Three years ago when I got my car, I purchased a iPod integration from USA SPEC which I wrote about at the time. When I recently upgraded and got my iPhone 3G S the integration still worked but it no longer would charge my phone while connected. Unfortunately, while the original iPod and most subsequent revisions were charged by FireWire and later ones charged by either FireWire or USB, the iPhone 3G S has dropped FireWire compatibility for charging (it’s never worked for data).

I contacted USA SPEC and ordered a replacement cable that basically moved the pins providing power from the ones used by FireWire to those used by USB. The problem came when I replaced the cable. It worked initially and just when I was going to clean up and put the tools away, there was the distinct smell and vision of the magic smoke. I quickly disconnected my phone and killed the ignition but the damage was done. Both the integration and the phone recognized they were attached to each other, but audio only came out the built-in speaker on the phone which one could hardly consider “integrated” with the stereo.

After another call to USA SPEC and the tech identified that most likely a resister was fried and that I needed to send both the unit and the cable for repair. Since it was long out of warrantee, it would cost me to fix it but he was unable to provide an estimate without seeing it first. I got an RMA number and shipped it out. While waiting for them to contact me with an estimate, I was stuck with using some cheesy battery-powered speakers. That was fun.

A week later, I got email confirmation that it had shipped back to me. No call, no communication, no fix? It arrived yesterday and was in-fact, a replacement unit. No invoice. I installed it today and it works like a charm.

I am always impressed with companies that dispense with “the rules” and are willing to do something nice to truly serve the customer. If you are looking to hook up your iPod/iPhone to your car, consider USA SPEC. They deserve it.