I Need a New Car Radio

[TalonStrike]

My current car radio isn't the best. I have a ten-year old Ford Focus and the radio came with the car. When I touch the volume know to turn the volume down slightly, sometimes the volumes shoots up very loud. This is extremely distracting and annoying when I am trying to drive. Also, it does not play any digital songs. I put CD's in there that I make, but those can only fit like 18 songs each. I want to be able to play a library of over 100 songs. I want a new radio that can play digital songs, and has less finicky volume controls. How much would a good car radio cost? Are there places that I could go to have someone install a new radio? I want to pay someone to do it because I'm concerned that if I buy a radio online, it might not fit in my car or something. Should I just go to a car mechanic to do this, or are there people that specialize in this sort of thing?

 

[Ryan]

Installing a radio is EASY - there are plenty of writeups online to follow - don't worry about it. Here is a youtube video on how to remove your existing radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSbzR9lv2OM - Here is another on how to install your new one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP3eAH8_9lE

Radios usually come is two industry standard sizes - double din, and single din. I was only able to find a single din kit online for your model year Focus - $15 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_003FMK565/Ford-In-dash-Receiver-Kit.html?tp=3121

You'll need a vehicle harness - a Ford specific one should be another 10 bucks.

Any of these radios will fit: http://www.crutchfield.com/g_300/Car-Receivers.html

 

[TalonStrike]

Installing a radio is EASY - there are plenty of writeups online to follow - don't worry about it. Here is a youtube video on how to remove your existing radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSbzR9lv2OM - Here is another on how to install your new one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP3eAH8_9lE

Radios usually come is two industry standard sizes - double din, and single din. I was only able to find a single din kit online for your model year Focus - $15 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_003FMK565/Ford-In-dash-Receiver-Kit.html?tp=3121

You'll need a vehicle harness - a Ford specific one should be another 10 bucks.

Any of these radios will fit: http://www.crutchfield.com/g_300/Car-Receivers.html

Sorry, I have a 2002 Ford Focus sedan, not 2003. Would that still be single din? It looks pretty much identical to the radio in your first link. Ok, but if I were to decide to pay someone else to do it, would a mechanic do that or some type of specialist?

 

[Ryan]

Sorry, I have a 2002 Ford Focus sedan, not 2003. Would that still be single din? It looks pretty much identical to the radio in your first link. Ok, but if I were to decide to pay someone else to do it, would a mechanic do that or some type of specialist?

The 2002 is the same as the 2003. Don't go to a mechanic - any radio shop should be able to install it (even Best Buy). I would just make sure to tell them not to hack your factory harness - make sure they use a harness kit.

It is really easy though. If you can put together a computer, you can install a radio.

 

[boomhower]

Crutchfield will server you well. Go there, pick out your car, and pick a radio. Get anything $99 or more and they include the mounting kit, wiring harness, and antenna adaptor along with complete instructions. Just order a set of these to go along with it. Even for a first timer it won't take you longer than 1.5hrs.

 

[MDE]

Crutchfield will server you well. Go there, pick out your car, and pick a radio. Get anything $99 or more and they include the mounting kit, wiring harness, and antenna adaptor along with complete instructions. Just order a set of these to go along with it. Even for a first timer it won't take you longer than 1.5hrs.

Yep. Took me about an hour on my first try. Once you get comfortable you can do it blindfolded. You can get a lot of the tedious wiring done before you even get into the car.

 

[jlee]

The trickiest part is taking the interior paneling apart without breaking any clips. A plug and play stereo install is super easy.

 

[amdhunter]

Took me about an hour of carefully taking apart my 2009 RX-8 dash the first time. I can do it in 5 minutes now. As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for warm weather to take it apart again since I put a small scratch in my dash kit. (Dash kit for my car is only $20.)

It's easy, and like MDE said, you can get most of the wiring done beforehand. Just match the colors of the radio's harness to the harness adapter for your car and then plug it in to your cars harness. (Make sure you double check the connections, your harness instruction manual should tell you what each color wire controls.)

 

[vertika]

Hi,
If you are looking for the best one than from my point of view you should go for Sony car audio system, its a best music sound provider. Latest dvd player are coming with bluetooth and Android technologies you can try for that, The Radio of Sony are good and pioneer is also good for this.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Just pick a radio that looks good on your dash. Typically, Crutchfield and similar dealers will have a guide to tell you which radios fit easier without added adapters.

My suggestion...if you can find one with bluetooth streaming, get that. I have bluetooth in 2 factory radios (Toyota and Ford)...they allow me to stream music from my DROID RAZR. I have Google Music and have access to my whole CD collection that way. You can do the same thing if you have an IPhone with iTunes. It makes CDs and MP3s on CD obsolete and is wireless so you don't get bound up with cords.