wow 700.00 for your install you got truly ripped off i had the z2 and a drop down screen 4 headrest monitors a power adapter with video game input a rear and front view camera and a clifford 50.5 x alarm with tilt sensor and glass sensor plus the hood the doors the tailgate and the inbed trunk wired plus i had a radar detector put in and of course the bluetooth for the z2 and the stearing wheel controls and i paid a total of 180.00 for the install. car toys sounds like a true rip off how much do they charge for labor and how long to install a simple z2? all the places here in the bay area seem to charge 40 to 50.00 per hour what does car toys charge 350.00 per hour

Wait a minute...so now you have 2 SEPARATE radios in your car??? Sounds even more complex to me now! All these switches, speakers, aux speakers, are a waste.

And all this just because you can't get RDS??? Seems to me like XM/Sirius was a MUCH better route than FM...but to each is own.

Hopefully it works for you!

wow 700.00 for your install you got truly ripped off i had the z2 and a drop down screen 4 headrest monitors a power adapter with video game input a rear and front view camera and a clifford 50.5 x alarm with tilt sensor and glass sensor plus the hood the doors the tailgate and the inbed trunk wired plus i had a radar detector put in and of course the bluetooth for the z2 and the stearing wheel controls and i paid a total of 180.00 for the install. car toys sounds like a true rip off how much do they charge for labor and how long to install a simple z2? all the places here in the bay area seem to charge 40 to 50.00 per hour what does car toys charge 350.00 per hour

I have no idea which shop would have done ALL THAT for only $180. I had nearly the exact same installation done...but with a lot more sensors on the 50.5x. I did everything myself, except for the alarm (makes the insurance company happy

Just the alarm/8 sensors cost I think around $500. 12hr install.

wow 700.00 for your install you got truly ripped off i had the z2 and a drop down screen 4 headrest monitors a power adapter with video game input a rear and front view camera and a clifford 50.5 x alarm with tilt sensor and glass sensor plus the hood the doors the tailgate and the inbed trunk wired plus i had a radar detector put in and of course the bluetooth for the z2 and the stearing wheel controls and i paid a total of 180.00 for the install. car toys sounds like a true rip off how much do they charge for labor and how long to install a simple z2? all the places here in the bay area seem to charge 40 to 50.00 per hour what does car toys charge 350.00 per hour

To do all of that for $180, they either made good profit on the equipment or cut some major corners. If the equipment was less than retail I would worry about the install. What type of vehicle?

I think that's $700 Canadian, yes?...and yes, CarToys is known to be expensive but they are also known not to cut corners with their installs (with the exception of that whole Mercedes mess a few years ago). Whereas some shops will use T-taps they will either solder or use the preferred military splice. A good friend of mine has a brother that use to manage one of their stores here in Houston and he told me they've found that solder tends break due to heat/humidity. I asked him why they didn't use a higher melt rosin and he told me it wasn't that it melted, it just became brittle and would literally disintegrate off...

 

That's either some cheap ass solder or a horrible solder job then. I have never ever seen a proper solder joint "disintegrate"

I was thinking that same thing. I work in electronic repair (been doing this shit for almost 10 years..... how depressing) and Ive never seen a solder joint disintegrate. Ive seen joints go "cold" and have to be reheated and ive seen joints get eatin up by excessive flux left on the joint, but Ive never seen one disintegrate.

Did he get that solder out of a bubble gum machine in front of walmart or something?

No clue where they got it, I was recalling a conversation from three or four years ago. I do know that the air down here is humid and salty and one of the down sides to using solder is that it can trap moisture and corrode.

in california

i meant where in california? i'm also from the bay area and need to find a place where they do quality install work for a good price.

I have over $12000 invested in my sound system. But that is a LOT more than just a Z1/Z2.

got any pix....i want to see what a $12,000 sound system looks like.....

I bought a new Dodge pickup and was convinced by a friend to forget about the factory nav and buy the Avic Z2 instead.

Sounds like your friend needs a good butt-kicking.

An honest mistake. The system was useful to him and he wanted to pass along his good fortune. It just didn't turn out that way for me. Everybody has a different idea of what the best system is for them. My friend is truly a friend. The kind you don't find everyday. He's gone way out of his way to help with some other matters. Can't knock him for trying.

wow what a post. Z1 is number 1 in my book hands down. Solder is the best way to go they do not break. T-taps suck those who use them should be shot................lol

i would love to see two pics...

1. woodsman's two head-unit dash (this one more than the second one)

2. the $12,000 sound system someone mention

2 Radio Dash

to misfit. The last coat of bondo is drying now. So it'll be in paint tomorrow provided the weather is nice.

Well here I am again complaining about the routing of the Z1. Yesterday I put in an address and it was a joke. Tells me to turn right out of driveway heading south, should of turned left heading north, proceeded south for about one mile left turn, right turn, right turn, right turn,heading north passing my driveway! I laughed an then I thought what the hell are you laughing about dummy you paid two grand for this piece of sh#%. I won't go into detail of the rest of the trip but I'm sure glad that I had my google map because the four hour trip would have taken eight. Pioneer tells me to upgrade maps but I hate to spend another 250 and not have it work any better.

Here you go Nicky Carts. Its far from being finished but I'm getting there slowly but surely. Unless you owned a Dodge Ram you wouldn't notice that I relocated the 4 buttons in the dash under the radio. The buttons are for: 2 seat heaters, an exhaust brake, and the rear sliding window. It took a lot of monkey business to get it to fit underneath the radio and still look right. I moved it because I absolutely love the cup holder in the Ford Excursion and I had to have a place to put it. I will be installing it, as you see in the picture, where the 4 buttons used to go. I will paint the dash and cup holder (I hate the silver look). Now I will mount the Z2 right underneath the cup holder and build a custom box around it that includes a pair of speakers. It will probably be made of fiberglass like Cntrylvr79's but I'll probably cover it with leather to match the interior. I'll get rid of the cup holders that came stock as they are on the floor on the tunnel and don't leave much room for a 6th passerger to put their feet. It will take a couple weeks to get it finished but you can get a look at the floor plan until I do.

Here's the rig that the 2 Headed Monster will be in.

Megacab eh. Those things are friggin beasts. Nice, but damn they don't fit in the shop. BTW if you're going to relocate a cup holder over the avic, mak sure you seal the area between the bottom of the cup holder and the top of the avic. A lot of subarus have cupholders over the stock radio. And I can't tell you the number of coffee soaked radios I've pull out of them things.

You're gonna need alot more beers

Look closely and you'll see that it says NA my friend! Had to give up the real thing many years ago.

Megacab eh. Those things are friggin beasts. Nice, but damn they don't fit in the shop. BTW if you're going to relocate a cup holder over the avic, mak sure you seal the area between the bottom of the cup holder and the top of the avic. A lot of subarus have cupholders over the stock radio. And I can't tell you the number of coffee soaked radios I've pull out of them things.

You're right about them not fitting in the shop. I just ripped out my 7' doors and put in 10 footers. I hope I don't get the urge to jack it up more than that!

Sorry, but that 2 HU setup looks really goofy, ghetto, and overly complex to me, especially with toggle switches and all that. I bet the wiring looks quite a mess as well.

I would have either tried out the Kenwood (I hear it has RDS) or integrated a Garmin or TomTom into the dash. They don't have the bulk or depth so would be easier to integrate than a 2nd HU. Not to mention they may have better navigation abilities than the Z2.

It's not like you're stuck and HAVE to find a use for the Z2, there's this website called "eBay" that you can sell stuff you don't want...

In fact, you could get that factory navigation pretty cheap there. Here's one that went for less than $600.