pdxtomct Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 I've ordered the VDC stereo to replace the stock unit and give me MP3 capability. Jamie says there are no instructions included. Can someone give me removal/installation instructions? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Do a search. It is a no-brainer 10-15 minutes max. Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy05GT Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 1. reach into your shift boot and snap up the center piece...a little pressure'll do it 2. unscrew the shiftknob and pull up. 3. unscrew the two side moding pieces, 1 screw each and then just pull towards the rear of the car and the snaps should come off quickly. 4. throw a towel over the bare shifter so you don't scuff up the oem unit when removing 5. unscrew the unit, 8 screws... 2 are a little hidden(Set back about 4 inches) 6. pull out the unit and unplug everything, i think the first thing that must be unplugged is the emergency flasher wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp928 Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 The top 2 screws dont need to be undone, they are not relevant. The hazard plug has a catch on the lower face that needs to pushed up, suggest small screwdriver (1/8"), its quite hard to get to release, the lead is shortest giving least room to manoeuvre. The first catch (top) and second on side pieces come out readily, but I had trouble getting the 3rd to release enough to remove the trim, even after the screws are removed (from under gear shift cover). jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxtomct Posted July 7, 2005 Author Share Posted July 7, 2005 Well, I removed the old deck and installed the new one tonight. On first listen, I would say the VDC deck has a bit more punch than the original...not by much. I also want to make it clear to everyone that the way the VDC deck displays ID3 tags is a joke. Virtually any aftermarket MP3 deck blows it out of the water. The Alpine I was using in my GTI was far superior. Oh well. Also, there are a few things I want to add to what people said above: 1. The side moldings did not come completely off, which didn't create much of a problem. I just pulled them to the side and out of the way. 2. Definitely cover the entire area around the shifter, center console and passenger seat with a towel. This will prevent damage to your interior caused by a dangling deck...the old one coming out or the new one going in. 3. The hazard plug is tricky. The plug releases easily if you can grab it from below. But it is not easy to spot the release point. 4. You have to remove the mounting bracket from the old deck and mount it on the new one before you can install. It's pretty obvious something is missing when you go to put the new deck in place and there's no way to anchor it. 5. I had no problem connecting any of the plugs once I got the old deck out and the new one in position. In general, this was a very easy removal/install...I'd say it took me 30-40 minutes. If I were doing it again, I could do it in 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 1.) You didn't take anyone's advice and are a total mechanical n00b if you couldn't get the side trim pieces off :huh: 2.) The way the VDC unit displays ID3 tags is non existent ... it doesn't. It displays CD#/Folder#/Track#, or CD#/FolderName, or CD#/Track Name. Organize your .mp3s well and it's a non issue. But I've been in the game of MP3 decks since before ID3 tags were popular or the decks scrolled the full lenght of a file name. You got 8 characters and you were happy to have that much, so I guess I'm just used to working with it. The unit has some quirks, and yes, aftermarket will blow it out of the water, but what were you really expecting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutter2k Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 curious what it cost you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxtomct Posted July 7, 2005 Author Share Posted July 7, 2005 1.) You didn't take anyone's advice and are a total mechanical n00b if you couldn't get the side trim pieces off :huh: 2.) The way the VDC unit displays ID3 tags is non existent ... it doesn't. It displays CD#/Folder#/Track#, or CD#/FolderName, or CD#/Track Name. Organize your .mp3s well and it's a non issue. But I've been in the game of MP3 decks since before ID3 tags were popular or the decks scrolled the full lenght of a file name. You got 8 characters and you were happy to have that much, so I guess I'm just used to working with it. The unit has some quirks, and yes, aftermarket will blow it out of the water, but what were you really expecting? Uh huh. Well, you're probably right about the side trim pieces. But they didn't really need to come all the way off so I left it at that. Thanks for the compliment, though. As far as the unit itself goes, it's what I expected. I figured it wouldn't display much song info and I was right. That's pathetic given its cost. Oh yeah, I have about 10,000 songs in mp3 format and my library is very well organized. But I don't see how that has anything to do with information that isn't displayed anyway. iTunes burns the disc according to song order and that's the end of story as far as this deck is concerned. The thing sounds fine...not as good as aftermarket, but good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Well, the unit isn't expensive considering that it isn't supposed to go into our cars. I mean, really, when you consider the extra cost if it were offered as an option, or if you could trade your deck in and pay the difference, it would cost about $50 at the MOST ... and that's at Full Retail. Personally, knowing what I was getting in advance... I have no complaints about the upgrade. I do complain about the weird repeat/random issue going away when you turn off the car but that has nothing to do with the upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxtomct Posted July 8, 2005 Author Share Posted July 8, 2005 Well, the unit isn't expensive considering that it isn't supposed to go into our cars. I mean, really, when you consider the extra cost if it were offered as an option, or if you could trade your deck in and pay the difference, it would cost about $50 at the MOST ... and that's at Full Retail. Personally, knowing what I was getting in advance... I have no complaints about the upgrade. I do complain about the weird repeat/random issue going away when you turn off the car but that has nothing to do with the upgrade. After listening to the VDC deck on my travels today, I think it is more powerful than the standard deck and sounds great playing mp3 music. I wish it did a better job of displaying track info and I think the cost is higher than it needed to be, but I can live with those issues. Your problem with the random/repeat function is something I experienced with a prior mp3 deck and I would have expected the VDC deck to do the same thing. Thanks for your comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 What other deck did you have where the random and repeat functions turned off when the car was turned off? I'm curious, because I've NEVER had that in a car stereo. I don't care too much because I hardly ever use it, but it's weird when I actually want a folder on repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxtomct Posted July 9, 2005 Author Share Posted July 9, 2005 It was a Kenwood CD/MP3 deck. If I ran it on random and turned the car off, the random function would start all over. The same thing would happen if I switched to radio. I finally just stopped using the function...which was no big deal. The Kenwood deck was an early MP3-capable deck. I never tried the random feature on the Alpine in my GTI because I figured it would behave the same. Sounds like I may have been wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dralston Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 I posted on yur for sale listing but you may not have looked at it yesterday. I'm interested in purchasing your old deck. Email me at legacy@danielralston.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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