I give up, Bloomingon, IN, 855LCD,'96 century

I purchased an Autopage 855LCD off of ebay for my '96 buick century. I've never done a remote starter install, but figured that it would be a breeze with my background (I don a fair amount of electronics work in the past... I felt really confident and had no problems building my own arcade machine) But, this, on the other hand has turned into the biggest PITA ever.

Between these factors:
1) not having a garage to do this in (I'm parked in my own parking space in the top-part of a public garage.) But not having power outlets to plug lights and normal soldering irons into makes for a ton more difficulty.

2) lack of proper tools. I worked for 10 minutes tryint to strip 1/4 inch of insulation off of one wire. I have some decent, or so I thought, wire strippers that I've used for many a project in the past, but they just don't seem to cut it for the larger grade stuff I'm working with in my car.

3) Finally, I think the fact that a)I am not 100% sure how to locate some of the wires I need without potentially damaging them and b) that the wiring diagram on here and from bulldog security don't match up doesn't reassure me any.

So.. as the topic says... I give up.

I would love to get this installed, but I can't find anyone around here that will even let me pay them to do it.

Anyone know of anyone that I can pay to a) either seriously assist, or b) do it for me??

I'd appreciate any words of encouragement!

give me a call at (812)369-8937, or drop me an email, bendalton+12@gmail.com

Thanks,

Ben

PS: I feel like a loser for this.

Dude...I feel for ya. Its tuff to do anything correctly without the right tools. Im sorry Im 3000 miles away!

Someone there has to want to help....it will cost you, and youll get NO warranty.

keep your chin up....and your NOT a loser!

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Thanks for the encouragement.

I know I *can* do it... but at the rate i'm going (it took me about 5 hours to get my dash apart and a hole through the firewall), it's going to be summer befor I get it done.

I don't expect a warranty, I can solder, use a multimeter, troubleshoot. I guess i'm just not used to doing that all while lying on my back in my car.

The best idea i had was taking out my driver seat... made life at least a little better.

thanks!

drive to Columbus, OH.  We will have you done and on your way back in about 3 hours.  We are authorized Autopage dealers too.  No warranty on the unit though. 

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South Side Audio
2501 S. High St
Columbus, OH 43207

We are getting closer! From 3000 miles down to about 250... I'd prefer to drive less than an hour or two each direction... Thanks for the offer though... I'm pretty desparate, so who knows :-)

Anyone around central indy?

WOW I live in Bloomington,IN as well.I installed my own LCD R/S in my 05 colorado.It was my first,took like 16 hours to wire but i am a perfectionist so time is for the better.In your position no way.I had a friends garage for the weekend.

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colorado tap the rockies

Well thanks for your call! I'm definitely going to follow up w/ the people you mentioned on the phone. I'll keep you all posted on my luck...

But, I'm still interested if someone wants to help out!

Thanks!
Ben

*UPDATE*: It is installed and working!

I received a call on Monday morning from a shop called Soundsational up in Indianapolis (about 1 hour north of Bloomington). The guy I spoke to on the phone asked me a couple of quick questions and then told me they could probably do it for around a $100 and have it take about an hour. I was excited.

I took the afternoon off yesterday and drove up there arriving about an hour early (my appointment was at 2pm.) I walk into the store, drop off my keys, and head to the movie theatre down the way in the strip mall. I watch King Kong.

So, I get out of the movie, go back to the store. As soon as I walk in the door, I'm told that they tried to call me about 10 minutes after I walked out the first time. No reception in the movie theatre = DOH! The short of what they tell me is that they were under the wrong impression about how much I had done. The guy who quoted me $100 thought that I just needed it programmed. In the end, they said they could do it for $225, take it or leave it.

I really felt like I got the shaft on this situation. But, since I've not been able to locate anyone who was willing to do the install, and they were an authorized autopage dealer. I did it.

As of now, I'm glad I got it installed. However, I'm still more than a little ticked off that the guy who read my post on here, and called, would quote me a completely innacurate amount. I lost 1/2 day of work, money for gas, and of course the extra $125.

Oh well... I hope it lasts for me.

next time deal with a local dealer from the beginning...  buying it on ebay is the true source of the problems you experienced..... not the shop that eventually decided to try and take care of someone who didnt even buy the product from them.....

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Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979

yep, you are surely right on that. Even with buying it off of ebay and fussing with everything, I'm sure I saved at least $100-150.

for the future though, I'll definitely advise people to go through the dealer.

bendalton wrote:

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yep, you are surely right on that. Even with buying it off of ebay and fussing with everything, I'm sure I saved at least $100-150.

for the future though, I'll definitely advise people to go through the dealer.

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u may have saved $100 but you gained:

no warranty

no support

no troubleshooting

etc...

NO PIECE OF MIND!!

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South Side Audio
2501 S. High St
Columbus, OH 43207