This is a long one. In short, we have a ‘19 impreza - it’s our first car and no qualms with it at all. Now we’re worried geek squad might’ve done something irreparable to the car wiring that we won’t know about until it’s an emergency at some distant time in the future....

My boyfriend’s dad bought us a remote starter for Xmas and ironically we tried getting it installed yesterday on Valentine’s Day only for all hell to break loose. The starter he got us is listed as compatible via the Best Buy website (Compustar 4905S-Kit with two remotes and the CM-DC3 module). He’s gotten starters before from BBY because the installation was often included in the product price.

Problem #1 - we made an appointment in December for 1:15pm. Arrived a half hour early so we were happy to wait until 1:15pm to check in etc. time rolls around and two other cars are still in the install bay... finally at 1:30pm they unlock the door to check us in. Place was chaos there were two techs and one store employee not really doing anything, meanwhile four customers were just standing there twiddling our thumbs like no one knew what was going on.

Problem #2 - finally getting helped now but apparently when this was bought my boyfriend’s dad didn’t click the necessary menu options in the checkout process to have the installation parts and service added for free. Tech tells us it’ll be $150 - I remind them that if I bought the same thing on their website today that I could get the install parts and service included for no additional cost. Gets a manager and manager tried the same thing until I showed him on my phone and then he figured something out. Fine.

Problem #3 - finally sort out the free install, but then proceed to witness the techs go into a complete downward spiral with each other after realizing we have a Subaru and that they would need to do a hard wire install since no t harness was compatible. Even though the BBY website says the product is compatible with our car (‘19 premium CVT wagon-though the website only had sedan option but I assumed that was bad web production and not intentional). Regardless they also confirmed the product was compatible but that it would be a 3.5 hour install. Fine with us since that’s in the advertised 2-4 hour advertised install window. Something seemed off though like one or both of the techs were new or less experienced but I couldn’t point to anything specific about my gut feeling.

Problem #4 - we didn’t receive any updates the entire afternoon so we were left wandering a parking lot shopping plaza for the entire time since covid and you can’t even sit in a bar or restaurant while waiting nor is there any seating or bathrooms available at BBY. So we went back 3.5 hours later - ours is now the only car in the install bay but doors locked so we just stand around. Another half hour goes by and then we finally get an update because one of the techs was leaving the garage for a different reason. Tells us they’re still doing wiring and it’s really difficult because we have a 2019 (doesn’t matter - they looked up the install guide and said they could do it before we left) and they can’t get around the airbag (again doesn’t really matter to me - most cars have knee airbags these days). We start getting really irritated because these are the kinds of things we’d have expected them to have a sense of or plan for before beginning the work now 4 hours prior.

Problem #5 - so we’re just left standing there in the store idly waiting with no idea of if we will ever go home never mind whether we’ll have the starter functioning when we do. Another hour and a half goes by, the install bay has technically been closed for 1.5 hours and the store has now been closed for 30 mins. Techs say wiring done but getting an error code on the CM and they can’t get ahold of their tech support line to figure out what they messed up or how to fix it. Sends us home with the dash barely re assembled at 7:30pm and say to come back in the morning when they get there.

So the end remains to be told later today but I’m just wondering, have we already passed a point of no return and is there anything electrical related that we should keep an eye out for in the coming months in case they spliced the wrong power cables? I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a never ending story of post install issues but I have no idea what to keep an eye out for to hopefully get ahead of it or deal with it quickly when the warning signs pop up to prevent more hazardous permanent damage to the wiring. I can’t believe this has become such a nightmare. I realize automotive systems have become more complicated and secure over time but if this was a 3.5 hour job and were now on hour 7 it really does not instill any confidence in their craftsmanship.