Radio replacement

[martycupratdi]

I'd like to replace the original factory fitted radio/cd player in my 2007 Altea XL as the CD player has jumped and skipped practically from day one, the radio plays great.
The simplest option for me would be to replace it with a new identical unit but I'm reluctant to do this due to it's poor reliability.
Can anyone advise an alternative that would ideally just plug straight in place of the original.
It doesn't have to be double DIN, single is ok with the appropriate fascia adapter.
I would consider upgrading to a digital radio/cd with a USB but other than wanting to retain the steering wheel contol fuctionality I'm not looking for anything fancy,or expensive, just reliable please.
Thanks Martin

 

[ritch_b]

Hi Marty,

I'm afraid budget may come into play here. I ended up going for a Zenec unit; direct plug and play (with the right fascia adaptor) including the steering wheel controls. Retail was in excess of £700, but being in the right place at the right time meant I snagged a bargain on eBay. The Dynavin units are apparently very good also and are plug and play too.

You'll find many aftermarket head units (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood and the like) can be supplied with a connector (Connects2 are the supplier who many have recommended) that will link your new head unit and the CANBUS, allowing steering wheel controls to work. That should give you quite a wide choice of units, but I'll leave recommendations for others, as I haven't looked down that road. If you have a search though, I do recall some threads on the subject and, as an aside, I know you mention that single or double din would be fine, but when you have that much space available, you may as well put a double din unit in and get the most from it!

R.

 

[burnmw]

I can't really add much to this, other than to say I'm hoping to find a decent replacement unit. There's nothing wrong with the unit in my car, but I don't do CD's, and I'm not a great fan of listening to the radio. In my old car I had a HU with USB that allowed me to use my iPhone/Android, not only that but it also hooked up to my steering wheel controls.

So I think I'll follow this thread and see what suggestions you get!

P.S. My names also Martin