Just took delivery of an '02 SE, you guys are right, what a ride! Hard to keep my foot out of this bad boy. Wife says "Keep the speeding tickets to a minimum". I have to thank this forum for all of the great input. I read it a lot before my purchase and with the Maxima having such a great following, it cinched my decision.

Couple of questions though: Being a Japanese car with their known reliability, should I purchase an extended warranty? I can get one from Warranty Direct for a Diamond Wrap-Around for $595 which I think is pretty good. Dealer tried to sell me one for $1500 and when I said no, he said he sell it to me for his cost of $495. Yeah, right. Any known horror stories?

About the audio. I didn't pop for the Bose as I didn't think it was worth it for another grand. The base unit actually sounds very good to me; fairly clean, good separation, good sound stage, and an up front sound. I have my old Sony gear from my last car which is good, but I hate to tear the thing apart and loose all of that tight squeek free build quality. I'd just like to add a subwoofer and amp in the spot where the Bose sub goes. Does anyone know if there is the wiring harness back there, so that I could tap into it with a PAC unit to drive the sub amp?

Is the Bose unit just a different head unit, sub and amp or are the speakers different also?

If I decide to put my Sony head unit and EQ in, does the face plate adapter that Crutchfied or anyone else sells match nicely or are they just black? It kind of has that nice platinum look finish.

Any good pointers to places where people have torn the dash and doors apart would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

check out my pictures down below. where do you live?

as far as the bose goes, it isn't worth it. all the speaker locations are the same and bose doesn't make head units. there probably won't be a wiring harness for the sub on the rear deck but that's ok, it probably wouldn't work anyway. Adding a sub and an amp is straigthforward though, any stereo shop could do it. If you want to use the rear deck you are going to have a free air sub system that you might have to cut the sheetmetal to make fit. let me know where you live and if i'm familiar, recommend some places.

 

Congratulations!!

I bought a $800, 75,000 mile Nissan warranty on my 2KSE because I thought I was going keep it longer , and it was about $15 extra on the payment. My new 2002 I opted just to stick with the basic warranty. The Maxima won't probably ever take full advantage of it's warranty, although there is a lot of talk around here about $400 blown MAF sensors. If you could get a Nissan warranty for about $500 then I say get it. One major repair it will pay for itself. If it is not a Nissan warranty I wouldn't buy it. You never know what they cover (throttle by wire??) and if ever dealer will honor it.

As for the audio, I've always stuck with the Bose and have been fine with it (but then again I don't turn it up like crazy). I'd consult other members for those answers.

 

Nice install, Dave! Great pictures; they help a lot. It looks as though the head unit adapter is standard black aftermarket plastic, not gray like the rest of the console; is that right? I would need a 1 and 1/2 DIN for my setup.

I've always wanted to port my sub into the rear deck like that; I think you've given me the inspiration to do so. In my '95 Bonneville which had the small trunk pass-through, I had the ports on my sub pointed through there. I'm in Bethlehem, PA and always do my own work. Did the shop that built just your sub unit make it custom or do they have kit plans for the box size? If I could contact them for a measured drawing, that would be great. I used to do cabinet making in a former life.

As for the wiring harness, I was just hoping to get lucky and be able to slap a bazooka onto that for some instant gratification. Later, when I get time, I'll do it right.

I found the parts breakdown by one of the posters here and the Bose speakers go for $284 while the standard ones cost $31. I wasn't suggesting replacing the stock with Bose, I was just wondering if they were any different. For $284 x 4, we can all do a lot better!

 

Just take note that the PAC SWI-X adapter to make an aftermarket Headunit work with the steering wheel controls don't work with Sony headunits.

Btw, it seems the Bose headunit is also made by Clarion.

 

Thanks soundmike, good point. I wasn't even thinking about the loss of the steering wheel controls. I have an older Sony XR-660 with remote. Don't know if that's in the 38-40khz range or not. I could always go for another unit if I had to.

I did some reading on the SWI-X and it actually receives an infrared signal. Does it look for signal from the back of the sterring wheel and retransmit to the HU's infrared eye? How does the factory non-Bose unit do it? Is it hard-wired or does it use infrared also?

I'm still wondering about the possibility of the trunk harness having the available pigtail that would have gone to the Bose sub. This would make it real convenient to slap a Boazooka or something in there until I get the time to do it right. Anyody know? Anybody have pointers to wiring diagrams?

 

I'm not particularly sure how the SWI-X adapter works as i don't have one - yet. But get hold of Mattattax, he's one of the very first to get it working on his 2k2.

As far as the sub goes, i don't have the Bose but i did put in a Basslink. The signal was tapped from the rear speakers and converted to line level/RCA for plugging in to the Basslink.

Bazooka vs. Basslink ur better off with the Infinity

 

Your right that the BassLink is a better sub, I just happen to have an EL10 laying around. The problem with the 2002 is that the rear speakers are in the rear doors, so getting to the wires won't be easy (until I'm ready to tear it apart to replace those speakers), that's why I'm asking about the existing harness that may or may not be hiding in the trunk. Just looking for a quick fix right now.

 

I didn't buy the warranty through the dealer because I am a member of a credit union and they offer the best maintenance warranty I've ever heard of

the warranty I have is with Phoenix American the warranty covers my car for 6 years/100,000 miles I paid $800 (which was added to the total amount the credit union gave me for her)

the warranty covers the fuel system, cooling system, electronics (even the radio!!!!) powertrain electronics, abs brakes, convenience accessories, suspension, traction control, steering wheel controls, engine, transmission, front wheel drive, seals and gaskets,etc, etc

if anything on the car ever fails, i take the car to the mechanic of my choice and they fix the car...and i don't have to pay squat

I had the same warranty on my sentra and after my first repair it paid for itself!!!

Phoenix american is located here in Miami....i don't know if you can just contact them and buy it..but call and see!!

Phoenix american warranty company inc
6303 blue lagoon drive, suite 225
miami, fl 33126
1-800-410-8553
fl. license # 60050

they also provide rental and towing reimbursment