GM factory radio... WARNING to people who want to install an aftermarket radio....

[rAge_GT]

Hi everyone I just wanted to warn you about what happened to me a couple days ago. First, When I bought the car I specifically told my dealer that i wanted to put an aftermarket stereo in my car and he said, "yea, no problem". Well I just got everything bought(it cost me about $1000) and took it to my aftermarket installer. After about 4 hours, he said he can't do it without more information about the car, because the car wasn't reacting properly to the radio. I said fine, but I really thought that he didn't know what he was doing and that I was getting ripped off. I told him that I would go to my dealer and try and get the information he needed for the car. So I go to the dealer and talk to my salesman and tell him my problem and he said, Oh, i'll check with the guy who does that around here...They come back to me a few minutes later and the next thing I know he's telling me CRAZY things like if I change my radio, My airbags won't deploy and that my factory radio is linked directly with the car's main computer, so even the fuel won't read right without my factory stereo hooked into the car. I laughed at him and told him he was full of it and that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard of. He then had the nerve to tell me if I touched the stereo, my whole warranty, including the extended warranty I PAID FOR would be completely null and void. I was EXtremely mad and drove down to my l;ocal toyota dealer because i figured they knew more about the car then GM...lol ... I was wrong! The toyota guy said he didn't even know they were the same car! I will say he was nicer and called the toyota head office for me and even gave me all the info he could on the matrix for comparison purposes.After this ordeal, I wanted to find someone who knew what they were talking about, so I called GM head office myself and put this argument to them: IF my car's factory radio was stolen and it took the dealer about 2 weeks to get the new radio, that would mean that if i got in an accident within those two weeks, i would probably die because my airbags wouldn't deploy because of their engineering incompetence. I then demanded that if this was the case, then I wanted my car fixed right away because it was a hazard. I finally got told that this was not the case and that nothing that dire would happen if i took out the radio and that my complete warranty was not void, only the radio side of the warranty. They also told me my dealer was full of it and they gave me some #'s to some dealers in Toronto who knew what they were talking about. (Those dealers verified what GM head office said) This unfortunately wasn't the end to my hassle, because appartenly for some stupid reason GM engineers decided to hook up a data line to that stupid radio (which is an indirect link to the computer in the car, so my dealer wasn't lying about everything). This means that some installers insist on hooking the factory radio up in the back of your car to avoid any computer problems. That wasn't the answer I was looking for either, so it took me 3 calls to Toronto and 1 call to Ottawa before I found someone who seemed to know what they were talking about, and had had some experience installing aftermarket radios in other vibes. So now i'm driving 250 km to get a radio installed! And to make it even worse, I found out what all the hype was about the computer screwing up with the radio... Now get this: The door chime won't work correctly!!!!For all this hassle I don't care if i ever hear a door chime again!!!!!

[VibeSalsa]

What a story !Just a little information I remembered...Last year, my girlfriend bought a Pontiac Sunfire with almost the same radio system in her car. I think that the only difference is the Speed Volume Control that is not present in the Vibe. In the Owner Manual of the Sunfire, I remember I have read that the door chime is generated by the radio. By the way, if the door chime works, we hear this in the front left speaker...It just confirms what you said...
[Modified by vibesalsa, 10:09 PM 9/18/2002]

[NSimkins]

I know a few people have installed an aftermarket radio in their Vibe. I would be interested in hearing if any of them are experiencing the same problems as you are:cohocarl -> from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=769LocDog -> from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... 910mu_ohio -> from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... 5792Anyone else?

[LocDog]

Door chime?...what door chime.
[Modified by LocDog, 12:10 AM 9/19/2002]

[Greg100575]

yeah ive had a poineer cd player in my GT since i got the thing, no problems that im aware of. i even installed it myself, no biggieGreg

[NovaResource]

quote:Door chime?...what door chime.The chime that goes off if you open the driver door with the key in the ignition.

[NovaResource]

quote:Re: GM factory radio... WARNING to people who want to install an aft ...I know a few people have installed an aftermarket radio in their Vibe. I would be interested in hearing if any of them are experiencing the same problems as you areSounds like the installer is an idiot and doesn't have a clue to what he's doing. Get you money back.

[LocDog]

Ahh that.... I still get the chime... but i when i installed the radio i just left the extra wire hangin there, i think someone's full of it.

[Sub-Vibe-R]

I have a 2001 Pontiac Montana (I'm waiting my Vibe)I pull out the original radio (which should be almost the same as a Vibe)and I put an aftermarket one. I have it for 1 year and it works perfectly. I installed it myself and the only bug I got it is the 12v from the ignition. There's no ignition going to the originial radio. I had to pick it up somewhere else then the factory radio jack. I haven't had any trouble with anything.I think your dealer wanted to scared you. Usualy, dealer doesn't like when we change something in the car. Every time, they will tell you your warranty will be void if you change anything. I talk about a remote starter to my dealer. He told me the warranty will be void if the trbl is caused by your remote starter. the same thing should be apply for an aftermarket radio. From my part, go head and install your aftermarket radio, don't whorry about what your dealer told you

[cohocarl]

I have had ZERO problems after I put the new head unit & speakers in.I bought a wiring harness to simplify the installation & retain the stock wiring. Some of the newer G.M. vehicles do have the door chime and some other things (can't remember now) controlled by the factory stereo, but not the Vibe. I think Crutchfield has a "note" on this issue on their web page.Good luck,Carl

[mu_ohio]

I've had mine for over 2 months now and not a single issue. I thought I posted earlier about this topic. Some GM products do share their radios with the rest of the electronics. This vehicle though is mostly Toyota guts so integrating a GM/Delphi radio would be to big of a deal. Easier to change the small radio harness connector to GM specs then everything else.