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psicodude · 08-12-2013, 11:57 AM

I actually just did this for my wife's '09 Impreza last week, although she wanted an in-dash GPS and hands free phone as opposed to music. We looked at several places in town and ended up buying from Visions of all places. The salesman there (Shabi at the location on Macleod) was extremely knowledgable and walked us through many options. Here is what you need to know:

- All newer car stereos are either single or double DIN. Basically, this is the height of the unit. Single is about 4 inches, double about 8 inches.

- You can buy a wire harness for every car made pretty much. This harness basically allows you to plug in the wires from you car to the new deck, regardless of make/model. Think of it as an adapter.

- No, it won't change your dash much because the new deck will just slide into the space your factory deck currently uses. I assume an '05 doesn't have steering wheel controls, but this adds to the price a little more as well if you still want them to work.

- Install from a professional is pricey. I think Visions wanted over $250, so I did it myself. It wasn't too hard to do, but working in cramped spaces isn't easy either. There are a couple of specialized tools that they use that make life easier, but you can get buy with normal tools. You need to be comfortable with connecting wires and have a working knowledge of electronics to do it yourself.

- As far as iTunes go, this will probably be your largest source of pain, depending on where you got your music from. If you purchased from iTunes, the songs will be m4p format which won't work on your Android phone (unless there is a hack I am not familiar with). Converting your songs to mp3 is an option, but not very easy without paying for an application and taking a lot of time.

You are probably looking in the $200-$300 range for the deck plus install if you want. The double din units with GPS are more like $700+.

Maybe start by looking at a few stores and then reading some reviews online. My research told me that Pioneer and Alpine are both great, but there are a lot of good options.

Hope that helps some.

08-12-2013, 11:57 AM	#3
psicodude First Line Centre Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Calgary Exp:	I actually just did this for my wife's '09 Impreza last week, although she wanted an in-dash GPS and hands free phone as opposed to music. We looked at several places in town and ended up buying from Visions of all places. The salesman there (Shabi at the location on Macleod) was extremely knowledgable and walked us through many options. Here is what you need to know: - All newer car stereos are either single or double DIN. Basically, this is the height of the unit. Single is about 4 inches, double about 8 inches. - You can buy a wire harness for every car made pretty much. This harness basically allows you to plug in the wires from you car to the new deck, regardless of make/model. Think of it as an adapter. - No, it won't change your dash much because the new deck will just slide into the space your factory deck currently uses. I assume an '05 doesn't have steering wheel controls, but this adds to the price a little more as well if you still want them to work. - Install from a professional is pricey. I think Visions wanted over $250, so I did it myself. It wasn't too hard to do, but working in cramped spaces isn't easy either. There are a couple of specialized tools that they use that make life easier, but you can get buy with normal tools. You need to be comfortable with connecting wires and have a working knowledge of electronics to do it yourself. - As far as iTunes go, this will probably be your largest source of pain, depending on where you got your music from. If you purchased from iTunes, the songs will be m4p format which won't work on your Android phone (unless there is a hack I am not familiar with). Converting your songs to mp3 is an option, but not very easy without paying for an application and taking a lot of time. You are probably looking in the $200-$300 range for the deck plus install if you want. The double din units with GPS are more like $700+. Maybe start by looking at a few stores and then reading some reviews online. My research told me that Pioneer and Alpine are both great, but there are a lot of good options. Hope that helps some. Last edited by psicodude; 08-12-2013 at 12:01 PM.