what cars to attempt & to stay away from?

hey guys

in your professional, semi-pro or novice opinion... all of which are valued... what are some cars/suvs/trucks that you would recommend a newbie to attempt and to stay away from?

thanks for replying

any of the ION based GM vehicles are not for the timid installer & also any newer diesels are not a good start. The easiest vehicles that I have found are the 2002-2005 Honda Civic's and the 2002 - 2006 Chevrolet Silverado's

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

are you talking from an audio standpoint or RS/Security standpoint?

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Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.

hah; probably should check which forum I'm looking at

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Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.

Here's another easier one for ya.  98-01 Jeep Cherokees, 2000 and lower s10s, oh and of course older corollas, camrys and their lekus equivalents.

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Cause I'm So white and nerdy...
First Class Certi-fried installer

awesome, thanks guys... keep 'em coming if ya got more!

Vehicles without transponder/passlock/etc. key systems.

Your first attempt should ONLY be a Grand Vitra!
Your last attempt should ONLY be a Corolla!

If you do your third install and have gotten that far prehaps you should consider a career change.

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Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

Um I don't get it whats the big deal with a grand vitara?

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Cause I'm So white and nerdy...
First Class Certi-fried installer

if you can do a harder one, all the others should be a piece of cake, why not start off with a tough one and take your time with it and learn all the alarm functions and bypasses.

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There are 10 types of people in the world, ones that understand binary and ones that dont.

infinkc wrote:

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if you can do a harder one, all the others should be a piece of cake, why not start off with a tough one and take your time with it and learn all the alarm functions and bypasses.

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A quote from Rob:

"Young grasshopper, you must learn to walk first before you learn to run."



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Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

if i were to attempt a harder one, chances are i'd fuk it up one way or another... and troubleshooting a difficult install would just be another learning curve a noob like me wouldn't want to tackle (yet)

Velocity said stay away from ION type.My chevy colorado was my first.Thought it was easy to wire.I did have problems with lack of knowledge for programing.I would think just from reading on this site to stay away from the fords and jeep.But i am a newbie.And thanks for all the help

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colorado tap the rockies

Easy cars... hmmm lets see... geez i'm drawing a blank! All the cars I THINK ARE EASY have security bypasses But when you've been doing it for 3 years... most cars seem easy. I'd stay away from toyota highlanders for awhile, ummm toyota avalons, any mercedes/ volkswagen/ audi, pretty much anything european we will not touch...  Stay away from newer jeep grand cherokees. Jeep wranglers are easy. Ford f-150 and f-250 trucks without security are easy.

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Hey a question about the last post,"any mercedes/ volkswagen/ audi, pretty much anything european we will not touch". Why is that? I remember hearing that some installers will not touch Mercedes, any reason why that could be? I mean i have not done any work on a mercedes, but have worked on volkswagens and they we not bad.

i do mostly euro. japanese are the easiest.

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Why oh Why didn't i take the blue pill
Darren Power

japper doo- cars are cake... my first care.. a simple deck install... took me a whole day to figure out...  yea.. stay away from lac's  ..  caddys are a PITA..specially the newer they get   . kias are retarded   ..  fords are easy  most of them..    hummer was super cake... the gen1 atleast...  havnt worked on a gen2 or gen3   ... figures i draw a blank now...    04 grandprix was little tricky.. needed that relocation harness to relocate the factory deck for the antitheft.  .. now i realized i coulda draw the 12v switched off of the moonroom circuit..  its funny how after i do an install i think about stuff i coulda done to make it easier .. then i dont see the same make model year for while and i forget it... i need to start writing ideas down

Easy:

Anything that says GM or Chev on it from 1989 through 2005.
Dodge 1990-2001

Hard:

2006 Saab 9-3.....
New Mercedes...

Not too bad, but not for the noobs:

VW, Audi, BMW, Lotus

Things that give me headaches:

Honda Odessy column covers
Ford Focus
Oldsmobile thing where you need to go under the back seat for disarm and have to look for the one light green wire out of the 50 or so light green wires that are under there....


Other than that.... we typically don't turn anything away. You can pretty much remote start anything out there (exept for the newest Mercedes, possibly the push button start VW/Audi stuff.)

Gus




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Wherever I go, that is where I end up......

ive heard the new benze's and audi's are a PITA... just way too much computer and less and less mechanical...  it just takes the fun out of it.... damn germans!

mercs can be pain in the ass alright. even some of the slightly older ones were a pain

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Why oh Why didn't i take the blue pill
Darren Power

Ok when you guys say that Mercedes are a "pain" or "hard" what do you mean by that? Space? Things are hard to locate? etc....?

Just trying to figure out what it's all about. If it's a fact or a myth about Mercedes.
Thanks.

Older Camery and Cadys are great.  Dodge Intrepid sucked as far as taking the entire dash out to get to wires but install was easy after that. 

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Ryan Lybeck
"Wiring diagrams are nice but still double check with DMM"!

mazda rx7: pretty simple except for the locking. You need to add a motor and its a PITA

Saturn Ion's are a PITA, from a RS/Security standpoint. Figuring out the door lock stuff on the newer Silverado's was "fun". And like pretty much everyone else, I tend to cringe when I see ANY new European car cross my path - just waaay too much computer for a newbie (unless you enjoy late nights, tons of coffee, and lack of hair from pulling it out in frustration).

Any car is a attemptable car for any professional installer.  If you are a profressional installer and you feel certain cars are to risky to attempt you need a new line of work.  I have done cars nobody thinks you can do.  The only and most important key is to use simple testing procedures to firgure out how to wire up to a car.  Your meter and ohms law and basic knowledge of relays and exp[erience.  For example i have recently attempted an audi a6  no tech info of any kind after a bit of work i found out how to get it done.  Dont be afraid to attempt just be careful and take your time and know when to stop when you run into something that is beyond your scope if you dont know how to wire up or test for something ask someone else with more experience and if you ask and they dont know then its probably time to stop the install.

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i hate ebay they are stealing my business

In my opinon the "EASIEST" install would be the "Buick Rendevous". 45 minutes and your done. Lots of room to get to stuff and is all mainly located in the center concoule, which you could stuff a dead body in there. As for the "HARDEST" one I would have to say the "2002 Caravans". Man I hate doing those.