aadmikep

What did you do with the three unneeded switch holes in the bottom?

I'm thinking about bondo, sandpaper and paint to fill them in smooth.

epictwist

I just left the holes in mine. I was going to put some switches in, but I never got around to it. I think it would look good without them there though.

Disposablehero

How was the wiring? Did you just buy a harness and hook it up?

aadmikep

I went to the junk yard and got 3 blank plugs. I also got a dfroster switch that I may end up doing something with some day.

aadmikep

Yes
I bought it and the trim kit. They are both Scosche. Good stuff.

Disposablehero

so the generic harness for any aftermarket radio for the car?

aadmikep

No it was specific for Ford. I can't remember if it was year model specific. I got the harness kit from Walmart and the trim kit from Best Buy. I later found the same trim kit for less than half what Best Buy charges on ebay.

The harness is cheap, makes it easy to replace the faactory radio some day and most importantly, helped me quickly install and remove for testing and fit during the installation.

aadmikep

So are you seriously considering doing this? If so, I'd say the biggest obstacle is rear support for the headunit. I have a series of pics I took to document how to do it again. If you message me with your email addy, I'll dig em up and send them.

Disposablehero

Yeah dude... i tried putting a cd6 in a while ago, but ended up removing it (long story) so I want something just simple bolt in now and I already have the double din bezel so I figured id go with a avic d3 i can get cheap.

I was just mainly concerned with the wiring because no one says anything about that. I guess that means its just as simple as buying the correct harness. Thanks

Nickneutron@gmail.com for pics =)

aadmikep

Few things:
The wiring kit just plugs in between the factory connectors and the head unit for power, antenna and speaker wires. The AVIC has lots more wiring than that. You'll also want to run a speed sensor wire, ebrake wire, ipod kit wire (not included), GPS antenna, mine is under the hood near the battery and works great, also any amplifier wires and remote, etc. So even without the XM or HD Radio options, it's a lot more wiring than a typical double din. For me it was worth it but there's a lot of connections in that dash space.

Things that bug me about the AVIC:
It's WIndows CE. This means it starts up very slowly and will reset if you are not patient with it.
The guidance voice cuts out music from ALL speakers. (This is not the case with Alpine and the old TomTom indash.)
The iPod and CD music keeps progressing while the announcement is made
It is NOT iPhone compatible but will work
Forget about the PC software. It just doesn't work for planning, etc.
The announcements are too frequent on the highway when all you have to do is stay on the highway for 35 miles, it will tell you to go to this lane or that lane when approaching almost every exit on the way.
The touch screen is not exact. You have to touch the right part of the button picture which is not always the middle of the button. The screen is properly aligned.
When navigating, it does not give you the option to DETOUR if you are coming up on an accident. This is a really big issue.
There are lots of other little details but I wanted to let you know about the big ones before you finalize your decision as to which head unit to get.



I'll get the pics out over the holiday weekend.

Mike