As I said earlier, I read and heard great things about the Inifiniti G35 so I decided to make that my first stop. This was the first time I had entered a car dealership since I bought a used Volvo 850 in 2001, so I was pretty much at a loss for what to expect. Thanks to zdecisions.com and a few tidbits from edmunds.com, I was armed with a few do's and don'ts, but I was pretty much there to listen to what the people who knew cars had to tell me. After a few minutes, my roommate and I sat down with an older salesman name Jack. He was a nice guy, definitely knew his stuff about Infinitis and the car buying process, but was a little.. deliberate.. in speaking. He asked a few questions, which boiled down to the fact that I'm not looking to buy until the end of May, I want a sportier sedan, and I'll probably lease. Then we got to the good part, he grabbed the keys to a G35x and we were off.
I had read a glowing review of the G35 that morning on
CNET that made it clear this was a car for people who like gadgets and powerful, sporty cars. The first thing I noticed when I got in was that it was a little small, it felt a little more compact than my 2007 Accord. But I suppose that all of the cars I'm looking at are going to feel that way, and unless I step up another class into luxury sedans, that's the way it's going to be. Other than that first feeling of a small size, the inside of the car was beautifully put together. I didn't play with many things other than setting the seat and mirrors before we left the parking lot, but from all the buttons on the navigation console I knew the CNET people weren't lying. I started the car by pushing a button, while the key was in the center console which was a really cool feature, especially when I park in a valet garage at work (as long as I remember to take the keys with me when I get home at night).
We took off towards Memorial Drive, which is going to be the staple of my test drives since that and Storrow are where I do the majority of my driving around here. The car handled great, the accelerator and the brake worked much more to my liking than my Accord, and the pickup was smooth and fast. I loved every minute of driving that car, but it was the gadgets that really set it apart from my technologically lacking past cars.
I asked Jack how easy it was to pair my iPhone with the car, and I don't remember exactly how he put it, but it was something to the effect of "it's already done". I pulled out my phone, turned on the bluetooth, and the car told me it knew about the phone. Then by pressing a button on the steering wheel and talking to the car, I was able to call my other roommate who wasn't in the car with me. I realize this is the standard bluetooth functionality that my mom has had for the last few years, but this was the first time I had used it. Along with the phone system, the car also lets you set the navigation system by talking to it, which was really cool, and even worked for Jack in the backseat. There are a lot of other toys in the car, like an iPod connector that lets you control the music on the navigation screen and a flash drive where you can put music directly on the car's hard drive. It also has a ton of diagnostic data that you can scroll through on the console, showing gas mileage until empty, average miles per gallon, temperature inside and out, air pressure in the tires, and more.
All in all, I was prepared to love this car and I did. We'll see if the other cars will please as much as this one.
This was the haul this week, it was really green and delicious.
