Supertech Factory Car Stereo Repairs

Who Are We?

Supertech Electronics is an Australian owned and operated electronic repair shop that specializes in the repair of audiovisual equipment. We are based on the Gold Coast in Sunny Queensland Australia. In 1992 we evolved from repairs on TVs and home Hi-Fi systems to specialise more on car audio repairs. We have repaired over 25,000 car stereo systems since accurate records were started in 2002. Our internal database system allows us to search through decades of repair history and records quickly. This is invaluable for being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair units.

Why Repair? Why not replace or just put a new radio in?

At the end of the day, it’s your car. Sure you can replace your radio with a second-hand unit – But beware! Because most units are locked to the car. Gone are the days of security codes, or no security at all. You might just be buying a paperweight that doesn’t work with your car because it’s not the car it came out of. That would suck. Ok, replace might sound bad, I can just put a new radio in. Absolutely you can! But in our experience, make sure you are at least seated when you are told the cost of getting a new unit. Again, It’s your car. Your choice. But we are here to help, we have the experience and drive to succeed in repairs.

Common Car Stereo Faults

Believe it or not, there is a very high chance that the problem that you are having with your car stereo may be a common fault. What this means is that we spend less time trying to figure out what if going on with your radio – Because we know what is going on! This allows us to fix your radio quicker, and more reliability. Our most common repairs include CD’s jammed inside multi in-dash car CD players, car boot CD stackers or CD changers, FM and AM tuning faults, popping and crackling sounds from speakers (especially those Bose factory car stereo systems) and broken screens or touch sensors not responding.

Factory Car Stereo Systems Vs Aftermarket Car Stereos

There is a BIG difference between factory car stereo systems and aftermarket car stereo systems. Factory car stereo systems are built up to a standard, not down to a price. Many aftermarket car stereos are poor quality compared to a factory car stereo. The aftermarket car stereo is built with a low price in mind. Factory car stereo systems have been built to last for as long as possible by well know industry manufacturers including Alpine, Blaupunkt, Bose, Clarion, Kenwood, Pioneer and many other reputable companies. They are built using high-quality components and they are designed to last the lifetime of the car. Many factory car stereo systems have a 3 to 5-year warranty. Aftermarket car stereos generally only have a 1-year warranty.

Beware Of Fake Factory Car Stereo Systems!

We see many units purchased on international sites like eBay claiming that they are a “factory” car stereo system, but beware! They are not always what they seem! You get what you pay for when purchasing electronics, so if you buy a $300 car stereo from china that claims it will be perfect for your car, you can be sure there will be a few surprises along the way.

Genuine Factory Car Stereo Systems

Most factory car stereos are worth thousands of dollars. The average cost of a genuine factory car stereo is from $3,000 to $8,000. Do you see any aftermarket car stereos worth $8,000? Not likely. Why are the factory car stereos so expensive to buy brand new? The reason is their quality due to construction and quality of workmanship. That’s why we love repairing factory car stereo systems. They are designed with repair in mind if a failure occurs. They also have very good support and service information available to the right people just like everything else in your car.

Factory car stereo systems are now so much more than a radio and a CD player. They incorporate features like satellite navigation, Bluetooth hands-free and audio, speech recognition and Apple Siri integration, traffic information, DVD and USB multimedia for movies and free to air digital TV. They are a very big selling point for many new cars. Importance used to be on engine and horsepower, not it’s what new technological features you get. Car manufacturers are continually adding more features to factory car stereo systems to outsmart competitors. The systems they install are now referred to as “car multimedia interfaces” because they do so much more than what a car stereo system used to do.

Replace or Repair Your Factory Car Stereo System

Replacing your factory car stereo with an aftermarket system is not as easy as you think. Car manufacturers void new car warranty if you modify their original wiring. Most cars from the early 1990s have wiring network interfaces called “vehicle buses” to reduce the number of wires in the vehicle. Network protocols including M.O.S.T, CAN, D2B and GMLAN are used on the vehicle bus. They operate via a local network, just like computer networks, sending information on bus lines, rather than down individual wires. This is a great concept for car manufacturers, as it simplifies wiring, reduces interference and engine noise, and increases reliability, however, if you want to connect an aftermarket car stereo system to one of these cars, you will surely run into complications. There are costly interfaces that change your car network interface to a conventional car stereo wiring system, but realistically you are taking a step backwards. You are making more wires in the car, but that’s why they put the car bus interface there in the first place. Unfortunately, aftermarket car stereos do not adapt to new car interfaces very well. It’s a costly exercise for the aftermarket manufacturers to adapt to car manufacturer’s protocols.

Common Factory Car Stereo Faults

The most common fault we find with factory car stereo systems is jammed CDs in single or multi CD players.

Why do CD’s jam inside car CD players? Here are some very common reasons why.

➢ A CD can have minute tolerance differences between manufacturers.

➢ Some CD’s are thicker than others; some are thinner than others. These can cause loading problems.

➢ A CD can sometimes have rough outside and / or inside edge that can catch on loading systems.

➢ Leaving a CD inside a hot car during the day can warp them. A warped CD can jam your loading system.

➢ A CD can sometimes have slippery top surfaces causing loading problems.

➢ Copied CD’s can sometimes have cheap paper labels that get stuck inside the loading mechanism.

➢ Young kids can put coins, credit cards and business cards inside the CD slot.

➢ Operator errors can include putting 2 CD’s into 1 slot or jamming things in too fast.

