1. The Pioneer remote secures to the steering wheel with a strap, which was never tight enough round the wheel shaft to stop it rotating when a button is pressed. Not good.

This is likely a result of poor installation. The strap can be tightened as much as you need to tighten it. When you install it, you just need to really pull on it. If you had pulled the strap one or two clicks tighter, I doubt you would have had these problems.

FWIW my Pioneer CD-SR77 has been working very well for the last couple years. I only recently had to change the battery for the first time, and I use it a lot.