Nickster81

Has anyone heard about the service at dealer cost car audio? I am looking to buy a bunch of JL Audio equipment and I like their prices. Thanks!

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

i almost bought some stuff from them i ended up buying from a member. I have heard on diyma that its legit though. Dont know about shipping times etc. though.

Nickster81

Thanks for the response! They have some of the best prices that I have found so far.

Fairly Z

I've noticed that on this website, most guys would consider your traditional authorized dealer the scum of the Earth. After all, why should retailers make a profit on what they sell? Naturally, they should be there for you, handing over the good stuff for dealer cost. While I completely resent that ever so abundant mentality in this industry, I'm not posting here to be your typical dick. Actually, I'll just show you this to help you out.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=111

That is JL Audio's internet sales disclaimer. The retailers listed on that page are the only authorized online retailers for JL equipment. Buy anywhere else, and JL won't offer you a warranty. Just letting you know, Dealer Cost Car Audio isn't on the list. Felt it best to give you the heads up.

jekl1001

+1

It seems like people want the best deal not the best quality product and service. I would rather pay a couple of extra bucks and get a warranty and customer service. I would say more, but I'm worried that some clown that sells things from the trunk of his car will read this and report me to a mod like a pu$$y.

This isn't knocking the OP at all. Just giving advice that buying from a reputable seller is much better than going for the cheapest price. Hopefully someone on here has had positive experiences and can help out.

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

Honestly getting a warranty from the manufacturer is usually more of a pain in the *** then the place you bought it from. Most reputable places will offer a year or two warranty with your purchase. Sonic electronix i sent an amp back to them and i had a new one within 5 business days no questions asked. If i sent it to "JL" it would have taken weeks more then likely. You can save alot of money and still get a good warranty from a well known internet seller.

edit... 3 year warranty included on all the jl products ive looked at on there. I think thats better then jl's warranty
http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/13w7.aspx

Nickster81

Thats what I was thinking when it comes to the 3 year warranty. The only thing that I have heard bad about Dealercostcaraudio.com was that sometimes they do not have the products in stock. I would just call and ask them first.

Does anybody have any first hand experience with these people? I am looking to spend about $1500 or so.

jekl1001

I hope I didn't come across wrong, zwole is right about reputable sellers on the internet. There are many. I just made a couple of purchases through courtesyparts.com and conceptzperformance.com and have nothing but good things to say about them.

I bought from them after seeing others on here say how good they were and not because of the price. As a matter of fact, the navigation bezel I purchased from CZP sold for $220. I am sure I could have found it cheaper somewhere else, but I called them and talked to a guy about the item for a good 15 minutes to make sure it would fit my car and matched the color. He said that if I wasn't 100% happy to ship it back. Someonw who is willing to do those things gets my money.

Good luck OP.

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

not at all man I agree with it alot of the time. If you dont know the place your buying from and they have a good rep then fine. But i wouldnt ever buy just because they have cheap prices if i didnt know the company well. Ive been thinking about buying a nav bezel as well to put a 7'' screen in for a nav and make it look mostly OEM. I know the buttons wouldnt work but it would look great.

orgasm_donor

iTrader: (4)

When it comes to performance parts for my Z I usually buy local then have it installed locally at the shop I bought it from (If I can't install it myself that is) so it can be warrantied. Most of my friends do the same for car audio. They come to me...I mark up my products a little bit so I can stay in business, offer a full lifetime install warranty, 1-year over the counter replacement warranty on all items I carry, unmatchable product set-up and knowledge and fast, friendly support.

For the few bucks people would save buying on the net, I make it so its not even worth it. Buy locally, support your local shop and improve your local economy while getting the service that you deserve.

