Car radio for GTI

[Jan Vandenbrande]

......
Posting for a friend who recently obtained a VW GTI.

GTI comes equiped with "pre-stereo" package (antenna, leads, 4 speakers F/R).
Wanted:
Cassette / Radio in the US$200 - 300 range
Preferable DIN chassis
Radio: FM stereo, AM, digital tuning, arbitrary no of preselections
Cassette: Reliable is the issue. EQ, metal, auto reverse etc are nice
but not really required (neither is dolby)
Preamp: Balance and Fader, separate Bass and Treble prefered.
Amp: 4 Channels.

Main Criterium = Buttons must fit the interior of the GTI and
reliability. One unit (don't want separate amp) with 4 ch output.

We are speaking about a basic unit here! We have looked at a rather large no.
of car stereos around this area and have basically come across the same stuff
where ever we go.
The unit she likes are the Blaupunkt models.
The main problem is that most of the affordable ones are 2 Channel (but have
an output for an amp.)
The 4 channel models would be the solution except that they are rather expensive
(350 - 600 US$ = Los Angeles, Lexington and Washington models).

The question now is:
1] How reliable are the Blaupunkts. They are not made in W-Germany
but in Japan.
2] Does anyone know of a car radio/cassette with the above specs
and price that will go well with the GTI's interior (I know
that this may be a slap in the face for some true blooded
audiophyles (sp?))
3] Does anyone know a reasonably priced 4 Ch blaupunkt that does
not require an additional amp. (The Euro models may be different
from the ones sold here...)
4] How would a 2 Channel model hold up with an external fader attached?
We are talking about 2x7.5 Watts only. How will this affect the
sound quality/heat up the unit etc. How many ohms do these
external faders usually have? (speakers are 4 Ohms each).

With thanks in advance
Jan. UUCP: {seismo, allegra, decvax}!rochester!{ur-tut!junk, ur-automat!jan}