Advice Needed: Buy Factory Unit or Aftermarket

[DavidE]

Hey all,


I picked up a used Mk4 Golf a couple of weeks ago, and it currently has an old Sony stereo in it. I am looking to change the stereo over for something I can use with recordable CDs and occasionally with my iPod.

I'm looking at two options:

1) Buy a Sony CDX-GT290 and an iPod cable, wire the whole lot up and use the aux in for the iPod

2) Try to find an original VW stereo, and buy an adaptor unit to use the iPod

The first option is cheaper and less hassle, but I want to maintain the clean look of the Golf as much as possible, and I love the styling of the factory radio.

Does anybody know a good place to buy the VW stereos in Australia? I can only get hits on ebay like this one:

VOLKSWAGEN VW PREMIUM 6 CD PLAYER RADIO JETTA PASSAT VI - eBay (item 400074271238 end time Feb-11-11 12:10:47 PST)

Advice is much appreciated.

[572]

Hi David,

You may be able to pick up a used stereo at the wreckers, such as KMJ at Sumner Park (KMJ EUROPARTS & SERVICE) or ASV (ASV European Auto Spares - European Car Parts Auto Wreckers in Sydney Brisbane Melbourne Perth Adelaide). I've had mixed dealings with both.

Look at Dension for iPod integration (http://www.dension.com/sites/default...n-22-11-10.pdf). Going the factory route won't be the cheapest option, but I agree it will look far better.

[DavidE]

Thanks very much for the advice, very informative.

If I were to get a radio from the wreckers, would I have difficulty with the security code?

Tempted by the Sony option, it's a lot cheaper and easier unfortunately! But it is one of the less 'blingy' stereos out there.

[572]

If I were to get a radio from the wreckers, would I have difficulty with the security code? .

More than likely, but if they had the owners manual for the car, they should be able to provide it.

Tempted by the Sony option, it's a lot cheaper and easier unfortunately! But it is one of the less 'blingy' stereos out there.

You're probably right there. Most of the other brands on offer are covered in chrome or stupidly shaped buttons. Another brand to consider may be Alpine (Alpine Electronics of Australia) - more expensive although the CDE-121E 'appears' to be good value.

[99_FGT]

David,
Things to consider:
You'll need to have a look at the colour of your dash, as well as the dash lights. Black w blue lights and black w red lights are the most common for the stereo's, but there are ones that have customisable illumination.
Genuine will cost more, and probably be clunkier with an ipod. Here is probably the best place to buy. You might find the stereo from an 9N polo will fit straight in. Provided you have a 2Din socket that is (you may have a dash pocket in the 2nd slot if you have a sony unit)
Are you using it with an Ipod that will be left in the car (ie glove box) or taken in and out all the time? If you want to leave it in the car (regardless I reckon) then you want to have a rear connection for your ipod so you can run it into your glovebox or centre console. out of sight, out of mind.
Many of the cheaper HU's out there have "line in" aux terminals, which you have to crank the sound on the ipod right up on to get anything, or get an ipod dock to 3.5mm cable - and then you need to be able to charge it on road trips. There are products made by Griffin and the like that will do this, but all add $$.
Most (if not all) of the Ipod control head units allow you to scroll /search playlists, albums, artists etc from the HU, while charging the ipod and delivering high(er than 3.5mm) quality sound.
These are just some of the factors to consider. Oh, and if you are still using that damn keyboard, disregard any comments about sound, you obviously are deaf by now.
Al.. (yep, that Al)

[572]

You might find the stereo from an 9N polo will fit straight in.

No joke, I have 2 of those sitting in my cupboard bound for the bin. One MP3, one non-MP3.


Off Topic Edit: Did you have Mazda at some point Al? The username looks familiar...

[99_FGT]

No joke, I have 2 of those sitting in my cupboard bound for the bin. One MP3, one non-MP3.

Worth a try I say, if you are willing to come to an arrangmement with David

Off Topic Edit: Did you have Mazda at some point Al? The username looks familiar...

