I’m pretty sure everyone has a memory of driving down a calm road on a sunny day with their windows down and radio cranked up. Heck, Cruising with the windows down on a summer afternoon is almost therapeutic to me. A good radio in a running car can be a nice break from the daily grind of work and life.

Today, Auto manufacturers have realized the benefits of a radio system that does more than just play AM and FM stations. New cars have systems that can connect directly to you phone (some even wirelessly), Show you current traffic data, what the weather is, and even what the speed limit is. These systems have been dubbed “infotainment systems”, as they provide both information and entertainment.

This is all well and good, but what happens when that system fails?

This is where the infotainment system goes from fantastic benefit to colossal headache inducer. These systems are complex, and connect to just about everything in the car. Because of this, having one fail can leave you without other components in your car, like a reverse camera or even HVAC information. But all you need to do is swap out the head unit and put a new one in!

…Right?

I want to share my story of how something that sounds like a simple swap turned into one of the most frustrating (non-essential) auto repairs I have ever seen.

I drive a 2016 Hyundai Veloster as my daily driver. I love this car, as its responsive and overall just a pleasure to drive. The car came stock with a touch screen head unit that offered Apple CarPlay, a built-in reverse camera, and HVAC information that let me know what vents were on and what the temperature was inside the car. This was awesome, especially coming from a 2002 Toyota Camry that was on its last legs.

That was until I came out to warm up my car one December morning and found that the screen had completely died. To this day, I do not know what caused the screen to fail, but all I could see was a couple lines on the screen and nothing else. I now had no reverse camera, and had no idea what my cars HVAC was set to. Luckily, I still had music as the main system itself seemed to be working fine.

I knew I would need a reverse camera in the car, as the rear window in the Veloster is very small. Because I needed the camera back, I began looking to replace the head unit to return the function to the features.

I started by looking for a stock head unit from Hyundai. I didn’t feel the need to go third party, and was completely fine with how the stock unit worked. I also felt that the stock head unit would have to be cheaper than third-party offerings from companies like Kenwood. I started looking for both used units and new units from Hyundai themselves.

For used parts, I had no luck. My local scrap yard had no clue what car I was talking about, and even once they were able to identify the car, they were unable to find the part I needed. I checked places like Craigslist and marketplace and was not finding the specific unit I needed. It was looking like I would need to buy directly from Hyundai. I pulled up Hyundais parts website and was able to find the replacement unit.

…and found out that Hyundai wanted $3000 for a replacement unit.

Yes, you read that correctly. $3000 for a head unit. A head unit for a 2016 Hyundai Veloster. The 2016 Hyundai Veloster at that time had a blue book value of around $7000. I’m not financial expert, but I find it hard to believe that a head unit should be worth almost half the value of the entire car.

Needless to say, I decided third-party would be the way to go. One Saturday, my wife and I decided to go price out the cost of getting the head unit replaced.

Now before we continue the story, I want to preface this portion with some background. I have replaced stereo units on cars before. My brother and I replaced a third party unit in his old truck with a new one with no issues. I replaced the stock stereo on my old Toyota Camry with a third-party one with no issues at all. Because of this, I went into this project expecting this to be even easier, since we were 15 years in the future, where USB and standardized connections are normal.

…I had no idea just how wrong I could be about something.

We started at a local car audio shop. I walked in with full confidence and asked what’s options they had for a touch screen system, that supported backup cams and CarPlay for a Hyundai Veloster.

The sales guy started showing me some head units that ranged from $250-$350. Perfect! We then talked about the installation. He asked me if I planned on having it professionally done, or if I wanted to do it myself. Of course, having worked on stereos before, I had told him I planned on doing it myself. This is the point where the project went from simple to painful.

The tech then started to explain that to get the system to connect with my car, I would need adapters, digital conversions systems, new wiring, more adapters for the other adapters, and about 4 other components that I lost track of, as my brain exploded at this point and I went completely dead eyed. Bewildered, I asked why there were so many different pieces needed. This is when I learned that auto manufacturers use proprietary connections and systems for their vehicles, and that there’s wasn’t a standardized layout for these systems. By the end of the sales pitch, I was looking at around $1800 for the installation. Better, yes, but I really didn’t want to spend that much on a just a new stereo. I thanked him, and went to the next car audio shop I knew of.

If you live in Spokane, you have probably heard of Snows auto. I absolutely recommend these guys to this day for how I was treated when working with them. We arrived at their shop and began the next sales pitch. By the end of the conversation, I was looking at having a Kenwood unit with all the extra pieces needed to make the system work for around $850. Being alright with the price, I accepted the terms and was ready for the installation… if only it was that simple.

The one day project turned into a multi week project because Snows auto was having troubles getting the part to communicate with the car. And needed to order more and more parts. By then end of it, the shop simply told me they could not get the system to work, refunded me my entire deposit, and sent me on my way. Yes, these guys were unable to get the project completed. That being said, the way they treated me is why I speak so highly of them. I was never charged any extra money for the new parts, and was kept in the loop about every single issue they were running into. They also refunded me my entire payment, despite having spent double the amount I originally paid as well as spending a total of 32 hours working on the car. Snows auto, you guys are good people. And if you need work done, these guys are some of the best in Spokane.

Back to the story of the insane stereo project, I finally went to car toys. I ended up spending $1400 on a new unit, all the components, and two different amplifiers to make the radio work. Even with this, my wheel controls sometimes don’t work, and I have no clue what my HVAC is set to in the car. Still, I had a reverse camera again and I could use my screen again. So, ill call this a win.

This whole experience really made me realize that auto manufacturers have lost the plot when it comes to infotainment systems. You used to be able to replace the entire stereo, or even convert the system to a full screen, all on a Saturday afternoon with minimal experience. Nowadays, you need to have a PHD in electrical engineering just to replace the unit, and even then some features may not even work! This is insane. Why, in this day and age, are we not using standard connections like USB or other electrical plugs for these systems? Why does everything need to be proprietary? Why are the stock head units so expensive even though they can fail? I mean im sure the answer has to be about money and squeezing every dollar out of the consumer, but come on!

Now im seeing these same manufacturers wanting to take away analog, replaceable dashboards and replacing them with an all digital (and im sure 100% proprietary) system. I barely trust these manufacturers with the stereo. I do not want them touching the dashboard at this point, because if that system fails you will have to have it replaced by the manufacturer (and pay their outrageous price).

Usually, I like to end my writings with a positive lesson or spin on what I was talking about, but I don’t really have one of this. Just give me an analog dashboard and a simple to replace stereo in my cars. Stop making it so difficult to replace and repair components. I hope the right to repair crowd catches on to this trend, as I feel like their needs to be some type of change to be made in this space.