My car is now Zune-compatible

My car came with a factory standard Kenwood stereo. It's pretty decent. I think I'd still prefer a Pioneer, but I'll stick with this for now.

Anyway, it lacks any sort of auxiliary input. Many newer head units have a 1/8" input on the front face of the stereo so that it may receive a sound signal from some sort of external sound source, such as satellite radio. Although it lacks a standard auxiliary input, it does have a CD changer control port on the back. After doing a little research I came to find out that there is an adapter that can be used to convert the CD changer control port to a pair of RCA inputs.

I did some shopping around and found that every place selling this converter wanted $20 minimum for it, not including shipping. I checked ebay and found a sort of knock-off of the original Kenwood adapter selling for $8. I felt I could justify the longer shipping time by saving at least $12, so I purchased it.

The adapter came in the mail today, so after work, church, and all the other stuff I had going on, I started working on the installation. Despite it being my first time to pull the dash off of this car, it pretty much went without issue. All of the snaps connecting the dash to the frame were sturdy, and went back in just like they came out. The most difficult part was removing some of the harnesses connecting the dash controls to the car computer. I had to leave one in because I simply couldn't get it to unplug. I installed the adapter and ran the cable out from beneath the smoking tray. It was a bit of a tight fit but it works and doesn't look bad at all. After I got it all together I fired up the stereo and started blasting some sweet Zune tunes.

I'm never using CDs (audio or MP3) again.