Originally Posted by DarkSide41
Don't be too hard on the guy, he might very well have been told that by the dealer. I own a stero shop and when I bought the wife's new ML the dealership told me all sorts of things like I had to buy thier CD changer if I did not want to harm the computer and the factory headunit was fiberoptic wired. He said I could not get a aftermarket system to work without making the engine run bad. I just smiled and said when I bring it back by it will have a new headunit for you to see. A lot of MB vehicles are indeed fiber optic and various manufactures tie all types of data bus systems through thier radios but I knew this one wasn't one of them. I took it by to show him a week later and explained a $10.99 harness was all it took. $170 max to install your components at our shop if you already had the electronics, cheaper if you had purchased here.
$250 is really not out of line if it was done correctly and neatly.
Thanks for the input DS41. I'm glad to hear that I didn't get ripped. The second time I went back, the guy was very reasonable and professional. I just think there is a lot of confusion about our cars. It's no Chevy, that's for sure. I also think there is some bad info in some of the databases that shops use to look things up. So I don't blame him. He did a nice install - neat and professional. The only complaint I have about the install is that he mounted the GPS puck on top of my dash. I had asked him not to, but he said that would have taken a lot more doing and would have cost more. I wish he would have called me before hand. Once that sticky pad is stuck to my pristine dash, I didn't want to have him remove it and mess up the dash. Fortunately, he put it clear over by the passenger a pillar, so it's not in my direct line of sight when driving.