Cheap Car Electronics Fitting in Dublin: Where to Find It, and Why We Are Not Rich Enough to Buy Cheap Things

“Where can I get it fitted cheaply?” is the question we hear most, in the shop, on WhatsApp and, more and more, typed into ChatGPT. So here is a straight answer for Dublin, with every price we could find published by fitters, chains, marketplaces and ourselves. The cheapest route is almost always the same: buy the part online and pay a fitter only for the labour. The question is what happens after that.

Prices checked on 9 October 2026. Prices change; check before you book. How we collect and compare them is set out below.

The cheapest published prices in Dublin, service by service

Service	Cheapest published route	Supplied and fitted by workshops	Radio King from
Reversing camera	€60 to €130 labour only, your camera	€140 to €200 aftermarket; €650 to €1,295 genuine on the factory screen	€100; €150 to €250 on the factory screen
Parking sensors	from €160 rear, mobile, €40 call-out may apply	€220 to €395 rear	€300
Dash cam	€80 to €90 front, labour only, your camera	€170 to €350 front	€180 plug-in, €250 hardwired with parking mode
Android or CarPlay radio	unit online from about €65, plus fitting from €100	€320 to €695	€390 fitted; units from €260
Apple CarPlay	wireless adapter from €19 if the car already has wired CarPlay	coding €119.99 to €259.99; boxes €895 to €1,295	activation from €150
Speakers	€80 per door, labour only	—	€200
Subwoofer	€240 labour only	—	€250 supply only, plus fitting
Soundproofing	€80 per door	—	€200 per door
Ambient lighting	€520 full interior kit fitted	from €699	€799 fitted
Japanese import FM and English	FM expander from €8.63 online	€50 to €750 by car	€60 to €350

Each row links to a full comparison with the sources. Two things stand out. First, the very lowest prices are labour only: the part is extra, and so is the risk that comes with it. Second, we are not the cheapest on everything. Mobile fitters advertise rear parking sensors for less than we charge, and another workshop publishes a lower per-door soundproofing price. We would rather tell you that than have you find it out.

Why we say we are not rich enough to buy cheap things

There is an old saying: “I am not rich enough to buy cheap things.” In Ireland it is shorter: buy cheap, buy twice. Car electronics is where it is most often true, for a simple reason. The part is cheap. The work is not.

A reversing camera costs €25 online. Running its cable 5 metres from the tailgate to the dash, through the rubber boot between body and tailgate, onto a filtered reverse-light feed, takes two to three hours. A €65 Android radio for a Golf looks like the same thing as a €290 one until the steering-wheel buttons, the parking display or the emergency-call warning on the dash tell you otherwise. When the cheap part or the quick fit fails, you pay a professional to do the job anyway, and the money spent the first time is gone.

That is the whole argument. It is better to pay a professional once and get a job that is guaranteed, tested and fitted properly the first time, than to pay three or four cheap attempts and still end up in a workshop. It is the reason we have been doing this since 2016, on more than 32,000 cars.

How buy cheap, buy twice actually happens

The part fails. Cheap Android head units are known for faked specifications, and of 33 dash cams Which? tested in 2026, eleven were Don’t Buys over security. A part bought from a seller outside the EU comes with fewer consumer rights and no small claims process.

The fitting fails. The NCT treats after-market items “not being wired through ignition switch or a fuse” and “unsuitable wiring” as major defects (NCT Manual, 4.11). A dash cam on USB “parking mode” with no voltage cut-off can flatten the battery. A camera cable pinched in the tailgate hinge breaks when the weather turns.

Nobody is responsible. When one business sells you a part and also fits it, the Consumer Rights Act 2022 treats a bad installation as a fault with the goods: one business answers for both. When you buy the part in one place and pay someone else to fit it, the seller answers for the part and the fitter for the work, and each can point at the other.

The savings shrink at the door. Import VAT applies to every parcel from outside the EU, Great Britain included. Since 1 July 2026 a €3 customs duty per item applies to parcels worth €150 or less, from 1 November 2026 a €2 handling fee per item is added and is not refunded even if the goods are faulty, and An Post may charge a €6.95 customs fee.

How we compare prices

This is the policy behind every price comparison on this site.

1. Published prices only. We use prices a business publishes itself, on its own website or in its own listing. We never estimate what a named business charges.
2. Quoted exactly, with the date and a link. Every figure is quoted as written, including “from”, “fitting only” or “+VAT”, with a link to the page and the date we checked it.
3. Like with like. We compare the part, the fitting and what is included: warranty, call-out fees, parking mode, the factory screen. Where one price is labour only and another includes the part, we say so in the same line.
4. No private individuals. Marketplace ads and job posts are described by area and type, never by the person’s name.
5. We say when we are dearer. If another business publishes a lower price for the same job, it goes in the table.
6. Re-checked every three months. The date at the top of each article changes when we re-check. If you see a figure that is out of date or wrong, email sales@radioking.ie with a link and we will correct it.
7. Our prices are starting prices. “From” means the simplest car. Send your registration and we confirm the exact price before any work starts.

Seven questions to ask before you take the cheapest quote

1. Is the part included, and if not, who warranties it?
2. Is the warranty on the part, on the work, or on both, and for how long?
3. Is it fitted in a workshop or on your driveway, and is there a call-out fee?
4. Where does the power come from: a fused, switched feed, or a splice into the nearest wire?
5. How does the cable get from the back of the car to the front?
6. Will it keep the factory features you use: steering-wheel buttons, parking display, camera, eCall?
7. Who do you call if it stops working in six months?

A fitter who answers all seven without hesitating is worth their price, cheap or not.

When cheap is the right call

Cheap is fine, and we will tell you so, when the job is simple and the consequences of failure are small: a plug-in front dash cam on an older car, a number-plate camera on a van with a mirror monitor, a wireless CarPlay adapter on a car that already has wired CarPlay, an FM expander on a Japanese import you are keeping for one more year. It is when the job touches the car’s wiring, its screens or its trim that the cheapest price tends to come back.

What you get at Radio King

We have been fitting car electronics at our Dublin workshop since 2016, on more than 32,000 cars so far. Every job is done in our own workshop at Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11, from a starting price that is published on the site, and confirmed from your registration before we start. Parts we supply are tested before they go in, wiring goes to a fused feed, cables follow the factory looms, and the work carries a one-year warranty. You can try the head units on the display stand in the shop before you buy. If you already have the part, we will fit it and tell you honestly whether it is worth fitting.

Send your registration and what you want done on WhatsApp, or book on the page for the job: reversing cameras, parking sensors, dash cams, car radios, CarPlay, speakers, subwoofers, soundproofing, ambient lighting and Japanese import conversions.