Caravan stereo

I have a 2004 dodge Caravan SXT with the factory AM/FM/Cassette/CD player.
The only thing I find regrettable about it is that it does not play MP3s. It
would be a great convenience on long trips to be able to load in several
hours of music on one CD, eliminating the need to be constantly ejecting and
reloading.

My question is: is the same in-dash unit from any later year Dodge Caravan
MP3 compatible? (I'd like to keep the same look and fit of the factory
original, just adding MP3 compatibility...)

"Ron Seiden" > wrote in message
news:4Cmwk.606$sq3.134@trnddc07...
> I have a 2004 dodge Caravan SXT with the factory AM/FM/Cassette/CD player.
> The only thing I find regrettable about it is that it does not play MP3s.
It
> would be a great convenience on long trips to be able to load in several
> hours of music on one CD, eliminating the need to be constantly ejecting
and
> reloading.
>
> My question is: is the same in-dash unit from any later year Dodge Caravan
> MP3 compatible? (I'd like to keep the same look and fit of the factory
> original, just adding MP3 compatibility...)
>

You really don't want to mess with this or your risking your dash board
being torn apart by some car thief.

Use a headphone-to-cassette adapter, and plug an mp3 player like a
ipod into that.

Ted

Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:

> You really don't want to mess with this or your risking your dash board
> being torn apart by some car thief.

Are you saying nobody should have anything other than the bottom of the
line basic factory stereo because thieves might take anything else?????

To answer the OP's question I believe most of the 2005-2007 factory
stereos will play MP3's. What stereo do you currently have? The model
# usually appears in very small print next to the volume knob. It will
be 3 letters such as REF, RAQ etc.

"Ted Mittelstaedt" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ron Seiden" > wrote in message
> news:4Cmwk.606$sq3.134@trnddc07...
>> I have a 2004 dodge Caravan SXT with the factory AM/FM/Cassette/CD
>> player.
>> The only thing I find regrettable about it is that it does not play MP3s.
> It
>> would be a great convenience on long trips to be able to load in several
>> hours of music on one CD, eliminating the need to be constantly ejecting
> and
>> reloading.
>>
>> My question is: is the same in-dash unit from any later year Dodge
>> Caravan
>> MP3 compatible? (I'd like to keep the same look and fit of the factory
>> original, just adding MP3 compatibility...)
>>
>
> You really don't want to mess with this or your risking your dash board
> being torn apart by some car thief.
>
> Use a headphone-to-cassette adapter, and plug an mp3 player like a
> ipod into that.
>
That's why I was looking for a plain-jane factory unit that's exactly like
what I've already got (except for MP3 capacity, which doesn't show)...

"Miles" > wrote in message
...
> Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>
> > You really don't want to mess with this or your risking your dash board
> > being torn apart by some car thief.
>
> Are you saying nobody should have anything other than the bottom of the
> line basic factory stereo because thieves might take anything else?????
>

No, I'm saying that if you put a fancy car stereo in the dash your taking
an increased risk that a thief will tear the dash apart.

I realize most have detachable faceplates. However all it takes is 1
day forgetting to remove the faceplate from the car (thanks, wife)
for a thief to destroy the dash. And the detachable faceplate also
carries it's own risks - as about 3 months after I replaced the stereo,
wife then dropped faceplate of new stereo on the ground and ran
over it.

Ted

"Ron Seiden" > wrote in message
news:HUHwk.702$sq3.357@trnddc07...
>
> "Ted Mittelstaedt" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Ron Seiden" > wrote in message
> > news:4Cmwk.606$sq3.134@trnddc07...
> >> I have a 2004 dodge Caravan SXT with the factory AM/FM/Cassette/CD
> >> player.
> >> The only thing I find regrettable about it is that it does not play
MP3s.
> > It
> >> would be a great convenience on long trips to be able to load in
several
> >> hours of music on one CD, eliminating the need to be constantly
ejecting
> > and
> >> reloading.
> >>
> >> My question is: is the same in-dash unit from any later year Dodge
> >> Caravan
> >> MP3 compatible? (I'd like to keep the same look and fit of the factory
> >> original, just adding MP3 compatibility...)
> >>
> >
> > You really don't want to mess with this or your risking your dash board
> > being torn apart by some car thief.
> >
> > Use a headphone-to-cassette adapter, and plug an mp3 player like a
> > ipod into that.
> >
> That's why I was looking for a plain-jane factory unit that's exactly like
> what I've already got (except for MP3 capacity, which doesn't show)...
>

Trust me the thieves know the radios better than you or I possibly
could.

There's no loss of fidelity using a cassette adapter. One of these days
even the low-end car stereos will come with mp3 built in, and when
that happens, the OEM stereos won't be worth stealing.

Ted