Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.
At the end of this review, I effectively compare the G20 to the Mercedes C230 and (1998) BMW 318i. All three cars were chasing the same buyers. As the owner of a Nissan Sentra, the as-tested price of the G20 still seemed too high to me even though it was about $2,000 less than the base BMW and a whopping $7,000 less than the base Mercedes. I believe it is because stand-alone luxury brands have a distinct advantage. Cadillac can try to out-BMW BMW all they want, they will never be BMW as long as Chevrolet and Buick exist. When someone tries to move up to a Cadillac and sees the same turn-signal and wiper stalks as the Malibu they just traded in, something is lost. It’s even more so with Lincoln, which for most of the 21st century has been little more than a re-badge of various Ford vehicles.
I’m not sure how Audi is able to overcome the stigma of the engineering and component sharing with Volkswagen. Maybe it’s because water-cooled Volkswagens were always considered more premium than your basic Ford or Chevrolet? As for Lexus, I think their popularity has more to do with getting a luxury car with Toyota quality than any type of aspiration, and even that has its limits. I see a whole lot more GLAs than UXs. Feel free to disagree.
The following review was posted on December 21, 1998.
I can’t help but feel that the new Infiniti G20 got a raw deal. The G20 was Infiniti’s first entry-level car, but its bland styling and high price failed to generate much interest, and the car was discontinued after 1996. Infiniti has re-introduced the G20 for 1999 with similar styling and a higher price, and this will assuredly doom this otherwise excellent car.
The G20 is essentially the top-of-the-line version of the Nissan Primera, a mid-size car smaller than the Altima that is not sold in the U.S. Thanks to a longer wheelbase, there is a larger cabin and more cargo room. Visual changes are highlighted by a larger C-pillar and the trademark Infiniti split grill, and our Touring model came with handsome spoked alloy wheels, fog lights, and a silly rear wing. The interior is stark and sporty in the European tradition. Amenities are sparse, however, with climate control the only indication that this is a luxury car. The very comfortable front seats grip in all the right places and do a good job of keeping you in place when the road gets twisty. Rear seat room is still tight, and that larger C-pillar results in a small opening to the 14.2 cubic-foot trunk.
Powering the G20 is the same 140-horsepower, 2.0 liter four cylinder engine that powered the previous model and can also be found in the entry-level, subcompact Nissan Sentra SE. As the G20 is several hundred pounds heavier than the Sentra, the sensations are not same, but the engine is smooth almost to the redline and provides decent power even with the optional four-speed automatic. Handling is superior, with little body lean in turns and a firm but not uncomfortable ride.
The G20’s biggest problem is image. BMW and Mercedes can get away with charging a fortune for small, four-cylinder cars because they are not trying to shake the image of a mainstream companion brand. Everything about the G20 screams Nissan, and anyone who’s ever driven a Sentra will instantly recognize all of the controls, including the steering wheel. There’s a lot to like about the G20, but not for the price Infiniti’s asking.
For more information contact 1-800-826-6500
SPECIFICATIONS
Type:Four-door Sedan
Engine:140-horsepower, 2.0 liter inline 4
Transmission:Four-speed Automatic
EPA Mileage:22 city/28 highway
Tested Price:$24,740
Great concise review as always.
I agree with all of your conclusions regarding Cadillac, Audi, BMW and Mercedes. With respect to Audi, I found my daughter’s Jetta to be about equal to two-thirds of an A4 at half the price. Given the choice I’d purchase a VW over an Audi today.
It will be interesting if BMW and Merc can maintain their cachet, given that they now have reverted to selling high-priced four cylinder cars. They may be ok since younger buyers with the coin to buy these cars seem to care more about the technology in a car than the driving attributes. For a dinosaur like me, it’s still about cornering, stability at speed and zero to 60.
The G20 was all about building brand awareness and getting people into the showrooms. The constant “specials” underscored this, just like BMW and Mercedes now do with $299/month lease deals, which are devaluing their brands as well. By the late 90s Infiniti was desperate to try anything, hence the return of the G20. And later there would even be a G25, a decontented G35, Infiniti’s last real hope (the G35 I mean)
I loved my 93.5 G20, it was a great car and arguably better than the entry level BMW and Mercedes offerings as far as driving feel goes. Of course I bought it used and did not cross shop the base MB or BMW offerings.
The original G20 only had the same engine available in the Sentra SE-R, the “hot” version of the Sentra, not keeping it more exclusive I think was a mistake in regard to Infiniti, but smart for Nissan as that is one of the best engines they’ve ever offered and they probably should have fitted it to more of their cars in general over here. Fitting it to the base Sentra at the end clearly shows that cost was not an issue.
A small correction. The G25 was introduced as a 2011 model and hence was a decontented G37 not G35. I think you also mean that the G37, not the G35, was Infiniti’s last real hope. I still have my 2010 G37 after ten years – it is a superb car and was content rich for the time and the price (real leather, back-up camera and sensors, and memory seats and steering column, et al). But I don’t see another Infiniti in my future as I think they lost their way years ago and are just about finished.
Everyone I knew who owned G20s loved them and got years of reliable service from the early and later models. The last iteration was a bit underpowered given the weight. I bought a top of the line Maxima in 99 after test driving both cars – way more for the money than the subject car and this was in the days when the Maxima was almost compact in size – under 70 inches wide and 189 inches long.
