stock stereo removal 96 jetta

[BountyHunta]

I recently purchased my first car and want to upgrade the stereo unit. I don't have a clue how to remove the stock unit. Does anyone have any information on this or maybe a resource you can send me to.
Thanks

[surfitness]

I've used crutchfield.com in the past
any circuit city or car stereo place will hook it up for around 100$

[stereodetailing]

go the any auto parts store and buy a ford stereo removal tools, they look like two U shaped pins the with wierd points on the ends. they should slide in the two sets of pin hole in the stereo and you should be able to pull the unit out with those tools

[BluesCruiser]

2 butterknifes slide one in each side to push the tabs oput and out it comes

[miro1118]

Here is the deal. I just did this. 1st Crutch field is the place to go if you plan to do the install yourself. They give you the install kit for free. You should try to get a head unit that says ez fit if you go through the "what fits my car" section of the website crutchfield.com. Crutchfield will send you the instructions.

I will give you a recap.

1. Place the U shaped tools (Provided by Crutchfield)in the pin holes at each side of the stock unit. Move the tools to the outside of the radio and pull the whole unit out. Be careful if you meet too much resistance then your antenna wire is too short. If you can pull the whole unit out easily go to step 3. Otherwise you need to remove the heating and air conditioning unit to get behind the radio.

2. Carefully pry off the trim plate around the fan and temp knobs. Remove the ash tray. Remove all of the screws that are now exposed. (Two in the ashtray area and four around the knobs.) Now carefully move the whole unit down to the floor. You are not detaching any wires you are just moving the unit out of the way. Now reach behind the radio and pull the antenna wire out. You may also need to loosen a support behind the radio. (I did not on mine) Then pull the harness out of the back of your stock radio.

3) You need to attach the radio harness to the harness that crutchfield sends you. It is best to solder and heat shrink the wires together but you can also crimp using butt connectors.

4) Make sure that the radio is not so deep that it will hit the metal bracket behind the radio compartment, other wise you need to figure out a way to cut it out. (Maybe a rotary tool) This part sucks if you need to do it. Thats where EZ fit helps most of the time.

5) Plug the harness that you put together to the car harness. Put the antenna adaptor (Provided by crutchfield) on the antenna wire.

6) Slip the new radio sleeve into the dash. Use a screwdriver to bend the corners behind the dash hole. This secures the radio.

7) Connect the antenna adaptor and harness to the radio. Test it out now before you go any further.

8) Slip the whole unit into the sleeve. Try to move the harness so that it goes to the right or left of the unit so that it does not get in the way. ( If you moved the ac unit then this is easier) Once it snaps into place you reassemble the dash (If you took it appart). You are done.

I just meant this to be a guide. You can't hold me responsible if you mess up. Crutchfield provides an instruction sheet and tech support 24 hrs if you need it.

I hope this helps.