Should I attempt to install my new car stereo...or have it done professionally?

Question

I'm anxious to see what my new stereo looks like in my car (I get my car in 2 months for my birthday, but its in the driveway already) Im just wondering if I should try and go it my own or wait closer to April and have Geek Squad install it professionally. Question inside the Question ----- is it really that hard to install a car stereo?

Answer 1

No way should you pay anyone to do it for you. it's really extremely easy!! I have done it myself without any previous experience at all and got it right the first try.



The only thing that happened to me was that when i went to put my speakers in the back--the wires were somehow not hooked up!! 99.99999999% of the time they'll already be hooked up, but the guy who owned the car before us was a little weird, and i guess he removed them (no idea why!) but it was a simple fix, i just got new wires, and ran them under the carpet and through the doors to the back, and plugged them into the socket. worked great!



if you go to plug in the console, and it doesn't plug in easily, it's because you need to go get an adapter thing for your car. go to wal mart and look up the make/year of your car, and they'll give you a thing that plugs into the thing in your car, and it has wires that are labeled, and you just match the wire colors to the wire colors, twist them together, and cover them good with electrical tape. you don't even really have to buy the adapter if you don't want to, but it makes things easy to plug it in all at once so you don't have to connect them while you're sitting in your car.



at any rate, i'ts super easy and self-explanitory, way less complicated than i make it sound. all your stuff shoudl have instructions, just follow it and it will work. the only reason to take it to someone to do it professionally is if you try and it's screwed up or if like me someone took out the wires and you don't want to put them in yourself.

Answer 2

It depends on your car. Installs can range from incredibly easy, to mind-bogglingly difficult for someone who's never done it before. It's a great learning experience though and if you're car isn't too complicated I recommend trying just for the learning factor, plus instead of spending the money on the install you can use that money and purchase a soldering iron if you don't already have one. Newer cars can tend to be more difficult as the manufacturer tries to discourage theft of the original unit, but this is not always the case. Let me know what car you have and I'll try to help. Also www.the12volt.com is a great resource that will tell you exactly what you need to complete an install for a particular car.



Aight you'll need a wire harness and probably a pocket to go under your radio assuming you're new stereo is single DIN and the old one is double DIN. (Compare the two looking at the front and the stock Toyota stereo might be twice as tall. If so, notice how you'll need something to fill that extra space? If not, you will reuse the pocket for the new stereo.) According to www.the12volt.com the harness you'll need is a Metra #70-1761. The pocket will be included in the kit Metra #88-00-8000. You can get these at Best Buy, online, or another car audio store. Refer to this manual to install the radio. http://installdr.com/InstallDocs/Toyota/PDF/869037.pdf

If you need help soldering watch this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BLfXXRfRIzY



Also I usually put heat shrink tubing on each wire before soldering instead of using electrical tape to make everything neat. Search youtube for car stereo installations if you want more ideas.

Answer 3

It's easy if you know what you're doing. The wiring harness adapter is usually color coded, so it's a simple case of matching wires using the manuals for the car stereo and the wiring harness adapter.



Depending on the type of vehicle, you may also need a fittment adapter... this will be a black plastic box that fills in any gap that the new stereo would leave. Fords and GM vehicles are the most common to use such an adapter.



If you feel comfortable splicing electrical wires, you should be fine. If you choose to do it yourself, as this is your first install, I would highly reccomend having a helper there who has done it before, just in case you get stuck at some point.

Answer 4

It really depends on what are you doing. When you say car stereo are you just talking about the head unit or speakers or a bass, or all three. The head unit is an easy install anyone can do. Speakers are not that difficult but start to get tricky with component speakers. Bass is the same too. If its free let them do it, but if they are charging you money, do some research on google to see if anyone has done the same sort of install to you same car and if they have a guide. You'll be surprised how many guides you'll find.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Should I attempt to install my new car stereo...or have it done professionally?

I'm anxious to see what my new stereo looks like in my car (I get my car in 2 months for my birthday, but its in the driveway already) Im just wondering if I should try and go it my own or wait closer to April and have Geek Squad install it professionally. Question inside the Question ----- is...