GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Can someone point me in the direction of a cheap aftermarket radio to replace the broken one that came with my 04' vibe?

How cheap is cheap? What features do you want?

I picked up a Pioneer Mvh-x560BT for around $125 and I love it. No CD player though

JVC's KW-R910BT is now $119.99 at Crutchfield. I bought it for $139.99 early last year. Nice double-DIN size with a ton of features for the money.

ColonelPanic wrote:JVC's KW-R910BT is now $119.99 at Crutchfield. I bought it for $139.99 early last year. Nice double-DIN size with a ton of features for the money.

That's the unit I have in mine. Its great. I use the bluetooth all the time for music and podcasts. I mounted the mic on the bottom side of my rearview mirror. I believe I got mine a little cheaper as a refurb from ebay, but then I had to buy the wireharness and dash kit myself. It would probably be awash at $120.

It gets outside of the realm of what I consider "cheap", but mine cost $200 including the install kit stuff. Android powered with bluetooth, GPS, several USB inputs, iPod interface. A/V input and output, etc. It's high end for what it does really, even if it's no-brand and came directly from China.



You can even set a built car logo for the boot screen. So when it's cold booting (after being off a while) it shows the Pontiac logo:



My thread about it: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=44971

Mainly looking for something simple that will tell me the time, has fm radio, play cds, and can plug an iphone into to play podcasts. That's about it.

edennis wrote:Mainly looking for something simple that will tell me the time, has fm radio, play cds, and can plug an iphone into to play podcasts. That's about it.

You should be able to find something in single DIN for around $100-150 that can do all that.

I like the stock look of the radio. Unfortunately it doesn't play mp3's, so I ended up getting a FM transmitter to play iPod/iPhone.
Another negative point with the stock unit is that it doesn't have audio outputs for an amp.
Ended up installing a level out converter...now you can really ''feel the vibe''. ;P lol
So basically...you have a multitude of options.
Have you thought of buying second hand? Lot's of ppl buy aftermarket and switch every 2/3 years...their loss, your gain.
So you just have to pick single or dbl din, wire harness and an hour of free time and you're golden.

FeelTheVibe2004 wrote:I like the stock look of the radio.

I think that's the first time I've ever heard anyone say that about an OEM stereo. They generally look like Fisher Price radios... probably to help prevent theft since they made them so plain and boring. Simple is nice though if that's all you want, I admit.

The dingle DIN, mp3 CD playing ~$100 (in 2008) Pioneer head unit I bought new and kept for a long time, moving it between several vehicles (I finally let it go this past Dec in the van when I sold it) had a hard to see clock which was the worst part of it. Despite heavy CD player use for MP3 cds, it still worked after 8 years just fine, even in that bumpy, rattly, 1978 1 ton chassis camper van. Later on I was making use of the aux input from my Android phone, however.

I guess you're right. lol
But the unit has the black finish and the red lighting, like the rest of the dash and cluster.
I have a black Pionner unit with glowing lite-green lighting and a silver/gray Pioneer Premier unit with light blue lighting just dragging around...both of which I refuse to install in the Vibe or Trix.
I wish they made the dash lighting colors adjustable...or at the very least make the lights more accessible.

FeelTheVibe2004 wrote:I guess you're right. lol
But the unit has the black finish and the red lighting, like the rest of the dash and cluster.
I have a black Pionner unit with glowing lite-green lighting and a silver/gray Pioneer Premier unit with light blue lighting just dragging around...both of which I refuse to install in the Vibe or Trix.
I wish they made the dash lighting colors adjustable...or at the very least make the lights more accessible.

It's not too obvious from the pics of my Android head unit, but it lets you set the colors behind the buttons/volume control. They are set red. So it pretty well matches the rest of the dash at night.

Now you need to post a pick of your head unit at night.

It wasn't quite totally dark out yet and my camera, with flash disabled, was trying to "help" by making the scene lighter. But this should give you a good idea.

It's more red than it looks. It may not be set 100% perfect but it is highly adjustable. It's close enough for me.

I was just teasing BenWa. lol
Looks very good though.
Noticed your climat control bulb is out. I've been lucky with the Vibe...knock on wood.
The Trix has it's vent adjustment side out like yours.
I'm not 100% about the part no. GM 88970578 and Toyota 90072-02005 Just in case you'd like to switch it.
Could also just be lose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECHAoRYZXJY

FeelTheVibe2004 wrote:I was just teasing BenWa. lol
Looks very good though.
Noticed your climat control bulb is out. I've been lucky with the Vibe...knock on wood.
The Trix has it's vent adjustment side out like yours.
I'm not 100% about the part no. GM 88970578 and Toyota 90072-02005 Just in case you'd like to switch it.
Could also just be lose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECHAoRYZXJY

The shifter's is bulb out too. No big deal though, You just get it out of park, release the button pull it down it until it stops in at D. It becomes second nature if you do it that way. I do the same in the day too.

I don't do enough night driving to worry about the burned out HVAC bulbs. I have the map lights so I can turn one on if I find myself not able to set it how I want it. The main thing with the HVAC controls I don't like is fan speed is center instead of far left. Something in my brain wants it far left, not center. I find myself turning the wrong one sometimes because of that.