Marlborough shop installs wide range of automobile electronics
By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer
Marlborough?“We make your car more fun to drive” is the way Rick Pare, owner of Mega-Watt describes the business he has operated since 1993.
Mega-Watt can add audio and video systems, remote starters, security systems, navigation, drive cams – just about any electronic option available to just about any automobile.
The store on Route 20 includes a sound room to demonstrate various audio products and a dazzling array of automotive accessories.
“The industry is changing a bit, because more cars are now being made with a variety of electronics. The car companies used to just make cars,” Pare said. “But the level of the technology stops when the car comes off the line, and we can update the existing systems in a car as well as add systems.”
One of the most popular products right now is a system that uses a smartphone app to locate the car, lock and unlock it, and start it, all from the user’s phone.
“I’ve had just about every remote starter available on my vehicles since 1992, and there have been a range of issues. With this app, you can start your car from any place on the planet.” Pare noted he recently went to a Bruins game in Boston, and his wife needed to get a coat out of his truck parked in his driveway. “I just unlocked the truck for her while sitting at the game.”
This app also records where the car has been over time. Last month, Pare got a call from his insurance company about an accident in Auburn that his car supposedly had been involved in. He was able to show from the phone record that his car was not in Auburn at the time the accident occurred and the insurance company had no further questions.
Pare also noted that Bluetooth wireless communication technology now permits people to connect their smartphone to their car. “You could receive phone calls or play music from your phone through the car’s audio system. You can use your phone’s navigation system and not have to buy a separate navigation system.”
Pare predicts the next big thing for automotive electronics will be drive cams, in-car cameras already popular in Asia.
“Drive cams can record what happened in an accident or protect the car while it’s parked,” he said, noting they are becoming more affordable at about $499 installed. He also anticipates insurance companies could offer a deduction for cars with the cameras in the future.
Pare tells the story of a local limousine company that installed drive cams to monitor the car interior as well as exterior. It recorded a female passenger picked up at the airport who repeatedly refused to fasten her seatbelt when the driver requested that she do so. When the driver was forced to swerve on the trip home, she fell to the floor of the limo, and subsequently threatened to sue the limo service. The service sent the video from the camera to her lawyer and that was the last of it.
Other popular products are video systems for entertainment in the back seat, stereo systems, and backup cameras for older cars, he said.
Mega-Watt also installs electronic equipment in boats and on motorcycles.
“We can retrofit most cars with any of this equipment,” Pare said. It usually just takes a day or two to install a system.
Electric cars and hybrids have led to the development of new systems and ways to install them because those cars have two different electrical systems, and push-to-start systems in new cars affect how remote starters are installed. “But we can still do it, the process is just different,” he said.
Mega-Watt is located at 87 Granger Blvd. (Rt. 20) in Marlborough. For more information on the products the store carries and on installations, visit www.mega-watt.com, or call 508-229-2233.
Editor’s Note: The preceding is not an endorsement and is presented for informational purposes only.