Car Stereos: 02 Chevy Tahoe - aftermarket cd player not working, chevy tahoe, gm factory

Question
Recently purchased a new cd player to take the place of the factory. We have an amp and 12" subs hooked up as well Bought new wire harness for the cd player and hooked everything up. Worked for a minute then just shuts off. You can kind of hear a muffled sound coming from the subs but nothing from the front speakers. We took to an audio dealer... and was told it was because of the onstar. We don't need the onstar cuz we never used, but they said we still need the wire harness to support it?? Said it would cost about $150.00? Plus over $100 for them to install or more due to time and labor. Just curious if this is correct... do we need that type of harness instead of the $20 we bought... and if so do you know where we can get it online cheaper? We're lost on what to do. Any help appreciated! Thanks!!

Answer
Hi Jess,

Newer model Chevys do require extra hardware to make them work.  $150 for the hardware, and $100 for the installation does seem steep to me, but that's just personal opinion.

The hardware you need is this:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127OS1/GM-Factory-Integration-Adapter.html

$99.99 from Crutchfield, and maybe cheaper on eBay.

Installation is pretty straight forward, and if you or a friend is good at following directions and using a soldering iron, you can do it yourself, alternatively, you can try another shop who should be able to install it for less than $100.

Justin