aftermarket touchscreen in new 2017 Nissan Altima SR

[ssoltis]

I bought a new 2017 Nissan Altima a little less than 2 weeks ago. When I bought it, I did so with the idea that I would add an aftermarket touchscreen as well as an aftermarket Sirius tunner.

I took it to the Best Buy Geek Squad along with a Pioneer touchscreen that I purchased from Amazon. The Geek squad guy started reseaching as I arrived to check in for my appointment because he became unsure that my car would be able to have it installed without losing the functionality of the factory backup camera and steering wheel controls. He ended up determining that certain versions of the vehicle I have that issue, and the only way to find out if my specific car would have the issue is to take out the radio and look in there. I had him do it and he came back after looking at it and said that my car lacked a certain harness that allowed for this to be done (to keep the functionality of the steering wheel controls and factory back up camera). Also, he was unable to find any adapters from any of his vendors that would make it work. He said I would have to wait until the aftermarket industry caught up with that new of a car and came up with a solution, which may or may not happen anytime soon.

I felt very disappointed and dejected, but I decided to call a more high end specialty car audio specialty company in our area called Columbus Car audio. Those guys told me that Best Buy is essentially full of it and they would be able to do it without issue.

I did have another guy I spoke to said the Geek Squad guys are only essentially trained to "plug and play" install, and the higher end custom installers like Columbus Car Audio guys understand how all of the electrical wiring in the vehicle works more and hence can do things like that which Best Buy can't do.

My question for those of you in here, that are well versed in this kind of stuff is this: is it true that I should trust that Columbus Car Audio will be able to do this, after Best Buy already told me it can't be done?

I want to believe they can, but I am skeptical after my experience with the Geek Squad.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

aka they can do a ghetto hackjob install to ghetto rig things rather than using the proper connector. ask them how they are going to do the harness first and hear their response. More specifically ask if they are going to cut the stock harness.. If they do, NEVER EVER call or look at them again. They are absolute garbage hackjobs.

If they answer with making a custom universal harness that can plug into the stock harness then okay they are legit. As of now, metra only list that they have 2016 altima wiring harnesses, not sure if they will fit into 2017 models or not.

 

[ssoltis]

Columbus Car Audio is the most respected Car Audio installer in our city. All of the Car Dealerships use them for services. They are not a fly by night ghetto installer.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Columbus Car Audio is the most respected Car Audio installer in our city. All of the Car Dealerships use them for services. They are not a fly by night ghetto installer.
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its basic precaution bud you can choose to ask them a simple question and see how they respond. Plenty of known stores doing hackjob installs and when you cut into the stock harness thats the worst thing you can do audio wise. If they are legit and answer legitly then you can trust them for your install. Simple yes?

 

[ssoltis]

aka they can do a ghetto hackjob install to ghetto rig things rather than using the proper connector. ask them how they are going to do the harness first and hear their response. More specifically ask if they are going to cut the stock harness.. If they do, NEVER EVER call or look at them again. They are absolute garbage hackjobs.

If they answer with making a custom universal harness that can plug into the stock harness then okay they are legit. As of now, metra only list that they have 2016 altima wiring harnesses, not sure if they will fit into 2017 models or not.

I did talk with the parts guy at the Nissan dealership I bought it from on the phone too and he did say to his knowledge the 2017 factory Altima stereos were the exact same as the 2016 Altimas
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[ssoltis]

aka they can do a ghetto hackjob install to ghetto rig things rather than using the proper connector. ask them how they are going to do the harness first and hear their response. More specifically ask if they are going to cut the stock harness.. If they do, NEVER EVER call or look at them again. They are absolute garbage hackjobs.

If they answer with making a custom universal harness that can plug into the stock harness then okay they are legit. As of now, metra only list that they have 2016 altima wiring harnesses, not sure if they will fit into 2017 models or not.

The issue with my car per Best Buy is that it lacks a factory harness that would allow aftermarket radios to maintain the functionality of those other features. And there is no adapter for it currently.
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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I did talk with the parts guy at the Nissan dealership I bought it from on the phone too and he did say to his knowledge the 2017 factory Altima stereos were the exact same as the 2016 Altimas
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then perfect you can do the install easily. proceed with it then.

 

[ssoltis]

then perfect you can do the install easily. proceed with it then.

What about my post above where Best Buy said there is not an adapter available for my car yet? *confused*
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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

What about my post above where Best Buy said there is not an adapter available for my car yet? *confused*
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their search system is probably not updated yet. Best buy generally has newbies that dont have extensive knowledge about car audio and they just follow recommended procedures in their data base which would probably turn up blank for 2017 cars.

 

[ssoltis]

What does it mean that my car does not have a harness for those other functions? The guy pulled out my radio and looked for me. Does that mean anything significant?

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

What does it mean that my car does not have a harness for those other functions? The guy pulled out my radio and looked for me. Does that mean anything significant?
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The main one is for the radio which he said the 2016 one would fit so that means the radio will work. however stuff like steering wheel adapter to retain steering wheel control and a factory camera adapter might not be possible so they have to be specific which adapter they are talking about..

 

[ssoltis]

Is it true that higher end specialty installers would be able to pull something like this off that Best Buy not be able to do? Or do they both do the job the same?

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[tymoto21 10+ year member]

I worked at bestbuy for about 5 years

Jeff is talking out his ***

Yes there is stuff that bestbuy can't do and a speciality custom shop will do better but this is a simple radio we are talking about

Most of the installers came from car audio shops that closed down or they moved into the area

They were proficient at fiberglass (but didn't have equipment at bestbuy) did sunroofs, "custom boxes" usually factory recommended and so on.

The factory steering wheel controls probably use a data signal and there may not be software to integrate with it yet

Generally you use a steering wheel control integration module that programs itself by what the car is

Example I had to do a newer Nissan (7years ago) and there was no accessory wire in the cabin. It was all turned on by data signal so I had to run a wire into the engine bay to get a simple acc wire

Some cars today they just do stupid stuff with from the factory

Get a second opinion or call up metra and ask a tech guy there

 

[ssoltis]

I worked at bestbuy for about 5 yearsJeff is talking out his ***

Yes there is stuff that bestbuy can't do and a speciality custom shop will do better but this is a simple radio we are talking about

Most of the installers came from car audio shops that closed down or they moved into the area

They were proficient at fiberglass (but didn't have equipment at bestbuy) did sunroofs, "custom boxes" usually factory recommended and so on.

The factory steering wheel controls probably use a data signal and there may not be software to integrate with it yet

Generally you use a steering wheel control integration module that programs itself by what the car is

Example I had to do a newer Nissan (7years ago) and there was no accessory wire in the cabin. It was all turned on by data signal so I had to run a wire into the engine bay to get a simple acc wire

Some cars today they just do stupid stuff with from the factory

Get a second opinion or call up metra and ask a tech guy there

Thanks for the info. When you say that there was no accessory wire in the cabin, is that essentially the same thing Best Buy told me? If so, then why couldn't they come up with a solution to make it work if you did in that car?
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[tymoto21 10+ year member]

No if there is no program for those steering wheel controls the guy who writes the software for the interface module needs to write it first then put it into the code to be sent to vendors