2nd vibe stereo failing

[Merzbow]

Well, last year I had the stereo replaced under warentee because when I would brake or accelerate the cd would make a grinding noise. Now, about half of my cds skip everytime I hit the smallest crack. OF COURSE the warentee is expired and OF COURSE it started doing this literally a week afte rthe final day of the warentee.Like I said, only about half of my cds will skip....why would this be? are some cds heavier than others or are they wider or what!?!?!? Everytime I touch something electronic it seems liek it breaks lol. I don't want to get an aftermarket headunit because of a few reasons:1. They are anoyingly expensive for a descent one.2. Most of my friends that spent over $200 on theirs had to replace them after about 1.5 to 2 years.3. More of a reason to break into my car and steal everything.4.I like the stock headunit how it displays the song title when you listen to the radio as well as the color of it. Don't see too many redfaced a/m headunits.Anyways, has anyone else had so many problems with these stupid radios? If for some reason I do want an aftermarket headunit, I will probably go with Pioneer or Kenwood but what model will last longer than 2 years?

[ColonelPanic]

You're in good company, Merzbow. I like these radios, but some really leave alot to be desired in quality control and longevity.Counting the original factory radio (moon & tunes single disc,) I'm on my 4th one. The first unit did exactly what you described above.I always used CD-R's in the car, and the slightest imperfection on the disc would induce skipping, no to mention even the smallest bump would make that thing skip. I noticed a pattern - CD-R's lighter in color were more problematic, so I switched to the black ones. That worked well for a bit longer, so you may try that - it could give you a couple more months, long enough to sort things out. Eventually though, if you have the same problem that I had, whatever that was and the cause, the condition of your CD player will probably do nothing but go down hill from this point.They replaced that radio with a brand new one due to the skipping and some cosmetic issues with the original radio. That one was brand new, but had the scraping you were talking about. So, they replaced it again, this time the radio was of the refurbished variety. That worked well until I lost all of my speakers, to this day I'm not sure if it was the radio or the amp that blew everything up. I got a radio from Millster, and after replacing the speakers, it's doing fine now. So I'm guessing the original radio probably caused the problem. I'm with you - we're rather odd folks seeing that we would rather keep the stock radio. I like the appearance, the size of the buttons, the layout, the backlighting much more than I would an aftermarket radio. I've had a lot of technical difficulties in the audio department with this thing and I could have replaced the radio a long time ago and be done with it, but that just didn't appeal to me. I just can't seem to find an aftermarket radio that I like as much as a factory unit, despite any shortcomings the factory unit may have vs. the aftermarket one.Since your radio was replaced last year, I would check with the dealer that replaced it. I don't know if this applies to radios and the like, but some parts are warrantied for a certain period of time after that part was installed. So despite the fact that the new vehicle warranty is gone, there is still a (probably remote) chance that it could be covered.Worst case scenario, just see if someone around here has a radio you can take off their hands. Much cheaper than pursuing other alternatives.

[ragingfish]

This is in no way an answer to your questions or a solution to your problem.But it's been bugging me to hell.It's spelled WARRANTY!!! There are no e's. *phew* ok, i got that off my chest. Thanks for letting me vent.

[joatmon]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19097 or ebay

[drunkenmaxx]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »It's spelled WARRANTY!!! There are no e's. actually, its spelled HIS WARRANTY IS UP.

[Merzbow]

(removed) I must have been thinking about manitys or something while typing this. (j/k manitee).oh well...I'll try the dealer but I don't like them.

[jasonvibe]

I just got a 2005 AWD was told these radios have a "locking" feature. When ever you disconnect power from the radio it won't work till you take it to the dealer to have them set or reset the code with a "scanner". My 10 year old GM had a similar but easier locking set up. My dealer charges a fortune just to say "hello" so These new electrics really make me crindge... Was I told the truth?

[VibeFever]

I had my stock 05 radio out of the dash for 3 days and no issue. I think only if you pull one out of a different Vibe and put it in yours it will not work. It is looking for the proper vin mumber for the theftlock feature.

