This is one of the many "got'chas" built in by General Motors to cost you money after the sale. They have had a 100 percent failure rate with their cd mechanisms since the mid '90s. Beginning with the '94 model year, they will no longer allow us to buy radio service manuals or parts so you are tied to their two grossly over-priced repair shops and you must go through the dealer. Average repair cost with removal, installation, reprogramming and shipping is around $450.00 for a cassette-radio. That's where the reference "got'cha" originated.
Next, GM figured out too many people were just installing high-quality aftermarket radios so beginning with some 2002 models, they started building the Body Computer into the radio so it HAD to remain in the vehicle. Besides the fact you're stuck with the high repair bill, there are other got'chas designed in that I won't go into here, but the potential exists to render the vehicle "not worth repair" if the Body Computer fails.
GM is one of the least customer-friendly manufacturers, and this is just one example of the tricks they pull. You'll need to visit the dealer for this. Most other repair shops carefully package discs they remove and return them to you. I suspect the GM repair centers will do that too.
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Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 AT 11:08 PM
