Yes, it has finally happened – after four weeks of ordering parts, repeated visits to Halfords and no end of head shaking, my new car stereo has been installed and, so far, appears to be working!
I went as booked to Halfords, and Alan spent two hours working out how best to install the new head unit into a car that has nothing in common with any other car in the universe. Toyota do not want to you to take out their rubbishy radio (design one that works, then) and fit an alternative; so their units are cleverly designed to be either half the size, or a third larger, than all standard head units. But Alan at Halfords was not going to put off by that, and armed with British bulldog spirit of old plus several screwdrivers, a drill and my favourite handyman’s tool – a hammer – set to work. It wasn’t an easy task by any means, and a certain amount of compromise was needed. A flush factory fit was never going to be possible, but I assured him that I don’t spend my time looking at the stereo anyway, I just want to listen to it while I’m sat in traffic jams at pointless roadworks. I can bodge up a fascia at work; my main aim was to get the stereo installed and working.
Consequently, after four weeks, 3 visits and several phone calls, the unit is finally installed, and so far so good although I plan to give it a good work out on my commute tomorrow. Now I need to stock up on some wigglemytitsandbum music in case I see any nice hitchhikers on my way in.
I went as booked to Halfords, and Alan spent two hours working out how best to install the new head unit into a car that has nothing in common with any other car in the universe. Toyota do not want to you to take out their rubbishy radio (design one that works, then) and fit an alternative; so their units are cleverly designed to be either half the size, or a third larger, than all standard head units. But Alan at Halfords was not going to put off by that, and armed with British bulldog spirit of old plus several screwdrivers, a drill and my favourite handyman’s tool – a hammer – set to work. It wasn’t an easy task by any means, and a certain amount of compromise was needed. A flush factory fit was never going to be possible, but I assured him that I don’t spend my time looking at the stereo anyway, I just want to listen to it while I’m sat in traffic jams at pointless roadworks. I can bodge up a fascia at work; my main aim was to get the stereo installed and working.
Consequently, after four weeks, 3 visits and several phone calls, the unit is finally installed, and so far so good although I plan to give it a good work out on my commute tomorrow. Now I need to stock up on some wigglemytitsandbum music in case I see any nice hitchhikers on my way in.
I was pleased to get a stereo that blended unobstrusively with the car.I should give credit to the staff at my local Halfords, because despite the problems this job encountered, I should say that everytime they promised to call me back they did so, and the people I dealt with - Jason, Nadine and Alan the fitter (automotive acoustical challenges manager), were helpful and always cheerful – not something you can take for granted these days. So well worth a mention and a bouquet to those guys.
Now where did I leave my Barry Manilow collection?
Now where did I leave my Barry Manilow collection?
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