My $.02

Fairly Z

+1 on that notion. Think about this... Back in the 90s, the car audio industry was absolutely brilliant. If you wanted to improve your car's audio system, you went to a car audio store - simple as that. You didn't go on the internet looking for a website called "Dealer Cost Car Audio." Sure, you'd pay a marked up price, but you'd get more than just equipment. In addition, you'd gain a relationship with the dealer. I'm young, but I've been in the industry for a very, very long time; ever since I was a small child, actually.

I remember the days when we'd build an impressive audio system in a customer's car and the customer would appreciate it when it was finally complete. They'd be happy with their purchase, and realistically, they had every reason to be. After all, we'd have spent a great deal of time with them discussing their options, we'd gone over the vehicle with them personally and given them what they were looking for for a reasonable price.

These days, people come into your store and say "This is what you pay for it, and this is what I'm paying." What kind of mindset is that? Orgasm_Donor is absolutely right. If you buy from your local dealer, you're supporting not only the economy, but the car audio industry. If you really have to, why not gather prices online and then go to your local dealer and see what they can do for you?

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

yeah and i agree with you but my city sucks. I have shitty shops around here that fugg my car up more then fix it. Also there is a difference in marking up prices and gouging someone in the ***. some of the shops here try to sell a 10w7 for like 500+$ its insane. The one shop i have a relationship with is 2 hours away from me. If i had a shop similar to you with good work and that showed respect for my car when they had it in the shop i would always buy from them.

I took my car to one when it was 2 months old not a scratch on the inside and when i got it back my seat was scratched all the aluminum pieces were scratched and the side pieces the mate with the kick panels were both cracked in half. Believe me if i had a local guy that could get anything i needed and just marked it up a little bit and ran a good business then i would always buy locally that just isnt the case everywhere though. Plus half the shops around here have not ever even heard of DLS etc.

adamtaylorpcb

iTrader: (7)

that just screams experienced

they probably think mtx or kicker are the car audio gods

duncan0802

iTrader: (1)

Hate to add to threads but while i can understand supporting your local economy, my local economy doesn't supply what i need. there is maybe one or two Z's within at least 25 miles that i know of, and there are none, Zero, shops that do car audio in my area, i have to travel over an hour to find a place, that place is best buy, which i would never bring my car to them.

So instead I spend my time researching and learning what i need to know to make a good decision since i cant ask anyone in person at a shop, and then find the best price. Believe me when i say if i could support someone local i would, it would make my life easier to answer a few questions about what i want and have someone with the experience help me make those decisions. So until that happens i'll put the legwork in and do the labor, and get the good price too.

jadaniya

iTrader: (22)

Well now days information is easily obtained on the net. Why pay someone else to do something that you can do yourself? And why pay a marked up price for the same product? If I'm going to save $60 on a deck, I can go without the smile from the merchant handing me the product, I'll smile myself when I get my same product for cheaper in the mail. In the 90s I would've gone to the car audio store, and that would've been absolutely brilliant. Now, I go on the net, learn about installs, feel good about doing it myself and save money...

orgasm_donor

iTrader: (4)

Well, here is the other side of that coin.
I had a customer come to my chop and get a quote on a Pioneer F90BT. I gave him the quote and he walked away. He then told me weeks later he had gotten one from Egay then attempted to install it himself. He did some research and tried to put the deck in his Hyundai Tiburon. I don't know what he did, but for whatever reason he fried his ECU! So that was a $920 mistake that was not covered under warranty. So after that he brought the car to me and I installed his F90. Right away the deck would not play cd's. It would play DVD's and do all the other things it should but no cd's. He has a masive CD collection. So he paid me to remove the deck and he messaged the E-store that he got it from and shipped it back to them. This was in early December and he hasn't gotten it back yet. Over a $1000 later and he still has no deck. Sometimes paying the extra $80-100 is sometimes (all the time IMO) worth it.

See where I am going with this?

