2006 Sentra special edition - Stereo head unit replacement

[crackhammer]

Hello folks,

I have 2006 Nissan Sentra 1.8S Special Edition with Rockford Forsgate system (with 6 CD changer) (same as the one in this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__sSfDCyKFI)

I am out in the market to buy a replacement head unit so that I can play mp3CDs or mp3s out of a USB flash drive. I am very new to all this business, so pardon my silly questions, if any.

1. Which units fit this car? When asked to a friend of mine, he rolled his eyes and suggested to get any Single DIN unit. His opinion is, any single DIN unit will fit my car. Is that true? and if yes, do I need any extra wire harnesses etc?
I checked crutchfield and they have a few. Another site that I checked was, sonicelectronix, they have a very good variety but not too sure about the reseller.
2. Even though I am new to all this work, would like to replace head unit myself. There is a video up on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbUTCxC6tD0), doesn't look that difficult BUT if I turn out to be stupid enough to mess things up, how much should I pay local repair shop to fix it. By saying messing things up I mean, I remove the stereo head unit but can't put it back or put it back but messed up with wiring and no sound comes out of the system etc. I live in NY, 40 miles north of the city, if someone wants to guess the labor cost.

And now a silly question, if I replace the head unit, will this 6 CD changer still work or it will be useless? I have never had CD changer units in my life at home, so not too sure if they work plain as storage or also have reading abilities.

Thanks a lot in advance for your comments.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm not really familiar with that stereo (or modern car audio in general), but I'll do my best to answer the questions.
Crutchfield is an excellent place to start. They should have everything listed that will fit your car, and even include fit kits, instructions, all wiring harnesses, etc that you need to complete the job (although you might need some butt-connectors).

How much you have to pay really depends on how much you mess it up haha. In reality though, it shouldn't cost more than $50.

I'm going to guess the cd changer will probably be useless after replacing the head unit. Its pretty rare that the 2 systems will interface (or even share the same cable sometimes).

[crackhammer]

Many thanks for your reply.

My wife doesn't really want me to work on it as living in Europe, we never owned a car before. This is our first car and she strongly thinks that I will successfully mess it up or break something but I need to get my hands dirty at some point so why not start here ??

If anyone else stops by here and has some suggestion till christmas, comments are welcome.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Where did you live in Europe?
Cars are way more popular here, and there's way more people that can bail you out if you get yourself into trouble.
If you'd like to just "dip your toe in the water before you jump in", you could buy a head unit from best buy and sort of hang out with the guy while he installs it. They are usually pretty cool about that sort of thing.