Anybody know about a good alarm for my Xterra?

DEI makes high quality products. Probably my favorite brand of alarm. www.directed.com

Furthermore, the effectiveness of an alarm is 90% installation, so I recommend you find a highly reputable shop that does quality work to install it.

I second that. I have a clifford which is made by DEI. Viper is also very good.

Funny you say that. I just got a call this morning from my Nissan dealership. Seems the reason that my Xterra won't start is because some of the wires in my aftermarket Viper alarm have burnt out. They asked where I got it installed. They said the workmanship was very poor. Now it is costing me several hundred dollars to have Nissan remove the after market alarm and "re-install" the OEM "alarm".

okay, you should definately complain at Circuit City like no more, that is outrageous. If I went to a "professional" to have my alarm installed I better damn expect the thing to work, and if it broke I would hold the installer responsible. Burn his home...

From what you said, it doesn't sound like the problem was the alarms fault. It sounds like the installers fault. Where did you get it installed? I used to work at Circuit City installing car stuff and I know if the problem is their fault they will fix it and pay for any damage the product caused. The problem you will have is that you didn't take it there first. If you did get it installed at a major retailer I would definately take it back there with all of the reciepts for the work that you have had done and demand they pay for the work you had to have done... Thell them you were stranded somewhere and had to have it towed to the dealership. If it is still there I would call the retailer now and tell them it is there. I would also tell them you want your money back for the product too. Make sure you get the hardware back from the dealership...

On the other hand, however, dealerships tend to SAY that the aftermarket was what caused your problem (especially if you are in warranty) just so they don't have to fix the real problem. At most dealerships, as soon as they have seen that someone else has been in there wiring something, they automatically tell you that is the problem and charge you to fix it.

Having worked for Circuit City, I'm not biased either way, I have definately seen unacceptable work from installers. But I have also had to go to the dealership many times to investigate whether the installation caused the problem and most of the time it didn't. It's just an easy out for them.

I had to go to a dealership once to look at a car that Circuit City had installed an amp sub about 5 years ago. The car had caught fire and almost completely burned... The Car owner didn't have insurance and the damage was about $8,000. He was blaming the fire on the amp wire. the sub had been working for 5 years... I found a recently installed fog light that had bare wires everywhere... In that instance, The dealership blamed Circuit city also...
Good luck with that.

I just read your post again... You say they are reinstalling the oem alarm??? Usually you don't have to do that. Maybe plug it back in, but most of the time you just leave it alone. Thats what I did on mine. The factory alarm is still there I just don't use the keypad.

You are correct. It is still there. But the installers of my Viper alarm re-routed some of it. I will find out for sure next time I talk to Nissan about what was missing (what the installers removed).

Well, if it was my starter and they had to replace it, it should be easily noticeable seeing as how filthy and muddy my engine bay is. I hope that anything new under the hood would stick out like a sore thumb. Unless the starter is easily hidden from all view.

There was no way I could take it back to Circuit City. I had the work done in NY, and right now I am in VA. It died in the parking lot of the dealership. I can't exactly have it towed back to NY, nor can I get by without a vehicle. I told them to get my Xterra working again (which includes removing the Viper alarm), document EVERYTHING, and give me back the alarm. I then will decide who I need to contact because I'll be damned if I don't go down without a fight.

All Circuit City's honor other circuit city's work. It is understood that you might have a problem away from home. They will still take care of it no matter where you are. The blame isn't on the exact installer that did the work, it is on Circuit City Inc. The Installer was just representing the company.

Did you say something is wrong with the starter? Is this just an alarm, or a remote starter?
What did it do when it wouldn't start? Was the alarm going off? Would it turn over?
I would want to know EXACTLY what they are repairing/replacing in your car. If you can find out and tell me, I can tell you whether it was caused by the install.

You don't want to concede to them that the work is definately the aftermarket install, because after you pay, they won't give you your money back, even if you find out it wasn't your(Circuit City's) fault.
There are many things that can make your car not start other than alarm wiring.

