I miss din and double din radio slots

"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
08/18/2018 at 00:53 • Filed to: None

Can’t stand integrated anything, make the guts modular please. Factory sucks.

DISCUSSION (22)

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 01:07

I feel your pain. I don’t own anything newer than a 2001 and I’m actively trying to get rid of it. My daily’s a ‘93 and my latest purchase is a ‘91. Total integration sucks.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 01:08

I, too, miss standard openings, but in a similar rant a few years ago I learned a good reason for these odd-shaped stereos, namely lower theft rates. I can’t tell you how many door handles and windows I’ve replaced over the years because of the damage caused by thieves that wanted my stereos. My ex used to work at Kenwood and I had some really nice stuff back in the day, but it was all stolen.

I did replaced the head unit in my Mazda with a stock-looking aftermarket unit, but ended up putting back the factory one. If love to have something fancier, with CarPlay and such built in, but I’ve given enough electronics to thieves that at this point the added features aren’t worth another window replacement or insurance claim .

gettingoldercarguy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2018 at 01:13

Have the guts modular so the center bit still looks stock

Tristan > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 01:14

This is the thing that will keep me living in Oregon. I positively can't stand new cars, and cars don't age here. I'll keep my 17 year old Chevy for a long, long time.

Just Jeepin' > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2018 at 01:41

I have a soft top that’s usually off in warmer months anyway, so I lock my doors about twice a year, only for a few minutes if I’m running into a store and have a bunch of valuable stuff in there.

So, cheap-ass stereo plus unlocked Jeep means I’ve never been hassled by thieves.

C62030 > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 02:13

Crutchfield has one (1) shitty $300 head unit available for my 1.5 DIN slot. Ugh.

Echo51 > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 04:25

All the more of an excuse to integrate an ipad kit!

Kinja'd!!!

jimz > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 04:41

Aftermarket sucks worse. I’ve worked for two companies which did both aftermarket and OEM audio, and seen pretty much everyone else’s stuff. The aftermarket stuff was fragile crap with shitty shitty user interfaces. People only think it’s better because of the flashing lights and pretty colors, when in reality it’s utter fucking garbage.

gettingoldercarguy > jimz
08/18/2018 at 04:54

Huh, I kinda liked stage 4. I guess it was “fucking garbage”. Sorry for wasting your time man.

Lights do get in my eyes tho.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2018 at 07:22

The cynical part of me wants to say that manufacturers are doing it for planning obsolescence, but what you said makes sense.

PS9 > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 08:14

Just sawzall yourself a DIN hole. Problem solved.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 08:25

I’m going to miss it when I have to get a new car. My brother and I both have 2009 Accents - the factory stereo in his worked but would randomly shut off and you couldn’t turn it back on until you pulled the breaker/fuses for the audio and put them back in (none of the fuses were blown). We figured out the single-DIN stereo was messed up internally, so I went to the local pick and pull yard and $20 I had a swap-in 2010 single-DIN factory stereo from another Accent. The removal of his and the install of the new one took like....10 mins. The replacement factory one from the salvage yard has been working perfectly with no more weird ‘shutting-off-but-not-turning-back-on’ issues. The only issue is the backlighting in it is blue compared to the lime green on everything else, lol.

Try swapping a stereo in 10 minutes on any new, integrated stereo car! :/

glemon > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 09:27

I just replaced my factory stereo on my IS300 with an aftermarket unit. I would rather not have replaced it, but after trying three supposedly working ones I gave up. I think cars always look better with OEM, and OEM has big watts and much better speakers than they used to, even 2002 models.

The new Kenwood I put in has Bluetooth, which I admit I like, but it feels cheap, the buttons are tiny, and the radiio reception is awful. The Pioneer Supertuner II in my old vintage car is much better.

Monkey B > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 10:22

but modern car stereos are vastly superior to previous years. And nowadays you can just add amps and speakers if you require better sound as you get all the necessary stuff like bluetooth, aux ins and card slots with OEM’s now . I’d say even the sound quality in the most basic cars is decent. I’m a bit of an audiophile and I’m content with the sound quality in my Transit Connect and the gf’s Kia Forte. Both could sound better, but they are both sufficient enough that it’s not something I consider. I’m not crazy about the UI with the Ford, but it’s not enough of an issue to change it. Aftermarket car stereos are just plain unsightly, with gaudy lights, small buttons and awful UI’s.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Tristan
08/18/2018 at 10:34

Yeah. Totally.

But it's not even that new cars suck for any particular reason. In lots of cases they perform a lot better than older ones. There's just too much stuff getting attached that isn't car, getting in the way of them being cars.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Monkey B
08/18/2018 at 10:37

Yeah even my '06 Subaru has decent sounding speakers compared to any 90s cars I've had in the past. It still only has a 6cd changer and FM radio as my only inputs but the system itself sounds nice at reasonable volumes. But at least it is standard double din so I could easily replace it. FM transmitter I'm using works perfectly on my commute though so I haven't had a need to swap. It absolutely blows for road trips so it's kind of something if like to do eventually.

Urambo Tauro > jimz
08/18/2018 at 10:39

It took a while before I could find a head unit for my Mustang that I really liked. Finally found a Pioneer that didn’t have a glossy black finish- this one ’s matte black, so it matches the rest of the dash nicely. Even better, I was able to change the display color to match the clock & gauges.

But you’re right- the UI is frustrating. I’ve learned how to navigate it, but I still hate that volume knob. It’s nice to have a knob instead of vo lume up/down buttons, but it’s one of those digital rotary encoders that won’t let you adjust the volume quickly. If you whip that sucker 18 0 °, it’ll adjust the volume by only abo ut 5 increments. But if you g o slowly, it’ll recognize each of the 15 *clicks * it takes to turn that far.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 10:40

Very glad both of my cars are double din. However, I’m way too concerned about theft to put anything in the Miata dash. I have an amp behind the passenger seat and just use my phone as a head unit. Broken oem radio is still in there but is only a glorified clock. At least I have the option for the Subaru. I feel like with a roof, the car is at least somewhat secure since I p ark indoors overnight.

Tristan > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
08/18/2018 at 11:35

I get that. New cars are totally better at almost everything, especially at keeping people alive. I just hate drive by wire, total integration of all electronics (why does my ECU need to communicate with my side view mirror?!). My Magnum totally turned me off of new cars... 340hp muscle car that had extremely aggressive torque management and ESP/traction control that couldn't be turned off. It was about as fun as the average Camry.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > gettingoldercarguy
08/18/2018 at 13:45

This is probably why most aftermarket stereos look like they were designed by teenagers in the 90’s. I’d love to get something a little nicer for my Jaguar, but there’s just nothing out there that looks any better than the DUAL cheapie the previous owner put in.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Tristan
08/18/2018 at 14:26

Yeah... The thought of a mirror needing to connect with frankly anything bugs me a bit. Although it is kinda fun turning things on and off with a scan tool.

Tristan > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
08/18/2018 at 23:51

Meh. I think cars reached their zenith when we had all the old stuff (engines left over from the 60s, simple chassis, etc.) with EFI, cruise and air conditioning. Anything else just waters down the driving experience.