So my local shop wants $700 to install a single DIN HU, 2 sets of components, 2 amps, 2 10" subs in a zenclosures box, and a Viper 5900 alarm. Also I am not buying any of this from their shop. I feel like I am getting way screwed. What would be a decent pice for this ???? It seems a pretty straightforward install to me. Nothing crazy.

 

im in san diego and a shop just put in my double din for 60.00 , a few weeks later i got my amp n tc customs box and 3 -10"s , they installed that for 110.00...keep looking, every shop takes everyone for a sucker till u dont break.

 

Do it yourself man. Save the money. You just need to read a little bit around the forums and you will find all the info you need.

Just remember to disconnect the (-) power from the battery before playing with anything and reconnect (-) last. Also, sand down the locations where you want to make your ground connections. "Poor grounding" is a mistake I think I made in my last install, but have since re-installed a new setup that works great! No more "shocks!" ..lol. And finally G/L!

 

when you dont get stuff from the shop, many shops, including good ones, will jack up the labor rate to compensate for the less money earned off the equipment. infact, i would say most GOOD shops will do this.

but dont just go for cheap either, make sureits done right.

but 700 does seem a little steep, i personally would charge 3-400 bucks for all that, including dampening of the doors and running new wires to each of the speakres, i would dthink that a good shop with some experiences with Zs would charge 4-500 tops...

the largest chunk of hte labor in what you listed, is the speaker install, rings need to be made, wires run, door sealed etc etc, i would say thats half your labor time if not more on those items

b

 

trust me, i would have never though of installing a system by myself. i was ready to pay a shop whatever amount to install my Headunit, amps, sub, and components. but after talkin to several members and some friends, i was convinced to tackle this by myself.

I searched all around the forums here and found out how to remove everything that i needed to remove. i took my time and did not rush anything. it took me two days to do, and in the end it came out nice and clean.

+1 on doing it your self, you wont be disapointed.

honestly the only problem i ran into was the new door speakers were just about touching the inner door panel.

 

Yeah, and what I actually did was, using a razorblade, just trimmed out the speaker opening in the door just a little wider -->as I had the same problem. Just enough so that the factory speaker grill covers would still cover the hole and my cutting it, but I wouldn't have to worry about the mids hitting the speaker grill or door when "pounding" anymore.

 

I agree, that price is steep, but lets examine the situation a bit.

1) Do they sell the same brands you are asking them to install?

2) Did you tell them you bought the gear off the internet as opposed to buying it from them?

If you answered yes to either of the above, that could be why the quoted you so much for the installation.

Regardless.. the why does not matter, find another place to do your install.

 

damn that's lot of $$ for installation.

 

The shop does selll the stuff I am getting, and are aware Im buying it online. I know this forces them to raise the install price some, but they would only drop the install price by $125 if I bought the stuff from them, so its not worth it as I will save way more than $125 buying the items online.

Also I considered doing it myself. I dont think it would be too big a deal, except for running the power cables through the firewall and the speaker cables into the door. I dread that part.

 

dude the power wires through the firewall is the easiest thing! u dont need to drill a hole in the fire wall. there is an opening with a grommet there already and the power wires just slides through and comes out by the passenget kick panel.

 

The hardest (pain in the butt) part of the complete install will be the front speaker wires into the doors,,,,,and that is not "that hard" its just very time comsuming and tedious. As said above,,,there are threads here that will walk you through each step of everything you are installing. Plus, you will feel so good about yourself when your system fires up, sounds awesome and you know you did it yourself....Good luck,,,keep us posted.

 

Search through my install thread and you will see where I fit 2 0ga wires through the rubber boot in the firewall. I probably could have fit two more. Very easy.

 

I have wired several cars in my time...This is one of the easiest cars to hook up, especially since this forum tells you everything.

 

+1
I've never really worked on cars before this one, but with all the how to's and a friend, I've done an audio install, installed parts, installed carputer etc etc. This car is like lego.
The firewall is pretty easy, speaker wire to doors are time consuming, but it can be done. You can also buy the spacers from a member on here if you don't want to waste time cutting them yourself.

 

Mike from Zenclosures makes the door spacers for our car. Check the website out at www.zenclosures.com

If there are other people here on the board that also make spacers,,I apologize for not listing you as well. I bought mine from Mike and they fit perfectly.

 

I have been checking out zenclosures stuff for a while now. I have pretty much decided to go with the door pods and the 2x10 box under the strut tower. 2x10 might be overkill for me though.

You guys have got me considering doing th install myself. I reviewed the thread on running the speaker wires to the doors. That part still seems a little intimidating. Time consuming, tedious, potential pin damage, and some nuckle busting

 

if they take their time on your car ,and do a good job, then $ 50 an hour is not abnormal labor rate

10-15 hour job

the alarm is 3-4 hours
10-12 on the system

$ 700 sounds about right



i do not think $ 700 is too much , and definelty not a rip off

you could buy all the wire and supplies and do it yourself not hard

 

well, I was told it would be done in 1 day and the guy only works 8 hrs per day. So we are talking more like almost $90 per hour. Being that there is nothing "custom" being down, still seems too much to me.

 

I agree. That's a lot $$ for having no "custom" work done.

Just don't be intimidated by the front door speaker wiring. Take your time and follow the tutorials step by step. The concept of how/where the wire needs to be routed is simple, just make sure you understand all of that bc it's a lot easier to work FORWARD and slowly, than to go BACKWARDS, i.e. if you've done something wrong. But seriously, you don't want to have to dish out extra, "wasted" $$ buying stock/OEM parts from Performance Nissan bc you made a boo-boo! That's something I've learned playing around with the car. Do it right and do it right the FIRST TIME! No matter how long it might take! Patience is the key.. grasshopper.. haha..

No doubt, you'll probably put more care into it bc it's YOUR car as opposed to some shop that doesn't give 2 goose ****s about ur Z..

And, if all of us can do it ourselves, you surely can, too. It just takes some research/time/PATIENCE! G/L!

 

Figuring a labor rate of $50 to $75 per hour plus some materials (maybe some wire, wraps, connectors, etc.)... Truthfully, that sounds about right (or at least what I've paid for good installs).

A good installer is worth it... and they need to make a fair profit on the job. There is no doubt they will hit a "bump" doing your job, and they need to cover that "extra cost."

I think that is a fair price.

--Spike