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Allright, so im setting at school today and I was bored, so I get on the internet to check out the weather from a local newstation. I see this link that says "Ride Pimpin Dangers" tonight at 9:00. So I click on it to read the story and this is what it says:

Only at Nine--There's a car customizing craze sweeping the nation. With in dash TV monitors, souped up stereo systems, and flashing lights reminiscent of a shiny disco ball, the term "pimp my ride", goes to a whole new level.

"I got a new cd player, amps, and two 10" sub-woofers, "Matt Seabaugh proudly explains, but he admits, " I dont know anything about stereos, and i figured I'd better let the pros do it, they sound pretty good now."

As "usher's" YEAH blares thourgh in a CAp Giradeau parking lot, SEabaugh's car is hard to miss.

"It's something you just don't want to try to atempt yourself," says Greg Vaughn, Sales Manager of Mobile Electronics at Stereo One. "If you don't have the right training, the right parts, and the right know how, you could do alot of damage."

Damage to the airbags, speedometer, even gas gauge. One mistake could make a difference in a car accident or worse yet, spark a fire due to faulty wiring.

"Just simply removing your radio and replacing it with an after manufactured radio without the right parts, could disable the airbags and the the instrument cluster offline, " says Vaugn.

Some car manufacturers might actually void your warranty, if the modifications aren't done by a profesional.

Thats all it said. I dont know how you feel on this but i find it odd, that the only dealer in this area is the one saying it should be installed by a professional, the next closest dealer is over 3 hours away. And they are the only one who sell the things"required" to make the airbag work. My parents baught me my clarion head unit for christmas and they conned them into paying $120 for a box that makes the factory chimes work, thats it, no gauges, no lights, no nothin, just tells you when your door is left open. Explain to me how that is a fire hazzard, I mean, in my oppinion, all they want is to drum up some buisness, so they cryed to the local TV station show that they could get a list of inventory put on the news, something telling them that the installed stereo's. Our local TV station has a thing called viewpoints where people email them there idea's and thoughts about newscasts. Its things like that that screw up peoples parents. My own mom asked me if i was getting mine done by a pro, and i said no, im doing it myself. I was in the prosses of selling a complete system to a friend, his mom found out about it today and is not going to let him buy it becuase she wants him to get his stereo put in by PRO'S. In my oppinion, this is all Bulls**t, but maybe i dont know what im talkin about.

-cody-

It's all a bunch of BS to make a lot of people go pay "professionals" to install stuff. It's incredibly effective advertising.

wow. ive installed many stereo's and every car is still running. its sad the lengths ppl go to just to get some business.
TEDD

audiofreak12 wrote: "It's something you just don't want to try to atempt yourself," says Greg Vaughn, Sales Manager of Mobile Electronics at Stereo One. "If you don't have the right training, the right parts, and the right know how, you could do alot of damage."

Damage to the airbags, speedometer, even gas gauge. One mistake could make a difference in a car accident or worse yet, spark a fire due to faulty wiring.

"Just simply removing your radio and replacing it with an after manufactured radio without the right parts, could disable the airbags and the the instrument cluster offline, " says Vaugn.

If you have to question whether or not you'll be able to install a cd player w/o screwin up everything in ur damn car..shoot yourself.

ROFL to audiobass.

TEDD

Wow,

the owner/installers at that store are idiots...

yea thats my oppinion. Hes the same guy that tried to get me to pay $120 for a Fusion wiring kit, I gave him the finger and left when he said it was the best on the market. I would have never baught my Headunit from them if i knew he was going to screw my parents out of all that money for nothing. That kinda crap pisses me off!

All of those "potential dangers" he mentions are all in single instances on certain cars which can easily be avoided if you take simple measures.

Oh and not only is it incredibly effective advertising because "it was on the news", it's also FREE!! I can almost see why they did it though. A sales guy at a shop here told me that business has been pretty slow lately. I guess if you want the most money, that's the route to go.

actualy, its not BS. it depends on the vehicle, but there are some vehicles out there that use the ODBII system that runs through the OE radio. I f you remvove it, it will disable cetain things, even make the car not run. GM is the main culprit of this. The later model Oldsmobiles and some upper level pontiac lost the gauges and headlights in some vehicles. In cadillacs, the car won't even start if the factory radio is removed. the vehicle's computer runs a portion of the vin code, each module has a section. once it gets to the main computer, if there is a piece missing, no start. The part about fire hazards is true, think about it. If you as a consumer, who doesn't have a clue what he is doing, and drives a screw through the power wire and doesn't have proper fusing----boom. anybody can drive screw through a wire, even proffessionals from time to time do it. you can easily be killed installing an alarm system yourself or even a stereo if you hit an airbag wire and deploy the airbag. screwdrive in hand, bag hits hand, hand hits face boom serious injury or death. Just because most of us as a group are mechanically minded and have the knowledge and ability, doesn't mean that anybody can go install a stereo and be successful. I am sure most of us when we started blew some shit up not knowing what we were doing. it happens. When I was retailer, I always suggested that we do the install. 3 reason- I wanted more money. I didn't want the customer to screw it up and I have to replace the unit for free, costing me more time and money in shipping back goods. and 3, I didn't want the customer to mess up their car! it is possible to really mess up a simple stereo install and really screw up your car. I have seen it happen. even professionals make mistakes that ruin cars. wouldn't you rather a shop did it and their insurance pay for it instead of you being screwed?think about it. you have to think about the majority of the people out there who don't have the knowledge and abillity to do what we do before you judge a statement like that. and hey, its his job to sell stuff. don't get pissed because someone sold your parents some stuff you might not have wanted. it is his job.

Well, about two weeks ago there was a story about how Cape county(the county where the newstation is located) said that they were going to start cracking down on Peace Disturbance around that area. They claimed that stereo's caused to much peace disturbance. They even tried to start a bill saying that Stereo One should be taxed for the inconvience of there buisness, and by paying this tax it would alow them to stay open. Now i dont know a whole lot about law or anything, but is it legal to tax a buisness like that? Well I dont really care about it that much, but it seems like it is stupid. In the interview with the Stereo One manager(the same prick taking peoples money for nothing) said that the products he sells are not for loud music, just enjoyment. Now you tell me how he can sell JL, Alpine, Clarion, MB quart, and Kicker and not expect it to be loud, isnt that what a system is all about. Well who knows. I think that guy is a two-faced prick, i would love to give him the finger if i could.