Now that I’m the owner of a 2009 Subaru Forester, I’m trying to make it a little more my own. One thing that I want to add is satellite radio. Problem is, only the OEM system will work with the OEM head unit and that’s about $350. I figure for that price I could probably get a new head unit with more features and satellite radio. It’s a little trickier as the car has a double DIN OEM unit, but I figure I could always buy some sort of spacer to fill the gap if I got a single DIM unit.
Also, I want to keep the features I already have. The OEM unit has a 6-disc changer, SRS CS Auto, steering wheel controls, an aux input in the center console, RDS, and outputs to six speakers. Things like Bluetooth and iPod control and whatnot would be nice-to-haves, but I don’t even have a smartphone. I’m not even sure my cell phone has Bluetooth.
Problem is, a lot of the units I see seem to be targeted towards, well, idiots. Flashy, visually loud, visually distracting, and generally annoying. I generally don’t want a touch screen, although it might be okay with the steering wheel controls. Also, if I got one that could work with a backup camera that would be acceptable, as I’m thinking of getting a backup camera for the car.
My first car had a Blaupunkt unit and my second had a Nakamichi. A quick look at their websites suggest that I’m not going to get all the features I do want from either of them and definitely not the built-in satellite radio. So if anyone has suggestions I’d love to hear them.
And yes, I know I could just get a separate radio and install it while using the aux jack. Problem is, I don’t see a good place to put it on the dashboard or I might have already tried it with my old XM receiver.
Crutchfield is a great resource for car audio stuff. They’ve got pretty competitive prices, but their tech guides and install guides are also great. You might try checking them out if you haven’t already.
A quick google seems to show that satellite and an iPod interface were both dealer add-on options for your car. So that should mean that the head unit you’ve got has the software to work with satellite radio, but needs an extra module to make it work (and maybe a different antenna). That might be worth looking into-- I imagine getting it from a dealer (if they can still get them) would cost more than getting a whole new aftermarket head unit, but deals could possibly be found on ebay or elsewhere. I definitely agree with your opinions on the aesthetics of most aftermarket head units (the ergonomics and selection menu things are often terrible too), so I usually try to keep things at least stock-looking if possible. The various Subaru enthusiast forums out there might be a good source for info on what that would take and possibly even on where to get the parts.
(Incidentally, I just bought a new Subaru and they’ve apparently dropped the separate satellite radio modules so to get satellite on the OEM radio you need to move up to the fancier model with the navigation audio system. Grumble grumble…)
Definitely check out Crutchfield. You tell them what model of car you have, and they check to make sure you get all the extra bits you need to install your new stereo properly. For example, when I bought a single DIM unit from them, they informed me that my 2002 Cavalier has a double DIM stock unit and that I would need a spacer with a little shelf underneath to go with it. I think they threw it in free, but I could be misremembering.