Absolute genius! Completely methodical! Will never take my Mercedes anywhere else! Better than the dealership and at much better prices.

Jim LaPlant of Autoccessories installed a radar detector systems in my cars. They look like the system came with the car from the factory (BMW M5, BMW X5, Volvo XC90). Jim's installs are clean and without drilling. The wires are run in the existing factory wire trays and with precision and care. Jim is very careful and treats your car like it is his own. Jim will come to you or you can drop your car at his shop. If you want it done right, go to Jim. JD read more

Jim LaPlant's pricing always goes up after the job is complete. He'll never honor his warranty...he'll come up with some excuse as to why you he can't warranty the command system he installed twice in 12 months...power surge, etc. Then it failed again month # 16 and I had to pay for whole new command unit. I told him to to reinstall the old command unit and he said he threw it away, yea ok. Like he's not going to change a W 211 command system anytime soon...which he told me he holds on to them...just in case I ever wanted to go back to the original he would plug it back in. My question is Why doesn't he just leave it with his clients when he's done?? I made the mistake and referred him to my buddy and he told me the same thing. His price went up after the job was complete from what he had originally quoted. Be weary!! read more

Auto Accessories - Jim LaPlant I have a 2007 Mercedes SL 550 (R230) and was referred to Jim LaPlant by the lead mechanic at the Mercedes dealership I use. He and Jim are friends and I realized he was trying to help his buddy out. Being a soldier, I can appreciate that attitude. Contacting Jim revealed the costs would $1,600 to replace my unit with a Pioneer or Sony unit, replacing my failing amplifier, installing the included back up camera, and adding a wireless fast charger. In the end my costs rose from $1,600 to $2,575, an increase of $975. The time frame to replace the unit went from 3 hours to more than 7 hours, 2.3 times increase over what Jim told me. On first review of the installation, things looked good where the installation of the radio was concerned. Something had happened to my retractable top mechanism while in their care and the top would not full rise allowing the car to be driven. When I arrived back to pick up my car, I found Jim working on my top which would not complete the "Top up" cycle. He claimed that the switch fails all the time but this was something my mechanic and other sources would confirm. It is curious to me how my perfectly operating top became disabled. The position of the deck lid was vertical indicating there was no way to drive this car until it was repaired. Jim found a way to shut the trunk but there was still a problem. With the top partially up, the windows would not close fully, therefore I had a drive back home with wind noise interfering with the sound from the new stereo. We also had to figure a way to open the trunk so I could put my luggage back in the car. With the top mechanism hosed up, this had to be manual and with the hidden key. On the way home I encountered several problems related to my top and others related to the installation. Those related to my top were warning from the car regarding the position of the top and the critical alert due to the top not fully cycled up but mechanically locked in place to prevent movement till I could get the top fixed. A Cost that I would have to bear due to the damage to my top while Jim was installing the stereo and amplifier. The others were related to the installed products by Jim. Every time the car starts the Pioneer unit displays messages connecting to my phone and some repeat, the backup camera could not be centered therefore is off center and cannot be relied up to back up the car. On my 3-hour trip I found that my cell phone had dropped from 95 or better percent down to 49 percent. This was due to the phone providing GPS nav and Sirius XM Radio to the unit. These things were provided by the command center that was removed. I had asked for the Pioneer to have both GPS and Sirius XM but those were not installed. To add to my (dis)pleasure was the fact that the windows would not fully roll up leaving me to enjoy the wind noise of driving highway speeds for 3 hours along with the impending thunderstorm which would have made my drive moist inside and out. Once home I again had to reopen the trunk to get my clothes and other items out. After that I made notes of all the problems I had encountered with this so called simple installation. What struck me hard was not all the issues encountered but the lack of concern from Jim over anything other than collecting the $2,575 dollar amount from me. All in all, my trip was tiring and I was exhausted and I went to bed with a plan to sort it out the next day. The next day I texted Jim a list of the 7 issues I had with this installation. None of which he would accept responsibility for. As a PhD, I researched the issues from costs and ability to correct the installation. What I found was that I had been overcharged and the installation was likely completely botched and would require at a minimum the replacement for all but the factory amplifier. read more

I purchased a Car Play unit for my MB GLA 250 in mid-March and the phone charging function stopped working after ~4 months. Would not cover under warranty but wanted to charge me $300 to install a new unit and see if the manufacturer of the unit would cover it. No way I am giving more money for suspect quality. Don't use. read more

Jim is an electrical guru. He can install any type of accessory (even ones that the dealerships can't). He has done horsepower upgrades, tv systems, and radar/laser system installs for me. In fact, most of the high line car dealers call him when they can't do the job. I wouldn't trust anyone else to touch my cars. He is in high demand so you might have to be a bit flexible, but he will travel to you to do the job. He backs up all his work. I can't say enough about what a good guy he is. He works fast and knows more about Mercedes than anyone I know. Highly recommend him! read more

Everything that Gale A. wrote about Jim LaPlant is 100% spot on and consistent with my experiences. He can add any or fix anything electrical on a car better than a dealer could and make it look like a factory install. He specializes in Mercedes and stays very busy so be patient and it should be well worth it read more

I've used Jim LaPlant of Autoccessories to install radar detector systems on my cars. My first experience was very good, but the last two experiences have been poor. My sense is he has taken on more work and is taking short cuts. What I liked: 1) He is very careful with the car and does the install without any damage 2) The way he is able to mount this equipment without drilling and using mostly automotive tape is fantastic 3) He comes to your house What he could do better 1) Stick to the guidance from the customer and consult the owner if there are trade offs he needs to make. He installs the product however he wants and does not faithfully follow the instructions you provide or manufacturer guidance. Last year he installed the laser sensors in a recessed location despite the fact that I gave him instructions to the contrary. He also mounted the radar antenna sideways even though the manufacturer clearly states that it should be placed horizontally. 2) Stop taking shortcuts. One issue I saw was he didn't even bother to fasten or tape down the radar antenna so it was loose in the car, and able to move around while the car is in motion. This is not acceptable to me and I now have to chase him down to fix it or find someone else. Moreover, I only found out about it because I opened up the wheel well to look inside the bumper for something else. I have recommended this guy to several people on BMW forums. I am now writing this review because I regret directing people to Jim. read more