1994 Infiniti J30 J30t review from North America

I bought this car from a guy who buys cars at auto auctions and then sells them. It seemed to have had one owner, a family, as there was some stain evidence of children, etc. In all the car seemed to have been maintained well. I have a list of things that have been wrong with this car, though they are pretty typical of this model and not bothersome to me too much.

The Bose problem of course - I tend to think the source of the problem was a short in the rear speaker system - at any rate, the main radio unit did its characteristic slow and sporadic death so I bought a used unit from a 95 Maxima, which was the same except I had to modify the wiring harness, though a simple plug in one is available. Then I discovered the back speakers were dead, which I traced to a broken fuse which led me to discover a short somewhere in the rear system, so when I have more money I will replace the rear speakers with OEM parts.

Both right windows have the "broken" motors. What this is is a stripped gear on the motor, if you pull on the window manually while running the motor, the window will close, but to fix the motor must be replaced.

I had a strange incident where the mass air flow meter's plug disconnected itself, causing the car to smoke, running way too rich, and then die. It took a month to fix this and I fixed it myself as the Nissan dealer had it pegged to the meter itself which cost $700 to replace. I bought a used part, installed it myself on their lot (they took too long) and then later discovered the problem was merely the plug had come lose, so I put back the original meter, and am still using it today, with a homemade bracket to ensure the electrical plug doesn't work loose.

The sunroof is a tight fit, and only sticks when it is very hot and the medal has expanded. When cool, or just cooled in the shade, there is absolutely no problem.

Someone had mentioned replacing the wipers - yes the aftermarket ones in the computers of many auto stores do NOT fit, so just replace the individual blades, that's what I do.

My J30 has a little leak in the seal at the bottom of the windshield that drips water when the car sits out in rain, though not when driving in it.

I also had the EGR problem, the pipes to the valve just need cleaning, but it makes the engine light come on. One of the mechanic's I took it to to fix this, simply disabled the engine light, but I was on to him ;)

This is a great little car, built on the European sports sedan pattern, like the Jag, and BMW's, etc. but a more affordable version. Of course that means cheaper materials, but its still a worthy car.

This car is too good. By todays standards it's not the hottest performer, but still better than almost any front wheel drive car can field, certainly in handling, and great for its debut in '93. I've driven mine over 100 many times, it jogs like a dog, it is certainly Autobahn-capable.

Handling is especially superb, the feel and road grip are as good as any other comparable car as far as I can tell. Some other posts complain of slipping on wet corners, but this is clearly a combination of driver/worn tire/road surface condition as I have never had this problem, it depends on your skill in handling this baby, but I'm a professional driver, I've spun 180's in it at will. Rear wheel drive gives you such maneuverability unlike anything you could get from front wheel drive. You just have to know how to do it, and know that auto trans doesn't mean always stick in 4th gear, you can change gears on it for the better performance of your machine!

Adding weights to the trunk is certainly a bad idea, bad for suspension, ride, gas mileage, and makes it tail heavy. The gas tank is right over the axle, this car is not light in the back!!!

One thing I have to complain about to Infiniti is that the tank is rated for 19 gallons. I'd like to see you get 19 gallons of gasoline in it! I max at 15. As far as I can tell, this is because of the fuel filler design, it enters the tank from the side, not the top, so you cannot fill the tank up to full capacity.

Overall this is an awesome little luxury sedan, or sports sedan if you have the T model as I do. 0-60 under 9 seconds is not at all shabby!!!

The interior is well finished, and mine is not at all worn except the driver's seat is wearing, but it's over 10 years old and all, so no complaints here! The sounds system is great and the a/c heating as well, burn to death in the snow or freeze in the summer, it's your choice, all while listening to an immaculate sound from the Bose system. In fact, my a/c gets so cold I have to thaw it at times by running the fan for a couple of minutes without the compressor. Of course it ain't supposed to do that... and oh man that back seat is so comfortable, and so is the driver seat for that matter!