Cost and Installation

I went to a local car place that installs stereos, tvs and what not and I asked the salesman how much it would cost to install and in dash dvd player that played to 2 monitors on the headrests of the driver and passenger seats, including installationg. He said it would cost about $1400, to me that figure sounds rediculous.  Off an online retailer I can get two 5.6" monitors and an Indash DVD player for $550 + shipping.  I figure I need more then that but whatever else I need couldnt cost more than $100-200. So theres no way installation costs $700.  So my questions are, What else do I need besides the things I mentioned? If I was to Install all this myself, How Hard is it? and finally Is the Dealers price extravagent?

Thank You!

Price on installation all depends on where you live. The going rate foe installations here where we are is about $ 35 - $ 55 an hour. The installation that you are referring to would be about a 5 -6 hour job ( depending on the headrests and if there are modifications needed )  . This would not include any of the extra items that you would need ( wires, connectors, looming, etc ). So the total for labor alone is $ 330.00 ( and remember that this is Canadian ). The price that he gave you and the price that you got off the internet, was it for the same brand and model of product ? Just remeber that most retail stores sell the equipment at MSRP and online retailer sell much , much lower than MSRP just to get a sales, NO AFTER SALES SUPPORT HERE !!

American Dollars by the way.  Not the same brand but still. What I'm asking is do you think Joe Schmoe should buy online and install for MUCH cheaper or have a place do it. Also what else is needed besides the head unit/dvd player and the TVs. Thanks!

Hey Andrew; if they are not the same brand then your comparing apple to oranges, but regardless if you are to buy online and get a place to install all that stuff for you, the shop is going to charge you for every minute of the install, so I suggest a place with a lower hourly rate and good warranties on their work. If the head unit controls the DVD player and the TV tuner, then all you need is an amplifier ( if the HU doesn't have any speaker outputs ) other wise you need nothing else except interconnectors like RCA, power wire, primary wire, solder and electrical tape.

Most large retailers like Best Buy charge about $150 labor for in-dash units and they offer a lifetime warranty. I'm not sure about labor on head rest monitors. As far as self-install, it's not all that hard, just real time consuming. Have fun!

i'm in the middle of my mobile video install and its really not that hard (if your familiar with car electronics) but it is very time consuming.  it might be money well spent to have a pro do it  if you dont want to spend the time to install yourself.  have fun.

jason

If you are not familiar with doing this kind of thing yourself, then spend the extra money and have it done. Although it is your car you may want to experiment, keep in mind paying to have it done does include a warranty. As if something goes wrong with YOU doing it, one mistake might end up the amount you would have paid to get it done.  Whenever you add th word "custom" to an install job the installer can basically make the price what he wants to, although unethical, alot of places do this.

  Another thing to keep in mind when ordering online is the warranty of the actual product. If doing everything through a shop it is their responsibilty to make sure everything works. There is no waiting for UPS to drop the product, and if theres a problem trying to send it back, and waiting for it to arrive again. Most shops keep this kind of thing in stock, therefore making everything done in a day. Any problems and you just drive back to them.

My $.02

Just my 6cents

 about 13 years ago i used to be a very respected installer in sierra vista arizona.... did tons of custom work and we always has a set price for each type of install none of that bull about it being custom because all aftermatket installs are custom anywho like i said i have the knowledge but havent used it in a while (like riding a bike)  anyway  i bought a crimestopper CS_2006FM2 with the two way fm pagers remote start and added window roll up module... called around and took it to an install shop they had my truck 9 hours over 2 days they ended up installing it wrong and burnt out a 500 dollar (US) system...I got it replaced by the seller.. so next i called to salt lake city... they wanted to charge me 275 us dollars for alarm remote start with window up module claimed 5 hours install time i said screw that and did it myself in 2.5 hours and havent done this type of stuff in 13 years so whats up with that???? they just wanted to get as much as they could from what they thought was an idiot anyway do it yourself if you run into problems youll find the answer here or there or somewhere just take your time and it will come out right and if your in doubt ask someone

Bill