03' stereo question! Car is in shop as we speak. Need advice.

[montyMT]

Hey All,

Just bought an 03' Limited w/ JBL sound system. Here is where it goes downhill..

Previous owner said that the 6 disc changer went out so he replace the head unit w/ a $75.00 Pioneer head unit from Wal-Mart, tried to install it himself and now I have a stereo that plays through only the front center speaker and the door speakers occasionally.

I took it to a audio installation place and they told me I need a $400 amp + labor to bypass the JBL setup and they will rewire it to the crappy head unit to make it work. I don't care much about getting a new head unit b/c it has an aux hookup and that's just fine to play my iPhone on.

I don't really care about the system sounding amazing...I drove a old Cruiser for years. I just need to know if there is a better option out there besides bypassing the JBL. He is going to call me by the end of today to get me a solid quote, but if you guys can steer me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Also, The shop said that they have had little luck with the conversion kit to hook up the original JBL amp so they do not even carry the part anymore.


Ahhhhhh! So annoying to dump $500+ into a stock system that I just want to work as intended!

 

[JD914]

See if you can find a stock JBL head unit to put back in there - somebody might sell you one on the forum. Then add a USA spec iPhone interface for $160. You should be able to hook all that up yourself - it's all plug and play.

 

[montyMT]

Yeah I was thinking about that. That's probably my best bet. I have been seeing them around ebay for $150...seems decent.

I'll see if I can get it back out of the shop w/o having to spend $$$ just for having them rip it all apart. Best part is that the previous owner threw out the original head unit....FAIL