How to Find a Car Radio Code

Some car radios come with an anti-theft feature that they lock whenever they lose battery power. This feature typically locks the unit up until the correct car radio code is entered. The code is almost always specific to not only the make and model of the radio but also to that specific unit. If the code for your head unit isn’t written down anywhere in your owner’s manual, you’ll need to have a few different pieces of information ready before you can proceed.

Some of the information that you’ll typically have to need includes:

1. the make, model and year of the vehicle

2. the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle

3. the brand, serial number and part number of the radio

After you’ve located and written down all of the necessary information, you’ll be ready to track down the code that will unlock your specific head unit. At this point, you can contact a local dealer, go directly to the website of the automaker that manufactured your vehicle or rely on free or paid online resources and databases. Where you start is up to you, but chances are one of these places will have the code you need.

Official OEM Car Radio Code Sources

In order to obtain a car radio from an official, OEM source, you can either contact a local dealer or request a code directly from the OEM. Most automakers need you to go to your local dealer, but there are a handful like Honda, Mitsubishi, and Volvo that allow you to request your code online.

After you've gathered all of the relevant information about your car and your radio, you might contact a local dealer, ask to speak with the service department and then inform the service writer if he or she will look up your car radio code.

Online Code Lookup Services and Databases

If the manufacturer of your vehicle doesn't have an online code request service and you prefer using an online resource to contacting a local dealer, there are both free and paid databases that may be helpful. Of course, you should always exercise caution when dealing with these types of sources due to the chances of contracting malware from a malicious site or falling prey to a scammer.

Note

In order to obtain the brand, serial number, and part number of your radio, you will typically have to remove it. If you're uncomfortable with removing and installing a car stereo, you may be better off just taking your vehicle to a local dealer and asking them to reset the radio for you.  On the other hands, if you are going to replace your old radio then you don't even need to waste extra effort tracking your code, go purchase a new high-tech touch screen radio supporting wireless Bluetooth connection with your mobile phones, colorful camera, movie player and hand free phone call function is the best way solving all your problems.