My friend just got a new head unit and I want the same one. Only thing is, in his car(white OJ bronco btw) it's a standard size head unit and he just used the included tool and it came right out. He came to my house and had no clue how to get mine out for replacement. Anyone know how? Thanks.

 

2004 Kia Optima:

 

"2. Unclip and remove entire panel surrounding radio." I don't see a place to unclip or disconnect the surrounding panel. I can take additional pictures if needed. Thanks for the help.

 

with those panels you usually have to just get a panel removal tool in the gap and wedge them out. if you don't have that tool a flat head can usually work

 

you have to take the whole top cover part of the center console off, then you'll see everything.

 

see all the trim around the radio, mainly the black part, where the vents are and mebe the ac controls. that all has to come off to access the oem h/u to pull pull hte few screw out of it.

and then your gonna have to cut the radio support out of the back of the opening, and get a proper kit for fit and finish..



BTW, what H/U you going with??

 

Here's what's making this such a pain that I might just say forget about it. The yellow part that looks like a tiny gap is connected. Blue is the outer edge of what has to come off. Red is everything that has to come off.

Additional pictures... where to pry. Nowhere is good/easy. I haven't done any real damage yet trying and I don't know that it's worth risking.




This is the head unit I want, good sound quality, 240W, radio, cd player, flash drives can be put in it, comes with a remote, port for an audio cord to play anything like a cd player, and it's cheap.
Amazon.com: Boss Audio 534UA In-Dash CD/MP3 Receiver with Drop-Down Front Panel: Electronics

 

Two things:

1. I know that BOSS equipment is enticing due to the seemingly endless feature inclusion and the ridiculously low price BUT-you get what you pay for. Boss, Pyramid, etc are all "flea market" sub WalMart quality junk. Their failure rate is out of this world and by the time you get done pulling this thing back out and purchasing a replacement, it will have cost you more than if you had just purchased a better quality piece in the first place. I understand better than anyone how important budget is (I own a shop-my entire living revolves around this economy and the consumers decreasing spending budget). However, save a few more bucks (wait a couple more weeks or whatever you have to do) and get a better piece of equipment (Pioneer, Kenwood, JVC, etc). Not a week goes by that one of the local high-schoolers comes in here having us install some flea-market/eBay crap. We take bets (sometimes in front of the customer) on how long it will last (I usually win the bet-they come back in less than a week). This is no exageration...

2. Kia's are snap together cars. You take a right angle pick (or a butter knife for you shade-tree'ers-"1stGen7" j/k), and insert it between the bottom of the radio panel and above the AC panel. Pull it towards the rear of the car gently and you will disengage the two clips that hold the bottom in. Then just work your way around the cover and it all pops out. Takes seconds.

The only thing I am unsure of is that I don't remember many Kia's with the wood surround so that may have to pop off first but I don't believe so. You can remove like ten screws inside any Kia and the whole interior pops out. Quite user friendly...

 

MCOR, thanks for the info. When I get a head unit, I'll probably get a pioneer instead.

I took a knife to where you said and pried it then tried to pull it toward the back of the car to get the last bit out. I pulled and twisted the knife until I thought the knife was going to snap / bend. I'm giving up and leaving the car as is. Thanks again for the help though.

 

Thanks everyone for the help with head unit removal. I decided though, the head unit(80+), box(20+) and instillation(50+) adds up to 150+ vs. 80 so I'm holding off for now.

And here's the real reason why I'm posting... I was at radio shack today checking to see if they sell tape decks($22! vs $9 total on amazon) and the employee found them for me... I told him I'll think about it and get this... he said you're better off in the long run going to walmart and getting a $60 head unit. I said but I heard they're not all created equal though. He said that's BS he works in audio and the only difference between them all is mp3 compatibility so just get a cheap one from walmart. What a joke! And why walmart in particular?