718 Auto Sound & Security — Attraction in New York

Please watch my in dash cam video before reading my review. I dropped off my car at 718 Auto Sound & Security located at 1572 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11207 to have minor paint correction and put a Protective Plastic Film on my whole car. I was told to come pick it up at 5:30 before they close for the weekend. When I get the car no one wants to look me in the eye. As I drive off I feel a vibration in first gear. I thought nothing of it. Probably drove over a patch of Armor All, I tell myself. I was driving out of a car shop. A few blocks away I stop at a red light. The light turns green and I feel it again when I pull off in first gear. Now I’m paying attention. I get on the parkway, pick up some speed and I get a mouthful of a burned smell coming in through my vents. I open my windows and it gets worse as the smell come in through my opened windows. I immediately get off the parkway and open my hood. Nothing is visibly on fire but the smell is really strong over the driver side. I think to myself were these guys doing burnouts with my car? Tell me they didn’t burn my clutch. I call the shop and no one is picking up the phone. I hang up and call again. No answer. They’re closed for the weekend. I drive the rest of the way home smelling a burned clutch and feeling a vibration that starts at my clutch and travels beneath the driver seat and continues through the center of my car and to the trunk like a wave. Each time I pull out from a dead stop at the green light. I get home and I watch my dashcam video. I see a guy with a 718 Auto Sound logo on his shirt sitting in my driver’s seat, reversing out of the business garage and doing burnouts in the parking lot. He looks like he’s having a blast in the first video. In the video of my hood you can see smoke coming out of my hood and ALL the employees look concerned. In the last video the same guy is seen with sweat on his forehead, looking concerned and driving my car back into the businesses garage. How would you would feel if you saw a stranger beating your car. I trusted this shop to take care of me. Based on their reviews I thought I was dealing with an honest business. At best only my clutch is damaged. Maybe my driveshaft is messed up. Maybe my rear differential or transfer case is screwed now. I called Monday at 10 am and asked the lady behind the desk to have the owner call me that day. 5 pm no call so I called again. A different lady answered and she passed me to a manager. I told him why I was calling. He apologized. I told him I wanted to speak with the owner. To have the owner watch the shop’s videos and to call me. It’s been 7 days and I haven’t had a call from the shop. The manager had no problem calling me hours after I dropped off my car to upsell me a full paint job but couldn’t call me back to make this better. What would you do in my situation? If I were the manager I would know what my employees are doing because I would supervise them. I would watch video of when I’m not around. That’s how I would manage my employees. if I saw something wrong I would give the owner of the business a heads up. I would call the owner of the car and tell them what happened. I would apologize. I would ask the car owner how I could regain their trust. If I were the business owner I would definitely call the owner of the car and offer to pay for a licensed mechanic to diagnose and evaluate the car. Maybe I’m wrong about what a manager and business owner should do. What do you think they should do? How do you think a manager and the business owner should treat you? The crazy part is that my dash cam says out loud “RECORDING”. It says it every time the ignition is turned on and if there’s even a faint sound outside the car or a slight tap. The employee either didn’t care or had MY radio on so loud he didn’t hear it. Is there a lawyer reading this? Has anyone had this...

⭐ 1 out of 5 stars

The 4.9-star rating at 718 Auto Sound & Security is misleading and strategically manipulated. It doesn’t reflect real work quality — it reflects pressured reviews.

Here’s how it works: Right after they finish the job — before you even see or hear your car — they hand you a business card with a QR code and ask you to leave a 5-star Google review immediately. You’re still at the counter. Your vehicle is still in the shop. You haven’t tested anything. But they want a review based on the transaction — not the results.

And once the excitement fades and the system starts giving you problems? You realize exactly what they rushed you into.

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My experience:

I brought all of my own equipment — brand-new amplifier, RCA cables, and a full wiring kit — and paid $400 for labor. I was clear from the beginning:

“Fresh install. No reused parts. No shortcuts.”

Instead, they reused my old RCA cables, ignored the new ones I brought, and never told me. When I asked where my new equipment went, I got nothing but vague answers like “We’ll check” or “Not sure.” The parts were never returned.

Let’s be real: they stole them.

That’s when it became clear that this shop doesn’t operate with integrity. They want you far from your car while they work — and if you even try to watch from outside, they’ll close the garage door. It’s not about safety. It’s about hiding what they’re doing (or not doing).

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Sloppy install = long-term headaches

They didn’t secure the amplifier properly — which is the heart of the entire sound system. Because it wasn’t torqued down correctly, I started experiencing distortion, buzzing, and dropouts just days later. A loose amp shakes and stresses the wiring — eventually damaging everything around it.

Even worse, their electrical work is completely unprofessional.

Instead of using heat shrink tubing to secure and insulate wiring (like any quality shop would), they wrapped wires in electrical tape. In NYC — where your car hits potholes, bakes in the summer, and freezes in the winter — that tape doesn’t last. It loosens. It degrades. The connections go bad. And then: • Your speakers cut out • Your sound quality drops • You’re back in the shop paying for fixes that should’ve been avoided

And when you do come back? They just do the same thing again — more electrical tape — not the proper fix. It’s a cycle that wastes your time, damages your gear, and leaves you disappointed.

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Their business model is clear: • Rush installs • Pressure you for a 5-star review before you inspect the work • Keep you away from the vehicle during service • Push the next car in • Deny accountability when problems surface

This isn’t how a trusted shop should operate.

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Go to Peluche Sound Shop instead — at 196 Linden Street, Brooklyn.

He’ll take a day or two if needed, but the work is thorough, professional, and built to last. Every wire is heat-shrunk, grounded properly, and cleanly routed. No shortcuts. No missing parts. No runaround. He explains what he’s doing, and you drive away knowing the job was done right.

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Bottom line:

Don’t fall for the inflated Google rating. The 1-star reviews are the ones telling the truth. 718 Auto Sound & Security doesn’t prioritize quality or customer trust — they prioritize speed, volume, and online appearances.

I learned the hard way — so you...

I say come at your owe risk. I called about pricing on a dash cam install. It was $150 for them to do a basic install No Hardwiring. It took about an hour. It was done good all in all. After I got my vehicle back and made it to my drive way I noticed that the extra stuff that wasn’t used was not placed back in the box I called no answer so I was forced to drive back. I was nice and explained my dilemma to the woman who assisted me when I first stop bye. A man began to give his input without clear knowledge of the situation and was irritated that I asked for my transfer cable, static window stickers and extra adhesive. The guy the did the installation stated it was all in the box in the car but I showed them what he left he then went back to the trash also took my vehicle to check. But all I got back was my cable after about 5-10 minutes of not finding the other stuff they began to suggest that I must of dropped it. I explained and showed them that I have an unboxing video with everything in and out of the box. Then they continue to speak in Spanish like I was the problem and just saying it’s in the garage it’s gone etc. They eventually went into their own dash cam box and gave me back the static window stickers and the window dash cam sticker and nothing else. They were so upset with me that they didn’t want to pull my vehicle out they told me to do it. I believe this place would be an amazing place if they just work on customer service. I was treated like the problem when I just wanted what was...