I'd put pioneer in my car before I touched sony. But having Eclipse, Alpine, Rockford and other good brands, I just don't see the point in going any where near it.
I've also seen more Pioneer, Kenwood and definitely Clarion (though I'm not a big fan of Clarion, they do make some seriously high end shit) in top class auto show/audio cars than I've seen... well... pretty much any sony product at all. Even the guys at audiocom and the like that I've spoken to that sell sony car audio tell you that they're not that great and cheap for a reason and you'd get more out of another brand.
Obviously I'm not going to convince you and vice versa, but I know I'll never recommend sony car audio to anyone and point them in the direction of a better quality product, even if it's a lower model in a better quality brand.
Jono: yeah, opinions are a bitch, ay?