Replacing Factory CD Player W/ Another Factory CD Player

[cdcarmichael]

Hi. My mother has a 2002 Altima. Her factory CD player started ejecting CDs for no apparent reason. Well, after her doing without a CD player for almost a year, I ordered her a replacement factory CD player from Greenleaf Auto Parts, a national insurance and salvage company. The CD player has a 6 month warranty. On the receipt is the VIN# from the donor car.

When I bought the CD player for her, they told me I would have to take it to the dealer to get an anti-theft code for the stereo. I haven't hooked it up yet, but I called a dealer to see if there was a fee for them to provide me with the code. They said they would have to reprogram the CD player and I would be charged an $85 fee for the "reprogramming."

What exactly do they have to reprogram? I can install the CD player myself, so that's not a problem. I called another dealer and they want $120 to do whatever needs to be done.

Isn't this something that I should just be able to show up to the service department and get done for virtually no $?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TheKon]

All service centers (Unlike retail stores) perform services on a "per hr" basis. They charge $85 per hr for service. Programming the CD player is a "1 hr" job. So you get charged $85 whether it takes them 5 minutes or 2 hrs. You only pay for one hr worth of labor. I'm a little more familiar with GM vehicles (I just got my '05 Altima a few weeks ago) But I know with GM vehicles you have to have the car and the radio there so the BCM (Body Control Module) can link up with the radio. I honestly thought that nissans didn't have any sort of anti-theft on the radio. If that is the case...pull the dash, yank the radio, plug it in, and give it a shot. You can't hurt it. Worst case senario you pay the $85 and you're done. The dealership will tell you it needs to be reprogrammed whether it does or not. They want your money. If it indeed does need to be reprogrammed they have a scan tool that does it (Unfortunately it's not a DIY job). It's a little more sophisticated than your average OBD-II scanner. Hope I offered some useful info for ya.

[atx05altima]

I want to replace my factory stero with something else. I need an output for my ipod (tired of the fm transmitter) and cd player that plays mp3 cds. So would it be another factory stero or what. The one I have is just basic.

[TheKon]

You can use nearly any aftermarket headunit. I recommend Kenwood. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...68368 You can hook an iPod up to it directly via the USB jack on the radio.