New Radio

[bobfell13]

I'm thinking about getting a new radio/head unit for my 2003 pontiac vibe. Any prefereces tward what i should get? I'm looking for an easy fit up, mp3 compatable, cd player... and red. Thanks!

[Silverchaos71]

bobfell13,

By no means am I an expert on this subject, but I just recently upgraded my stereo set. Bought a Pioneer FH-X700BT. Its a double DIN radio, has bluetooth, also has a USB port and a 3.5mm port right on the front. As for colors, it has a range of about....20 someodd color variations. Its got about 3-4 different shades of red/red-ish colors. Also you can have it cycle between all of the colors. Also, you can change the colors for just the display or just the buttons or both. The only things you will give up from your OEM radio are the ability to dim the radio via the dash light dimmer knob. Everything else wires up nice. You will need a wire harness kit, antenna adapter, and an installation kit (the plastic parts to fit the radio in the slot). I didnt check it on mine, but you may be able to use the OEM factory mounts...but I dont know for sure. Metra has a decent kit, it was about 20 bucks and all the wires were clearly marked, and on the package it came in.

Hope it helps!

Silverchaos71

[trb]

I just helped my son install a double DIN DVD unit also. It was a lot more than I planned to spend, but IMO the single DIN units don't look right in the large Vibe dash cut out, so I sprung for the larger unit. I did reuse the stock metal mounting plates from the stock radio, but I had to drill a few new holes and enlarge a couple to match the radio mounting holes. I ended up using 2-3 bolts on each side. Plus I had to hammer flat the mounting dimples used to locate the metal plates on the stock radio. But I felt it was a much more secure mounting than the plastic parts in the Metra kit. The only part I used from the kit was the face plate to fill the gap between the stock radio and the silver trim. I have the extra parts if you are interested and are not getting a double DIN radio.