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I've been looking to have a new car stereo placed in my car. A friend said he could do it but the plugs were different sizes and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Best Buy has a 50 dollar install but hear they charge you 30-70 on top for parts. Way too expansive and was wondering what an alternative route would be? Call local garages? I'm even tempted to place a craiglist ad to see if somebody would teach me how to do it. I'm a social worker who has to watch money so I'd like to find a cheaper and more practicable option out there.
I've been looking to have a new car stereo placed in my car. A friend said he could do it but the plugs were different sizes and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Best Buy has a 50 dollar install but hear they charge you 30-70 on top for parts. Way too expansive and was wondering what an alternative route would be? Call local garages? I'm even tempted to place a craiglist ad to see if somebody would teach me how to do it. I'm a social worker who has to watch money so I'd like to find a cheaper and more practicable option out there.
$50 for install is actually pretty dirt cheap if you can't do it on your own. As long as your is simple, all you would need for additional parts is a vehicle specific wiring harness which would mate the aftermarket stereo with your factory stereo wiring. Best buy carries these, usually at a cost of about $20. If your car is a more complex installation then things could get more expensive.
For instance in my G35 you can't remove the center stack housing the factory stereo without first taking apart the passenger side glove box and air bag, along with the underside of the driver side steering wheel and dashboard analog clock/hvac/lcd display. It's a huge pain in the butt that I wouldn't enjoy doing again.
If you had bought the head unit from Crutchfield they would have either sold you something that would fit without any wiring modification or given you wiring adapters so it would have been plug and play. If you are set on the head unit you have, you might call Crutchfield and see if they will sell you just the wiring adapters, or if they recommend just going to a different head unit.
IMHO the problem with a cheap chain store install is its a crap shoot who will actually do the install. Could be a real expert, could be a kid who was working under the Golden Arches last week.
Three solid words of advice: Crutchfield, Crutchfield, and...you guessed it; Crutchfield. You can do it yourself; the detailed instructions included with every amp, head unit and speaker set is illustrated and in step by step sequence. I've been a Crutchfield customer since the mid-1980's and IMO, they are the best. All three of our cars are outfitted with their gear - you can't go wrong; M3 Mitch is spot on.
You didn't mention what make/model/year of car you have. But installing a car stereo is easier than most think. The wires on the car stereo's radio harness are all labeled and so are the wires on the harness adapter that you can buy at places like Wal mart. it's a simple matter of mating the corresponsidng wires together. I.E. left front speaker positive to left front speaker positive, right rear negative speaker to right rear negative, etc.
On some radios, the wires on the radio are the same color code as the wiring harness adapter. Then you have the antenna plug to hook up and once you have the harness adapter hooked tot he new radio, you just plug it up and go.
Really if you can read and follow instructions, hooking up a car stereo is a breeze.
OP, the main thing is you should not have to cut any of the factory wires on your car. Just say no to that, and get rid of any "helpers" who want to do it. You can get adapters, anymore most all cars are DIN or double DIN, if you cut the wires that come on the head unit, you are at worst out the head unit, but if you bugger up the car's wires you can cause yourself some expensive trouble
Depending on what you have for a head unit (and how do you know it's really better than what came with the car?) you may be ahead of the game to sell it and get something that will fit more easily from Crutchfield.
Another thought is to buy some upgrade speakers. If you were to buy some speakers from Crutchfield, they can supply something that will drop right into the stock locations with no cutting, grinding, or swearing needed - they would probably throw in an adapter for your head unit. The upgrade speakers will probably do more for your sound than the head unit anyway.
1. "I was given a price of x, but that's too much money. I know absolutely nothing about what this project requires, and have no reference whatsoever for pricing, but that's too much money".
2. "They're going to charge me $30-$70 for parts, and even though I have no freakin idea what parts may or may not be needed. that's too expensive".
3. "I have a low income, so all pricing should be tailored to my needs, regardless of what parts and labor are actually required".
Rant ended.
OP-get it done by a pro. Save up your pennies if necessary. If you and your buddies know nothing about it, which is obviously the case, pay a pro and be done with it. Blindly cobbling together parts and hiring some jackleg off CL is not going to be a good option for you.
OP mentioned Craigslist. That's where he *might* find affordable used audio equipment, however, it surely won't come with free 1-800 tech support or instructions (Crutchfield). I think possibly OP needs to defer his upgrade plans until he can afford a decent set-up. I've been there and it was always worth the wait.
As others above have said, it's not difficult installing a radio/CD player. Crutchfield is a good choice, but if you find a radio you like in a Crutchfield catalog, chances are good you'll find it at a lower price at Amazon.
The last one I installed was a Pioneer in a Civic. The radio was about $20 less at Amazon. I bought the harness from Crutchfield. There are two harnesses actually: one comes with the radio and plugs into the back of the radio; the other, which comes from Crutchfield, is car specific and plugs into the wiring harness existing in the car. The two harnesses have to be soldered or crimped together. If you buy the radio from Crutchfield, they may supply a single harness to link car and radio together, but I've always bought the radio separately.
P.S. Don't lose the installation "keys" that come with the radio if you ever want to remove the radio later. They come in all shapes and sizes. Kenwood alone has at least four different sets of keys that I'm aware of. It's sometimes difficult to get replacements from the manufacturer if the radio is discontinued, and the generic "one size fits all" from Crutchfield do not work as well.
Most of the time best buy offers free install on head units over $100
Then the only extra is the face plate and harness adapter,some times a antenna wire adapter.
Ive never had a problem with best buys work. But most of the time I can do it myself quicker than dealing with someone elses scedual.
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