Audio Express

2.0 (51 reviews)

Car Stereo Installation, Auto Security

Closed • 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

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Auto electronics installation

Auto electronics repair

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Audio Express - Car Stereo Installation Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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January 4 2024 I took my car to have an alarm installed same day service drove straight home On January 5th I went out to the car with my friend/mechanic and found deep scratches on my car like it had been hit up against a pole or a wall in three different areas .when I called audio Express the manager Ben stated that his technician did not mention anything to him therefore it did not happen at their establishment when I said I would be leaving a zero review the man that I was speaking to decided he was going to be rude to me and argue with me and hung up on me I then received a phone call from their the manager asking for details again I was told it did not happen during the car being in the bay because they didn't touch the driver's side no but they pulled it into their Bay and out of their Bay and they drove it around to the front which is when this happened again I was meant with it did not happen at our business. I know full well it happened at audio Express but they are taking no responsibility but they did ask for pictures so I sent their pictures and if I can post pictures here I will. I would give them a zero for stars but I can only give them a one star review my advice take your car anywhere but to audio Express

So the service seemed great at first, but it went down hill quick. I was just getting a new touch screen for my 2011 Volkswagen Golf and I was disappointed with the outcome. First off, when I started asking questions I got a lot of "we can't do this or we can't do that". This should have been a red flag. One of my questions was about the fact that my car came with a Bluetooth receiver already installed so I asked instead of wiring the new radio system to a new external mic could we wire it to the mic already in the car. I got a flat out no and was fairly disappointed. My biggest issue came with the usb wire for connection from my phone to the radio system. I was very specific that I did not want any wires hanging out of the panels. I have two usb adapter plug ins just below the dash and asked if we could install the usb plug into one of those that already exist. I got a hesitant, we will try, but probably no. The sales rep then suggested that I do a 12volt adapter and I said that would be great if we could not do the install into the original USB ports. He then told me he would call me if they were not going to be able to do the usb cable. So today I dropped off the car with high hope and never got a call for anything. After about three hours, I called them back just to check on it and they told me the vehicle was almost done. Once I arrived, I asked assuming because I never got a call, they were able to install the usb into the existing ports. They said they weren't and then asked if I wanted to install the 12 volt conversion. I said yes and was confused why they hadn't already do so given that I really didn't want any open wires. They said okay but then couldn't fit it back in today which meant I had to come back and pay for them to take apart the dash and everything again. This was extremely disappointing seeing how the build was already costing me $600 and didn't even include speakers. I have done previous builds with speakers for $600 and I thought this was a huge price to pay to not even receive what I was looking for to begin with. When I received my car and saw that they had put the usb plug in wedged almost under the passenger seat coming out of the plastic. I then called someone to test the mic and they reported that the mic was repeating everything that they said back to them making it hard for them to understand me. Honestly if I had paid a teenager to do this install I would have thought they had done a great job, but I was highly disappointed with this professional companies work and the money I paid for the whole thing. 10/10 would recommend either doing the work yourself or going to another shop. I will be having another shop see if they can fix my mic and install the 12 volt conversion or hopefully USB adapter for me in the future and won't be bringing my vehicles back for any further work. Attached are photos of the build and the USB ports I was referring too.

They cut into the speaker line to test the signal but left them exposed.

Took my truck in to add an amp to the door speakers. I had previously had the Santa Fe location add 2 subwoofers and an amp in the rear and changed out the door speakers a $3,300 job. This time I paid $1,500 with tax and labor to add 3 front speakers, a 6 channel converter plus a 4 channel amp. When I picked up the truck they said they did not have time to add the speakers but were done with the amp and converter. Found that the total right side of the truck was not setup, no sound now from the right side. Since this was a priority to them they scheduled me for 7 days later to fix the issue! I had looked at the installation during the week and found the power and ground were not secured to the amplifier! Also found no sound was making it to the passenger front door. Either no signal from the deck or they did not connect the speaker line to the speaker. (I had already expressed my displeasure with their using crimps instead of solder.) They also did not setup the amp or converter, how could they with no sound coming out of the right side. Also found they only have 1 signal coming from the deck and they jumpered to the other input lines on the converter. (Balancing and fading will not work now). I missed the next appt but made another one and they did not record that appointment. When I dropped off the truck for this appt I told them what I found. They promised to correct the issue but now they said that my front speaker was blown and this came after they praised the type of speakers that I had previously purchased. They installed the 3 speakers but did not setup the converter or amp as the settings were wrong. They promised that their tech took the door panel off and found the speaker to be blown even though NO SOUND was coming from it. I had to remove the door panel myself and found that their tech cannot even check the speaker connections. One wire was off due to the poor crimping job. Also one screw is missing off of the speaker. I also had to setup the converter and amp myself since they could not even read the equipment manuals to setup the equipment properly. Will never do business with this place again. See pics.