I can Tell you that Circuit City is going to want to know why you didn't take it to them before you went to the dealership. They will ALWAYS say that you should have taken it to them first (that way they can fix it at their cost, which is much less than the dealerships). Your best course of action is to call the circuit city Immediately and tell them that there isn't a Circuit City close to where you are and you are too far away from them to tow it there. That way there is no way they can help you and will be forced to pay for all damages.
Just my 2 cents.

cdoliver - I appreciate all your replies. Keep them coming.

When the key was turned to the "start" position, nothing (I mean NOTHING, no sound) would happen. No attempt at all to turn over or crank. Unfortunately it was oustide in the pouring rain and 30 degree temperature. All they could do was guess it was the starter (because I swore it wasn't the alarm) and offer me a rental car because they couldn't get it in until Monday (this was Friday).

Come today, they said that it was not the starter, starter solenoid, or shifter safety switch. They checked the alarm wiring and found burned out wires in the system.

I cannot afford to continue renting a car or taking public transportation everyplace I need to go. I told Nissan that I wanted everything documented so that I could take it to Circuit city and/or the manufacturer and attempt to be reimbursed for all my current expenses at Nissan, as well as the purchase price and cost of installation of the alarm. I don't have the time or money to have had it towed to circuit city - who at this point I no longer trust to ever touch my vehicle again.

Unfortunately we live in a world of "he said, she said" that will ultimately take place between Nissan and Direct Electronics/Circuit City. I am inclined to believe Nissan on this one - PENDING when I see the actually wiring that they are (as I speak) removing from my Xterra.

:rolleyes:

Any other ideas or comments?

Most Car Alarms have an inline fuse, so if the alarm shorts it blows the fuse before it can cause a short circuit. Very unlikely that the car alarm is the problem.

I think if the wiring that the dealership is indeed burned, you have a very good case when you take it back to the circuit city where you had it installed. If they see burned wires they will pay for all expences in my opinion.

but... the only problem you could have is the starter wire not being properly connected. I don't see anything else causing the problem. Usually if the alarm works for so long without a problem, it doesn't just all of the sudden stop working. The starter kill relay could have gone bad, but that is very very rare.

Not to dispute what Mikealarm said, but Dei alarms do not have a fuse on the red power wire, only on the white lightflash wire.

They put the primary power wire into the fuse box which is one fuse, and any installer should put his own fuse inline, If he doesn't do that he is no installer, so actually there should be 2 fuses to protect the system.

actually, you should run the power wire straight to the battery and yes, you should put a fuse on it, but it does not come with Dei alarms, you must provide your own inline fuse. Some alarms such as code and audiovox provide an inline fuse. Most installers take the easy way and run the power wire to a constant power wire in the ignition harness because of the larger guage wire and it being in the same location of the ignition wire and starter wire, but you should, according to MECP(mobile electronics certified professional)certification, run the power wire to the battery, fused.

Come to think of it, the alarm still worked (to the best of my knowledge). It locked and unlock, and chirped. It must be the car starter aspect.

Either way, I should be getting it back from the dealer today. I will then make my case with Circuit City. I know my warranty says (I learned this after telling Nissan to fix it) that Circuit City will do the work for free. But since it was a safety issue and I cannot afford to be without a vehicle, maybe I can work that angle.

Stay tuned...

any new news? did they give you the wiring back?

I will have pictures tomorrow. What a mess.

I am too drained to post anything else today about this. Check back tomorrow morning. I will do it first thing in the morning (around 9am eastern).

I have seen both, some installers run the power wire to the battery and some run it to the fuse box, the bottom line is that we both agree upon, is that the power wire has to be fused so if the alarm shorts it will not harm the system.

Click on links for larger photos

What my X looks like right now:
http://www.vaxc.org/gallery/albums/NissanWork/IMG_1184.sized.jpg

The "Smart Control Unit" (white box) was shorted out by my Alarm/Car Starter. It costs $220 for the part.
http://www.vaxc.org/gallery/albums/NissanWork/IMG_1182.sized.jpg

My alarm/car starter, now removed:
http://www.vaxc.org/gallery/albums/NissanWork/IMG_1180.sized.jpg

Hey, well I'm going to be perfectly honest with you... The wiring on the install from what I can see looks like very good work. Where are the burned wires??? The first thing I noticed was the crimped on ground wire for the starter/alarm. That is a good thing. The other thing I noticed is the tape wrapped around all of the wires. Not many installers do that(the tape helps protect the wiring). Also, the use of wire ties.

