Finally a proud owner of an FX35 !!

F

f1oyd1an

Member
Sorry for the long rant. Here's my story.

Well. I've been wanting an FX for over 5 years now and I've been looking for one for over 4 months now. I was kinda hung up on getting the tech package, and with low miles and had color preferences. I looked for used cars but never really found what I wanted and was tired of the negotiation game. I gave up a few days ago and decided to get a 2011 brand new. There were only a few cars left with tech package, but the prices didn't work out. They were all trying to sell them for much over invoice. One dealer didn't even bother to return my multiple calls - maybe because I gave him a lowball offer, but I was ready to increase my offer to a reasonable number. I thought about it and decided to give up the tech package and get a brand new with premium (i was only interested in intelligent cruise, after all i might not even use it that much).

I went to a local dealership to look at the colors, particularly Malbec Black. I was afraid that it would look too purple, but my wife and I loved Malbec the moment we saw it. It looked exactly like Obsidian without sunlight, but had a beautiful brownish/reddish/purplish reflections in sunlight. The quote from the local dealer was too high. I emailed back and forth with Ryan from Jim Coleman infiniti in MD a cpl of weeks ago. He seemed like a nice guy. So, I called him yesterday evening, and told him I'm looking for an FX with premium and gave my color preferences (1st preference was Malbec on Wheat). He called me back in 5 minutes and told me he found the only Malbec/Wheat in the area and he can have it picked up right away and have it available for delivery by today morning. He gave me a good price too and with the VPP discount, it was a great deal. I made the 2 1/2 hour drive this morning and traded in my 04 Civic and drove back with a brand spanking new FX35. I had a smirk on my face the whole time as I was driving back.

It was a good experience with Ryan and Ahmed at Jim Coleman Infiniti. I definitely recommend them for anyone looking for Infiniti in the area.

The pictures won't do justice to the color:

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VPP is basically supplier discount right? If you get this discount, you can also get negotiated prices below VPP already given discount? I never heard of that? I have lots of buddies that work for auto industry and I believe they just get the price that they are offered based on that steep discounted listing.

Although you mention dealer wanted over invoice....that doesn't sound like any vpp/supplier discount!?
 
Congrats man! Sucks that you didn't get the tech package. I have it and love mine!

Is it a night and day difference compared to your Civic? I bet it is ;)
 
What was the final price if you dont mind me asking?

i just got a 2011 fx35 AWD black/black with premium and power rear liftgate, so basically like yours but with differant colors for 43,500.

just wanted to compare!
 
jdTrader said:
VPP is basically supplier discount right? If you get this discount, you can also get negotiated prices below VPP already given discount? I never heard of that? I have lots of buddies that work for auto industry and I believe they just get the price that they are offered based on that steep discounted listing.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought and what a cpl of dealers told me. They gave me the price on the VPP website which I think is only close to invoice..

http://insidenissan.com/monthly_dplan_infiniti.html

But Ryan at Jim Coleman gave me the VPP discount on top of the negotiated price. The MSRP on my car was 49,910. Invoice was 45,850. Ryan offered 1K below invoice and 2K dealer rebate and 1.5K VPP discount, which brought the price down to 41,350 with no destination charge. He gave this price only for the few left over 2011s on their lot but ended up getting the car from another dealer. And, this was cash only. I got 2.5% apr from my bank.

My local dealer gave me something like 44.8 including VPP. He laughed when I said I am getting the other deal and told me that I am mistaken and no one can give me that price.

The best tech package offer I got is well over 5k above this. I didn't think it was worth it and when I try to sell the car a few years later, I won't be able to get my money's worth and I got the exact colors I wanted in premium only.

I got 4k for my 04 civic coupe manual with 98k mines. A little less than what I wanted, but it had slight body damage and 2 accidents on carfax, so I was pretty happy with it.

jdTrader said:
Although you mention dealer wanted over invoice....that doesn't sound like any vpp/supplier discount!?
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This was before I realized I qualify for VPP. After I got the price on my car, I didn't feel like negotiating again for a tech package.
 
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superwario said:
What was the final price if you dont mind me asking?

i just got a 2011 fx35 AWD black/black with premium and power rear liftgate, so basically like yours but with differant colors for 43,500.

just wanted to compare!
Click to expand...

See my reply to jdTrader above. It was 41,350. Mine has the power liftgate too, although I don't care for it too much.
 
Few questions guys.
- The dealer gave me example pricing on elite maintenance plan compared to the pay as you go service costs. It seemed like a bargain. Should I get it?
- I understand about the schedule 1 and schedule 2 maintenance. I don't drive in city type stop and go traffic, but not fully highway either. Maybe 50% highway and 50% 45 mph with traffic lights. Should I do the scedule 1 or 2? I was thinking 1 because its every 3500 miles instead of 7000 and sounded like better care. The dealer said I should switch to synthetic if I go with schedule 2.
- The dealer also gave me pricing on extended Infiniti warranty if I'm interested. And a 500 off on extended warranty if I get the elite plan too. Is the extended warranty worth it? They said its cheaper to get extended warranty now than after my regular warranty expires, because I'd have to get a CPO warranty then which is a little more expensive.
- what accessories/enhancents can I do without opening the car apart? The car came wih splash guards and I bought the all season floor mats. I was thinking about illuminated kick panels and aluminum pedals (Not sure if these 2 can be I installed without too much effort) and maybe a cargo protector.
 
