Installation costs

[dmband5]

I just ordered a Pioneer 920 and went to Best buy to get a labor quote. I have all the parts and the steering wheel control so I will just be paying labor costs. They want $100 for the unit $60 for the steering wheel control and $5 for misc parts fee. So $165 total labor costs. I was wondering if this is reasonable for the unit to be installed. It seems like a lot because I only paid $510 for the unit itself. How is the installation to do yourself? THANKS.

[lbridges]

That depends on the vehicle (and how much has to come apart to swap the unit in). For mine ( a 2011 Toyota Tacoma), I would consider it hiway robbery (with wiring harness and nothing other than a head-unit change it's less than a half-hour work).

[dmband5]

It's a 2005 Ford Expedition the guy at Best Buy said there's a lot of splicing for the steering wheel control.

[1loudls]

it may be expensive, but if you dont know what your doing, then its really not bad, biggest benefit, the labor has a lifetime warranty, so if you ever have any problems, you take it back to them and let them deal with it.

 

down side, most geeksquad guys wont bypass it.

 

that being said, an 05 explorer is a pretty easy truck to do, especially if you use a axxess steering wheel control adapter instead of a SWI-PS because they program themselves, as far as a lot of splicing, not really, worse case scenario, you need to tap ACC power, ground, and a resistance wire, some of the ford harnesses need you to take one of the wires and ground it out, then program and plug it in to the radio.

[ugadawgs311]

In my 2007 Z71 Tahoe it cost me $239. I had a lot of extra work that needed to be done though; i.e. back up camera, pre-wired Bose system, rear LCD screen, back up / parking sensors, and I had them install it with a bypass so I can input addresses on the fly.

[johnwill]

That depends on the vehicle (and how much has to come apart to swap the unit in). For mine ( a 2011 Toyota Tacoma), I would consider it hiway robbery (with wiring harness and nothing other than a head-unit change it's less than a half-hour work).

 

You could do this in 30 minutes ?

[lbridges]

 

You could do this in 30 minutes ?

 

In a Tacoma with suitable wiring harness connectors, yes. It's pop off the climate control panel, undo 4 bolts, pull the unit, unplug wires, and reverse. Keep in mind Metra makes a pre-made wiring kit for the Axxess ASWC for the Tacoma, no splicing, no soldering, no guess work of which wire goes where.

[1loudls]

^^^ basically if you stare at a toyota long enough, the car will actually install the head unit itself, it also doesnt hurt that the ASWC programs itself and all you have to do is plug it in. hell the longest part of the job is running the mic if you dont dont do VSS or reverse (unless of coarse you get the harness that does VSS and REVERSE for you)

[dmband5]

I think I will just do the unit for the $100 labor and wait and see if I want the steering wheel controls later for the $60. Thanks for the replies. The bypass looks super easy to do so I think I will just do that before I have them install the unit.

[Rbohno]

If you have the correct wiring harness adapter and module for the steering wheel controls it is easy. The only problem I had was programming the buttons on the steering wheel, wiring and installation was easy though.

[ThumperPup]

Best buy is a rip off i they gave me that same quate 99.99 is there price for advance DVD navi install 60 for steering wheel controls

weather they do it at the time the radio is already out or if you come back a month latter there price is always the same on that kidn of sucks i can see 60 since they have to remove the radio

but at the same time as they are already have the radio out for the install i think they should nock price to like 35 or 40

but here is the kicker also

when you get there you are told 20 to run your Ipod cable 20 to run your BT Mic

and 20 for each other ecesory that needs to be run unless its a back up camera then its even more because its more work for them to do

but they quated me over 200 i told them to scram lol

[1loudls]

they quated me over 200 i told them to scram lol

thats interesting, when you tell somebody to scram, you are telling them to "go away" you were in their shop, where were they supposed to go?

 

 

 

 

as far as it being over priced, thats their price, if you dont like it, then you dont have to get it. however in our town, the three custom shops actually charge more that BB/Geeksquad, and the only two shops that are cheaper, are tinting and detailing shops that also do installs (and twice ive had people bring their installs to me to fix them and their way of connecting the wire harnesses was to twist and tape)

 

also try to find a shop for less that will warranty their work for the life time of the car, and at over 1,200 locations nation wide. then reinstall the factory equipment when you get rid of the car. if you think that is a high price, try asking asking a dealer, they will tell you its at least three hours on the books @ $100 per, and that is just for the radio with no peripherals.

