sbuswell

01 CL-S 5AT w/Navi or 01 I30 w/oNavi?

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My sister-in-law is buying a new car and yesterday I went to Sunnyside Acura with her to look at a few cars theyt had. First was a 01 CL-S w/Navi 73K it was Sundance Gold, very nice condition. We both drove it a while and tranny seemed to shift smooth and power was nice, not as fast as my TL but pretty close. Everything about the car was great except it needed an alignment and probably a need a left front wheel bearing(after some hard acceleration you could hear with spinning squeeking noise, it got faster the faster I went and slower the slower I went). It was also in a minor fender bender a year ago, but the dent wizard fixed the damage and you could not tell it was in an accident. I got them down to 12,500.00 out the door, well below book(17,500).

The I30 had 81k on it, had some curb rash on all four rims and some small hard to see little dents on the hood, paint was great and it had a clear bra on it also. it had everything except Navi(rear sunshade was kinda cool. It was very comfortable(a little more than CL-S, not much), handled well and the brakes were strong. it accelerated well and absorbed road bumps very well. We got them down to 11,800 for this car. I think we can get them down a little on this car, but CL-S is a steal. I30 books around 15k.

My sister-in-law liked the I30 more, not sure why but the dealer also lowered price on CL-S to 11,885.00. now I think she might go for the CL-S as long as the dealer fixed wheel bearing and an alignment. What do you guys think and could the sound I was hearing from the CL-S something other than the wheel bearing(I did not hear anything when car was not moving).

Minch00

Go for the I30. THe CL has a myriad of issues while the I30 has none that I remember hearing about. THe transmission is prone to blow on the automatic CL's, and the warrenty on them expires at 100k.

Sclass88

The CL-S is a sweet car but the I30 sounds better. With the issues that the CL tranny has, the I30 would make me sleep better at night knowing that the tranny isn't gonna blow out.

GreenMonster

Why?? 'cause that about what it's worth... they aren't going to sell many of those to people who are familiar w/ acuras (like most of the forum members here). That's why they lowered the price. Tough to sell cars with a history of transmission failures... PDG (pimp daddy gold - official color is sundance gold pearl or something like that) is a popular color with some of our members here, but I don't think the general public cares for it...

We've seen 03 CL 6spds sell for $13K (92K miles and it was in NH btw), so you aren't going to see many 01's sell for much more then that...

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/line-output-converters-174853/

sbuswell

nice to know. I30 only known problems are MAF sensor issues(somewhat common) 500.00 repair though and ignition coild issue(also somehwta common) 400.00 repair. So I believe I30 is better. Sucks that 5AT tranny's suck so bad. My 99 TL-P is at 120K original tranny and still shifts fine and is modded pretty well too.

S A CHO

MAF Sensor for 500.00?

Aftermarket (higher performance) ones are usually 250.00 to 350.00...

dallison

in this case, i30, plus it has a timing chain instead of the belt, so less maintanance

cM3go

having the navi would be great... but with tranny issues i dont know... I30 is a sweet car as well... tough call

F23A4

Irony: I'd rather have the CL-S w/ Navi over an I30 w/o Navi. That said, if I did get the I30, I'd shoot for the touring model (I30t ) which adds Xenons, optional Navigation (CD-ROM), sport suspension and 225-50-17 V-rated tires (i.e.: I35 Sport sans VQ35DE).

bgsm1th

I have a 2001 CL-S w/ Navi, and my Girlfriend has a 2002 Infiniti I30 touring non-navi, which I drive very often...

The CL-S is much more fun to drive, faster and better acceleration. You can just feel the difference in power when you push the engine. I find it a more enjoyable driving experience, plus, my personal opinion is that the CL-S is a better looking car and I love the Nav feature in mine as well. (though I get more compliments from others after I detail her car as opposed to mine )
In terms of handling, I think they both perform about the same, which says a lot about the 4 door I30, but keep in mind, ours is a I30t, which will have a sportier (stiffer) suspension than the regular I30. (there is NO change in engine specs between the regular and touring models for the I30)
Both are quiet on the highway, though the I30 is consitantly running about 1k RPM higher at highway speeds (70 mph). Not a big deal, but it just bothers me for some reason.
The CL-S tends to get slightly better gas milage when taking long trips, but I do have a CAI installed and the I30 does not.

An interesting thing to note, is that when I bought the cars, the CL-S was generally worth a couple grand more than the I30t. Today, the I30t is worth at least a thousand dollars MORE than the CL-S, and that is with the navigation on the CL-S figured in... Indicating that the CL is depreciating at a more rapid pace than the I30t.

Bottom line is, the CL is nearing 100k and I will definitely be selling it before it reaches that mark because I will not own this car past it's tranny warranty, despite the fact that I have had great luck with everything about the car since I got it..

The I30t has almost 70k miles on it and is no longer under any warranty...and I'm not worried a bit about it...we will continue to own it until it's time to upgrade to something else, if it had nav in it, we'd probably keep it until it dies, because I still like the car and she LOVES it...

The CL-S is more fun to drive and the nav feature is definitely a plus (you use it way more than you think before you own a car with nav...), BUT having almost 75K miles on it already...I'd have to go with the generally more reliable I30...

Let us know what she goes with!

F23A4

For 2002, there was no I30. Rather the I35 (w/ VQ35DE) was the 'I' for 2002. That said, there's little comparison in performance between the CL-S (260hp) and I30 (227hp). The 255hp I35 is more on par with the TL-S/CL-S performancewise.

bgsm1th

Damn, you are right! I don't know why, but I thought for sure it was a 2002, I even went out and checked the Manual in the glove box!

And no, there is not much comparison between the two performace wise...

Marlboro27s

word man i really agree with you. after driving my TL, i cant stand driving other cars that rev higher than 2k on the freeway. i love how the acuras rev just sits around 2-2500k when just chillin on the freeway

F23A4

No biggie bg. The 00-01 I30t is noteable to me mainly because it was the first A33 Nissan (00-04 I/00-03 Maxima) to get HIDs and Navi.

The I30t is VERY similar to the I35 Sport which followed the next year, with the only noteable exception being the VQ motor (VQ30DE-k vs VQ35DE) and shifter type (traditional vs gated).