how to remove car stereo????

[hulkster]

first of all, i know zilch about cars.  i know how to put gas in it, and check to see if the oil is low....and if i had to replace the battery, id still need instructions. 

now, with that out of the way....i have a 2001 Infiniti QX4.  i want to replace the stereo head unit.  its a bose, and ive read that those can be difficult to deal with, although im not sure why.  somebody said i would have to replace all the speakers and wires and stuff just to replace the head unit!   

see pic for what my head unit looks like.  i already have the replacement stereo that i want to put in as it came from a previous car.  i also have the 2 metal bracket thingies that you put around the edges of the stereo to pry it out.  dont know if those will work on my bose system though.  so anyone know how to do this?? 

[HaRuMaN]

Most likely you will need to remove the panel that surrounds your head unit.  Car stereo kits that you can buy to put an aftermarket set in a specific car usually come with instructions on how to do it.

[shardian]

Honest Opinion: It is well worth the $50 to let a pro install a head unit in newer cars. Most new cars you almost have to pull the whole dash apart to get to the stereo.

About Bose, I asked my coworker about it and he said that you do have to replace pretty much everything. He had a car with Bose, and let a pro switch it out. Apparently, the wiring is done in a screwy way and there is some sort of separate amp operation at each speaker that complicates things even more.

[myntik1]

bring it to a pro

but if you must diy -open your ash tray, there should be a couple of screws there that you have to take out.  look on either side of the console, there should be screw covers, pop them off with a screwdriver, VERY CAREFULLY SO YOU DON"T SCRATCH THE CONSOLE.  Remove those screws.  Hopefully, you should be able to remove the front of the console.  Don't force it out.  If it doesn't come out easily look for other hidden screws.

As for the metal thingies, you slide them between the car stereo and the metal box that surrounds it.  Once it's in you should be able to slide the steroe out.

Two quick stereo hints before you get started.  I gave you generic instructions that work for most stereos, I don't know about BOSE.  Do yourself a favor a hit the crutchfield website before starting to find out about your stereo and the installation instructions for your car.  Good luck.

[hulkster]

thanks for the tips guys.  i was afraid of the speaker wiring thing with the bose system. 

Honest Opinion: It is well worth the $50 to let a pro install a head unit in newer cars. Most new cars you almost have to pull the whole dash apart to get to the stereo.

About Bose, I asked my coworker about it and he said that you do have to replace pretty much everything. He had a car with Bose, and let a pro switch it out. Apparently, the wiring is done in a screwy way and there is some sort of separate amp operation at each speaker that complicates things even more.

so does that $50 you talked about cover the replacement wires or just to pop the head unit out and put the new one in?  the only reason im thinking about doing this is that my wife bought me a new car stereo system (really nice one...head unit, with remote, and the aux cable so you can plug your mp3 player into it) and i used it for about 4 months.  then i got a new car and took the stereo out.  since my new car had a 6 disc cd changer i thought i would just leave the old stereo (one my wife bought me) out. 

right now im using an fm transmitter for my mp3 player and thats working okay, but id rather have a direct connection obviously.  so my options are to either replace the bose stereo (and apparently the wiring and amps or whatever) with my other/nicer head unit, or sell the sony head unit here.     the stereo is practically in brand new condition and i really want to use it, but i dont want to spend a whole lot of money to swap it out.  suggestions?

[ChadTower]

About Bose, I asked my coworker about it and he said that you do have to replace pretty much everything. He had a car with Bose, and let a pro switch it out. Apparently, the wiring is done in a screwy way and there is some sort of separate amp operation at each speaker that complicates things even more.

All Bose hardware is like that.  There is a Bose outlet right by my house and when I was setting up my surround system I was seriously considering one of theirs.  The demo units sounded fantastic - starting at $1600.  As I got into the details with the sales guy, though, it got even less viable.  Half the logic processing was in the receiver - the other half in the sub.  You can't swap one without swapping the other.  The speakers come through the sub, not the receiver, and they have some processing in them as well (though it may have been amplification, can't remember now) making them unswappable with other pieces.  Really nasty stuff in terms of upgradeability.

[shardian]

Best advice: take your car to a stereo install place (a real one - not Best Buy). They'll give you an estimate.

[hulkster]

Best advice: take your car to a stereo install place (a real one - not Best Buy). They'll give you an estimate.

thats what i was afraid of.  if its more than like $100...ill just end up selling my stereo 

[ChadTower]

It might be better to buy a new head unit at a place that offers free installation.  Sell the one you want to put in, sell the original, and you come out close to even.

[Hoopz]

Sell the one you want to put in, sell the original, and you come out close to even.

