2000 Bonneville and car audio

I recently purchased a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville and heard that I cannot replace my car stereo with an After market one. I took the stereo out to see what the fuss was about and the wiring harness is not what I am use to. Instead of being a set of wires with a harness at the end it is a flat ribbon cable. Has anyone ever installed a car stereo in one of these cars? is it even possible?

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Dennis Curran

Can not be done, no interface yet has been made for this type of system for most of the high end GM vehicles.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

I took the factory radio out and the only thing that stopped working is the door chimes. If this is the only thing I lose I suppose I could just rewire it my self. It would be a hassle to have to run new speaker wires from the doors and the rear deck. Do you know where the wiring distributer that changes  the ribbon cables to standard wiring for the speakers so that I can tap into them? If I could find that then I would only have to run ground, consant power and ignition power, which would be fairly easy. I have an antenna adapter and mounting kit that work fine. If it comes down to it, I will keep my factory deck and tap my amp and subs into the rear speaker wires.

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Dennis Curran

Not sure where the ribbon cable turns into standard gauge wires ( if at all ). You figured it out........ you may have to just run new wires to each speaker from the deck if you want an aftermarket stereo in your car.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

I dont mind the factory stereo at all. My only concern is that I dished out 1200 bucks on my after market deck about 2 months ago. I had it in my 2000 Merc. Mountaineer and just took it out to put in the car. The truck was traded in and if I decided to sell my deck, I would lose tons of cash on the deal and its to late to return it.

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Dennis Curran

I was concidering getting my wife a new stereo for her 1998 Bonneville. The stock radio is by far the worst factory stereo that I ever owned. Do I have the same problem or is 1998 before what you are refering? It's a Delco Lock with a cassette player and EQ, it does not have the steering wheel controls. I think that it has 2 strings coming out of the back to connect to the tin cans for speakers LOL. The EQ on this thing is useless, you can't make it sound good no matter what you do to it. I have just been blowing it off because it's "the wifes ride" but she even complains about it, and that's not something that she usually notices. You know how it goes, the wifes ride is always filthy outside and looks like a dumpster blew up inside of it, but if the thing starts, it's good enough for her. My wife is one of the many who just doesn't get it as far as a understanding the concept of having a nice ride....must be the extra rib LOL

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HotRod

LOL. You shouldnt have that problem. While researching this issue, it appears to only be on 2000 on up. So your in luck. Keep in mind they re-vamped the bonneville completely in 2000. GL on your install.

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Dennis Curran