Toyota Matrix Owners Forum

Hi everyone,

It turns out that one of the backlights on the stock radio deck has gone out. Any cheap way to replace this? I heard that upgrading to a new aftermarket deck might be cheaper and better. I don't plan to touch my speakers at all, just the HU.

If so, is this a plug & play thing or do wires have to be cut/soldered? What other accessories are required?

Looking to spend less than $150 and want to have at least an AUX for iPhone/iPod.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Edited by Cypherion, 20 February 2012 - 09:03 PM.

The problem with trying to repair the factory deck is that the parts can be expensive (if you can even find them), and most of the components are soldered directly to the circuit board, so even if you could get the parts, you may not be able to install them.

I would recommend a new HU. It's worth it.

Get whatever you like that's within your price range; as you can see with some current discussions on the board, there's already plenty of disagreement as to what's good and what isn't. I'm a big fan of Kenwood and Pioneer's HUs. As for wiring, get the requisite harness, and solder that to the harness that comes with the deck. Other than the 12V power extension for the antenna amplifier, the rest of it is plug and play from there. (the soldering you can do from the comfort of your living room.)

As for which harness and/or dash kit you need, just go to crutchfield.com to get the part #s. Or eBay, they'll have them listed by vehicle. The kits for the matrix I think are Scosche and Metra.

Hmm, thanks. Are there any plug & play options out there?

Not other than OEM.

Where're you located?
Edited by dnm, 20 February 2012 - 10:10 PM.

GTA

Get the harness and a new deck and bring them to the west end, and I'll solder them together and install it for you for the price of a vanilla coke and a donut.

Thanks for the offer. Let me see. I would need an antenna adaptor, mounting bracket and harness right? Is it easy to remove and install the old deck when I sell the car? Like, a matter of pulling it apart and plugging in the old ones.

no need for an antenna adapter.....take dnm up on his offer!

Yes you will need an antenna adapter.

And yes, removing it would be (mostly) plug and play. To get proper radio reception, we would have to tap another wire that you'd have to cut to put it back to stock, but I can show you what to do; it would require about 5 seconds to snip a wire, and electrical tape over it.

I have one similar to this

http://www.crutchfie...cFFDouble%40DIN

Cruchfield gives you every thing you need to install it.

Best of all you can change the colors to match your interior lights