[ThumperPup]

well basically they knew i was saying take there price and shuve it

im sorry but

you don't advertise a price and then charge More to install options that come with the Unit itself

now i can see if the Mic and the ipod cable where add on options that did not come in the box with the HU

and if the VSS wire was not needed to operate correctly then yeah i can see them charging those

 

but the stuff came in the box or needed to be hooked up

so there 100 dollar price for install they advertise should have been the price not plus 20 and 20 and 20 more for things that come in the box with the HU

 

again yeah the price is fine and dandy if that is what they are charging and you buy options that don't come standard with the Unit

but if they come in the box with the unit there price should be for installing that unit

 

if they don't like that then they can talk to the Manafature and have something labeled specialy for Best Buy or something where they don't have the ipod cable and the BT Mic included in the unit and they cahrge extra for those and all

 

but you don;t charge someone 100 dolalrs to install a dvd hu or navi hu and then say if you want it to work properly you have to pay us 20 bucks more to run the VSS or if you want your ipod cable plugged into the back of the HU thats another 20 or if you want your BT cable plugged in thats 20

[ma_ttcald]

Best Buy sucks!! I would never let them touch my car, even if it is cheap. Best Buy doesn't require people to be certified to do installs as far as I know. Sure I paid like $300 to get my unit installed, but it was well worth it.

[1loudls]

you don't advertise a price and then charge More to install options that come with the Unit itself

where do you live that this is the case???

 

even you agree that they are optional items,

 

if you go to a hot rod shop and have a supercharger put on your car, they are going to charge you more to have the fuel system upgraded to feed the blower, then they are going to charge you more to tune the motor so its not a moving grenade. adding options adds to the amount of work being done, and therefore should add to the price. just because they include one optional part in the box (that almost every company charges you more for), doesn't mean that it should get installed for the price of "on the house".

 

for instance, take the alpine CDE-124SXM. which is a CD receiver and a XM tuner packaged together. separately the deck cost $200 and the XM tuner cost $70, but if you buy them together it cost $230, so you save a few bucks by buying them together. now the labor for a deck install is $50 and the labor for sat install is $60, now its no less work whether you want the package deal or you want a slightly better alpine deck and you buy the two parts separately, so why would the price be over 50% less just because they came in the same convenient box? if it was then you would just be fleecing everybody that bought them separately. you are paying for a service (or most times multiple services), they are just better at having a fair pricing system.

 

also then everybody that bought from a brand that didn't include the ipod cable(which is far more often the case), would be paying the same price just to have less work done.

 

 

now i can see if the Mic and the ipod cable where add on options that did not come in the box with the HU

and if the VSS wire was not needed to operate correctly then yeah i can see them charging those

again how many boxes there were, does not change how much work was being done. there actually shouldn't be a charge for the mic and VSS as they are a part of the main system, and are needed for proper use.

there is actually not SKU for either of those items, because there is not a service to just install them. there is however a SKU for running a ipod cable (or other media device, of course) as that is an optional device to the unit, and will fully function great with out an ipod.

 

again yeah the price is fine and dandy if that is what they are charging and you buy options that don't come standard with the Unit but if they come in the box with the unit there price should be for installing that unit

again where does how many boxes you buy, equal how much work you are asking for?

 

if they don't like that then they can talk to the Manafature and have something labeled specialy for Best Buy or something where they don't have the ipod cable and the BT Mic included in the unit and they cahrge extra for those and all

so then you want pioneer to go through the trouble of making special packaging just for one retailer, you do realize that this will add to the total cost of manufacturing right, and this cost will not be just lost to pioneer. can you guess who the cost will actually effect, yup thats right, the end user (pssssss. thats you by the way) will pick up any added cost. do you really want to tax yourself anymore than you have to?

 

 

but you don;t charge someone 100 dolalrs to install a dvd hu or navi hu and then say if you want it to work properly you have to pay us 20 bucks more to run the VSS or if you want your ipod cable plugged into the back of the HU thats another 20 or if you want your BT cable plugged in thats 20

again, it is wrong for them to charge you for VSS and for the BT, and it is part of the scope of work. instead of throwing out diarrhea of the mouth, "well basically they knew i was saying take there price and shuve it" , had to talked to them, thye might have given you a break, and helped you out, i know if i have a customer that is pretty cool, and i actually want them to come back, i sure will, but the people that act like dicks, can either pay the piper, or go kick rocks, and hope the guy that does it for crack head prices doesn't torch their car down.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Buy doesn't require people to be certified to do installs as far as I know.

well good to see how much you know, that way we can disregard most of your "facts"

 

actually BB has pretty much constant training all year long to keep up to date with changing technology, a good part of this training either comes directly form the manufactures or is indorsed by them, all techs must pass a in house certification before they are allowed to even work on cars alone (this certification is designed by a group of MECP master installers) then it is a job requirement that you must actually get MECP certified with in 90 days of being on the job.

 

 

Sure I paid like $300 to get my unit installed, but it was well worth it.

there you go OP, BB isnt crazy over priced, but having a qualified person do the job right, is well worth the price they ask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on a side note, only an idiot would say that any person is a worthless installer just because of where they work. by the same means, a place that charges more than another place does not mean that they have better installers. even some the best shops have hired bad installers. bottom line, you should only have somebody work on your vehicle that you trust, and the only way to figure that out is to go out and talk to the installers. and see for yourself, then you will be equipped to make those kinds of decisions.

 

there are roughly a little over 200 master installers nation wide, and the Geeksquad employs almost half of them. are there a few installers that work for best buy? well of course there is, no company can have thousands of techs and not have a couple of bad ones that havent been fired yet. but there is also a damn good chance that you will find a damn good tech their, just like every other shop ever opened.