I just requested a return authorization from the idiots at Crutchfield. I ordered a Kenwood KDC-X995 HU and Kenwood's Sirius sat radio tuner, along with an iPod cable this week. It was delivered yesterday (Friday). Shipping and billing seems to be Crutchfield's singular talent. Other than that they are a just another bunch of ***** selling stuff on the web.

THE big draw with Crutchfield for unskilled driveway installers like me is their master sheet with customized instructions for "your car". They seemed to know the Crossfire during the ordering process. I used their outfit my car tool which identified the Nav radio. When I selected the Kenwood 995, the website correctly noted that I would lose the nav capability with the Kenwood. And it seemed to be aware that our Infinity system uses an external amp as it noted that their harness would allow you to use the factory amp. Also, the online order summary as well as the confirmation email listed their custom "Master Sheet" as part of the stuff they were shipping. That gave me confidence that they actually knew what they were doing. Big mistake on my part!

What arrived was all the hardware I had ordered including the installation tools and connectors. BUT NO MASTER SHEET! They sent me generic instructions for EVERYTHING I DID NOT BUY. Subwoofers, Plug-n-play satellite kits, Amplifiers, tons of advertising and promotions, BUT NO MASTER SHEET for a Crossfire and its wiring harness.

I may as well buy from some grey market seller on eBay and save a few bucks. At any rate, I had this one weekend to install this stuff and Crutchfield screwed that up. They can have their stuff back and I'll keep my money and my newly acquired knowledge of Crutchfield.

People seem to rave about this company on the web but frankly, my experience puts them right down there with Walmart at the bottom end of the service scale.

 

My bet is they don't have any Crossfire data, so, they just threw the sink at it, so to speak....lol

 

I think you're exactly right. Even total Crossfire output Base+Limited+SRT6 = very small numbers as auto production goes. I could easily believe they chose to let this fish go in favor of the Civics and Corollas of the world. I'm just PO'd they weren't up front about it.

 

I have heard this a lot about Crutchfield. I use SonicElectroinx.com for everything now. Better prices than Crutchfield and better customer service. I accidentally order the wrong adapter harness for my old Jeep. 100% my fault and they exchanged it for me for no charge (just s/h back to them).

 

Update

I assumed Crutchfield had gotten the harness right but after seeing photos in a "how to" thread on this forum I decided to check. The photos here showed a very different harness from the one Crutchfield shipped. That one had a bunch of wires but also, 4 RCA jacks.

So, I took a couple of minutes to pull the nav radio out and sure enough, Crutchfield got the harness wrong too. The harness pictured on the forum would be the correct one. There is absolutely no way to use the 4 RCA outputs with our nav radio stock setup.

To recap, Crutchfield sent me a bunch of useless generic info I don't need but no master sheet for a Crossfire and the wrong harness. I'd say these guys are worse than useless.

 

I just put the exact same HU in my car - looks and sounds great. I was bummed about the non-vehicle specific install guide but it was not too difficult to figure out.

The 4 RCA plugs were correctly attached to the wire harness so you could hook up directly the the HU Pre-Amp outputs giving you a cleaner sound that is why Crutchfield website told you you would be able to use the factory amp and bypass the amp built into the HU and actually went the extra step to hook up the RCA plugs for you. (On HUs with less than 4Volts Pre-Amp it would not work well but this HU has the neede 4Volts).

Obviously the front speakers go to the front speakers but I could not decide whether to use the sub-woofer pre-amp outputs or the rear speaker pre-amp outputs for the rear speakers. Tried both thought using the sub woofer outputs sounded a little better so hooked it up that way.

The HU has tons of adjustments to dial in the sound exactly as you like it - or if you are like me drive you crazy trying to decide which sounds best.

 

@Spudrace
For the premium prices they are charging i really hope you brought it up to their attention.

 

Glad it worked out for you. Where did you run the cable for the Bluetooth microphone? iPod cable? Did you buy the satellite radio add-on? If so, where did you route the satellite antenna cable? I wanted to run all three of those cables. That's how I got sucked in with Crutchfield's non-existent "Master Sheet". It would have been great to have step by step instructions for safe removal of trim panels rather than figuring it out as you go or breaking interior trim pieces that are hard to replace and expensive or driving around with a damaged interior. Once I realized the master sheet was a scam I figured I'd just buy the HU off eBay and save about $75.

So, how long did it take to run the cables and what trim panels had to come off and in what order. We can make our own "master sheet".

As for the harness, glad you were able to figure it out. Once again, it would have been nice if Crutchfield had actually supplied the detailed instructions they claimed to possess rather than leaving it up to inexperienced driveway installers to figure it out (or not) for themselves. Or simply tell the customer at the point the order is being placed that they in fact do NOT have any documentation for a particular car. At that point, they are adding zero value and you may as well buy from the lowest price supplier and save another $5 - $10.

And that is likely why they choose not to disclose the truth to the customer until you receive the box from UPS and you're peeing your pants with excitement. They hope that you'll just keep the stuff and find a way to figure it out or take it to a local installer and pay to have it installed rather than give up your precious new toy. Well, not me. They got their stuff back and I kept my money. I did it partly on principle and partly because I simply didn't want to waste my time. If I come back at this project in the future, I'll just buy at the lowest cost and do what you did, figure it out.

On a positive note, Crutchfield refunded all my money. They didn't deduct for return shipping. That would have been the icing on the cake if they had charged me to ship the stuff back. And they have a wonderfully simple return process. Worked like a charm. I suspect it gets used a lot.

 

I did not hook up the Bluetooth - bought this unit because it was in the outlet clearance section at a great price and no satelite add on - unable to help there.

The Ipod/USB and Aux cable I simply ran under them out by going under plastic passenger left sided panel just above that little net holder - just gently pulled the plastic panel off the carpet and pushed in on the carpet and stuck a finger up the grab cables, nothing to unbolt or disasemble. I did take a short length (2-3") of black plastic tubing split it up the middel and placed the two cables inside to act as a protective sleeve for the cable against any rubbing from the tight fit under the plastic edge. The cable and devices store in the little black net and stay there since you can control the Ipod and flashdrive devices from the headunit. Almost invisible and no front wire getting in the way of the stick shift I like the clean look of the HU - no flashing red green or blue lights.

 

Yeah, one of the reasons I liked this HU was the looks. The black with small chrome accents blended about as well as anything aftermarket will. Any silverish unit like the marine HU's will never match exactly. I'd rather go for a contrasting color than a half assed match any time there are decisions about color matching. The black of the Kenwood blends reasonably well with the black accents on the center stack and the overall interior. The customizable display allows you to match the OEM backlight color scheme or go wild with a huge palette of colors. Enjoy!