Witness the frustration of Sanford, who hails from Franklin, Tennessee and is beside himself with the situation involving his 2004 Infiniti G35X. After purchasing the car in June of last year, he "immediately put [the car] in the shop for several issues, one being the brakes."They were wanting to charge me but [Infinity] finally covered it under warranty. Front rotors and pads, $500-plus. At that time the car had 51,000 miles. I put it in the shop today (March 28th, 2009) for an oil change and asked them to look at the brakes and tell me how much wear I have. They said that I was about half way through."
Sanford, blogging on consumeraffairs.com, suggested to the dealer that he wanted to keep up with the wear issues in such a way that would allow him to replace only the brake pads and not have to replace the rotors.
"They told me that's not the way it works," Sanford complains. "They designed the rotors with a softer metal which causes them to wear out at the same rate."
Sanford was told he could get 20,000 to 25,000 miles depending on how aggressively he drove the car. "They used a harder metal in 2005 and the rotors are bigger. I am currently at 63,000-plus miles so I guess I have to replace brakes around 75,000."
Sanford reports being told that he may be able to purchase some aftermarket rotors to get better use out of the brakes—and while he might go that route, "I think if Infiniti knows about this they should give a substantial break on the brake service—at least half off or more," Sanford writes.
"I love the way my car drives and the performance that I get from it…but I should have been told this was an issue before I bought [the car].
"This will make me think twice about buying another Infiniti."
Witness the story of Claudia, of Chula Vista in California.
"I purchased a 2005 FX35 in April of 2008 from a dealership in San Diego. One week after I purchased it, the car made a horrible screeching/squealing noise as I braked going in reverse. I took the car to the dealership and they told me that the pads were good and that they just had to re-surface the rotors.
"A week later, the same problem occurred. I took it to private mechanic/brake specialist and he told me that there was nothing he could do. He recommended I take it to an Infiniti dealership. He also said that these cars appeared to have this common problem and that Infiniti refuses to fix it."
After putting up with the Nissan brake noise for a few more months, Claudia decided to take the car to an Infiniti dealership. "On January 17th, 2009 they once again resurfaced the rotors. Two weeks later, the noise came back. I contacted Infiniti again and…was told that the noise was normal for these types of cars and that nothing could be done to fix it. [The dealer] offered to check the car for safety purposes and that is it. He also told me that the previous owner had the same problem with the car. "
READ MORE NISSAN BRAKE LEGAL NEWS
Chuck from Buffalo weighs in on the Infiniti brakes issue: "I own a 2004 Infiniti G35X and the brakes had to be totally redone (rotors and pads) at 14,000 miles. This was done by Infiniti under warranty. Now at 28,000 the brakes are again in need of replacement and Infiniti is denying any responsibility."Chuck reports to consumeraffairs.com that he took his case to "national service and they told me that my car had high performance brakes (it does not) and to expect replacement every 14,000 to 15,000 miles at a cost of $1000 each. I am in the process of having the brakes redone at a local service facility.
"I would be interested in participating in a class action against Infiniti."
Such is the frustration from many an owner of the Infiniti G35 stuck with allegedly inferior Infiniti brakes. Having paid handsomely for a high-end vehicle, owners are balking at the cost and frequency of Nissan brake service. Little wonder so many are jumping on the litigation bandwagon in an effort to right what they perceive to be a serious wrong.
