Worst Intall Expericence
 

Ok my fiance' gave me a CD player for my car for Christmas, and my dad says he knows someone who can put it in. So this morning we go to this guys house and to begin with he's not even there. 15 minutes later he shows up and starts to look over the stuff. Before he even tries though I notice he has this small @ss tool box, its not even a tool box, its a tray w/ little tools. He tries to take the OEM stereo off with this little hook that looks like something your dentist would use, I was like WTF?? I had to stop him before he messed up my dash. I told him you need a flat-head screwdriver, HE DIDN"T EVEN HAVE ONE! I had to run to AutoZone and buy one! Then he tried to attach the adaptor to the A/C plug by cutting the covering to it, I said STOP! I had to show him which one went to the stereo unit. After that he just began cutting adn snipping wires, all the while blowing fuses in my car. I had to run to AutoZone AGAIN!!! After that I can't name how many things he did wrong. I couldn't really say much either b/c he's my dad's friend. To top it all off in the end he couldn't get it done and so we had to put everything back together again. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG] I told my dad I'm going to Circuit City or someother place that'll do it PROFESSIONALLY, and never to tell me he knows someone ever again! I just couldn't believe this guy said he's installed hundreds of sound systems before, which was the reason why I let him work on my car in the first place. Arrrgghhh. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG]

Dude, that sucks. Find yourself a professional car audio shop. It's only gonna cost $60 at the most to install a headunit. I wouldn't even trust Circuit City or Best Buy.

If you do a little research you should be able to do it yourself, its really not that hard, and you will no doubt do a better job than your Dad's friend.

Good Luck

Thanks. Although my knowledge of electrical stuff is very limited. I think from now on I'm going to go to an audio shop.

word to the wise if your gonna go to the side and have a "friend of a friend" do an install ask to see some finished work before obligating yourself and your ride to getting work done on it IMO

thats like when I spent 150.00:eek: on install, for a alpine screen that ended up having a bad brain unit and reciver! The screen kept getting stuck and the brain over heated!! then the the install guys told me that they would have to charge me to have it removed:cry: It all worked out, the manager hooked me up and uninstalled it for free and then give me good deal on another deck:tup:

sounds like u know more than you believe yourself to know... er.. yeah.

research a lil and do it yourself. its not that tough.

pretty much plug and play IMO.

TiM3,
Theres a diy around here will really good pics of where all the bolts are. Seach for it, its worth the effort.
Secondly, all you should need is an adapter wire harness kit that plugs into the new cd player on one end, the other into the stock connections. You'll also need to purchase a new plastic braket to hold the cd player. You might end up losing the little drawer though.

Theres minor soldering involved, but its all color corrdinated. Set a side about 3-4 hours for first time. After that, about an hour. Good luck.

EDIT: Under link "DIY" at top of page, theres a link "Removing the factory headunit in a 7thGen Honda Civic". Thats what I used. Look it over even if you're not going to do it yourself. Its useful info.

you can buy a harness that plugs into your stockharness and is color-coded to the harness on the radio for like $15 makes it real easy.

That's what I did.. Got it from crtuchfield and made it more simple... No need to cut any wires after that.

thats true. trust me, best buy sucks.

Thanks guys. I know you said the wire harness just connects to the adaptor with the car to the unit but, at least from what I saw, you also have to tie those wires together. Like you have to match all the colored wires, like 9 or 10 of them. Unless there is an easier way that I don't know about, if there is please let me know. Everything else seemed pretty simple, its just all that wiring that messes me up.

PS: I also got the unit sent to me from Crutchfield but the wiring directions were not that good, or maybe I just can't read? Who knows? Oh yeah, I also went to Best Buy and Circuit City and they both had the exact same units! Talk about no selection.

The Good Guys should be able to install it for 40 or 50 bucks. Well worth it IMO.

he used a radio puller for like a ford radio or somethin it sounds...i even know what to do!!!!! whata moron:_doh:

I had my deck in my car and the EX cd player swaped to the wifes in 45 minutes. its only 2 bolts.

Yeah I think he factory Cd player is a lot easier to install b/c all you have to do is plug it in. But an aftermarket cd player you have to wire the adaptor and then plug it in. Its the wiring part that I'm not sure about.

Try doing it yourself using a crutchfield DIY or the one on here...it is not that hard to do, and it sounds like you would do better then what that other guy did to your car. You can't always trust places like Circuit City either...the first stereo I had in my car I got "free" installation from them and they hooked the ish up wrong...my amps were always on and going into protection, so I thought I had defective amps...but it was a crappy install!

the head and amp/subs were my first install in my first car...i ended up getting them done by circuit city, which was a big mistake.
:tdown: circuit city

I guess it is right about that guy who installed my systems. I went to a special car audio and alarm place and he said a lot fo Best Buys and Circuit City place dont know how to install and they F*** up your car and I thought he was just saying that just so he gets more business but i guess i was wrong. He does a really good job and he does it quick too!! He knows what he's doing and he hooks me up with some really cheap prices. And I thought those places were the best way to get it installed. But dont they give you a warranty for the install though?

Damn..... Sounds like a lot of people had problems with CirCity and BestBuy. Hmmmm. Making me think twice about going there. Has anyone had good experience with them??? How much should I expect to pay for installation at an audio store??

cheaper than circuit city i found out...i couldnt stop punching myself for screwing up so bad