buying headunit from ebay vs best buy?

[phatzboyal]

im looking to get a new headunit soon. what do you recommend as far as purchasing from ebay and save a hundred bucks or buy from a big company like best buy. im concerned about it breaking, warranty, and all that. also, the headunit im looking at is the pioneer AVH-P4100DVD. anybody have any experience with those? any help would be great. thanks.

[Ilikemineclean]

not familiar with that series but i always by my headunits from Frys electronics.

[DynamicSound]

They are good units, just a pain to bypass the dvd playback since it must see a live ground. I sell them for $450.

[drpepper14]

only advantage to best buy (and I work there as an installer currently) is if you have it installed you get a lifetime warranty on the labor...the only way you benefit really is having a brick and mortar fixture in which to take your unit if you are having problems unless you buy the black tie protection which covers your unit for however many years you choose to purchase it for.

Overall, most people just enjoy the lifetime warranty because it gives them free reign to have us diagnose any sort of problem that "may" arise from the headunit, even if you know it didn't (bad speakers, amps, subs, you name it)

[drpepper14]

btw, not a bad bypass if you know how to do it. Just requires a relay and 2 minutes of wiring behind the radio

[DynamicSound]

btw, not a bad bypass if you know how to do it. Just requires a relay and 2 minutes of wiring behind the radio

True, but still a pain compared to most brands simply being grounded.

[DynamicSound]

only advantage to best buy (and I work there as an installer currently)

Best Buy being the worst of the worst at installations, lol. I have even seen them catch a car on fire.

j/k, I know a guy name Mike that is an installer at Best Buy in Canton I think. He builds boxes and everything.

[Keith]

I work at the Best Buy in Cumming GA. I would buy the headunit from Best Buy but thats just because I get a discount, lol. But if I didn't work there I would just make sure that I buy it from a Pioneer dealer. That way if you ever need to get warranty work they can't refuse it.

[phatzboyal]

thanks for the info, so i should buy from any pioneer dealer just to make sure i get the warranty?

[Keith]

Yeah. Any Pioneer unit should come with a 1 year warranty. If you get a Pioneer Premier unit it will have...I believe a 3 year warranty, but it could be 2 years.

[Firefightin_tC]

Screw eBay.

Amazon. I got my Pioneer touchscreen back in March for like 250 bucks. Then again, they were having a sale.

SonixElectronics.com

[Master Shake]

btw, not a bad bypass if you know how to do it. Just requires a relay and 2 minutes of wiring behind the radio

it must be different for different head units. i put a Dual 7" flip touch screen DVD/MP3 player in my girl's car, and hooked the DVD wire to the main ground or main power wire(i can't remember which one) and i can now play movies while driving down the road.

[toxxxic]

ebay (even though they sell the same stuff) a lot of time sells the rejected units. which is why they're so cheap.

they wont TELL YOU they're rejected items, but thats what they are a lot of times :/

[DynamicSound]

it must be different for different head units. i put a Dual 7" flip touch screen DVD/MP3 player in my girl's car, and hooked the DVD wire to the main ground or main power wire(i can't remember which one) and i can now play movies while driving down the road.

Most brands are bypassed by grounding the parking brake wire. Pioneer on the other hand is not that simple. They have to see a live ground...meaning it can't just see a constant ground. So simply grounding the parking brake wire on this unit would not bypass the DVD playback while driving.

[yerrow]

once again...i say support your local brick and mortar shops. i have nothing against fry's or bb. but i'd rather pay a few more dollars and pay any 1 of the local shops that support the locals.

i'd rather buy from him or gwinnett sound, or traffic jams, etc than any of the bigbox store.

there are plenty of authorized pioneer dealers around locally

[DynamicSound]

once again...i say support your local brick and mortar shops. i have nothing against fry's or bb. but i'd rather pay a few more dollars and pay any 1 of the local shops that support the locals.

i don't know dynamic, but i'd rather buy from him or gwinnett sound, or traffic jams, etc than any of the bigbox store.

there are plenty of authorized pioneer dealers around locally

Gwinnett Sound...boo!

[yerrow]

thats uncalled for as snide remarks are probably not going to help your business

[DynamicSound]

thats uncalled for as snide remarks probably going to help your business

My post had nothing to do with trying to get the business. It was specifically about Gwinnett Sound. Long story...

And I am sure you meant "not going to help your business".

