I'm left with one huge question. What are the actual sizes of a
FULL DIN (ONE DIN), one and a half DIN, Two DIN, and so on?????
Without running out to the car with a tape measure, I will make a guess
that the face of my factory radio is 'about' 2 inches in height, and 6
inches wide..... And since I had it out of the dash recently, I know
that the depth is important, bcause there is no spare room in back.
This is where it all gets confusing. How to know what will fit and what
wont. This pretty much eliminates buying a stereo on Ebay or Amazon or
Craigslist, since I will need to touch it, measure it, and so on.

I'm sure you could look up the actual dimensions of DIN on Google, but it
really doesn't matter. Any single DIN sized stereo is going to fit in a
single DIN sized opening. Same with double DIN stereos. That's the beauty
of a standard size.

It's like you can buy "letter", "legal", or A4 sized paper without knowing
the actual dimensions and know that it will fit in your printer.

The only variable that WILL be important is the depth. In other words, how
much space you have from the front of the faceplate to the back of the
dash. Obviously a stereo that is too deep is not going to fit in a shallow
opening.

Thankfully, most modern stereos are shallower than older stereos. If you're
buying used, you could easily ask them for the depth measurement if they
don't include it in their ad. It doesn't have to be exact, you'll want some
extra space in back for wiring and whatnot anyway.

Then, once I buy it, I'll have to go to a store or go online to order
the faceplate adaptor and wiring adaptor.

It might add $30-40 to the overall price at most.

I have not shopped around much, but I see Walmart has some car stereos,
and they are pricy. Add in the cost of the faceplates and wiring
adaptors and this might end up costing $200 or more.

Walmart would not be my first choice for stereo shopping. Try an actual car
stereo store, or look online at places like Crutchfield, Amazon, etc. You
can certainly find a nice car stereo for less than $200 if you don't need
all the fancy bells and whistles.

I dont really think I want to spend that kind of money on a 20 year old
vehicle, just for a radio/stereo. I do plan to keep this car for
a while

I'm sure your factory radio still works fine. It's a matter of how much
time you spend in the vehicle and if it would make your drive more
pleasant. A couple hundred dollars is a small price to pay for a more
enjoyable daily commute.

If it's an old farm truck that only gets driven once a month, it may not be
worth the trouble.

In the past, I'd toss a Boombox on my seat, toss in a cassette and have
music that was also portable. Although those batteries did get costly.
I wonder what portable devices they have now

There are more portable devices than you can imagine!


Last year I picked up one of these Bluetooth speakers for about $30:

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Spe...rs-Microphone-
Including/dp/B012B56898/ref=sr_1_4

I don't use the bluetooth feature, but I inserted a microSD card filled
with hundreds of MP3 files. Despite it's tiny size the sound quality is
quite impressive, and it runs a very long time on the rechargeable battery.
It can even act as a power bank to charge other USB devices like your smart
phone.

That's just one example, there are many similar devices on the market if
you don't want to install a stereo in your car.


Anthony Watson
www.watsondiy.com
www.mountainsoftware.com