I am looking to upgrade the stock radio in my 2014 due to it going out but the hardest part seems to be deciding which dash kit I want to go with.
It seems the most popular one is the idatalink. I like how this one looks and from what I've been researching, everything such as sync and steering wheel controls will work like factory. The thing I dont like about this one is it scares me that the ac is controlled through the headunit. Right now, all my car does is flash the clock but my a/c still works perfectly. If I got with a setup like this and my headunit fails, not only do I not have a radio but now I also lost control of my a/c. For those of you that live in South Texas, you know the struggle being in a car without a/c. I want to like this unit and I see that they give you an option to pick out the 3 middle buttons. If I could pick 4, I'd feel better being able to have a button for temp increase/decrease and fan speed increase/decrease but sadly thats not the case.
Another option is Metra. It's probably my least favorite lookswise but the 99-5839ch model has the buttons that I am looking for as opposed to a touch screen. The thing on this one is after reading reviews on multiple forums, it seems like this unit isn't one that is going to last a good time. From the buttons not working, lcd screen going out, and even one review that said the car got stuck on only blowing out hot air, makes me really think.
Last option is scosche. Apparently in the beginning, they had some battery draining issues but from my understanding, that's all fixed now. The unit itself doesnt look as factory as the other two options (I find the middle screen kind of throws the balance off) but its still a good looking unit in the car in person. The concern on this one is again, a number of people seem to be having trouble with it after some time, namely the a/c screen/buttons.
For those of you who have had one of these setups for some time, how happy have you been with it and if you could do it over again, would you go with the same one or another and if another, why? Hoping to find someone who has had one for a couple of years to see how it has held up. I gotta admit I was a little disappointed in the radio of this car going out so early. Maybe I'm old school in fearing everything being controlled digitally by a screen and need to catch up to the times. I'm just trying to think about the long run because this is a car that I plan on keeping for quite some time and if I'm going to take apart my dash, I would rather put something quality there that I wont have to worry about again. As far as headunits go, that's still up in the air but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a Kenwood model that has dedicated navigation built in. Played with a few and I liked the responsiveness of Kenwood vs. some of the others.
It seems the most popular one is the idatalink. I like how this one looks and from what I've been researching, everything such as sync and steering wheel controls will work like factory. The thing I dont like about this one is it scares me that the ac is controlled through the headunit. Right now, all my car does is flash the clock but my a/c still works perfectly. If I got with a setup like this and my headunit fails, not only do I not have a radio but now I also lost control of my a/c. For those of you that live in South Texas, you know the struggle being in a car without a/c. I want to like this unit and I see that they give you an option to pick out the 3 middle buttons. If I could pick 4, I'd feel better being able to have a button for temp increase/decrease and fan speed increase/decrease but sadly thats not the case.
Another option is Metra. It's probably my least favorite lookswise but the 99-5839ch model has the buttons that I am looking for as opposed to a touch screen. The thing on this one is after reading reviews on multiple forums, it seems like this unit isn't one that is going to last a good time. From the buttons not working, lcd screen going out, and even one review that said the car got stuck on only blowing out hot air, makes me really think.
Last option is scosche. Apparently in the beginning, they had some battery draining issues but from my understanding, that's all fixed now. The unit itself doesnt look as factory as the other two options (I find the middle screen kind of throws the balance off) but its still a good looking unit in the car in person. The concern on this one is again, a number of people seem to be having trouble with it after some time, namely the a/c screen/buttons.
For those of you who have had one of these setups for some time, how happy have you been with it and if you could do it over again, would you go with the same one or another and if another, why? Hoping to find someone who has had one for a couple of years to see how it has held up. I gotta admit I was a little disappointed in the radio of this car going out so early. Maybe I'm old school in fearing everything being controlled digitally by a screen and need to catch up to the times. I'm just trying to think about the long run because this is a car that I plan on keeping for quite some time and if I'm going to take apart my dash, I would rather put something quality there that I wont have to worry about again. As far as headunits go, that's still up in the air but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a Kenwood model that has dedicated navigation built in. Played with a few and I liked the responsiveness of Kenwood vs. some of the others.
