Friend goes to CarToys and spends $9410.61!

[Ahmed Johnson]

I usually try to figure how long the job will take and give them an estimate off that. I won't lie, when it comes to material costs I overestimate on that. At the end of the day I'm probably only charging pennies more than a crackhead would so it's not like I'm just a rip off artist.

[ChevyBoy95]

Looks like he got some really good stuff... but 10k at the drop of a hat?!?!?

[SPL.Pantie.Soak]

Is it the Car Toys in Tacoma? I had them put a deck in my wife's car back in like 01 or so. Went to pick it up "I was at work" and there was a polk audio 8" and an amp in there. I told them they must have mixed up the cars and dude said "fuck it, haul ass". It was awesome...

Yep, the one in Tacoma!

[Skullz]

Labor is generally 2 to 1 for the cost of equipment, now it will all depend on how good the person is at their job, and what they are willing to charge a customer for the job. The best at their jobs will charge as much as 3 to 1 or more, but you'll get a level of quality very few can match.

When i got my first quote on what it was going to cost to have something installed in my car i made a decision to do all my work myself, as i could control the quality of what was done and have everything done exactly the way i wanted it done. The key to everything is to start small and simple and work your way up to more complex things, and it generally doesn't take all too long before you start making changes to things and improving on what you have done already.

[mothra]

people complaining about how all the good shops are closed but complain about all the shops that are around. is this thread about someone spending 10k on sound or about someone not have the game to drop 10k on sound? as an installer, 10k for a well installed sound system with fabrication is very reasonable. there is just so much "DIY" people hating on the "DIFM" people. I replaced my homes central A/C system a couple years ago. I know I could do the work myself for less, i would have spend around $3k to do it myself. instead i spent the $8k for someone else to do it for me. the company I hired had all their people with several certification, part of the BBB, licensed and insured. I had 6 certified HVAC in my house and replaced my entire central A/C in just over a day. they worked like precision machines. i had several quotes that were less and some that were more. when it came down to getting the work done, it wasn't about the money it was about what I felt was the best offering of quality work, customer service, ability to pay for damage.

[MrSkippyJ]

This whole time I thought that was 10k for just the equipment.

[bmxscion]

If he doesn't know how to install, then it's better he pays a shop to do it than have him attempt it and mess his car up permanently. Who cares about the money. I am just glad I have the knowledge and skills to do things properly myself and a few select friends that need help along the way. I always tell my friends what the kind of work I am giving them really costs to have a high end shop do it and they can't believe it. Maybe I should charge them more.

[MrSkippyJ]

Don't forget all the business costs (insurance, overhead, wages, etc...) that a shop has the people who just do installs on the side don't have. It's not just that they charge more, they have more to pay for, including covering their ass should something go wrong with the install and burn your car down. It's the sole reason I won't touch someone else's vehicle unless I know that person REALLY well and even then I usually only do head units.

[kingsuv]

It's one thing to do your own thing, or to help a buddy. But once you make the switch to doing a legit business, shit gets real quick. Not only do I have every gov agency up my ass wanting their money, I have list of insurance policies I have to cover.

Once you actually get all that going, you can then start taking in cars that aren't your buddies. These cars are ones where you own the entire system. Even if all you are doing is a simple box drop in. The car leaves and the deck stops working??? Guess what, you own it. Sure you can tell em to fuck off cause you didn't touch it, but in the end it's not a stance you really want to take on. So you fix their fuck ups. Cause when they come back, and they WILL come back, you will make back that time lost in fixing their crap.

Then you have the opps. We've all done em. Difference is, now you are on the hook to properly fix your fuck up. Might be a simple fix, might require the car to be towed to a dealer to have it fix.

[Miguels]

if the friend rather pay 10k for a shop to do it and not let the OP touch it must mean he needs to work on some skills lol