Entaille

iTrader: (16)

most shops mark up things too high. for the alarm I got, the installed quote was at or just over a thousand pre-tax. I was referred to a local who does it professionally, but also does installs on the side. got the same setup for 550$.

buying an alarm online could have knocked another like 50-70$ off, but like orgasm said, the headache isn't worth it. the brain for the first unit was actually bad and since I bought locally from him, he was able to go back to his dealer and pick up another one. the extra bucks buying through your installer can definitely be worth while for reasons like that.

I see both sides of the argument, but a lot of shops need to adapt their product prices and keep their profit in the labor, not the parts. I think they should price things differently for those getting the parts installed at the shop and those who are just wanting to buy it to install themselves, give the folks using your labor extra incentive and knock some cost down, and charge the DIY's the normal price so you can still profit from the transaction.

this can be tough to do with some of these sites undercutting the crap out of prices. I talked to the shop I usually go to and he was amazed I could get the alarm so cheap online (not that I did, just pointed it out to him), he gets his alarms directly from viper and is an authorized installer etc, and they were charging him like 270$ a unit, when I could find it online for 150-200$.

my brain is all over the place, lack of sleep, not putting thoughts together well.

Mikey-Z

iTrader: (2)

I find most local shops are there to cater to the guys willing to buy the "ALL JL PACKAGE" for a premium price with full warranties, not the DIY consumer, or the user looking for the best bang-for-the-buck deals. There's not anything particularly wrong with that, it's just not as popular here.

Because of the internet, and forums like these, information is basically free now. As much as I would love to support my local economy, it's also about providing the services and products I need.

There is no right or wrong in the marketplace... just supply and demand. If people care less about warranties and service and more on bargains and bottom line price, then the merchants need to adapt or we'll continue to go to the tax-free, no warranty product with the questionable return policy for half the price.

Get_Zwole

iTrader: (34)

We understand where you are coming from dont get me wrong. If you ran a business even within a few hours of me i would go to you. But you dont, theres a shop here that has a set of "high fidelity" mb quarts that retail for like 399, he has a sticker on them for 699 not installed. Its **** like that is the reason i buy offline. I wouldnt buy a 1000 dollar unit off egay nor should many people, but ive never been burnt from good reputable shops online. Actually ive had better service from places online then local places. A local place said they would give me a 2 year warranty on my 12'' w3v2's i had in my truck. Well one of them stopped working i took it back and they said they would have to ship it off yadda yadda. Took 3 months and i finally got a new sub.

Like i said earlier had an amp go bad from Sonic Electronix and i had a new amp at my door in just under 2 weeks and they paid for shipping. If it were the 80 to 100 bucks you speak of i wouldnt have a problem paying it at all. But that just isnt the case 90% of the time. Most companies are out there to rape people that dont know anything about car audio or about prices.

mattk

iTrader: (2)

Information is free, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

I bought a Zapco DC Ref amplifier from Woofersetc, never mind I learned they are gray market from Canada, technicalities I don't care about as a DIY consumer. I thought, since I'm a bright guy, I couldn't have a problem. First the software was missing ("it should be in the box" - yeah, I missed that). So they got that, after a week. Hey, teh interweb is working! Then I needed an admin password and the firmware version was mismatched. I pretty much gave up at that point, internet headaches weren't worth it.

It encouraged me to go to a local dealer for a second DC Ref amplifier (still love the feature set). The first thing I learned is that I didn't save nearly what I thought on the internet. They forgot the software, but they got me a burned copy before I had to pick up the amplifier. They called the Zapco rep on Saturday to get me the admin password. When I went back to them for an amp rack, they threw in a cover window for free. I needed a couple grommets, they gave them to me (yes, they are cheap). Basically, having a relationship with the dealer saved me more, in time and money, than the 10% difference in price I could have saved.

YMMV, but I'm convinced good local dealers are worth it in the long run. If I really, really wanted a certain brand, like DLS, then I'd see the point since you won't always have a local dealer. So I guess "it depends" but I personally can't give a free pass to all internet being better because it's cheaper.