Well first off, Welcome!

To answer your question as best i can, i would say scrap the CD changer. It's pretty old stuff already. (like before the ipod got big) I would say, just buy a nice quality Headunit/CD player from best buy, or some where of the sorts. (if you have a local sound shop that'd probably be better) Maybe even look into a flipout screen or something??
I say this b/c you can get the adaptor for roughly $50 (depending on how small you want it to be) for your ipod, and play Thousands of songs, without the hassle of messing with the CD's!:sun:
I've had my same Kenwood Headunit for over 7 years now, and never a problem with it. I've got the adaptor for my ipod, and voila!!, thousands of songs at my fingertips!!! (plus you won't wear out the internals of the CD player..)
If you do decide to install the disc changer, i know that they are quite a bit of extra work, and unless you know someone who is really 'tech' savy, you're probably looking at more doh than you want to spend.