I just posted a thread simmilar to this and was looking at the same thing, those bastards!! It will be a bitch because, like you said, the dials are bulging outward from it.
there isnt ne decks out now that can make the steering wheels controls work with the aftermarket.. once u go after market u loose them UNLESS u want to buy this peice from a company called peripherals the peice is like 200bones and unless u know how to do it urself installers will charge u an arm n leg .. its not easy..Huff said:It should be fairly easy to install an aftermarket head unit in the Caliber. There are several companies that make inexpensive (< $20) mounting kits. Those kits allow standard aftermarket headunits and have flanges that fill in the 1/2 circle where the factory knobs are. The stereo on my 2004 Durango is similar to the Calibers. The kit worked great.
The main issue I see is if you have the steering wheel stereo controls. I don't know if any aftermarket stereos are compatible with the steering wheel controls. Anyone know?
The 2nd issue is aftermarket compatibility with the dash cluster station identification display. I assume it uses the stereos canbus which again may compatibility problems.
So in essence aftermarket installation should be simple for Calibers without the steering wheel controls (MusicGate option) and dash cluster station display.