Circuit City destroys Civic in radio installation

[Blind_Io]

http://consumerist.com/373753/circui...ge-to-your-car

Circuit City caused $12,119 worth of damage to VTECnical's 2007 Honda Civic while trying to install a Pioneer AVIC Z2 navigation system. Honda later declared VTECnical's car a fire hazard and told him it was unsafe to drive. Despite destroying the car's heater ducts, stock wiring harness, and dashboard, Circuit City has refunded only $3,190, and insists that VTECnical speak exclusively to their third-party insurer. Hit the jump for Honda's damning condemnation of Circuit City's shoddy workmanship and a video of the damage.

[jeffy777]

Wow, what a bunch of boneheads!

[tigger]

That wiring is pretty sketchy, but it sure doesn't look like 12k worth of damage. I'd be bugging the hell out of Circuit City though. Out of their hands? I'd show them 'out of hand' .

[thedguy]

I'd like to know how the fuck they managed to do some of the damage they did for a damn stereo install.

All the more reason not to pay someone else to work on your damn car, especially something as simple as a stereo install.

[THGL]

Originally Posted by tigger

That wiring is pretty sketchy, but it sure doesn't look like 12k worth of damage.

I've read this elsewhere today and I think the consensus is that the car will have to be almost completely rewired (not to mention all the little parts replaced) to get the car back to OEM. The original forum posting showed the dealer's quote sheet and it said over 40 hours to complete the job. Mechanics here charge about $50-$60 an hour and I'd assume that NY state might be a little more expensive.

I can see Circuit City's stance that it's out of their hands though. As soon as the insurance co. got involved there little CC can do.

[tigger]

Originally Posted by THGL

I can see Circuit City's stance that it's out of their hands though. As soon as the insurance co. got involved there little CC can do.

Heh, except fire the asshole that did the install. It does make sense that Honda would want to totally rewire the car, just to cover their own ass. But the job could be done just as effectively, and in much less time, with some quality soldering and heat shrink.

[Ilpav]

This is why you should never let some 3rd party company go into your car's dash. Only certified Honda Technicians should ever take this Civic's dash apart and install something. Same for any other car.

[thedguy]

Originally Posted by Ilpav

This is why you should never let some 3rd party company go into your car's dash. Only certified Honda Technicians should ever take this Civic's dash apart and install something. Same for any other car.

I don't think Honda dealers will install an after market stereo from circuit city unless they provide it themselves.

Plus Circuit city should have just used a plug-in adapter and left the factory wire harness alone.

[C53A_4G63T]

Yeah, the interior harness is all one piece, so the entire interior of the car will have to come out. So that would add some money to the situation, especially being at a dealership.

[Vector]

Originally Posted by Ilpav

This is why you should never let some 3rd party company go into your car's dash. Only certified Honda Technicians should ever take this Civic's dash apart and install something. Same for any other car.

OK so let's just shut down the ENTIRE aftermarket stereo industry while we're at it . I guess I should only trust certified honda technicians to change my oil and tires too?

The real lesson here is to be a bit more selective about who you let near your car. Some bonehead at a boxstore working for minimum? Probably not. But a reputable shop with a guy who's been doing it a few years, and can show you an example of past work should be just fine.

[SoxXpupPeT]

Sue those Abortionists!!!

[cvrefugee]

I would never let somebody I don't trust and know personally to mess with my car. My friend and I have installed every mod on my car, including the in-dash navi.

[Blind_Io]

Originally Posted by tigger

That wiring is pretty sketchy, but it sure doesn't look like 12k worth of damage. I'd be bugging the hell out of Circuit City though. Out of their hands? I'd show them 'out of hand' .

When you consider that they cut into the heater box, the dash, cracked or damaged every dash panel and the whole car will have to be torn apart to replace the entire wiring assembly... yeah I can see that kind of damage.

Originally Posted by Vector

OK so let's just shut down the ENTIRE aftermarket stereo industry while we're at it . I guess I should only trust certified honda technicians to change my oil and tires too?

The real lesson here is to be a bit more selective about who you let near your car. Some bonehead at a boxstore working for minimum? Probably not. But a reputable shop with a guy who's been doing it a few years, and can show you an example of past work should be just fine.

I think his point was to know what kind of work is being done. I had Best Buy put in another 12V outlet in my glove box so I could plug in my GPS, had I not stayed around to watch them they would have drilled holes in my dash and bolted the unit right to the dash panel, which is exactly what I told them not to do. I wanted to use the suction mount and run the wires over the surface of the dash so I could remove the unit whenever I wanted and transfer it to another vehicle or hide it when I park at night.

I had explained to the tech twice what I wanted to have happen, and I had I not been there when she pulled out the power drill she would have destroyed the interior of my new car.

[jayhawk]

If you go to Circuit City or Best Buy for audio installation, you get you pay for.

Go to a professional. Really.

[Paco]

Here's a thought. Boycott Circuit City.

While you're at it, Best Buy can bugger off as well.

I'd rather not be profiled, video taped, and harassed by salespeople or security every time I want to buy a spindle of CD-Rs. I haven't bought anything from BB or CC since I left college. Internet shopping FTW.

[Karoug]

Originally Posted by tigger

That wiring is pretty sketchy, but it sure doesn't look like 12k worth of damage.

It was ~$6000 for parts the rest was labor and tax..

[Quadrax]

$12k + damage on a $18k car from a stereo install?

$100/hour for labour, working as a honda mechanic sounds quite lucrative.

[Electric-Mayhem]

$100 an hour is what the dealer charges the customer, I highly doubt that the tech who does the work sees more then 30% of that, and probably a lot less. Its certainly not a bad way to make decent money, but its certainly not that good unless you have been doing it for a loooong time, or you work for a luxury car company that charges way more then that per hour and you are factory trained.

Sucks to see that stuff happen to someones car. I could see how it could easily rack up to that much damage though, since wiring is commonly known as the hardest part of working on a car. Just think that most of the wiring harness that they messed up was probably put on before any of the major body panels were installed, and well before any of the interior. Not happy times to replace any of it, especially if you have to replace the whole loom (which is likely). I'd love to hear what came of this, and whether they total the car and give him a new one for this. Someone might be getting a really good deal on a salvage car with shoddy wiring.

JH

[lv2xlr8]

Reminds me when I want to CC for my autostart. First I had setup an appointment for Thursday and when I got there they told me the whole fucking garage was getting painted and I asked why wasn't I warned so they told me they were given a 3 day window which I still wasn't told about so I bitched and they gave me some money off.

I then take the car the next day and get it installed, took a few hours. They also had told me that they can't have my car honk when the doors are locked because the horn doesn't work when the car is off which is true but basically it meant that they were too stupid to wire it like the factory alarm (which I believe you can do.) So anyways I go and pick up the car and I go out and leave the car at home and my brother is using it. For some reason the car keeps honking as if someone hit the panic button. So I take it back the next day and I left it from 12-about 830-9 and I finally got it back and it seemed to be working fine but the douche left his lighter in my car. Thats one sight you don't want to see in your car even if its an older car like mine. It's still my car, I don't want anyone toking up or even having a cig in my car inless I say they can.

So moral of the story, don't be stupid like me and go to an actual professional installer.

[-Cpt. J.-]

Originally Posted by Quadrax

$12k + damage on a $18k car from a stereo install?

$100/hour for labour, working as a honda mechanic sounds quite lucrative.

Robots can biuld a car. They cannot repair anything.
Man I would be so pissed off if this happened to me though... doesn't the guy have some kind of insurance?