ZMonet Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 My wife is giving up her G35 Coupe and really loves the SC430. She is looking at getting a 2003-2004 vintage. The big concern is that she plans on using the car as a daily driver, about 300 miles/week. Also, there may be a child in our future. For long trips we would use my SUV. A couple questions: (1) what concerns should she have about this being a daily driver. How bad are the tires, both in terms of ride and in needing to replace; and (2) if we have a child, the car would largely only be used to bring the child to day care and then pick them up, about 3 trips/week. Obviously there might be other times my wife might need to bring the child to the doctor, etc. My wife really wants this car and if it is at doable, I'd like her to get it. If it can't be a daily driver, then it probably isn't worth it. Thanks for any feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmartin248 Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 My wife looked at the G35 before we bought the SC430 and we found the SC430 to be the much better car. She now has over 170,000 miles on her 2003 model and I feel that I can speak for high mileage and a daily driver. I am the type guy that does all my own repairs and replaced the timing belt at 140k. You have mentioned the worst part of this car, that being the tires. There are many people on here that either have money to burn, or dad is buying their tires. After replacing several sets of different brands, I found that most got around 10k and some got 15k. I wrote a large article on tires and you should read that. My advice is get rid of the run flats and go with a quality good tire. After modifying my rear swing arms and taking as much negative camber from the front as I could, the tires now wear normal. I expect to get 40k - 60k on the set I have now. There was a small price to pay in extreme handling, but well worth it. As for not having run flats and no spare, on the slim chance of a remote flat, everyone now has a cell phone and roadside assitance is only a phone call away. My wife has a can of fix-a-flat, a 12v compressor ($20 at walmart) and me on speed dial. The rear seat is useless for anyone over school age but would hold a car seat nicely. I vote on her getting the car, change the tires, have a tire shop work on the camber and enjoy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMonet Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 My wife looked at the G35 before we bought the SC430 and we found the SC430 to be the much better car. She now has over 170,000 miles on her 2003 model and I feel that I can speak for high mileage and a daily driver. I am the type guy that does all my own repairs and replaced the timing belt at 140k. You have mentioned the worst part of this car, that being the tires. There are many people on here that either have money to burn, or dad is buying their tires. After replacing several sets of different brands, I found that most got around 10k and some got 15k. I wrote a large article on tires and you should read that. My advice is get rid of the run flats and go with a quality good tire. After modifying my rear swing arms and taking as much negative camber from the front as I could, the tires now wear normal. I expect to get 40k - 60k on the set I have now. There was a small price to pay in extreme handling, but well worth it. As for not having run flats and no spare, on the slim chance of a remote flat, everyone now has a cell phone and roadside assitance is only a phone call away. My wife has a can of fix-a-flat, a 12v compressor ($20 at walmart) and me on speed dial. The rear seat is useless for anyone over school age but would hold a car seat nicely. I vote on her getting the car, change the tires, have a tire shop work on the camber and enjoy..... Thanks CMARTIN! This is exactly the type of information I was looking to get. Also, the knowledge that your wife has 170,000 miles on hers tells me that the car can last if well-taken care of. Since you do all your own work, you might not be able to tell me this, but could you point me in the right direction for getting a good warranty on this car? The SC430 we're looking at will likely have 60K - 70K miles on it and I'm not capable of doing much on the car myself. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMonet Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Just wanted to thank you CMARTIN. We got a 2002 SC430 and my wife absolutely loves it. She says it is sad that she now views her 6-speed sport-suspension 2006 G35 (going back on end of lease this month) as a boring car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackalope Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 My wife looked at the G35 before we bought the SC430 and we found the SC430 to be the much better car. She now has over 170,000 miles on her 2003 model and I feel that I can speak for high mileage and a daily driver. I am the type guy that does all my own repairs and replaced the timing belt at 140k. You have mentioned the worst part of this car, that being the tires. There are many people on here that either have money to burn, or dad is buying their tires. After replacing several sets of different brands, I found that most got around 10k and some got 15k. I wrote a large article on tires and you should read that. My advice is get rid of the run flats and go with a quality good tire. After modifying my rear swing arms and taking as much negative camber from the front as I could, the tires now wear normal. I expect to get 40k - 60k on the set I have now. There was a small price to pay in extreme handling, but well worth it. As for not having run flats and no spare, on the slim chance of a remote flat, everyone now has a cell phone and roadside assitance is only a phone call away. My wife has a can of fix-a-flat, a 12v compressor ($20 at walmart) and me on speed dial. The rear seat is useless for anyone over school age but would hold a car seat nicely. I vote on her getting the car, change the tires, have a tire shop work on the camber and enjoy..... Thanks CMARTIN! This is exactly the type of information I was looking to get. Also, the knowledge that your wife has 170,000 miles on hers tells me that the car can last if well-taken care of. Since you do all your own work, you might not be able to tell me this, but could you point me in the right direction for getting a good warranty on this car? The SC430 we're looking at will likely have 60K - 70K miles on it and I'm not capable of doing much on the car myself. Thanks again! Jeeeeez - It's a Toyota. What else would you expect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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