I bought a Pioneer Premier AVIC-F90BT and it was great for about a month and then I was having issues with the sound cutting out on the passenger speaker when using the Ipod. Now I had the HU and speakers(Focal's) installed at a Pioneer Dealer and I told them I wanted the Ipod cable replaced and it cost me nothing extra and now I have zero problems with the system. If you don't do the install yourself I recommend you find a shop that is going to stand behind the work they do and not charge you for any issues that may arise. I have had 2 cars since 2003 and both of them have pioneer headunits. My previous HU is a single din flip up screen model and after about 5 years the flip up gears are messing up but it still works and the operation of the HU is still perfect. Alpine>Kenwood>Pioneer>Alpine>Kenwood>Pioneer all you want but it is mostly up to personal preference. Like said above determine what features you want and match the head unit that best meets those requirements independant of brand. In comparison how many people would have bought Visio and LG televisions 5-10 years ago because they were cheaper than Sony. Look at those brands now they command the same premiums. Some companies do things right when it comes to quality and if they didn't make a quality product they wouldn't be in their respective businesses very long especially with the economy the way it is.
