I will be driving down the road & periodically my radio stops working

Pull the radio & take to an auto radio repair shop

Take radio fuse out and clean terminals or replace fuse.

Need to have the dealer check it out. Should still be under warranty.
If not you need to check the wire connections, could be loose.

I'm assuming that you lost elec power to the radio? If so, check fuses first.
Not sure about 96, but the 2000 has a small plastic door in the side of the dash when you open the driver door. If you do have power, then try AM and FM etc...might be antenna connections. There is something strange about the electrical routing with some of these models - like the engine computer is routed through the radio? Don't quote me - keep searching -and good luck.

check computer

You have a wiring problem. check all connections and wiring for a break or bad connection.

How long have you use this battery ?probably it need maintenance,check the level of the distill water in the battery.

It's probably not a fuse. It sounds like your vehicle speed sensor went bad in the transmission. The reason your radio stopped working was because your radio is probably equipped with speed sensitive volume and it requires a speed signal to work.

hi,maybe have a bad electrical connection on radio ;loose contact on fuse,ty

check your headlight relay under the hood.