[drpepper14]

Best Buy being the worst of the worst at installations, lol. I have even seen them catch a car on fire.

j/k, I know a guy name Mike that is an installer at Best Buy in Canton I think. He builds boxes and everything.

Haha well I wasn't trained @ Best Buy. I'm an MECP advanced installer and have only been there 2 months lol just needed a job during grad school.

I know Mike! I used to work with him and helped him build boxes for a while at his old shop...haven't talked to him in a few days so I guess he got the job @ BB lol

[yerrow]

My post had nothing to do with trying to get the business. It was specifically about Gwinnett Sound. Long story...

And I am sure you meant "not going to help your business".

either way, negative remarks against a competitor doesn't make you look any better.

[DynamicSound]

either way, negative remarks against a competitor doesn't make you look any better.

Wasn't trying to look better.

It has nothing to do with them as a business.

[neon_ert3]

in my jensen there was an overwriting code that i put in to watch movies while driving. pioneer doesnt have that? i got mines off ebay 4 years ago and its still kickin strong! its in my friends donk now tho LOL

[DynamicSound]

in my jensen there was an overwriting code that i put in to watch movies while driving. pioneer doesnt have that? i got mines off ebay 4 years ago and its still kickin strong! its in my friends donk now tho LOL

No, most do not have that. I have installed 2 of the newer model Jensens and they were also simply grounded and worked fine.

[yerrow]

My post had nothing to do with trying to get the business. It was specifically about Gwinnett Sound. Long story...

And I am sure you meant "not going to help your business".

That's interesting because the owner says that up until about 2 weeks ago, he hadn't met you. He just went overthere himself and bought an hid kit just to see what you carry in house which wasnt much of anything.

[DynamicSound]

That's interesting because the owner says that up until about 2 weeks ago, he hadn't met you. He just went overthere himself and bought an hid kit just to see what you carry in house which wasnt much of anything.

LOL, I do not stock car audio at my location as of now...only lighting products...never said I did. When people want car audio products, I always tell them I will have here next day because I pick it up in the morning. Just like the 6 IA members that have already taking advantage of the Bass Inferno system including the one that picked up a complete system today. In the next 2 months I will start stocking a few brands there once I open up the walls and add extra rooms to my suite. Don't have the room until then. I will stock at my location DB Drive, Quantum Audio, Bass Inferno, Polk Audio, Kicker, Sony, Kenwood, and Pioneer to start...maybe JL Audio. Then will add more as I make more room.

Never said I met him. Stop crying and telling people not to do business with me...oh yeah, they tell me.

"Aw man, you do business with him? He was talkin' bout my boys shop."

All I said was "boo"...now I do not like the whole term "being butthurt", but man do you fit the description.

This is my last post about the subject and could careless, but I am sure you are scared for life.

[yerrow]

yeah show me 1 person that i've told to not buy from you.

show me just 1, i don't go to meets, i don't go to shows, i don't know personally more that maybe 6 people on IA and haven't seen any of them in months. so show me 1 person.

and actually what you said was "long story". more like no story

[neon_ert3]

[92mr2T]

LOL,

Never said I met him. Stop crying and telling people not to do business with me...oh yeah, they tell me.

This is my last post about the subject and could careless, but I am sure you are scared for life.

Don't sweat it Jason, I will be back one day with more than tweeter money!

[DynamicSound]

LOL, I know I said I wouldn't add to this anymore but...

I have already hadthree seperate customers THIS WEEK that were trying to find me and ended up at Gwinnett Sound. Here is what they were told...

"No, Dynamic Sound does not exist."

"He closed down."

and today...

"Yeah, he closed down and I think he reopened, but not in this area."

Then, they proceed to try to sell them their HID Kit. The HID Kit they were trying to sell today was $250. And you remember the HID Kit that you said the owner bought from me...he tried to sell it to the first customer for $180, . They buy it for $55 and try to flip it for $180 after telling them I am no longer in business.

This is one of the issues with them since day one, but I understood it back in the day when I was harder to find, but now that even the owner has been in my store, they still lie about it. What is sad is that if someone walked in and ask me where Gwinnett Sound is, I would tell them on the corner of Rockbridge and Jimmy Carter.

BTW, this only 1 of 3 issues.

Sorry, it just made me laugh.

And this is my true last post, so I will not be opening the thread anymore.

[Repiks]

On my pioneer kit I just wired my ground to a switch. Everytime I turn it on I have to switch it on and off to play a dvd. Very simple, really. Don't let it sound too difficult.