Rate Your Car For Ease Of Installation

By Amy Gilroy On Apr 18 2005 - 6:00am

CEA is seeking to develop an “Aftermarket Friendly Rating System” which would allow consumers to rate their vehicles on how easy it is to install car radios and other electronics into the vehicle.

CEA is currently in talks with CNET to locate the rating system on the CNET Web site. The rating system would be part of CarTech, a new section that CNET is launching in mid-May that focuses on consumer electronics and other vehicles, a spokesman said.

Under the proposed arrangement, users would be able to visit an area on CNET that would let them rank their current vehicle. Consumers could also visit the Web site to learn the ratings of a particular vehicle which they may be interested in purchasing.

Said Audiovox's engineering VP and chairman of the CEA R6 mobile electronics committee, Jim Tranchina, “It promotes the idea of aftermarket friendliness. It might even alert the car manufacturers to this being an issue.”

Tranchina explained, “The kids that go for the Scions and the Civics, they buy those cars and as soon as they get them, they want to modify them. That's what this portal will allow you to rate. Honda has made changes which allow very little change, while the Scions just introduced, allow a lot of modifiability. The American dream is not just transportation, but it's to personalize your vehicle.”