Justifying The Cost Of An Install

I'm sure I'm not alone in this: My girlfriend thinks I have lost my mind and that the money I'm spending on my install would be much better spent on jewelry.  You guys do this for a living, and I need some ammo. What could I expect to pay to have a 4 guage, three amp install to three pair of speakers and a sub. The car is a '91 Volvo 740 Wagon. I'm doing it right, with a cap and fuse/ground blocks and good quality wire. I need the cost of installation only. I'm thinking that if I can show her how much I'm saving by doing the job myself, I may get off the couch by years end....................

are the speakers already installed????

where are the amps going??

any custom enclosures needed??? (amps, sub, cap???)

do they need to install the wire themselves or is there some in the car already?

We need all that info to give a ballpark price, any labor involved in tearing apart a dash, or rear deck will cost extra.....wiring under the carpet will cost extra depending on labor involved by lifting up the carpet......and custom enclosures will cost you up the ass if you dont do them yourself.....

and tell her that jewelry isnt a better spend, because you only get to look at jewelry.......with car audio, not only can you pop your trunk and get all your friends to drool, you can actually turn on the stereo and "wow" them twice as much......you win by the rule of senses (sight and sound...and touch i guess too)

at my shop, (canada) we charge $59.95 per pair of speakers so theres $180.00.

Plus the amps would be $69,95 first amp, 29.95 2nd and 3rd..$130.00

sub is included with amp install.

and for all the extra accessories, prolly about another 59.95

total cost around $400.  then you will need to add the wire costs and such.

59.95 for a pair of door speakers...damn thats ridiculous!!! no offense to your shop, but thats high price for a set of door speakers.   we charge 20 per set, 35 for the head unit, 25 for the cap, 50 for each amp.  any miscellanious cutting and stuff like difficulty to pick up carpet, removing seats and stuff...maybe an extra 30-40

so far your lookin at  about 300 for the labor 

now this does not include what we would charge for the box.  if you want a custom box.....it really depends on HOW custom you want it.  custom work is not easy, so it is very high price

$400 Canadian - $306 US, so you are both about the same cost.

FYI, I don't charge per the job, but a shop rate charge of $75 (US) per hour.

Alright here is a very extreme install i plan on getting it in about 6 months and i need to know how much this install might cost. im talking everything to the last detail. ex: caps wires battery's box building everything. oh and plus alternator too. Ok i plan on buying two solox's off of ebay and installing them in my s-10 x cab. Only one problem there isnt enough room in the cab so i want to make the box about 22 cu ft and put it in the bed and port the box into the truck. The box will be 1.5 inch mdf with fiberglass resin on the inside walls. Then a hole will be cut into the truck from the bed to the inside of the cab. i am going to tune it to about 35hz. I have one 5000 watt amp and i am probably gonna need about 3 yellow tops a 200 amp alternator a 5 farad capacitor. There is nothin really special about the box it will be square and just covered in luis vuitton fabric. but here is where to cool part comes in. I want to take 1.5 inch plexiglass and screw it into the bed so it is flush witht the top of the bed. and im gonna put a strobe light in there with maybe 2 neons.there is already a good head unit and all the wires need to be run. Any help is good.

              Thanks Wes