'96 Park Avenue CD Player woes

[Guest]

The cassette/cd player on my '96 Park Avenue Ultra is getting extremely finicky.

It starts skipping like crazy on the last few tracks of any cd and it doesn't want to eject the cd. It clicks like crazy like it is trying but usually I have to wait a full day till it will finally eject.

I have put a cleaning disk in without any change in behavior.

Is this worth attempting to get fixed or should I look for a whole unit at the junk yard, etc.?

[NTX5467]

"Junk" yard radio? That wordage should say it all! What you find in the salvage yard could well be just as bad as yours is--or worse. Basically, it's guaranteed to be what it is and no more. Even if it came from a "clean" car that got totalled, it could still be worn out or will need repairs in the near future. Price might be more reasonable, but considering the chance you take there with an "unknown" commodity, that's your judgment call. Plus, you'll have to know exactly what year it came out of so you can get the dealer to unlock the TheftLock code for you.

Option 2 -- find a Delco radio repair station and get the radio to them for inspection and an estimate. Might cost upwards of about $400.00 or so, but when it's fixed it'll go right back in from whence it came and work as new as it obviously had been for quite some time.

Option 3 -- find an aftermarket stereo shop to put some new model whiz bang CD Stereo in there (with an appropriate adapter plate). From what I've seen, most have flashing lights and other graphics that would seem to be distracting, but obviously some people like that stuff. THEN, they'll probably want to upgrade the speakers to something they have in stock to "make it all work together" and that will handle the extra power from the new amp. Plus adding a subwoofer, possibly, for that deck lid rattling bass. Even with a good deal on the whole thing, it could run over $1000.00 or so, I suspect.

Option 4 -- Get a remote mount CD player for the trunk (that runs through the radio antenna lead-in on a certain frequency of the FM band). Similar price as getting your existing unit repaired, but might be easier to orchestrate. 4 disc units used to be pretty reasonable with the 6 disc units being a little more expensive.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[Rawja]

If you decide to repair your CD player, or to purchase a new Buick CD player, I would recommend taking a look at www.mnrelectronics.com they specialize in OEM radios.

Myself and a number of others over on the Reatta board have used them and have been satisfied with the service received.

[Guest]

I have a 97 Park Ave. that was acting up similar to yours. I took it to the dealer and they removed it and sent it to an authorised repair shop. It cost about $300 including removal and reinstall. It has worked great ever since (about a year).