We see jammed CD’s all the time. We are experts in repairing your car CD player no mater what brand or model. Did you know that most multi disc car CD players have more moving parts inside them that your engine? It’s micro-mechanics by engineering geniuses! We have spent thousands of hours understanding how they work. We know all the common faults and we can confidently repair them and give you a guarantee on our parts and workmanship.

Why Choose Supertech To Repair Your Factory Car Stereo System

Supertech Electronics has been repairing factory car stereo for local and interstate customers since 1992. We are well established and specialize in factory car stereo repairs Australia wide. We offer a 1-year warranty on many repairs. Our warranty is equivalent to a brand new aftermarket car stereo. Many of our customers remove their car stereo and courier it to us for repair. If you are fortunate to be in South East Queensland, we also have a full remove and refit service. We also offer local customers a drive-in, drive out same day repair service on many common repairs. We have tens of thousands of repair records that we access when repairing faulty equipment. These help us with a speedy diagnosis. We use our powerful database to compare vehicles to similar models and faults. This is an automated process that saves our technicians time and ultimately saves you money.

There is no magic repair device that you can plug into your car stereo to diagnose the fault. It’s a well know misconception that everyone always asks us. So how do we repair your car stereo? We physically remove the covers and look inside it, we compare similar models and faults using our repair database, and we repair it by hand. There is no simple way to repair electronics. We are fast because we are confident in repairing all things electro-mechanical and electronic.

Frequently Asked Questions By Our Customers

Here are some very common questions people ask and say to us. Please take the time to read through them so you can understand the way we see electronics.

“It’s probably just a fuse or a loose wire…” It’s probably not! A well-built factory car stereo system has no wires inside it. They are constructed using printed circuit boards. It’s like saying there is a loose wire on a printed page in a book. It’s impossible. Factory car stereos also have very few fuses, and if a fuse blows, there is generally a pretty bad reason why the fuse would blow.

“I hardly ever use it and it’s failed. I can’t believe it has failed after hardly any use” We can totally understand why it has failed if you have never used it! Things can easily jam up if you don’t use it. It’s like saying you have owned a car for 6 years, never changed the oil or water in it, then one day you decide to drive 1,000 km in it. We would not be confident your car would make that trip. It’s the same thing with electronics and micro-mechanics inside your factory car stereo. It will perform better if you use it regularly. We recommend using CD players or DVD players at least on a monthly basis to blow out all those cobwebs!

“It’s only happening sometimes. It can’t be that bad.” That’s the worst thing you can tell any electronic technician! We can’t fix an intermittent fault if it does not fail in front of us. We prefer to repair something that is failing always or on a very regular basis. Intermittent faults are time-consuming and can sometimes be more expensive than a fault that is always occurring. Don’t let that put you off the repair though; we still have our repair database and tens of thousands of faults we have seen before. It’s still worth talking to us to see if we have seen something similar to the intermittent problem you are experiencing.

“I’ll just get one from the wreckers.” It comes down to luck when you buy from the wreckers. You might get a 30-day return warranty off them. You might also be buying someone else’s problems. Electronics don’t perform well after being left sitting around for long periods of time. Many cars also have either security codes or their unique identity is programmed into the car by its bus interface. It can be very difficult to replace a factory car stereo unit in a late model car without programming equipment that only the car manufacturer or authorized dealer has. We very rarely replace main boards, so you don’t have to worry about programming or obtaining new security codes when we repair your factory car stereo at Supertech Electronics.

Top Reasons For Repairing Your Factory Car Stereo System

Factory car stereo systems are specifically designed for your car. It looks better in your car and it matches all your dash instrumentation and illumination.

Factory car stereo is very easy to operate while driving the car. They usually have larger buttons so you’re not fumbling around to change the radio station or selecting a track on your favourite CD. Eyes on the road, not on the stereo!

Many car stereo systems incorporate steering wheel controls, speed sensors and reversing cameras. They do things automatically like increase stereo volume when the speed of your car increases. They can also be turned on and off without needing a key. Many aftermarket car stereo systems do not hook up to these features easily. If they do, they need special interfaces to connect them correctly.

How long has your factory car stereo already lasted? A well-designed factory car stereo usually lasts longer than the life of the car. It will definitely last longer than an aftermarket car stereo worth a few hundred dollars.

Most aftermarket car stereo’s only a one year warranty. That’s not long… Most factory car stereos that are sent to us for repair are well over 6 years of age. Some factory car stereos have been working flawlessly for over 10 years without a glitch. That really is amazing for electronics! It’s obviously well designed.

In most cases, it WILL be less expensive to repair your factory car stereo system, as opposed to replacing it with an aftermarket substitute.

Replacing your factory car stereo also comes with many hidden costs. Some of these costs include installation (normally a minimum of $90 with no accessories). Installation accessories can cost a fortune including wiring harnesses, dash installation kits and steering wheel control interfaces.

Many new cars run multimedia on fibre optic, MOST, GM LAN or can bus systems. There’s a high chance you don’t have an accessory wire in your car anymore. Some new cars don’t even have speaker wires in them. You need special adaptors that convert your sophisticated system into the old wiring system that aftermarket stereos run on.

If you do have to rewire anything in your car, Keep in mind that aftermarket wiring in your car voids new vehicle manufacturer’s warranty.

Factory car stereo repair will keep your car original. Original equipment increases the trade-in or resale value of your car.