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Julie P.

10 years ago

I got a alarm system installed. Ihad to come back two times times to be repaired , also, I had an appointment time at 9 and they didn't start till late in the day.the alarm is working now for a while? read more

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Response T.

Hello Julie, thank you for your feedback! We do ask that you leave…

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Shasta F.

8 years ago

We had two vehicles have alarms with remote start and upgraded touch screen DVD player in dash. Chris helped us most of the way. Offered a few suggestions on decks, alarms etc. As for the "additional parts". I paid extra to get wiring harness to make sure my stock steering wheel control worked, the rear camera to continue working. Did I need to get those? Maybe not, but why would you spend that money on upgrading your system and not have the stock options to work. If your getting an alarm, you might need an additional module which has its own install price. You're going to spend money. That's why you walked into the store. Was it expensive? Yes! But only because I didn't want to go cheap on the equipment. What I really love about this place is the finance options. So I'm the long run you can splurge a little and get the nicer stuff. As for staff, I think they were all cool guys. I dealt mostly with Chris and Ray. They answered all of my questions, Chris even went out on a limb and found out information he didn't know for me. I felt like I was in good hands. You don't want to go cheap on installs like these. And as for our lack of options in Albuquerque, I don't regret my decision. Check this place out. I do prefer this one out of the other locations. read more

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Devin S.

Thanks for the kind words Shasta. Enjoy your new system and alarms.

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Amber J.

14 years ago

Beware. This place is sketchy. Just paid over $500 for a stereo system & they installed NOTHING that we had agreed on. Paid prior to the install, took the car in the following day & come to find out everything that we paid for was mysteriously not in stock! They took it upon themselves to install a "comparable" stereo & subwoofer without even contacting us. Furthermore, they kept the car ALL DAY long. We were the first appointment of the day & we never received a call (even though they had our number) to let us know that our vehicle was ready. It wasn't til we happened to "drive by" at 5pm that evening that we saw our car waiting outside. If you must go here, I would recommend that when you pay for the product(s), take them with you & bring them back on the day of installation...at least you will know you are getting exactly what you paid for. read more

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T M.

11 years ago

I am not sure how this business stays open. The owners should obviously be more involved. The person who they have as in lead position is definitely not qualified or competent. I had a bad experience and horrible service. If you value your money and time in my opinion this is not the place to go but you decide. I fully understand why there are so many bad reviews. read more

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Response T.

Hello, My name is Carlos, I am the new general manager here at the…

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Steve B.

8 years ago

For replacing stereo in my 2006 truck with a stereo with GPS and rear view camera on license plate I paid almost $1300. Four months later the $120 priced Concept camera failed. The shop would not replace it because I did not buy $25 insurance on it. I had to buy from the shop more expensive camera with insurance. (I chose to get back the failed camera and ship to Concept for free replacement. The shipping cost was ~$11, and the shop takes $25 if you let them ship it.) Then I found that the Concept camera costs ~$60 at Walmart. -- Within half an hour after the new camera was installed, the GPS failed, and the shop fixed it a no charge. So, in my view I was ripped off as I had no experience of buying such a thing. For such a ripoff, they do call you how the system is doing. I hope this review motivates the shop to change their business model that provides value to customers. read more

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Response T.

Hello Steve this is Chris Ortiz from Audio express I would like to…

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Amber B.

13 years ago

Horrible service!!! No not use if you value your time or money. We had our car windows tinted and the job was unsatisfactory. We took the car back in three different times. Each time we waited around all day for a return phone call that never happened. Each time when we called them, we were told that the tint person didn't show up. We asked for a refund but were denied because they say they use a third party contractor. read more

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Robert V.

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We are very sorry…

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Tim S.

11 years ago

The insolent store manager, who is like a temp with a bad attitude, does not understand customer service. Neither he nor his guys can troubleshoot a problem. First of all, I'm a disabled Vet and avoid confrontation as I'm in pain every day. Anyway, my high end Clarion stereo, which they installed 5 years ago, was draining the battery in my Infiniti I30 and these clowns had the car for hours and they finally said, "yep, it's draining the battery alright." Then they, the store manager that is, referred me to an electrician! No way. I will attempt to do the job myself. By reading my owners manual I found there's two 12V pos. wires that are hooked up and one, the red one, needs to be cut as it drains the battery too much. The hard part is accessing the wiring. I found out about this from a friend and I found the exact color wire, etc. from my owners manual/ If this is the solution, they should know about it--they install Clarions and other Double Din Stereos, I also proposed a solution-- to use the cig. lighter wire as the 12V source as the cig. lighter does not have 12V once you turn the ignition off--I wouldnt mind losing the convenience of running the stereo with the engine off. It was like talking to a brick wall.How can you install Clarions if you can't troubleshoot? Two stars I'm being generous. That's for the nice insides of the place and the other customer rep was decent. The store manager is basically a disrespectful control freak, which means... if it's not his idea, he's not listening. But he's also full of crap. He thinks he knows what he's talking about, he comes across convincingly, but he's full of shit. I would guess the actual techs don't stick around long with him in charge. Coming here was much like a Seinfeld episode. Except this was the Stereo Nazi--"NO stereo for you!!! You are banned from the store!!! Now GO!!!" I will. read more

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Response T.

