Please help; I am about to get my new 2008 Tahoe and confused what to buy with Factory nav radio or without then by an aftermarket Nav radio. So what are my options in the following cases?
1. With original factory nav radio can I add Bluetooth hand free devise along with the unlock pack?
2. If I installed aftermarket nav radio (with built-in Bluetooth) from pioneer or Kenwood or any other brand, am I going to loss the following futures that comes with the original factory nav radio like:
- Steering while controls.
- Alarm system.
- Atuo-volume adjustment.
(Is there is any thing else I am going to miss in the above case, and how to overcome them)?

 

There are pros and cons to each system.

1. You can add bluetooth to the factory nav radio, but it require a GM Lockpick from Coastal Tech. Then you must add a bluetooth kit and have it hooked into the Lockpick. The only thing bad about this is, you can't see phone numbers pop up on your nav screen and it can get expensive. I believe they offer one hands free kit which shows caller id on the nav screen but it is very expensive and complicated! However if you go this route, you will keep the factory look and all the interfaces.

2. If you add an aftermarket system you will get more features and it will probably be cheaper. The downside is having someone figure out the entire wiring and install. I'm pretty sure you can keep most of the factory options. I think a company who advertises on this forum, sells a hookup which will allow you to control an aftermarket radio with the steering wheel controls.Another unit will also allow you to keep your onstar hookup as well. I think you will lose the Auto-volume adjustments, and I don't know what the alarm system has to do with the radio. Someone who's done this before can answer your questions better.

 

zipperman presatty muched summed it up, there is alot more pros than cons with an aftermarket setup. and metra(?) and pac have all the interfaces that you need to keep youre on star and steering wheel controls.and also the alrm has nothing to do with the factory radio. besides that the factory radio is a matching unit with youre vin number.

 

Everyone sure is worried about auto-volume control. With the volume buttons at your fingertips its easy to make an adjustment. Unless I have the windows down or the sunroof open, I never mess with the volume...just set it where I like and I'm good to go. I bought aftermarket mostly for price, but 2ndly for the iPod interface on the D3. I got a connector that allowed me to keep all chimes, onstar, steering wheel controls, etc...

 

Thanks for the replies,
"I believe they offer one hands free kit which shows caller id on the nav screen but it is very expensive and complicated!" zipperman19: where can I get such kit?
"I think a company who advertises on this forum, sells a hookup which will allow you to control an aftermarket radio with the steering wheel controls." zipperman19: precisely which company ?
" I got a connector that allowed me to keep all chimes, on star, steering wheel controls, etc... " jophilpott: from where?

 

Sharky35,

Here is the hands free kit which allows caller id to show up on the nav screen. It from a seller on ebay who has the entire package. You can check it out here. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OnSta...spagenameZWDVW

The company that sells the steering wheel control kit is the same company that sells the connector that jophilpott was talking about. I think their name is JP Customs, but I'm not 100% sure.