This is my honest oppinion... This looks like a dealership that used this as an excuse to not honor your warranty. When I installed my DEI alarm/starter on my X I don't remember having to tap into any of the wires on the SCM... I have NEVER seen an alarm cause computer damage this long after the install (I have been installing alarms for about 10 years), only during install.

I don't know what you can do now, you may still have a shot at getting circuit city to reemburse you. But I guarantee they are going to look at it not seeing any burned wires and wonder why it took almost a year to "Short" the computer system. once an alarm is installed all it does is send the same signals over and over again. If it is working after the install and it was working when the car wouldn't start I would say in my professional oppinion, it definately was not the alarm that caused the problem.

I just looked at the wiring install for the X and depending on where they got the tach wire (purple/white)for the remote start, they did not have to tap into the smart controll unit.

So what else could it have been on my Xterra that was causing it not to start? Do you really think they would screw me so bad as to remove a $240 alarm/starter, just so they didn't have to cover my warranty work?

I always assumed that a professional installer (of an alarm, or a stereo system, etc) would solder, use wire nuts, or crimp connectors for the wires - not just twists and electrical tape.

I suppose I am having a hard time seeing as to why Nissan would try to screw me over that hard, just so they wouldn't have to do some warranty work???

The dealership has everything to gain and nothing to lose by blaming the problem on circuit city. If you had nothing in there aftermarket, they would have to pay to fix it. Do you have any more pics? I can't tell by the pics, but I would be willing to bet that circuit city soldiered every connection on the car. Circuit City doesn't use wire nuts or crimp because it isn't as good as soldiering. I think if you look closer to the connections on the alarm you will see that they are soldiered. It will be hard to tell now how it was connected to the car now that it is out, but an installer that goes to the trouble of wrapping tape around every wire, usually doesn't do a hacked up job. The installer that did this wasn't a rookie in my opinion.
The other thing is, in the first pic, you see the black wire with the yellow stripe? That is the starter wire. I don't know at what point this pic was taken, but I hope the dealership soldiered that back and taped it. The Last thing that is concerning to me is that the fuse box is pulled out. The fuse box doesn't have to be taken out to install the alarm. Why did the dealership remove this?

What did you say you had your car in the first time for? Recalled fuel sender? You think it is possible they shorted something out while changing the part for that? This would make more since to me. Not an alarm that had been working for almost a year with no problems. You said yourself that the alarm was working just fine. If it had any problems every fuse that you can see there would be blown and it wouldn't be working. Again, this is just a way for you to pay for it, not them. It so easy for them to blame it on that, and I don't think you can do to much about it.
I hope you don't get irritated at me for my opinion. I don't like circuit city myself, they treated me badly and thats why I don't work there any longer. I CAN tell you the way they work and what I see.

I'm not irritated at all - I apprecite your opinion and experience.

I didn't see any indication of solder on any of the wires yesterday. That is what bothered me the most. I would hope that a professional installer would do more then twist wires and wrap them in electrical tape.

I guess my final conclusion is that I will never know for sure. Again, I hate to think that in order to save a little money, they would remove an aftermarket system from my vehicle, in effect costing me almost $1,150 (and not to mention, almost a week's worth of my truck in the garage).

Ohhh - and I just remembered something. My installation was done in NY last year. Now I am in VA. It wasn't till I was back to VA that I realized that no toggle switch (on-off switch for my car starter) was ever installed. Why did I notice this? Well, I saw the toggle switch on the counter at the installation department. I guess I assumed it wasn't for my vehicle. But when I got back to VA and look for the switch (in case I ever had to turn the starter off to do maintance under the hood) I could not find it. That is why I realized that they never installed it. Furthurmore, they never explained to me how to work the on-off alarm buttom (in case I lose the key FOB). The book only explains so much. And I'm no idiot when it comes to this stuff. But I was pissed that they never said "And this is how you work this... blah blah".

I hate everybody!