[jasonvibe]

Hope you are correct. My dealer replaced the vehicle's battery. The little green indicator was not showing even after charging. So I damanded a replacement. He said they used a simple battery so the theft lock would not happen. I had the code in case it did. But they were sure only they could reset the theftlock with their scanner and my code...which I will never forget. They would not give me any more details. I found this hard to believe, since for many repairs and services the battery should be disconnected...safety reason...air bag. I just was worried if I needed to replace the battery in a few years ...that I would be stuck. thanks, Jay

[joatmon]

Long story, short answerLong story: I have a 2003, and I put a CD/cassette unit froma Matrix in there, no problem. Direct swap out, no code. Later, I saw a CD cassette unit from a matrix on ebay, and nobody bid on iot, it was poorly listed so I picked it up for about $20. THought it might be a spare, or maybe someone on the forum would want it, but instead I installed it in a Ford pickup truck that previously only had a radio. Recently, my brother bought a 2005 Vibe, and I took the CD/cassette unit out of the ford and put it in his 2005 Vibe. No problem. No code. I took the stock CD from his 2005 Vibe and put it in the Ford pickup. No problem, no code. The radio doesn't care about the vin at all.Short answer: No theftlock in these cars, unless they added it to the 2006 model. 2003,2004,2005 = no theftlock, swapping is easy, and no codes required.Interesting side note, the stock 1CD radio gets a lot better radio reception in the ford pickup truck than it does in the Vibe.

[Merzbow]

lol, yeah dealers and mechanics do alot of bull****ting. Kind of like the check engine light. Normally it's programmed to turn out at a certain milage. The dealer simply hooks it up to a machine to turn off hte light and they charge you a billion dollars for it even though nothing is wrong.

[jasonvibe]

My dealer gave me the lock code. But unlike my '95 Bonnevile the manual tells you nothing about unlocking it or changing the code. The dealer told me loss of power to my late '05 Vibe(built 6/05) would cause it to "lock up"and the code was set at the factory. I have a flashing red led on the radio when the car is off. Do all Vibes have this led? Or is this a late '05 and '06 thing?

[binary]

Quote, originally posted by jasonvibe »My dealer gave me the lock code. But unlike my '95 Bonnevile the manual tells you nothing about unlocking it or changing the code. The dealer told me loss of power to my late '05 Vibe(built 6/05) would cause it to "lock up"and the code was set at the factory. I have a flashing red led on the radio when the car is off. Does Vibe have this led? Or is this a late '05 and '06 thing?My stereo has the flashing LED... but no theftlock.I've had my stereo disconnected more times than I care to admit - and it's still working just fine. The only thing I have to reset is the clock. 50+ years of building automotive electronics and they still can't battery backup the damn clock. Another dealer that is misinformed and undereducated in the ways of the Vibe.

[jasonvibe]

Here's a question... did the dealer give you your code if it does get "locked"? Mine gave me a bar coded plastic sticker with the 4 digit code...ex. 1234. Mine did, so it must be for something. It may have been stuck to the radio face when it left the factory? I have it on my bill of sale. Can anyone else confirm this? Or maybe mine is so late in the 2005 run it really has a 2006 radio...p.s. this site is great...

[ColonelPanic]

There's really no Theftlock on the Vibe's radio... You can disconnect power from it entirely and even put it in another vehicle if you want, it will work fine. No codes necessary.The flashing LED on the front is just for show. "Pseudo theft deterrent" if you will. GM did claim it had Theftlock, but that is technically a false claim.Older GM radios did have codes. If Theftlock was enabled, the LED would flash when the ignition was off, if it was disabled, the LED would not flash. (So I can see why the flashing LED would lead people to think the radio will be locked after it loses power.) If TheftLock was enabled and the battery was disconnected, SEC or LOC or something to that effect would show on the display once battery power was restored and you had to enter your code. I've had a number of battery disconnects/reconnects on the Vibe, and I have replaced the HU once myself with one out of another Vibe, never has it locked or been locked like my previous GM vehicles that needed codes to unlock the radios. No worries.Some newer GM radios on actual GM cars flat out won't work in other vehicles, no codes, period. They read vehicle specific information from the vehicle's data bus. (I think that can be corrected at the dealer when one needs to replace the radio.) They still work after losing power, I don't think they go into any locked mode if power is lost and they are still in the correct vehicle once power is restored. So in the older GM products, Theftlock did work, and in new true GM products Theftlock still does work. It doesn't really exist in the Vibe's radio though. The radio doesn't support the old school code-type of anti-theft stuff, nor is the car itself smart enough to support the new GM style of anti-theft stuff. So don't worry about it.

[jasonvibe]

So what was the plastic sticker with the barcode and for digit #### on it for? ...just curious. Or is it just my late '05 may be different than the earlier ones. I know there are changes during a production. Heck, I drove an early used '05 also. Which I looked under the hood to see a different throttle body than the one I finally bought. I think I need to hear from an '06 owner...no offense.

[Merzbow]

Well I bought a new stock headunit from a member here so we will see if it works on my '03 Vibe.I can tell you what though, I've taken my radi out plenty of times and it trned right back on after plugging it in so I don't think there's a theft lock on it.