endlink with visegrips, and using an impact wrench to get the bolt off. Worked pretty well lol

edit: about the settings, I always kept mine on the street setting since I heard some (albeit very few) members had issues with frame welds breaking because the track setting was so stiff. But that was very few members, haven't heard of a case like that in a long time

 

Damn...I don't have the resources to do any of the fixes you mentioned. I wonder if there's really much difference in day to day driving in terms of comfort.

 

honestly if you had the RSB installed fairly recently it shouldn't be too bad. All three of my cars that had this issue had stock endlinks with 100k miles. Just spray with PB plaster or the lube of your choice and give it a try. i never tried the track setting tbh though so I don't know the difference; but I'd imagine it would make it more comfortable.