Newer Pontiac Sunfire not compatible with most car stereos?

[wetcat007]

I'm looking to get a Pontiac Sunfore, i was looking at a 2001 model, and I was planning on instaling my owns tereo, hwoever upon using bestbuy's fit guide, i discovered that on 2000 and newer car models almost none of their stereo decks will fit? Is that right? What's with that? Can anyone clear this up for me i'm not sure why they'd change a car to make it incompatible with other stereo systems.

-Mark

 

[atom]

Buy a DIN adapter, it's probably because of the special GM DIN size.

 

[BatmanNate]

Also not compatible with good taste.

 

[Vette73]

Buy wireharness and din adapter and be happy.

 

[minendo]

All you need is the mounting kit din adapter.

 

[boomdart]

You just need to buy a ...erm... cd player kit thing, it'll fit right in there. $15 at autozone, don't forget the wiring harness for ~$5!


hmph...the wierd thing is when I started to reply no one else had replied yet >_<

 

[MikeMike]

10$ @ walmart

MIKE

 

[aircooled]

Your car is a Caviler (or J-Body GM). There are adapters made especially for the J-body radios.

 

[BillGates]

Check Crutchfield - if you buy a stereo from them they'll give you the mounting kit and wiring harness in most cases. (The head unit will be more expensive but you get good support)

 

[LordMorpheus]

heh. I was getting a new deck for my Sable, and when I took it in the car stereo guy almost crapped himself, until he learned my car was really old and before they started putting those fugly oval and curvy stuff inside. I bet that it would be damn near impossible to decently install a stereo in a mid-90's taurus or sable.

 

[rudeguy]

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/GM/PDF/460025.pdf

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
heh. I was getting a new deck for my Sable, and when I took it in the car stereo guy almost crapped himself, until he learned my car was really old and before they started putting those fugly oval and curvy stuff inside. I bet that it would be damn near impossible to decently install a stereo in a mid-90's taurus or sable.

he hee...you have the football radio

nothing too bad to do a deck on that. Just a $100 install kit, $150 worth of labor, and about 2 hours of an installer's time

 

[wetcat007]

Thanks for all the help, how hard is it to install one of these yourself? Bestbuy has free installation on it, but they dont carry the adaptor as far as i know.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
Thanks for all the help, how hard is it to install one of these yourself? Bestbuy has free installation on it, but they dont carry the adaptor as far as i know.

The installation is pretty painless. Don't forget some wire nuts to connect the wires between your new head unit and the plug/adapter for the wiring harness. Other than that, just follow the instructions and you should be OK. The only thing that might get in the way is if the Sunfire has a rear radio bracket holding the system in place. If so, you might have to fit your hand into a very thight area to get the nut/bolt loose.

You could still check with BB and see if they can special order the adapter for you. As long as the installation is free, you might as well take it. Just check all of the connections when they are done - to make sure none of the wires are loose, etc.

 

[Ryan]

Why are you looking at this shitpile of a car to begin with? Don't you know that Sunfires and Cavaliers are some of the WORST vehicles EVER MADE?!?!!

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Why are you looking at this shitpile of a car to begin with? Don't you know that Sunfires and Cavaliers are some of the WORST vehicles EVER MADE?!?!!

Well what's a better car I can get, I need something with under 70k miles and under 7000 dollars, and not a real old vehicle preferably a coupe.

 

[AvesPKS]

Originally posted by: GoodDad

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
heh. I was getting a new deck for my Sable, and when I took it in the car stereo guy almost crapped himself, until he learned my car was really old and before they started putting those fugly oval and curvy stuff inside. I bet that it would be damn near impossible to decently install a stereo in a mid-90's taurus or sable.

he hee...you have the football radio

nothing too bad to do a deck on that. Just a $100 install kit, $150 worth of labor, and about 2 hours of an installer's time

A hundred dollar install kit? I think I paid like $15 for the adapter, and I was able to carry over the wiring harness from my old car. Plus my cousin and I installed it in like 15 minutes.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: wetcat007

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Why are you looking at this shitpile of a car to begin with? Don't you know that Sunfires and Cavaliers are some of the WORST vehicles EVER MADE?!?!!

Well what's a better car I can get, I need something with under 70k miles and under 7000 dollars, and not a real old vehicle preferably a coupe.

almost anything but what you are looking at man.
suggest one other car in that price bracket and most people will say its better.
i would be one of them probably

 

[wetcat007]

lol the thing is there arnt many cars in that price bracket/miles range... any ideas would be helpful though!

 

[StageLeft]

Congrats on focusing on the worse car on the planet

Don't you know that Sunfires and Cavaliers are some of the WORST vehicles EVER MADE?!?!!

They are THE worse cars ever made

 

[Ryan]

I can't think of much right off of the top of my head, but here's a few:

2000+ Ford Focus 2-door
Honda Civic Coupe (probably the best econo-coupe available)
Oldsmobile Alero Coupe (still worlds ahead of the sunfire, and it looks good)
A 98-ish Toyota Celica
A 98 Nissan 200sx SE-R
98 Nissan 240sx
97 Honda Prelude

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Congrats on focusing on the worse car on the planet

Don't you know that Sunfires and Cavaliers are some of the WORST vehicles EVER MADE?!?!!

They are THE worse cars ever made

No, any Daewoo is worse.

 

[amdskip]

IIRC, you need to keep the factory radio installed as it is a computer of the car controlling a bunch of stuff. It has to be reinstalled in the trunk.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: AvesPKS

Originally posted by: GoodDad

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
heh. I was getting a new deck for my Sable, and when I took it in the car stereo guy almost crapped himself, until he learned my car was really old and before they started putting those fugly oval and curvy stuff inside. I bet that it would be damn near impossible to decently install a stereo in a mid-90's taurus or sable.

he hee...you have the football radio

nothing too bad to do a deck on that. Just a $100 install kit, $150 worth of labor, and about 2 hours of an installer's time

A hundred dollar install kit? I think I paid like $15 for the adapter, and I was able to carry over the wiring harness from my old car. Plus my cousin and I installed it in like 15 minutes.

oh read your post wrong. You said your car was before the footbal radio. You shouldnt have even needed a kit for an older Sable.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Buy a Civic instead. Pontiac=crap.