Hey Fellas,

Happy holidays everyone. I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on my latest predicament. Here is the situation:

I have a 2001 Acura CL-S w/Navi. The car has 190,000 miles but runs like a champ (knock on wood); the car still has plenty of pep and she still turns heads. In addition, I am meticulous about the car’s maintenance (i.e.: synthetic oil every 3,000 miles, etc) so I could see the car lasting without any unforeseen circumstances. I am going back to school in January, so I want/need to keep the car for at least another three years. The issue is, with such a low retail value at this point (even if I am never going to sell the car), is it really worth investing more in the car?

This dilemma has come about because the back light in my radio has gone out. The radio itself still works and all the other lights on the dash work fine, but the green lights that illuminate the dials and buttons on the radio do not light up anymore. I always wanted to upgrade my radio and install a backup camera, DVD, Bluetooth, iPod, etc. I am looking into purchasing the Pioneer AVH-P6000DVD which has a 6-Disc CD/DVD player, options for Bluetooth & iPod, but is it really worth the money to upgrade in a radio now? I will be using the car everyday to commute to school and work, so a certain part of this decision has to deal with quality of life.

My other options include: leaving the radio as-is (without backlights at night), investing in a used OEM radio (that is at is at least 7 yrs old) or get a new radio and DOMs kit to add the backup camera to the OEM Navi. I guess I feel that if I replace the radio, I should really upgrade because there is so much new technology in these new head units and the cost has gone down significantly.

Thanks for reading. Again, happy holidays and now…your

 

You can find a good head unit for a few hundred dollars. Not a terrible amount of money IMO. My suggestion: Buy a decent head unit that doesn't break the bank for now, then when you graduate, buy yourself a new car that already has DVD, Bluetooth, backup camera and all the other toys.

 

do the led upgrade, I think mods like this help you fall back in love with the car

 

The HU and LED's are upgrades that are worth it, and cheap enough to justify, IMHO.

 

exactly, I havent done it yet but when I pull my dash apart there is ALOT I want to do.

 

Yeah, I have been interested in the upgrading my LEDs for a while but I am not handy AT ALL. And I know its very labor intensive so a shop would charge a small fortune. But it is one nice upgrade and I think it does reinvigorate the interior. Anyone who's good with a soder in the NYC area feel like making a couple extra bucks for the new year?

 

I'd save $ for a trans or a new car.
However, I'd get a factory radio & be done with it. Plug & play no fuss.

 

if you do decide to upgrade, remember that you can just pull it out when you get rid of the car.

 

Think of it as an investment, I picked up a AVH-P4000DVD and it does bluetooth and backup camera, etc. I love it. You can always move it to a new car that has a double din radio slot. If you're going to be commuting in the car, you might as well enjoy it

 

I think I would by a used oem head unit for simplicity of the install. But then again you can always take the new equipment out when you get rid of the car.

I have a real nice Eclipse HU sitting in the garage but did not want to hasle with the install in the CLS, besides I grew to like the 6 disk in dash. I don't remember everything I read about the CLS bose system, but I don't think you can just swap the head unit because (I think) the pre amp output to the factory amp will be off, or if you try to run the OEM speakers of the new head unit the ohms (resistance) will be way to low.

Don't know if you have read into it yet or not, but take a look here so you kinda get a feel for what would have to be done in order to upgrade.

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/%2A%2Aaudio-video-diy-info-faq-all-models-%2A%2A-299065/