I'd like to hear some opinions on how far I should take something. Personally I love my 02. It is lightyears ahead of my 89 in all ways but recalls. In the last 10 months or so I have had the transverse recall and the clutch pedal recall. Recently I had problems with my in dash Bose CD player where it's making a whining noise. In fairness, Stevens Creek Nissan has been very good about these things (willing to work with me on getting things fixed that meet my needs). After waiting a month for a replacement CD, I was traveling and we tried what we did for the transverse recall (I leave the car for several days and travel to the great beyond then return to find my car back to "normal"). In this case the CD player they tried to install was bad so they gave me my car back the way it was. Just to remind everyone who reads this as I'm not prone to bashing Nissan, the CD works, it just makes a whirring noise that can be heard at low levels. I'm tempted to let it go but it concerns me that it will probably be at least another month before it's fixed (given the recent shoreman lock down in CA). I could push to have a unit pulled from one of the numerous cars in the lot.

Just so you understand, I was planning on doing the APEXi RSM intall and the Injen CAI after the CD was done. Hoping that nothing would go wrong for awhile. That doesn't appear to be the case and now I will have to decide to run the risk of Nissan's wrath with these "add-on's". I know technically Nissan would have to prove that I'm wrong but I don't want that hassle. I was nervous enough sending in my car with the Eibach springs installed (apparently they never noticed, although the bozo who gave me my car commented that he didn't note the "alti" had a 6 speed). No slurs on the Altima, because personal I think its a nice looking car, I just prefer the Max.

 

Sounds like the pick up on the CD H/U is bad. I just got my Eclipse back from Fujitsu 10, the manufacturer, for the same thing. They replaced the pickup and the loading mechanism. Works great now. Hell, if you went non-bose, I'd just replace the head unit. If not, you may just be outta luck. Hang in there man. It will get better.

 

Ahh, thats where the real heartbreak comes.. When you realize that chances of you getting better treatment if you really push the issue are slim to none.

Assuming you like your dealer and believe they are really trying, do all you can to preserve that relationship. A good dealer is the difference on owning a max. Calls to NNA wont do you much good, so staying in with the dealer is the best shot.

If the service writer is approachable, ask him if he will give you problems if you do your mods. I had service writer that laughed and said "nah, do what you want." it all depends on that.

 

i feel like i should know what the "clutch pedal recall" is. but i dont.

 

I think the dealer is telling me pretty much how it is (nobody knows given the long shoreman strike and Clarion). So for now, given that everything is pretty much working, I will leave it alone.

p.s. The Clutch issue, is the noise some people have seen with early 02's where releasing the clutch (after being warmed up) will making a groaning kind of noise. Some people describe it as a squirrel dying noise. The 03's have a new clutch bearing that eliminates this problem. So basically they replace the clutch plate with the 03 clutch plate and the noise goes away. They say it is strictly a noise issue and I believe them as the clutch doesn't act any different (before or after), just the noise doesn't happen.

 

stevens creek nissan... thats where i got my max...