I have an older Ford Taurus. Everything works great except for the radio. I found a resource online that will repair the factory radio, http://www.carradiorepair.com. But would I be better off with an aftermarket?
Comes down to $$, unless yours is a special option I’d imagine a new one would be better, check out Crutchfield.com for ones that’ll fit your Taurus, compare the costs.
Are the heater and A/C controls intergrated with the radio face?
If you want better sound…replace it. There are very few OEM radios that you can’t replace with better sound. And most likely you can get as good or better sound quality if you buy aftermarket then getting the current one fixed.
If Ford is fixing in free then get it repaired. If not, then go for the aftermarket one with all the bells and whistles that you want.
alternatively you can get a factory head unit from a junkyard. My dad recently got a 2003 Ford AM/FM/CD player from one. Only set him back $35
This sounds like the easiest and cheapest option, a quick swap.
Crutchfield rules, I got a nice alpine stereo and a couple of new Blaupunkt speakers to mount where there were none in back and it was a really sweet system. If you only listen to AM, go the cheap route, if you play air guitar, want to blast out the boom boom car next to you (led zeppelin kashmir on tap) or enjoy high quality music spend a couple of hundred and upgrade.
Crutchfield’s very nice. I got my current unit there and am pretty pleased with it. They also have photos of your dash to refer to, and will be able to tell you if a radio you’re interested in will fit. They are a little pricier than others, but include the installation kit at no charge.
Or if you want to really do it on the cheap, check ebay for a replacement factory radio–it will likely be cheaper than the repair.