Hello Tim, I am sorry to hear you had a bad experience during your…

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Alex W.

12 years ago

Way OVER PRICE one dollar instal is a lie is just to get you in to the store, service was ok but everything is way over price try sonic electronics on line way cheaper radios are 1/2 of what the sale them.. read more

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Nick G.

10 years ago

Got my new radio, amp, and 10" speakers put in about 2 years ago. When I bought it, the guy saved me money in installation by paying in cash outside of the shop to get away from the cameras. Within a week, the radio kept cutting out, went back and they suggested I buy a more expensive/powerful amp, so I did. They swamped the amp's and I paid the difference. After another week or so, same problem, I decided to just forget about it and not play my music that loud anymore. This has been an ongoing problem and now my subwoofer, and radio have completely broken. It must be a wiring problem, whoever installs these systems has no clue what they are doing. But I went in to see how they could help me, all they offered was their regular specials. No discount, no offer to fix anything or even take a look. Won't be spending another dollar here, along with anyone I know looking for a car audio system. Management needs to figure it out. read more

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Jon G.

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9 years ago

My family came here as we have for years to install a new car stereo. We bought a new touch screen system (it's sweet) and after spending more than $750 to buy and install it (which is a lot) we drove the car home and along the way we notice a terrible buzzing coming through the speakers, so we went back to see if they can fix it. They were able to do so but charged more money. They basically shrugged and said it was not their problem and they did not know anything was wrong and we had to pay anyways. My question was, why not check your work after an install? Is that not what people do, check their work? If something else is required why not call your costumer and ask to spend them money prior to releasing the car back to the owner? Poor costumer service ensued when these basic questions were asked. So we paid and took the car home. In the end the extra money is not the problem, the terrible costumer service is. read more

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Hello Jon we are sorry to hear about your experience we do strive to…

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Justin I.

10 years ago

I would not recommend Audio Express to anyone. I took my car in to get some new front and rear speakers installed. While my car was in the shop I received a phone call from the assistant manager stating that they couldn't finish the install because my current stereo did not have enough outputs to hook up the rear speakers. I then proceeded to go over to Audio Express and purchase a new deck. They did not have the deck in stock so they told me they would order it and give me a call when it came in to set up an appointment to finish the install. I took my car home that night and the next morning it wouldn't start. I called Audio Express and they told me to get the car towed to their shop and they would look at it. I proceeded to get the car towed over to the shop and I gave them the whole next day to diagnose the problem. That evening, I received a phone call from the assistant manager telling me they were not able to diagnose the problem and they would have to send my car to a specialist. The next morning, I received a phone call from the store manager telling me they had disconnected everything they did and my car was still drawing power. Basically telling me it wasn't their fault and they were not going to cover the repair bill. The next day I got a phone call from the dealership who was diagnosing my car and they told me my Body Control Module had been shorted out and this was caused by Audio Express tagging the wrong wire. I had to argue with them to get them to reimburse me for the tow bill and the $965 part plus labor from the dealership. I was without my car for almost two weeks. Worst business experience I have ever had. read more

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More info about Audio Express

9231 Coors Blvd NW
Ste R-1
Albuquerque, NM 87114
Westside
Directions
(505) 897-7673
Call Now
Visit Website
https://www.audioexpress.com

Payment methods

Does Audio Express take credit cards?

Yes, Audio Express takes credit cards.

Other Amenities

Does Audio Express have free WiFi?

Yes, Audio Express has free WiFi.

From the Business

History

Established in 1974.

Established in 1974, Audio Express has evolved from a single retail store in Arizona to one of the largest, multi-location, mobile electronics retailers in the United States. With locations in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas our unmatched customer service, combined with our top-notch installations, makes us the “go -to” retailer for the best possible customer experience in the industry. Providing entertainment, safety, and convenience for vehicles is our specialty. Live shopping at one of our stores puts you in complete charge of your entertainment experience, You can spend hours clicking on the internet and hope you got it right, then wait for delivery, then find an installer, only to be told something doesn’t fit or meet your needs. Or you can visit your nearest Audio Express location, where you can see, hear, and even operate the newest product from the world’s top manufacturers BEFORE you buy.

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