I took my car to Cartronics because it is a VW and after having trouble with the battery draining down due to the radio the VW dealer recommended them. About a year ago now I had them disconnect the stereo and that solved the problem. While I have gone over a year without a stereo, the car has not had any problems starting or the battery draining down. We drive this car every single day. A few weeks ago my wife and I went back to Cartronics to have them install a CD head unit, hoping to sell the car in the near future. We spoke to the manager about this issue of the stereo causing the battery to drain and he assured us they would not have any problem installing the radio without causing any issues with the battery. We showed up the next day and took the car home with a new head unit installed. The very next morning, the car won't start. We start by taking the battery out of the car and to our machanic. He charged it fully and gave it a clean bill of health. We jump in the car and drive it back to Cartronics. To our amazement we are greeted with animosity and defensiveness when we explain that the radio is draining the battery. The manager argues for five minutes that it must be our car and not the radio. That we need to take the car to a mechanic and "have it looked at". He finally agrees to check the install and prove to us it is not the stereo. He calls us a few hours later to, again, insist that "something" in our car is somehow draining the battery but the radio is "not causing any draw, and therefore cannot be the problem". The bottom line is it WAS THE RADIO all along! We never were able to get the radio to work without it draining the battery and causing the car not to start. After they wasted days of our time and several trips back and forth I finally got the owner to disconnect the radio, again, and refund us our money. Wasted three days with these clowns. Can't tell you how frustrating it was to have these people stand there and tell me that the stereo they just installed couldn't possibly be the problem when it obviously was. Arrogant, lazy, and just plain mean. read more

I seem to have a much different experience than a lot of people. My rear speakers were acting up and since I'm not terribly experienced with stereo systems, I went into Cartronics. I asked the person up front (I'm assuming it was the manager Ray) if he would be willing to listen to the speakers. To my surprise, he had no problem with it and within seconds, he knew they were blown. I bought a new pair of speakers (5 dollars cheaper than Cartunes) and also bought an adapter since I did not have the knowledge to do wire splicing. I installed them and he was absolutely right, my old speakers were blown and these work perfectly (no annoying buzzing!). I highly recommend this place. read more

Amazing people and always do a great job! My family and I take all of our cars to Dan! He is a perfectionist and this is who you want working on your car! We drive from Marin just to be sure the job is done right! read more

Cartronics - Car Stereo Installation Near Me - Santa Rosa, California

My wife and I couldn't here our tv in our Motorhome. We tried everything , when my neighbor said " try Cartronics " so we did. We are extremely happy with the work they did. Put a extra tv in the back, a amp, and four good speakers. Cleaned up the amateur set up that was already there. I wouldn't go anywhere else for a audio system. Clean and very professional Thank you Cartronics read more

Got a new CD/DVD player installed, and when the truck was turned off the unit would continue to draw power. After the second night after the install was done, my truck was completely dead and would not start. Went back to cartronics and let them know what was going on. They acted like they had nothing to do with it. They uninstalled the unit and put my original one back in, and charged me $117.15 for their mistake and to uninstall the unit. I will never go back and would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

I got to say I have use this guys for a couple of jobs in my vehicles and I have never had any complains or bad jobs. And the best part it's that my schedule it's pretty harsh and they are more than happy to work in my schedule time. read more

