Hi all, I've read through many, many threads on this topic, so forgive me for posting again, but I haven't found one that quite answers my questions. I want to upgrade my head unit on a 2004 that has the factory unit with no upgrades, but some of the discussions of retaining the A/C, resistors, and such are scaring me off a little. I'm not terribly good at this sort of thing, though with decent instructions I'm capable (I've changed a faucet for example). When I read about testing resistors and splicing pink wires, I start picturing myself sitting in a pile of broken plastic, with no control over the A/C, weeping. OTOH, I had a HU professionally installed on a car a long time ago and they did a sloppy job, plus they charged the earth. So, wise Priuschatters, here's what I'm thinking: A JVC KW-R800BT double-din HU. The Axxess steering wheel control unit. The Metra dash and wiring harness kits that Crutchfield throws in. (Sorry, this is my first post so it won't let me hyperlink, but these are all on Crutchfield.) If I get all that stuff, and spend the $$ on the Axxess kit, can I avoid having to splice wires and do incomprehensible things relating to resistors in order to use the existing power management and climate screens? Or am I still splicing (and subsequently weeping)? Thanks for any words of advice! Cate
if that harness comes with the resistor prewired into it, then its a bolt in-- no splicing, soldering, etc. call crutchfield and ask them for details about the parts you want. they will be glad to help. and there is a tutorial somewhere in priuschat on dash dis-assembly which is very helpful. do it, you won't be sorry. but you must also replace the crappy oe speakers, cause they suck and sound terrible. there are a few threads about speaker replacement which also are good.
