Faulty car stereo

comp-uter_guy · 7 March 2012 at 3:55AM

I ordered a car stereo from Car Audio Centre's online store on 19 Jan, receiving the item (after a gentle nudge) the following week. However, the stereo was faulty in that it kept losing its memory when the car ignition was turned off. I tested out my car electrics with my electrician father-in-law and all seemed fine. Indeed re-installing my old unit the memory worked fine. I contacted Car Audio Centre who ordered me to send to their repairs department rather than give me an exchange (at my postage cost I must add). They warned that if they found no fault they would charge me an extra £29.99 before returning the item to me. Surprise surprise they found no fault. I've not yet spoken to them (they left a message on my voicemail) because I don't know what to do and where I stand. Any advice is gratefully received.

damsmi2002 · 7 March 2012 at 8:43AM

This is a simple fix, it's usually with vauxhalls and vw's and sometimes skodas whereby the ignition and constant feed in your car is switched the opposite way around. All you need to do is swap the red and yellow connectors around on the stereos power lead. They should both be on butt connectors, do instead of having red going to red, and yellow to yellow, you will have both wires being red and yellow. It takes two seconds, it's not a fault with the stereo, and you would have to do it with any new radio, unless you bought a connector, usually a pc2-04-4, or a pc2-68-4, which would do it for you, but Halfords charge £16 for these

quadbod · 7 March 2012 at 9:13AM

You would think that the 'Car Audio Centre - The Nations Favourite' would advise customers about such a simple fix as it is obviously a common issue.

It doesn't seem right though if, as the original poster stated, his original radio worked fine. How can the OP know that the radio isn't actually faulty?

The £29.99 return cost also seems high. As stated on their t&c 'The charge for collecting goods is £29.99 which reflects the actual cost of collection' - which I doubt. If they had put 'collection and handling' that may be nearer the actual cost.

Forwandert · 7 March 2012 at 9:49AM

It will be the permanent live connection wire. If the stereos working fine apart from when turned off, its just losing memory because there's no power saving the stereo settings. Really easy fix and something both the company and an electricial would usually pick up on.

comp-uter_guy · 7 March 2012 at 10:53AM

Thanks for your replies. I can confirm that the wires into the stereo are all correct. As you say there are two power leads - one for the memory and one for when the ignition is on. The memory pin on the stereo (according to the wiring diagram) is definitely being connected to the car's memory wire - proven by there being a constant 12v when the ignition is turned off. There's even a flashing red light on the stereo when the ignition is turned off so it must be getting the power through to it.

So where do I actually stand? I could call them up and moan but it feels like they've got me over a barrel - I can either pay the £29.99 and get my (faulty) stereo back or leave it and lose out on my initial purchase (plus the £7+ it cost to send the thing back to them).

s_b · 7 March 2012 at 12:00PM

i reckon than your stereo is perfect
a lot of cars now dont have a full live when ignition off they have a sleep live so because you have failed to post up the year make model you have fitted this radio to
i seriously suggest input error by you

bris · 7 March 2012 at 12:59PM

It may be installation error, but if not you could get an independant engineer to look at it for you. If it is faulty then you can claim back all the costs you have incurred in the claim, including the cost to return it and for the engineer you get to inspect it. Did you get a qualified person to install it, or was it diy? The installer could check it for you, but you may have made a mistake if you did it yourself, it is unusual for them to say there isn't a fault if there is.

wealdroam · 7 March 2012 at 1:58PM

comp-uter_guy wrote: »

So where do I actually stand? I could call them up and moan but it feels like they've got me over a barrel - I can either pay the £29.99 and get my (faulty) stereo back or leave it and lose out on my initial purchase (plus the £7+ it cost to send the thing back to them).

If you are absolutely convinced that there is nothing wrong with the installation, then go down the line suggested by Bris.

However, my money is still on a faulty installation.

Jakg · 7 March 2012 at 4:35PM

Whats your old stereo? Factory it, or aftermarket?

comp-uter_guy · 9 March 2012 at 2:33AM

My old stereo is an aftermarket, as was the one before that. I did fit it myself but I also fitted the last stereo too (which was fine) so I know what I'm doing. The car is a 2000 Mazda MX-5 if that is of any help.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I think I'll be going down bris' route so I'll let you know what happens.

Hintza · 9 March 2012 at 9:27AM

bris wrote: »

it is unusual for them to say there isn't a fault if there is.

I agree with this comment, the time and hassle taken to deal with disgruntled customers even when they are wrong means it is normally best for a company to acquiesce.

Faulty car stereo

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