So here's my story. When i first got into car audio about 2 years ago i started at the cartronics in san rafael, marty in san rafael has always been really helpful, knowledgeable and fair. Last year in november he apparantley left cartronics and is now named something else with his own business but right across the street from his old place. Me thinking my subwoofers were blown called marty to see if my subwoofers could get warrantied. I tried twice in the same week, 2 weeks went by, i tried again and his secretary kept saying he was busy and would call back..almost a month or maybe more went by and i had been trying to get ahold of him during that time..the secretary kept telling me the same thing that he would call me back and that she was sorry, i finally decided that i was finished and done with marty because it seems that, if you dont have an expensive car for him to work on or a big project, he wont bother calling you back, especially if you did business with him when he was cartronics. That brings me to this cartronics, i decided to call this store thinking maybe they would warranty my subs, when i called the guy was very patient to hear my story and told me he would talk to the owner and see if they could warranty my subs which btw are 2 JL audio W3 V3's. He said they would call me back, seeing as i was getting tired of being played around i didnt expect a call...but what do you know! I got a call back from this cartronics and they said yes they can warranty my subs and i would just pay the shipping fee of 30 dollars which i was fine with. We scheduled an appointment and on the day of i drove there, got there, showed proof of purchase and they said it was gonna be 30 mins or so. I waited and as i was waiting one of the technicians/mechanics came over and said he wanted to show me something. He said my subwoofers were actually not blown and that the fuse box that brings power from the battery to the amp(up in front where the battery and engine were) was wired funny and two or so bolts were loose..and if i kept it like that over time it would melt the fuse box. I said okay awesome, my subs are fine. Upon getting my keys they said my total was gonna be somewhere around $60...for labor...I didn't want to argue so i payed but really?? $60 dollars just to tighten a few bolts in the fuse box, drill out my subs and drill them back in??take in mind they took literally 10 mins. I was going to give them 2 stars but added one more just because they did try and help me out, were helpful and they had a nice display for stereos, subs, and speakers in there. I don't think it's worth driving an hour and half from where i live to this place to get overcharged for anything simple that other places can do just as well and for cheaper. If you have the money, come on in here. I wasn't on a tight budget but still find that kind of service not right. That was one good thing about the cartronics in san rafael, marty the owner took time out of his schedule to fix and spend time with you on what your issue was and never charged for his time or labor that took 5 to 20 minutes. Maybe in the future i will do business with these guys again but for the time being its better to do your own research before taking it to a place that overcharges its customers. read more

I spent $1200 on speakers. Very poor Quality hook up. They Didn't even know how adjust my new deck returned my car with Greasy fingerprints all over my car. I would never come back here read more

I had my windows tinted here recently but found a small bubble in the material, they told me when it dried it would go away and be fine. Well it didn't go away and it burst leaving a hole in the material. When I took it back they denied that it was a burst bubble and said that I had to have hit it with something. I wish I would have read the reviews before going here. Not happy with the way this was handled, and will not be recommending this place to anyone I know. read more

Call this place looking for a speaker first thing the guy starts talking about is how much cars they have how much money these cars are worth they're working on and I keep trying to ask do you have the part and he kept saying well I just work on the Porsche. They're a bunch of idiots I wouldn't go there to save my life. read more

Well I took my car there to get my windows tinted years ago and was told that it was a lifetime warranty. I went back to get two of my windows fixed and they wanted to charge me. So I went back with my husband and they told us that they could fix it, I made an appointment and the night before they called and said they needed a warranty card. I think they we were just trying to get out of fixing it. I'm pretty sure the manager had something to do with that! We were also thinking about getting a better sound system for my car, but now after this I will definitely not be going back there for anything!!! read more

If I could give zero stars I would. Let's talk about a rip off. When you get quoted one price for a stereo and show up having to pay $140 more than quoted it seems a little extensive. For 12 feet of wire. What a crock. No wonder this place has 2 1/2 starts. Guess I should have trusted other people from the start. read more

Arrogance. Poor customer service and overpriced. Had to many unfavorable incidents to return. No thanks.

Just went in yesterday. Ray was a big help! I was searching for a place I could trust to replace my car stereo & im pleased with my choice. He gave me a quote & ended up paying less then expected! I would recommend to a friend.. read more

I had an excellent experience at Cartronics from start to finish. Ray helped me and provided me with excellent customer service. I highly recommend this place. and will go back for future needs. Thanks guy! read more

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new stero system!! Fabulous customer service and great prices! Ray listened to what I wanted, gave me a couple of options and got it done! Don't even mind my once dreaded commute thanks to my new system! Thanks so much! Sending my husband your way for some work on his truck. read more

