I've been on the road for a few days now with our new Nissan Quest. With baby #3 due in July, we thought it would be best to trade in the Saab 9-5 (itself a great vehicle) for more room. It also gave Digital Dad an opportunity to upgrade to some state-of-the-art electronics.
The vehicle is loaded with everything that could be electronic - seats, doors (both side doors), rear hatch, sunroof (it has a main one and four small ones), windows, cruise control, ABS, TCS, DVD (dual screen) and of course satellite nav system.
The controls are all very well laid out on a control console that lays about 30 degrees from horizontal. This means the controls are higher up and you don't need to bend your wrist as much. Safer and easier.
The large windows and 5 sunroofs make it seem like you are traveling in a bubble - plenty of light (windows behind driver are all tinted) - did I mention it has 245 horses?
The sound system is impressive. Bose tuned system all-around. 6 disc changer. You can get satellite radio as an option but I didn't think that $12/month or so would be worth it. One nice feature is that the CD changer has a protective door that keeps you from just inserting a disc. A great feature if you have ever had your two year old try to turn your single disc player into a multi-disc changer by jamming a few of them in there! Hint - long nose pliers.
So you have AM/FM/CD that you can toggle through. If you hold the REAR/AV button you switch into DVD mode. Pop in the disc and it plays. HOWEVER, here is the cool part. There are composite audio and video jacks on the DVD player mounted under the front passenger seat. You can run a cable from an iPOD (from Belkin) to the DVD player and then play your iPOD through the DVD player. You just need to hit the MODE button the DVD player. This means you get line out quality and 10,000 songs (or in my case 623 kids songs), randomly shuffled for hours. I even downoaded the "Ultimate Manilow" album for my wife from iTunes before we left.
The DVD player works very well. The dual screens are 16x9 and the color is a bit oversaturated and bright, but otherwise fairly accurate. It comes with a generic remote or you can push the buttons on the DVD deck yourself (not while driving!). It plays through the sound system or you can turn the fader to rear speakers and then hit a button switch to headphone mode and use the IR based phones that come with the Quest. Nice.
The nav system is very well put together. If you're in PARK you can enter a destination by address (or phone #). You can also find "quick stops" as you are traveling and the system will find nearby ATMs, restaurants, gas stations, etc. The navigation is called out by a voice so you don't need to take your eyes off the road.
If you don't follow the directions the system will automatically create a new route based on where you're heading. You can turn the whole thing off with a few clicks. The default view is top down but the Bird's Eye view is cool as well. It all runs off a DVD system under the driver's seat, which is upgradeable. One missing touch is the ability to show the map on the DVD screens, like in an airplane.
One significant omission on the Quest is the lack of OnStar, which we had in the Saab. That's a great system and Nissan should get that or something similar on board ASAP. However, maybe they can install the version without the FBI wiretap.
Net net, the Nissan Quest appears to be the ultimate Digital Dad family vehicle.
I also have a 2004 Nissan quest, and I am thinking of installing a Aux interface, since i have the bose system, with an empty SAT jack.
Do you have any idea how to take out the radio or where the radio is located in this car???
I am thinking that perhaps the actual radio is behind the glove box??? If you have any idea please let me know... Thank you so much
Posted by: Bob Fauth | April 23, 2007 at 01:13 PM
I also have a 2004 Nissan quest, and I am thinking of installing a Aux interface, since i have the bose system, with an empty SAT jack.
Do you have any idea how to take out the radio or where the radio is located in this car???
I am thinking that perhaps the actual radio is behind the glove box??? If you have any idea please let me know... Thank you so much
Posted by: Bob Fauth | April 23, 2007 at 01:13 PM