Pretty good deal...  Sell em both!   

[hulkster]

Sell the one you want to put in, sell the original, and you come out close to even.

Pretty good deal...  Sell em both!   

who the heck would i sell the bose to??  i guess i could put it on ebay, but my seller rep is  0 because ive never sold anything on there before.  i wish i could sell it locally to some store or something. 

sorry im so ignorant when it comes to this stuff.  i feel so helpless....someone hold me.

[ChadTower]

Put it on ebay.  Bose goes for $$ to people who care more about marketing than quality.

[Samstag]

If you still want help taking it out yourself, go to crutchfield.com and plug in your year, make, and model and for $5 they'll mail you instructions on how to get the old one out.  You can get that back on a future order, too, but I can't remember if you have to buy a stereo or if they'll credit tools and parts as well.

I've got a little box that plugs into the satellite input of my Bose (2004 G35) to provide an aux input.  If you decide to keep the Bose I could look up the manufacturer.  Also, my former boss has a 2000 QX4 with a wired FM transmitter.  I think he installed it himself so I'll ask him what he had to do if I see him.

[knave]

Doesn't the bose have inputs in the back of the unit for an aux?  Pop a cable in there and run it out the bottom of your dash for your MP3 player.

With some google-fu you could prob. find instructions on how to remove it.

[danny_galaga]

park it, unlocked, in a dodgy part of town overnight. if the car is still there the next day, i bet the stereo isnt 

[ark_ader]

park it, unlocked, in a dodgy part of town overnight. if the car is still there the next day, i bet the stereo isnt 

Yeah I know several individuals here in Vegas who can get that stereo out of your car in 5 minutes.

Seriously if its a  car radio just leave it in.  Wire the new stereo in the glove compartment, for the extra safety factor.

[ChadTower]

No one around here steals stereos anymore.  Too hard to get out, not worth enough.  They go after GPS systems and airbags.  GPS systems are worth 3x as much and airbags 20x.

[Tiger-Heli]

You don't need to replace the amps or speakers.

You need this wiring harness, this integration adapter, this antenna adapter, this dash kit, and these instructions.

[paigeoliver]

Also, you might want to do a reality check, as it is highly likely that the NEW stereo you have is inferior to the one already installed.

[billf]

You don't need to replace the amps or speakers.

You need this wiring harness, this integration adapter, this antenna adapter, this dash kit, and these instructions.

Wow, including shipping those items come out to $97.94.  Might be a good idea to see what a local pro installer quotes and then decide from there.

[danny_galaga]

No one around here steals stereos anymore.  Too hard to get out, not worth enough.  They go after GPS systems and airbags.  GPS systems are worth 3x as much and airbags 20x.

i read an article in the paper a little while back of a sad trend- stealing dashboards! the thieves get in there with cordless jigsaws etc and chop out the whole dash, leaving you with essentially a write off. they do it that way for the things like gps etc, which they can remove from the remains of your dash at their leisure...

cant find any links right now but in the paper was a picture of one of the cars hit. only good for the wreckers.

[Havok]

Bah, professional installation...

Just go Hulkamania gone wild on it!!!

[Singapura]

Also, you might want to do a reality check, as it is highly likely that the NEW stereo you have is inferior to the one already installed.

Did you read correctly? His current stereo is a BOSE, acronym for buy other stereo equipment. This is the same company that sued it's customers for having a bad opinion about them. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=466&invol=485

[paigeoliver]

I am not an expert, I just said do a reality check and make sure the new equipment is actually better than the old that is all. In a lot of cases that new "nice" car stereo won't be as good as the factory unit in higher end car.

Also, you might want to do a reality check, as it is highly likely that the NEW stereo you have is inferior to the one already installed.

Did you read correctly? His current stereo is a BOSE, acronym for buy other stereo equipment. This is the same company that sued it's customers for having a bad opinion about them. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=466&invol=485

[Samstag]

You don't need to replace the amps or speakers.

You need this wiring harness, this integration adapter, this antenna adapter, this dash kit, and these instructions.

Wow, including shipping those items come out to $97.94.  Might be a good idea to see what a local pro installer quotes and then decide from there.

A local pro will add a markup to those parts unless you provide them.

[billf]

You don't need to replace the amps or speakers.

You need this wiring harness, this integration adapter, this antenna adapter, this dash kit, and these instructions.

Wow, including shipping those items come out to $97.94.  Might be a good idea to see what a local pro installer quotes and then decide from there.

A local pro will add a markup to those parts unless you provide them.

True, but I suspect the local pro will also be able to get the items at a lower cost than retail.