So just called these guys because they said they guarantee their work for life even though they never got the stereo to work and iv tried for 3 years thousands of dollars and probably 100 hours of dealing with them and they said since i wrote them a bad review i should take it somewhere else to get fixed... cool guys since you made me pay to replace parts on the car that were not the problem.. multiple times..good job im glad you obviously dont give 2 sh*ts about customer service reading ALL THESE OTHER REVIEWS... GO ANYWHERE ELSE If you're going to pay overprice rates you should at leave get good work and customer service. I should probably take you guys to small claims read more

Ray is awesome. He answered all my questions, gave me real answers and was upfront, honest and patient with me. Fair prices and absolutely amazing work. The Cartronics crew are nothing short of the best. Not a lot of people working the floor, but the patience is worth the final product. read more

I am shocked to see all the negative comments. These guys are super helpful and really know what they are doing. They may be a little pricey, but it is because you are getting the best products and they install it correctly. I have had multiple vehicles and go to these guys every time to get my system installed. They are friendly and are very professional. If you want your system to sound great and know it is backed by an awesome warranty, I would go to Cartronics. If you are cheap and have no idea what you are doing, I'd go to Best Buy or Cartunes. read more

I was more than pleased with the employees at Cartronics. I not only had my windows tinted but also had a stereo system installed (stereo, bluetooth, MP3, radio, the works). I walked in the door of Cartronics, not knowing a single thing about tinting or stereo systems and the employees that helped me were SO helpful!!! I believe the gentleman who helped me was Ray. He gave me a variety of stereos to choose from and how each one differed. I told him what i was looking for and the features i wanted and we were able to decide what worked best for me and my budget in a short amount of time. Then when it came to the tinting of my car. It was fast, great quality and most important i felt that my car was left in it were in great hands. When i came back about an hour or so later, my car was looking cleaner than when i left it. The employee who did the tinting took it upon himself to clean all my windows (even the ones i didn't have tinted) .LOVED IT. read more

When I walked into the places I was helped immediately. Andrew was very helpful and seemed very experienced and defiantly knew what he was talking about. He immediately knew the prices and approximate time that it would take to have all the work done on my car. from there I was put right on the schedule and was out the door in less then 10 minutes. I'm defiantly coming back here for the rest of my audio work for my car. read more

Horrible. I explained what my problem was over the phone (satellite antenna covered by camper... need an adapter to move the antenna from out of under the camper,)... got a quote, told they could do this work then when I show up to the appointment was told that person didn't know what they were talking about! Thanks for wasting my time, gas, and my day off!!!! read more

Worst Store EVER. I went in to buy a car alarm. He insisted I needed to buy a "Bypass Unit." I was surprised when he said I needed it. I even second guessed him and said "Are you sure." He said if you dont have it your car alarm and remote start wont work. So I figured he knew what he was talking about and bought it. It was $105 for the extra little part plus the $250 for the alarm and remote start. I took my truck and the parts I bought from Cartronics to have them install it. The guy that worked at the Geeksquad car installation center called the makers of the car alarm. They said that I DID NOT need the Bypass unit and that the store I bought it from should return it. I went back to cartronics and the guy was a COMPLETE A$$ about it. Told me I HAVE to have it and the alarm wont work. So I kept the part. Here I am two days later with my car alarm and remote start installed. All works like it should. Did not need the bypass unit. HE wont return it even though he said I have to have it for the alarm and remote start to work. NEVER go to these guys. Ripped off from the start. read more

I recently went into this shop to have a simple car stereo installed. This seemed like a straight forward request, but that was not the case at all! Initially things went fine (not great, but acceptable) but then after agreeing to the installation things went down hill. First of all the customer service was awful. I felt disrespected and made to feel like an idiot because I had a few questions. When I came back in to pick up my vehicle I was extremely disappointed because a cable for my iphone hook up was not installed. This came STANDARD with my stereo package. I assumed that this should have been installed, but NO, according to them it would cost another $50 to plug in a simple adapter. My overall experience with this company was very poor. Their employees were all rude and disrespectful, not to mention they have no morals because they try to take you for every penny possible! Do NOT go to this store. I will NEVER recommend them to any family or friends. read more