Yep, username comes from a 99 Forester GT, lightly modified. Since then there's been an SP23 (ours), a 6 luxo sport (hers), a Clio 172 (mine) to get to here.

[DavidE]

No joke, I have 2 of those sitting in my cupboard bound for the bin. One MP3, one non-MP3.

I just plonked down for the Sony option.

I didn't want the hassle of trying to source a factory stereo, and then have the additional cost of the iPod adaptor. Dang!

Out of interest, how much would you like for one of the stereos? I guess I could always sell my Sony one on. And what do you mean by MP3 and non-MP3?

The Sony was on special at JB for $97 and I had a $30 gift card, made things pretty cheap.

David,
Things to consider:
You'll need to have a look at the colour of your dash, as well as the dash lights. Black w blue lights and black w red lights are the most common for the stereo's, but there are ones that have customisable illumination.

The customisable colour ones look pretty funky, but I'm really cheap! The Sony is black with red illumination, and so should match my red air con controls pretty well. Coincidentally, the factory stereos I saw on ebay looked great colour wise.

Genuine will cost more, and probably be clunkier with an ipod. Here is probably the best place to buy. You might find the stereo from an 9N polo will fit straight in. Provided you have a 2Din socket that is (you may have a dash pocket in the 2nd slot if you have a sony unit)

Yeah, I've got the little pocket, so a standard 2DIN unit will fit.

Are you using it with an Ipod that will be left in the car (ie glove box) or taken in and out all the time? If you want to leave it in the car (regardless I reckon) then you want to have a rear connection for your ipod so you can run it into your glovebox or centre console. out of sight, out of mind.
Many of the cheaper HU's out there have "line in" aux terminals, which you have to crank the sound on the ipod right up on to get anything, or get an ipod dock to 3.5mm cable - and then you need to be able to charge it on road trips. There are products made by Griffin and the like that will do this, but all add $$.

Probably left in the car most of the time, and I've sorted an output and charging solution. I've scored a car iPod charger on ebay for a buck, and i'll stick it behind the stereo, hook it up to 12V and forget about it. Then I got a combined USB and line out cable for $6, ebay again, for the sound and charging.

I'll be sure to let you know how it all works, when my stuff eventually comes from Hong Kong!

Hopefully the volume won't be too much of an issue. The line out port should be beefy enough, and then the head unit has source boost on it. I'll see how it works when I get it.

Most (if not all) of the Ipod control head units allow you to scroll /search playlists, albums, artists etc from the HU, while charging the ipod and delivering high(er than 3.5mm) quality sound.

Yeah, there was a nice Pioneer unit with an OLED display that did direct iPod control. But it was pretty 'blingy', and I'm very cheap

I'll update this thread once it's in there. Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated!

[team_v]

Glad you got it all sorted out David.
Hopefully we will see it in your car at the next meet.

[The_Hawk]

I'm always disappointed when manufacturers build the headunit into the car so much that it's impossible to remove the stock unit and replace it with something aftermarket. At least the VW's seem to be able to pull out the headunits in even the newest vehicles with little problem.

Looks like your all sorted which is good. I would have recommended an aftermarket option then picked something which matches with the dash as well as possible anyway

The only thing I will say to anyone else in this boat is that it's probably worth spending a few extra $$ and getting propper iPod connectivity (which can be controlled from the head unit) if your planning on using an iPod. You have at least solved the charging issue, but control is a big one for me. You don't want to have to fumble in the glove box to change tracks, you also need to remember that the iPod will just continue to run every time you switch the stereo (or the car) off since it has no idea if the stereo/car is on or not.

The next thing I would say is that if your going to the trouble of updating the head unit it's well worth the few extra $$ (again) to get bluetooth for your phone. There are plenty of headunits around with built in bluetooth support (as well as iPod support) for not alot of cash. It really does just make life that much easier, even if you don't drive you car often it's gotten cheap enough that it's hard to go past.