Honda wire harness runs $10 max (you only need 1) free at some places you buy your stereo. Your other posts said you had problems covered under honda warranty.

You have to have some knowledge to take the stereo out, put program it and it back in. Its not that difficult! So most people can do the job themselves and save a few bucks.

 

Macgeyver,
How often do you use your mute button. Not much I bet. On the other hand you have to open that damn stereo door every time you want to turn off the radio. For me by assigning the mute button to turn off the power is a great added convenience. And just for the record I love Pinky's mod, it works flawlessly even when the infared transmitter or whatever it is is hidden from view. For the added convenience of not having to deal with setting up the pac, harness etc. and reassigning the mute button I think Pinky's price is fair.

 

After reading the Pinky debate for quite a while, I have to throw in my belated worthless two cents. I have installed many car stereos (>12) including one in my S2000 along with the PAC SWI-3. And I have been the customer of many car stereo establishments. I have run the range from paying retail to buying gray market imports at dirt cheap prices. From my experience, I would expect to pay for Pinky's mod anywhere from $150-200. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the places I've dealt with ask for $300. What I would not expect is someone to provide such a specialized service at a heavily discounted price. For sure, you can get the pieces at a discount and do the work yourself, but it would be unfair to ask a small business to compete with that. It would be financially impossible.

 

elvis: That would be a bad bet, my good man I use the mute button several times a day...cell phone rings, stopping to read a map (I get lost on long drives easily ), answering questions about Michelle, etc. Also, I never turn my stereo off...I either mute it, or turn the volume down all of the way.

Just so that everyone is one the same page, "Pinky's Mod" and the PAC SWI-3 unit are one in the same, so if "Pinky's mod" works flawlessly when the transmitter is hidden from view, you're actually saying that PAC did a good job of designing the SWI-3. Also, there is no reassignment of the mute button...you are merely using the mute signbal to pull a wire to ground or leave it floating. As we've seen in the past, just because the unit comes programmed (only if you buy the stereo from Pinky, as well), doesn't mean it will work...for those unlucky souls with odd resistances in their' stooks, they have to reprogram the units anyway. If you believe his price is fair, more power to you...I'm not trying to convince you, or anyone else, otherwise. You feel like you got a good deal, so what possible reason could I have for trying to make you feel bad about that decision?



NSXS: I agree with you...if I went to a shop and asked for this sort of enhancement, I would expect to pay Pinky's price, or more. That isn't MY contention, although it may be that of others. You are paying roughly $100 for someone to hook together a few wires in a wiring harness, and again, if I asked someone at a local install shop to do the same, I would NOT be surprised if that's what they asked for a price.

My contention is, and always has been, if you can get the parts and do the work yourself, why pay someone else to do it? I would expect to pay $200 to have a shop install a stereo for me, but since I feel comfortable doing it myself, I'm going to keep the money and do the job myself. I, and numerous others, feel comfortable installing and programming the SWI-3 ourselves, so we'll save $100, do it ourselves, and enjoy the music no less than someone who bought everything pre-packaged. I'm not asking Pinky to cut his prices just because we don't like them...he's free to charge whatever he wishes. BUT, as with any business, big or small, if people are not willing to pay the charged price on something that isn't a commodity, the business will falter. I, as well as numerous others, will not give my hard-earned money to someone simply because they can't charge anything less and still stay in business...that's ludicrous, just as it's silly to think that customers will pay that same amount of money to fund PRIOR research into a project if it's offered more cheaply elsewhere, OR people figure out how to make their own (as in this case).

 

MacGyverI guess I owe you one bud. For whatever its worth I hardly ever use mute. Now I feel like I am missing something. lol
Do you think its ok for the batt. to start the car with the stereo on, assuming you have a good quality system amp included? I always try to make sure the head unit volume is down and power is switched off before turning off the car so that there is no abrupt power/or loss of power to the speakers etc. on start up/or shut down. What about the loss of power (voltage?) trying to drive the starter, amp etc. at the same time. Could voltage drops etc. effect the electronics in an adverse way?
I have seen some of your install pics. Are you serious in expecting a quality install of a complete system for $200? It took my shop two installers working all day and it cost a lot more than $200. I have an amp in front of fuel lines mounted on a board, clarion sub under seat, head unit and components(tweeter in doors) the changer is in the part of the head unit. Your thoughts please my friend?

 

elvis: Some people use it, others don't, no big deal...I consider mine indespensable, while others (such as yourself) could care less one way or the other.

You're not doing any more damage to the battery starting the car with the stereo already on than if you cranked it over with the lights on. Consider it this way...let's say our cars pull 30 amps when cranking the motor. Now, let's add another 10 amps for a stereo. This is no different than the same battery supplying 40 amps to another engine (let's say a V-6). It doesn't matter who's pulling the energy, as long as it's within the reasonable limits of the battery's capacity. Of course, all bets are off if you have a monster system supplying 2,000W of power to your speakers, but most systems I've run into don't push power to the speakers until a couple of seconds have passed (to avoid pops), so this is generally enough time to crank over the engine and release the starter button, at which point the alternator is providing most of the power.

Voltage drops can be harmful to electronic equipment, but most systems are designed with reasonably decent brown-out circuits. Again, think of it this way...for those out there with large systems and no caps to store power, there are significant voltage drops every time the bass thumps. the amps have to handle that voltage drop at every bass beat...of course, all installs are different, so I'll look at it on a case-by-case basis, but this rule should generally hold true.

I wasn't suggesting that $200 was all it would cost to install a complete system, I was merely using that number as an example. I merely wanted to explain that I would expect to pay a large sum of money to have a stereo installed by someone else, a sum of money I would save by doing the install myself if I felt comfortable doing so.

 

I agree with MacGyver view of the whole PAC/pinky mod thing. I feel that $200 or so would be fair to have a shop install the whole thing for me - labor and parts. But to pay close to that and be half done (program and install) is silly in my eyes.

As for the mute button, I didn't bother because the stereo I have can be turned off and on with SRC. It cycles from CD-tuner-off.

 

I agree with what MacGyver has to say. My point is that Pinky does not run a mail order car stereo business. It's not fair to compare him to one. I would never ask anyone to pay more than what they want to pay for anything. That's call free choice, a vital component of capitalism. I just don't see any discount houses offering to wire-up a harness. If they offered that level of service, they would be charging more than $60 for the PAC - not including labor. It would be better to go to a full service shop if you need that level of service, but for those without easy access the Pinky mod may be their best solution. I just want those people to know that, IMHO, Pinky charges a fair price. Personally, I installed everything myself. This forum was very helpful, including MacGyver's Web page and S2ki.com.

Lastly, I do not want to get into a verbal battle with MacGyver. I've seen that guy take out six men with machine guns using just a paper clip and rubber band. I'm not messin' with that!