New Chevy owner with a couple Q's
May 17th, 2011, 9:08 AM
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New Chevy owner with a couple Q's
Today I am picking up my new(to me) truck. I have had a couple trucks before, a '99 Ford F150 XLT and an '08 Honda Ridgeline RTL... So this is my third truck. Found a used 2007 Silverado 1500 in pristine condition and only 48k miles on the clock.
Great shape, has the 4.3L V6, extended cab. It's basic, but it fits my needs. I work from home so I don't drive a lot, but I need something to haul bikes to the shop or to the race track when my girlfriend and I do track days and things like that. Trucks just seem handy to me. She has a new Mini Cooper S for when we want to zip around and have fun, I have the truck for hauling things or towing a trailer.
I will pick it up tonight hopefully, and want to know what the usual "must do" things might be for this truck. The dealership is reputable and did the "118 point inspection", tires and brakes are in great shape, it is getting detailed today. I will check but I think the oil and filter were changed. It not, I will do that using full synthetic and maybe toss in a K&N air filter so I can just wash it in the future rather than replace each time...
The one thing I need to do is replace the crappy stock radio with something better. I am not an audiophile, and I have not done custom car stereo installations since the early 1990's...
So I need some suggestions on a decent but reasonably priced stereo, one that you could pick up at any Best Buy. Needs CD, the usual stuff, but would also like BlueTooth for hands-free calling, an aux input or USB port on the front, and it needs to have XM or Sirius built in. I have had XM since 2004 and not having Stern or Opie and Anthony for the past 2 months that I have been truckless has been killing me!
So what stereo is reasonable, has what I want and is an easy install? I assume that these days we are not hacking dashboards apart to get the old stereo out, and things come with vehicle-specific kits, making it a plug and play type install.
So what's the best bang for the buck? For now I will use the factory speakers, but over the summer those will come out and be replaced with something different, and at some point I will install a small amp and sub, but for now I just need a decent head unit for this thing with the above features. Do I use a single DIN or double DIN?
Opinions? Thanks!
Great shape, has the 4.3L V6, extended cab. It's basic, but it fits my needs. I work from home so I don't drive a lot, but I need something to haul bikes to the shop or to the race track when my girlfriend and I do track days and things like that. Trucks just seem handy to me. She has a new Mini Cooper S for when we want to zip around and have fun, I have the truck for hauling things or towing a trailer.
I will pick it up tonight hopefully, and want to know what the usual "must do" things might be for this truck. The dealership is reputable and did the "118 point inspection", tires and brakes are in great shape, it is getting detailed today. I will check but I think the oil and filter were changed. It not, I will do that using full synthetic and maybe toss in a K&N air filter so I can just wash it in the future rather than replace each time...
The one thing I need to do is replace the crappy stock radio with something better. I am not an audiophile, and I have not done custom car stereo installations since the early 1990's...
So I need some suggestions on a decent but reasonably priced stereo, one that you could pick up at any Best Buy. Needs CD, the usual stuff, but would also like BlueTooth for hands-free calling, an aux input or USB port on the front, and it needs to have XM or Sirius built in. I have had XM since 2004 and not having Stern or Opie and Anthony for the past 2 months that I have been truckless has been killing me!
So what stereo is reasonable, has what I want and is an easy install? I assume that these days we are not hacking dashboards apart to get the old stereo out, and things come with vehicle-specific kits, making it a plug and play type install.
So what's the best bang for the buck? For now I will use the factory speakers, but over the summer those will come out and be replaced with something different, and at some point I will install a small amp and sub, but for now I just need a decent head unit for this thing with the above features. Do I use a single DIN or double DIN?
Opinions? Thanks!
May 17th, 2011, 10:23 PM
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Found some decent stereos, but the question now is what wiring harness do I need?
Best Buy says that I need some stupid $100 harness, but this truck has no OnStar, no door chime through the stereo, no steering wheel controls, nothing. CD/AM/FM and 4 door speakers. I cannot believe that it needs a wiring harness that costs as much as a head unit.
Any idears?
I could not find a stereo that has everything, most of them have BT but are satellite capable, which means you need the stereo, the satellite box, the wiring harness, the mounting kit, the antenna adapter, the list goes on as they nickle and dime you to death and the $184 JVC head unit ends up costing you over $400.
So I got an XM Onyx for $79 and will play it through the FM radio until I find the right replacement for the stereo, at which point I can plug the XM tuner into the stereo's Aux port and get much better sound quality.
If anyone has this truck and knows of a cheap wiring harness, please post up the info, thanks!
Best Buy says that I need some stupid $100 harness, but this truck has no OnStar, no door chime through the stereo, no steering wheel controls, nothing. CD/AM/FM and 4 door speakers. I cannot believe that it needs a wiring harness that costs as much as a head unit.
Any idears?
I could not find a stereo that has everything, most of them have BT but are satellite capable, which means you need the stereo, the satellite box, the wiring harness, the mounting kit, the antenna adapter, the list goes on as they nickle and dime you to death and the $184 JVC head unit ends up costing you over $400.
So I got an XM Onyx for $79 and will play it through the FM radio until I find the right replacement for the stereo, at which point I can plug the XM tuner into the stereo's Aux port and get much better sound quality.
If anyone has this truck and knows of a cheap wiring harness, please post up the info, thanks!
May 18th, 2011, 6:37 AM
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May 18th, 2011, 10:06 AM
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I also notice that my stock radio has a button for "CD/Aux". Is there any chance that this thing has an Aux input on the back for some other factory module that was never used on this model, that I couple plug my XM receiver into?
May 18th, 2011, 12:00 PM
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SquireSCA,
I would like to look into this for you. Do you happen to have the VIN for your vehicle?
Thank you!
Elizabeth, Chevrolet Customer Assistance
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May 18th, 2011, 9:28 PM
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I am pretty sure I need the basic harness. With that I should be able to buy just about any radio that will fit in there without having to shell out $100 for an adapter.
Thanks!