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Hey!

There is a tutorial on how to install the illuminated kickplates in the DIY section that you should check out to see if it's daunting or not for you.
In my opinion it is really easy, just pop the kickplate off, a couple other trim pieces, route the wires correctly and plug it all into the harness in the passenger front footwell.

Another easy thing to do to improve the look of your FX is to buy a sharkfin antenna to replace that unsightly stock one. Just unscrew the stock one and the new one sticks on with 3M vehicle tape which is included.

Interior LED lights are usually people's first mod if you like the look of those. Me, i also changed the city driving lights in the headlight to LED (the small tiny led light right next to the headlight that's always on. Stock, it's an ugly yellow color.) Takes about a minute each to change. I want to do my license plate lights as well.

NAV/Video in motion is a cool hack but a little more hairy to do yourself. It took me 2 hours to do myself, and cutting the little tiny wires behind my headunit was like deactivating a bomb for me. One wrong cut and it's all over lol. I ended up being successful and also installed a sweet little rocker switch in my center console to switch it on and off.

Another thing I did was add a subwoofer. The stock bass was too MUCH too light for me and something had to be done. Very easy to tap into the stock wiring to where if you want to use your stock sub at the same time or if you want to swap subs quickly, it is very simple.

One thing I wanted to do was RCA's. I'm been mad since day 1 about my car not having RCA connectors while every other FX in the world does! God knows why infiniti decided to remove them. But apparently its not possible :-(

All of these I just mentioned have tutorials on this site. I personally have done them all, so if you have ANY questions about them, let me know!

Once you catch the mod bug it's hard to get rid of!
 
Hey if the ride was too soft then it wouldn't handle like a sports car ;). Lexus tends to bee too floaty on the highway due to the soft suspension.

Some mods I recommend:

1. Illuminated kick plates are nice. Mine came installed from the factory, but if you purchase them yourself their pretty easy to install since it comes with step by step instructions. Or the dealer can install them for you for a fee.

2. You should tint the front windows to match the back since I noticed your front windows aren't tinted. Gives the FX an overall cleaner look since the windows will flow in better.

3. The front lip from Infiniti is pretty nice. You can pick it up from the parts department at the dealer or order it online. It comes painted already from the factory so you don't have to worry about that. Here is a thread about it in case your wondering what it looks like:

https://www.infinitiscene.com/searc...-for-2009-2011-FX35-FX50-Full-Pictures-of-kit

4. Interior LED's would be my next choice they compliment the interior nicely over that ugly stock halogen color. You can change the interior floor, map, door, liscence plate, and city lights.

5. Stainless steel knobs are pretty classy looking too if your wanting to spice up the interior a little. I have them and love them! Alot classier than the stock black knobs. Here's the link to the seller on this forum:

https://www.infinitiscene.com/searc...eel-Knobs-for-09-FX-08-EX-and-other-Infinitis

6. There's some more things too if your interested. You could always upgrade to HID floglights.
 
Fire0nic3FX said:
4. Interior LED's would be my next choice they compliment the interior nicely over that ugly stock halogen color. You can change the interior floor, map, door, liscence plate, and city lights.
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Is there a DIY for the interior lights? Or is that only for 09+ models?
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will get into mods slowly once I get the hang of all the default stuff. Will probably start with the simple stuff like the LED lights.

Anyone care to suggest on the Elite plan/extended warranty and schedule 1/2 maintenance ? Thanks
 
f1oyd1an said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will get into mods slowly once I get the hang of all the default stuff. Will probably start with the simple stuff like the LED lights.

Anyone care to suggest on the Elite plan/extended warranty and schedule 1/2 maintenance ? Thanks
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It all depends if you plan on keeping the car for a long long time. How long do you plan on keeping it? If your only keeping it for lets say 5 years or less forget about the extended warranty and stick to schedule 1 maintenance. If you plan on keeping it longer than that get the extended warranty before the current factory warranty is about to expire. That's what I will be doing. The factory warranty I believe is 5years/60,000 miles. Also if you plan on keeping it for a long time I would stick with synthetic motor oil just for peace of mind. Walmart sells the 5.25 qt size jugs of Mobile 1 extended performance synthetic oil for $27. You can bring your own motor oil into the dealer and let them put it in for you with the Infiniti oil filter. I keep mine changed every 3750 miles as recommended by the maintenance book, but you can go beyond that since it's a synthetic oil.
 
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