I've lived with the OE stereo in my 2004 Prius for over 7 years:
- The radio reception is weak and often plays the electrical noise from our power electronics.
- The CD player is junk.
- The one that came with my car ran hot and after a few years refused to accept CDs
- A replacement (salvaged from a 2006) worked for a while and then had trouble syncing to tracks.
So I bit the bullet and stopped at a good car stereo shop. They installed a Pioneer DEH-33HD radio in the dash for $250 (buying the radio, escutcheon, and wiring adapter separately and installing it myself would save about $75) and it is a much better unit. The radio is immune to Prius electrical noise and the CD player works reliably. I did give up the steering wheel and MFD audio controls (an adapter to get some of this back is about $150), but the new unit has a remote control and its many tiny buttons do provide sufficient control-ability. HD radio does provide good audio fidelity, even on AM stations and works well with strong signals.
JeffD
