Car stereo for ipod

[mechanicx]

I wasn't sure if I should post this car stereo question in this forum or the consumer electronics forum. I don't mess with aftermarket stereos much any more and was wanting to get some suggestions.

My sister has an '04 Pontiac Vibe with a factory radio with a CD and no auxillary input and wants to replace the factory radio with an aftermarket in order to have input for the ipod. I guess if the radio has USB you can control the ipod with the radio. She wants to do it on a budget and was thinking about this radio: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/JVC+-+50W+x+...d=1218279827144 from Best Buy. The price looks good and she wants to get it there for some 12% gas rewards or something. I thought Best Buy offered free installation but she said not. It's no problem for me to install it though. I'll just need a mounting kit since the factory radio is a din and half and wiring kit.

 

[FirstNissan]

Order it from Crutchfield, amazing service, huge huge online website, been in business a very long time, and stereos come free with the mounting kit and wiring, so thats an added.

PS- I dont work for them, just bought from them in the past, and known others that have as well. Recommended to all family and friends.

 

[jim302]

Their web site says they offer free install up to $99.99. Assuming that car isn't unusually difficult to replace the radio on, that may cover the labor. This doesn't include the wiring harness or other hardware.

If you install yourself, you might have problems getting everything at Best Buy - when I looked there last year and asked about pricing on the wiring harness and mounting kit, they said they don't sell them directly to customers because it involves electrical work. I told them it wasn't rocket science and that I would just buy from Crutchfield and install it myself, then walked out.

I ended up with a JVC and have been very happy with it. The radio you linked to looks good for the price. I didn't see much else with iPod compatibility in the $80 price range on Best Buy's site that impressed me in any way. I'm not a huge fan of Sony's car audio products and the Pioneer and Clarion units in that price range don't seem to have iPod/USB support unless I missed something.

 

[mechanicx]

Crutchfield is OK but I could probably have her order the radio on Amazon and get the installation kit a little cheaper. But she wants the 12% gas rebate so it would be just as cheap to get it at Best Buy. But if Best Buy doesn't offer free installation on this radio or won't sell the mounting kit, then I'll have to pick up the mounting kit somewhere else and install it.

Will she need a special adapter to plug the ipod into the JVC's USB or do ipod come with a USB harness that will work? I imagine they do but I don't really know much about them lol.

 

[123Saab]

you need a cable from the headset jack to the stereo jack.

At least thats what my older ipod uses. It did not come with it.

 

[mechanicx]

I guess the ipods come with an USB cable so that should plug into the JCVs USB. I might have a mounting adapter lieing around somewhere. I'll just tell her to get the radio at BB.

 

[rjundi]

Not sure how much an aftermarket she wants to spend.

Definitely checkout Cructchfield to see if an adapter exists to plug into the factory radio. This type of setups are far superior at least for control/look since aftermarket stereo's look awful at best and have very tiny buttons.

Many times you use the radio controls to run the playlist inside the ipod. I did this with a 1995 Civic and was basically using the CD changer controls(option never installed) to run an ipod with a Stock Honda stereo/cassette.

 

[mechanicx]

Yeah if it was me I would want to retain the factory radio and maybe get an auxillary input adapter or better yet find a used Vibe radio with a front auxillary input but I don't think there are any available. Although, my experience with the auxillary adapters are they don't always work right and the electronic circuits that allow it to communicate with the factory radio's auxillary input hurt sound quality and volume. They just don't work the same way as a factory auxillary option like a CD changer. Plus they require room behind the dash. I guess in your case it might have work good but haven't seem to on the GM radios I've tried it.. Another thing is the auxillary input adapters seem to cost as much or more than aftermarket radio.

 

[dwcopple]

sonic electronix is hard to beat. best prices and they give you free installation accessories too. retailmenot usually has discount codes too!!!

 

[Norm Olt]

If having the radio control the ipod is a key feature the usb is the connection: I don't know whether it is a special cable for ipods (typically Apple likes to do that kind of stuff)...

For $10 more you can get the JVC with built-in HD radio, which is a really nice feature if you happen to be in a location with a bunch of HD stations. The MP3 connection for this unit is a simple mini-plug and control of the music w/b with the ipod (or any other MP3 player) itself. I just load up random play and FF any song I don't particularly wish to hear at the time...

Cheers!

p.s. Crutchfield includes the installation kit on most of their units, which typically means a cable that doesn't require you to cut into the factory wiring harness.

This is very good!

 

[mechanicx]

I always wished aftermarket radios were like any other replacement part made to fit the specific make and model of the car. You can get double din but even they don't have an exact fit. The mounting bracket should be in the same location, car harness should directly plug in, and the antenna just like the original without any adapters. And it really shouldn't need to cost that much more than generic fit when you figure having to buy all the adapters and time wiring the connectors in.

And they could come up with a better theft deterrent (although being exact model fit would be somewhat of a deterrent alone)than a loose detachable face. Maybe something like OEMS did with a theft lock code.

It's even more important that aftermarket radios be an exact fit part for compatibility with late models going to LAN or serial dataline.

It would be more expense and probably wouldn't sell as much, but if I could find a radio made like that cheaper than OEM with better sound qaulity and more fetures, I'd buy them.