I purchased my car from Ricart in August 2014. I wanted a navigation system installed and was advised by Ricart to use their preferred vendor, Auto Additions (6001 Westerville Rd, Westerville, OH 43081). The price was $2,000. In short, the staff at Auto Additions is friendly however, it is my opinion that they are not trustworthy and lack the technical knowledge needed to professionally install navigation systems. I WOULD NOT recommend Auto Additions to anyone. \r
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Let me begin by saying the stereo system in the vehicle I purchased from Ricart worked perfectly fine before the navigation system was installed. A week or so after purchasing the vehicle I brought my car into Auto Additions at 8:30am for the installation of the Navigation system. I was advised by Jamie it would take a half a day (the morning) to complete. The installation was not finished until 5:30pm that day. While driving home I noticed a distinct ?crackling? noise coming from the dash and side speakers at the front of the vehicle. I called Auto Additions the following business day and made arrangements to bring my vehicle in. \r
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I was advised by Jamie w/Auto Additions that the ?crackling? noise was due to a blown passenger door speaker. I was also advised that the driver door speaker was failing. I advised Jamie that I did not believe that was the issue since the ?crackling? noise was not coming from either of the speakers he identified as blown or failing. Jamie insisted the problem was due to the two front door speakers. I advised Ricart of the issue and Ricart and Auto Additions agreed to replace the front door speakers.\r
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I brought my car in on 11/10/14 to have the front door speakers replaced. I also mentioned to Jamie that my blue tooth did not seem to be working. I was able hear incoming callers however, the caller was unable to hear me. Jamie stated the technician would look into the issue for me. After a couple of hours, I was advised by Jamie that the two front door speakers were replaced however, he heard rattling from the rear speakers and would replace those as well. Once the work was done I was advised by Jamie that he found a ?new? problem. He stated there is a ?crackling? noise coming from the speakers in the dash and side panels at the front of the car. Remember, this is exactly the issue I brought to their attention to begin with. Jamie proceeded to tell me the ?crackling? noise was due to a malfunctioning factory amplifier. Immediately I am asking myself why did Auto Additions replace 4 speakers that were not damaged? Why was Auto Additions unable to properly diagnose the problem? I then asked Jamie if he determined what the issue was with my blue tooth. He advised me that a setting within the navigation system was turned down too low so the caller was unable to hear me. \r
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Upon leaving Auto Additions, not only was the ?crackling? noise worse, I noticed a microphone in the top left corner of my windshield which did not exist prior. \r
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It is clear to me that the crackling noise is the result of improper installation of the navigation system. It is also clear that the installer forgot to install the microphone and that is why I was having issues using the blue tooth feature. I spoke with Ricart about these issues and was advised by Jeff Thorton (used car sales person) that Auto Additions has gone as far as they are willing to go and would not correct the problem.
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