Yes, the G25 was a G37 lite, my bad! I guess I meant G3x series, it pretty much universally was highly rated and then got sort of ignored once the nomenclature changed to Qwhatever.
Could the G20 have also been a response to the popularity, at least in some parts of the US, of the 4 door Integra? I was often surprised at the type of people I saw driving those, and with probably reprehensible stereotyping, always wondered if they wouldn’t be happier in an Accord instead.
By the way, I read a lot of British car magazines in the nineties and early 2000’s and the Primera was always denigrated as “minicab” (independent non-metered taxi) material. A grave insult as I interpreted it.
That was a common insult reviewers made of the first generation, and yet everyone who had one seems to have only good experiences with it—including me.
Cadillac and Lincoln certainly did just fine in terms of image and sales for decades despite being just fancier Chevys and Fords. But being cool and in demand is a moving target, and what made Mercedes and BMW so popular was that they were new, different and thereby conferred status on their owners, even if they were driving a very expensive 65 hp diesel taxi.
The first G20 benefited from two things: it was a very athletic sports sedan so enthusiasts had genuine reasons to buy it. And there were some buyers who just fell for the opportunity to by an Infiniti for cheap. But by the time the second generation came along, both those reasons no longer existed. It’s athletic prowess had been blunted by weight and there were other more compelling options. And BMW and Mercedes were chasing volume and lowered the cost of entry. And by 1999, the economy was a lot hotter, and more entry level premium brand buyers could afford something with more genuine cachet.
I bought two used G20’s as “kids cars” which went through four kids in there high school and college years. The first was Gen 1, a well-equipped 1996 that taught all four how to drive a manual. The second was a Gen 2, a 1999 G20t in the same color as that above, also a 5 speed.
Both provided excellent reliability, including clutches that lasted until each was sold at 150,000+ miles. I preferred the 1996; better handling, great front seats, and a surprisingly huge trunk. The 1999 was fine, but felt sluggish by comparison. The LSD on the ’99 made for better winter driving. Good cars, and with the manual transmissions the kid’s friends generally couldn’t borrow them!
I’ve never noticed this car in any other color than the pictured one. They are still fairly common around me, a testament to their durability, but they are ALL that color. When I last checked Craigslist/Chicago offerings a few months ago, before buying my fab-luxo-beater ’02 Grand Marquis LS, (with “Indecision-Trac”) they were all identical, right down to the wheels.
Always enjoy your reviews. 1998-99 is still one of my favorite periods for cars. Especially Japanese-branded ones. It was nearing the end for the Nissans I liked before they merged with Renault and became cheaper and blah-icky®.
Blah, blah, blah, heaps here in NZ, blah, Primera, blah, used imports, etc…..
Ok, got that out of the way. This model was massively popular here in NZ, as a Nissan Primera. Initially we had them as CKD NZ-assembled cars, and even a very limited “Steve Millen” special, with various go-fast bits.
We moved to CBU after about ’98. We also got the wagon, but only as a JDM-spec with the CVT. The sedan especially were fleet-fodder over here. It seems a bit crazy to me that a plain old Primera was ever even pitched as an Infiniti. Incidentally we got the same grille for our CBU models.
Needless to say, this being the land of the used Japanese import, we saw a lot of these come in after a few years, as sedans and wagons. Including ones equipped with the 200hp SR20VE engine. It seems a shame that the Infiniti’s weren’t equipped as such, but I can only guess that the VE only having the “Hyper CVT M6” was the reason……
Hey, my car is on Curbside Classic!
I bought a 1999 Infiniti G20 used in 2004. Still have it today. Needless to say it’s been a very reliable car. And also very comfortable, which is another reason it’s still around today.
Mine sounds a lot like the one from the article. As far as I can tell mine is loaded with the touring package, leather, auto climate control, fog lights, sunroof, 5 disc CD changer (apparently somewhat rare) and the oh-so-90’s spoiler. Though from what I have seen in the wild, most examples are fairly well equipped.
Mine’s brown/dark beige color, probably the second-most common color after the beige example pictured. They actually had a pretty decent selection of colors, but other than beige/brown/silver the other colors are exceptionally rare. I’ve seen a few green, red, and white ones. The black is pretty rare, and I’ve only ever spotted one blue one in the wild.
A lot of what the review says rings true. Back then the difference between Infiniti and Nissan was a bit blurred. If anything the G20 would be slotted below the Maxima, which also makes sense because the step up from the G20, the Infiniti I30, is basically a really nice Maxima.
I spent a lot of time with a 1997 Maxima SE, which obviously had a lot of the same switchgear, etc. plus a loaded up Maxima had some things the G20 didn’t have, such as dual power seats (the G20 only has a driver’s power seat). Considering the Maxima didn’t really cost much more than the Infiniti, the G20 really did kind of get a raw deal. But on the other hand I thought it was a pretty good deal as a used car.
I never thought the engine was particularly smooth in the G20. It gets the job done, but the SR20DE just doesn’t feel up to what I would consider for a luxury brand, as opposed to the silky smooth VQ30DE that the contemporary Maxima has. Even back when the second generation G20 was new, it was considered underpowered, especially with the automatic. And even more so by today’s standards. On the other hand, it handles very well, and combined with the underpowered engine it has kept me out of trouble.
I’m amused by the comment about the large C-pillar. Maybe in 1999, but by today’s standard’s that’s nothing.