I have a 2007 Tahoe LT3 with a bose cd/dvd unit with rear ent. system. My problem is that when in FM mode it doesnt lock into a station for crap. Its switching in and out from mono to stereo mode and wont stay locked into station.Its so bad you dont even want to try listening to it. The rest of the radio works perfect..am/cd/dvd/xm. I have paid to have the antenna conections checked and even have a windshield amplified antenna installed but no difference.
I went to the dealer and the only advice they gave is to have them replace the radio with an" Exchange" unit which is $350 dollars and $178 for labor to switch and program the radio. Really? on a two and a half year old chevy? I have two other vehicles that i listen to the same radio stations, on the same roads with none of this bad reception. I can buy a brand new unit for $600 and pay the $178 for install but is this really necessary for a unit only 2 and a half years old? Unfortunatley the truck is out of warranty due to milage.
I have heard from other owners about the bad reception but GM wont do anything about it. Ive already called GM but they are no help and wont stand behind this poor product.
Is there any aftermarket radios that will work? I would buy a used unit and try but it has to match the VIN and still have to take to dealer to reprogram due to theftlock.
Great truck, terrible radio reception.I just dont think on a $47,000 truck the radio should be this poor. i bought it from the original owner and he said it has always had this poor reception problem and when he took it into 2 different dealers under warranty , they both told him "thats just the way it is".
So anyone else experience this? Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum.

I hate to tell you but the PO either got taken by a bad svc dept or lied. That's not the "way they are".

Someone here should be able to help. My best guess would be a poor antenna connection somewhere.

 

what's FM? is that the thing I can't stand to listen to with all the loud DJs and commercials every 6 seconds?

SIRIUS since 2002...

 

Amen brother!

 

Its a bad tuner section design but only on 2007 and above gm and gmc units, but GM wont acknowledge it. They will do a remanufactured swap for about $580 including the resetting of the unit to match the VIN.
The 2006 and lower units rarely have this problem, just make sure you have checked the antenna and ALL connections, especially the connection on the back of the radio.
If it works good on am/cd/dvd/xm but sucks on FM and all the connections are good and the antenna is good , then it sounds like a bad tuner section. Good news 2006 and under units are plentiful and cheap compared to 2007 and above units. 2006 are easy to find in the salvage yard and any decent salvage yard has already pre-tested their units and come with at least a 90 warranty.
Sorry i dont have more info on the 2006 and under units. For those of us with 2007 and above units we are getting hosed. the radio head unit is actually made by panasonic but has Bose amps and speakers. neither Bose nor Panasonic will help us either but for some reason they have a train load of remanufactured replacement units available and want to stick it to us fo at least an additional $580 buck and the damn radios are only a couple of years old.
My 2007 <NOBR id=itxt_nobr_8_0 style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 100%; COLOR: darkgreen">tahoe</NOBR> has 83,000 miles so no warranty for me.
Scoche Co. makes a great amplified winshield mount antenna which i have also tried (about $39) but no matter how good your antenna is it wont compensate for a bad radio tuner section. My resolve for this problem is i subscribed to XM radio but in 2 or so years i will have spent the $600 bucks I would have spent for the remanufactured unit.
For us 2007-2009 owners it a common problem. Ironically in late 2009-2010 they redesigned the radio head unit. Surprising huh?
This radio should have been recalled but since it isnt a saftey problem GM wont ever do a recall. A $49,000 vehicle with a radio that my brothers $9 mp3 player with fm tuner in it that picks up better than the truck? Cmon GM get back in the game and stand behind your product.
As a side note, last week i rented a 2010 camaro <NOBR id=itxt_nobr_12_0 style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 100%; COLOR: darkgreen">SS</NOBR> from avis rental car and the FM radio sucked in that one too.(but damn what a hell of a fun ride!, screw listening to the radio, listen to that engine!!!) Maybe time to look at Ford? Probably not but geeeeeeez!!! <!-- / message -->

 

since the head unit doesnt control much. like some of the older chevy cars and trucks like mid 2000s some of the cars features were controlled thru the head unit. 2007+ cars and trucks have other computers to run things like fuel mileage, tire pressure, etc. buy an aftermarket deck most are mp3/ipod compatible. buy one wire it up load up your ipod and stress free with no damn djs or commercials to listen to.

 

i went the route of looking to buy an aftermarket radio but none of them will work with the rear seat dvd system. I was told this by MANY audio sales and installers

 

My factory radio while having crappy fm reception does also have an mp3/ ipod aux input and i do use that often also. Plus with the dvd player built in i can make an audio dvd and put hundreds of songs on it too! My only reason for wanting to listen to fm is i put a lot of miles on my tahoe (2007 with 83,000 miles) and some times i want to listen to the football/baseball games while driving. XM covers that. Its just the fact that its only a couple of years old, it was bad from the begining, and GM wont do anything about even from day one, but they have an entire remanufactured replacement program to handle this specific problem.
My next tahoe i will buy new and if the radio or any other problems with it and they dont fix because they say thats just the way it is, then it goes back to the dealer and they lose a sale. Ohh as a side note, Thanks GM for making my $18,000 worth of stock about as useful as toilet paper!
i would switch car companies but i just love those tahoes and camaros tooo damn much! maybe there is a 12 step program for this addiction.

 

hes had all kinds of antennas installed its not that its the head unit look on ebay and search online theres part locators

 

I just discovered Iphone + Pandora + FM Tuner for iphone = Frakkin' awesome. Pandora plays more uncensored music than sirius!