So the CD player in my 2007 Prius went South; wouldn’t eject disks any longer. Time to get a new one.
Called up two dealerships requesting information.
- Dealer 1: $365.00 for a re-manufactured unit plus about 2 hours of labor at $108.00 per hour.
- Dealer 2: $1200.00 for a new unit plus similar installation charges. No mention of the possibility of gettting a refurbished unit. Holy hqiz.
Thinking I would have to do without a CD player, because those prices were definitely beyond my means at this moment.
Then I found this outfit that had refurbished units for $199.00, and the video below that details how to replace the part myself.
The guy who made the video missed a couple of screws and got one bit out of order (you have to remove the far-left vent cover before being able to access the second screw on the bottom panel), but it worked out; I was able to swap the unit out with very little difficulty, and I was astonished at how easily and with what precision everything fit together again when I was done.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
My car did look pretty much like this by the time I was down to the stereo. It looked really scary, but now you can’t tell that anything had ever been done.
This little escapade saved me between $400 and $1000, depending on which dealership I might have gone with.
Takeaway: Always compare dealerships, don’t take any of them at their word, and if you can possibly find a way to do the work yourself, do it.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
