Anyone here knowledgeable about Toyota sound systems?

[Tom Brown]

My Mom has a 1995 Camry. She still loves the car and will probably drive it another 10 years.
The problem is it's third CD changer is now dead. She hates the caddy 3 CD stacker system and isn't happy about paying $500 every few years to refresh the unit.
Is the single CD unit better? Does she have any after market options that will integrate into the factory system? It needs to work like a stock Toyota system would because she's not particularly keen on new gadgets. I might be able to talk her into nuking the entire system but I know that's not her preference.

[Chase]

Ditch the CD and Sirius Satellite for her..

[Tom Brown]

I'll bet she'd love Raw Dog Comedy. :idea:
.... she could listen to that shit on her way to church Sunday mornings.
.... or with her nefarious friends when they drive to bake sales and charity events.
I should mention that my Mom is not a young woman. It needs to look somewhat normal so it doesn't freak her out . It also needs to have a minimum of knobs.... you know, like a factory system would have.

[Tom Brown]

... but thanks for the idea, Chase. :D

[Beer-30]

OEM head units are the cheapest you can find. You would be wise to pick a well known audio shop and have an aftermarket unit installed. Probably less than $500, unless you splurge on the deck. There are conversion install kits for everything made, so there is no wire splicing or dash cutting. A nice Alpine, Eclipse, or even Sony head unit would last alot longer and sound significantly better.

[Jbb]

Buy her a new car.......dumbass

[Tom Brown]

Buy her a new car.......dumbass
... but we just put some spinner wheels and low profile rubber on this one.

[canuck1]

... but we just put some spinner wheels and low profile rubber on this one.
and a trailer hitch?

[ROZ]

If you have to go aftermarket and want a plain headunit, go for the Clarion DB155
http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/images/large/DB155_l.jpg
You can find it on the net for about 100.00...

[sorry dog]

Tom, you can find a used Toyota unit on ebay for $100 or less. I actually like their decks because of large buttons. This is going on memory but, most early to mid 90's decks should fit, but you will need to know if your deck is internally/externally amplified and match it to make wiring life easier. It was last year I was shopping for this, but I seem to remember they started changing harnesses and width around '99 or so.
Run a search on IH8mud.com and you should find some more precise info. The Landcruiser crowd tends to be thrifty...except at the gas pump.
...or call me and I'll measure size and wires on an old cassette player I have laying around.

[Tom Brown]

Tom, you can find a used Toyota unit on ebay for $100 or less. I actually like their decks because of large buttons. This is going on memory but, most early to mid 90's decks should fit, but you will need to know if your deck is internally/externally amplified and match it to make wiring life easier. It was last year I was shopping for this, but I seem to remember they started changing harnesses and width around '99 or so.
Run a search on IH8mud.com and you should find some more precise info. The Landcruiser crowd tends to be thrifty...except at the gas pump.
...or call me and I'll measure size and wires on an old cassette player I have laying around.
Thanks, Dog. You are right about it changing in 99. The decks are compatible from 95~98. I found a single CD player on eBay for 10 bucks. It was pulled from a wreck and the guy said he didn't know if it worked or not. I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

[Tom Brown]

I believe the 1995 Camry could use an Alpine CD changer with a Peripheral adapter. You could probably find an older Alpine changer pretty cheap on eBay and I'm sure the adapter is still available. I'll check tomorrow.
A 6 disk trunk mounted changer? That would be cool. Would I need to find an old changer?

[Tom Brown]

Thanks, John. :cool:

[maxwedge]

Bad situation here! For some reason older people, like my mother too, are all about the big controls. Refuses to buy aftermarket "because the buttons are too small". Also she won't buy cd's. So, every couple years, I get to put another crappy used factory Saturn cassete radio in her car. Saturn tape decks appearently don't want to play Neil Diamond, and Dan Fogelberg over, and over. I don't blame them, in fact I don't think anything can take that kind of abuse for long! :cry: