Is it better to fix a broken car infotainment screen or replace it?
Dealer repairs for broken infotainment screens are often costly, uncertain, and require shipping the unit out with no guarantee of success. This leaves drivers stuck choosing between hard-to-find exact matching replacements from the same car model and year or switching to a completely different audio system.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Buying a replacement unit from eBay or a junkyardDid this help you?
- 2Installing an aftermarket Android or CarPlay screenDid this help you?
- 3Using digital to cassette convertersDid this help you?
- 4Replacing with a unit from a junkyardDid this help you?
- 5Installing an aftermarket head unit or using an adapterDid this help you?
- 6Replacing the car battery and fusesDid this help you?
- 7Checking trouble codes with a code readerDid this help you?
- 8Buying Apple CarPlay or an external Bluetooth speakerDid this help you?
- 9replacing the displayDid this help you?
- 10replacing the complete clusterDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Dealer says they can't repair it, they have to ship it out, and there's no guarantee the repair would work, plus it's costly.”source ↗
“The only problem I have with it is that the CD player skips a lot and ruins my CDs.”source ↗
“I've tried those digital to cassette converters, and the player just throws it up.”source ↗
“So, is it feasible to replace a CD player? If so, would you say it's better to find one from that model and year that has less wear, or to replace it with something else?”source ↗
“This message displays on the screen in my 2017 Fiat 500e every time I turn it on. This means that I cannot use any of the functions it has, such as radio and connecting my phone with Bluetooth.”source ↗
“This has been an issue in this car for years.”source ↗
“It's so annoying driving around without surround sound.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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