Aftermarket stereo

[Scott_C]

Im going to upgrade the headunit in the Kluger. I was chatting to a rep from a car audio store in the US (Crutchfield) - and their site was not listing any of the stereo's as being compatible with the 08 Kluger/Highlander.

I went to an online chat to ask why, and this is what they said;

Agent (x.): "The passenger air bag light is integrated into the radio faceplate. No kit is available at this time and radio replacement is not recommended."

Agent (x.): "That is why we list it as not fitting."

Agent (x.): "No kits, harnesses, etc. are made for the vehicle currently."

Some guys in the US tell me they HAVE done an aftermarket install.

I was wondering if anyone here has?

Cheers,

Scott.

Im thinking of putting this unit in Pioneer FH-P8000BT;

[DHOUS]

Im going to upgrade the headunit in the Kluger. I was chatting to a rep from a car audio store in the US (Crutchfield) - and their site was not listing any of the stereo's as being compatible with the 08 Kluger/Highlander.

I went to an online chat to ask why, and this is what they said;

Agent (x.): "The passenger air bag light is integrated into the radio faceplate. No kit is available at this time and radio replacement is not recommended."

Agent (x.): "That is why we list it as not fitting."

Agent (x.): "No kits, harnesses, etc. are made for the vehicle currently."

Some guys in the US tell me they HAVE done an aftermarket install.

I was wondering if anyone here has?

Cheers,

Scott.

Im thinking of putting this unit in Pioneer FH-P8000BT;

[DHOUS]

Scott you are unreal, you are a bigger KXR freak than me, I believe the KXR is the best value for money and if you can personalise it to look as good or better than the KXS and The Grande then you are on the way, I look forward to seeing the final results, in relation to the stereo its all a personal choice good music system or the latest combination of satnav/stereo I would probably choose the latter.

cheers

Don

[Scott_C]

Scott you are unreal, you are a bigger KXR freak than me, I believe the KXR is the best value for money and if you can personalise it to look as good or better than the KXS and The Grande then you are on the way, I look forward to seeing the final results, in relation to the stereo its all a personal choice good music system or the latest combination of satnav/stereo I would probably choose the latter.

cheers

Don

Lol Don, thanks (I think!) :)

I agree, we were happy with the KXR, I just wanted a few extra bits - I just wasnt prepared to pay the extra $10k for the KXS.

I have a portable GPS, so Im not too concerned with that, but a decent stereo would be good.

[aardvark]

a decent stereo would be good.

No matter what CD or MP3 disc I have in the car, my wife insists on listening to the bloody radio. Go figure. Can't see the sense in spending money on a decent stereo as a result.

She makes me listen to the radio when she's driving, so I make her listen to my Jack Johnson albums when I'm driving. :)

[Scott_C]

a decent stereo would be good.

No matter what CD or MP3 disc I have in the car, my wife insists on listening to the bloody radio. Go figure. Can't see the sense in spending money on a decent stereo as a result.

She makes me listen to the radio when she's driving, so I make her listen to my Jack Johnson albums when I'm driving. :)

Haha, make sense. :)

Im wondering if Im being too fussy with the car stereo, perhaps I should leave it well enough alone..

but then...

I think of the AWESOME stereo's you can get these days with built in Bluetooth and a stack of other features, for around $300.

[sjposty17]

a decent stereo would be good.

No matter what CD or MP3 disc I have in the car, my wife insists on listening to the bloody radio. Go figure. Can't see the sense in spending money on a decent stereo as a result.

She makes me listen to the radio when she's driving, so I make her listen to my Jack Johnson albums when I'm driving. :)

Haha, make sense. :)

Im wondering if Im being too fussy with the car stereo, perhaps I should leave it well enough alone..

but then...

I think of the AWESOME stereo's you can get these days with built in Bluetooth and a stack of other features, for around $300.

I have a KX-R but I bought 6 stacker bluetooth unit (KX-S headunit) from a guy who had just taken his out of his new Landcruiser (and put in a Grande style touch screen unit). I just lucked it on e-bay must have meant to be! Cost me $380 & $25 postage.

Anyway, the unit is excellent and the bluetooth feature is the best and will hopefully stop my wife getting a ticket for using her phone whilst driving. I can thoroughly recommend the unit if only for that integrated bluetooth feature. I have a portable handsfree unit, but they need charging, this works much better and the audio through the car speakers is great.

I suffered some damage when the dealer fitted it (refer other post about replacing dash) but it was still worth it I think. If it got fitted with some care shouldn't be any issue.

Beware the cheap 8 in 1 touch screen units on e-bay as my local aftermarket dealer said he had a customer buy one from overseas and come to them for fitting, but it didn't live up to expectations and they couldn't get it to work properly. Of course he had no recourse.

[Scott_C]

Im sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with the dealer, they're beyond incompentent.

Ive been looking at the Toyota 6 stacker w/ bluetooth myself, at least I know it would fit perfectly. ;)

[munster]

Ive been looking at the Toyota 6 stacker w/ bluetooth myself, at least I know it would fit perfectly. ;)

While I am very happy with my Kluger KX-R so far (only done 1400k's) I have to say I am disappointed with the stereo. I paid about $740 to have the KX-S 6 stacker sound system put in, mainly because I wanted the integrated bluetooth. I mistakenly assumed it would have features similar to aftermarket bluetooth stereos, but:

- almost everyone I've spoken to using the bluetooth phone link complains about the quality - someone said it was like an am radio slightly off channel. This isn't the professional image I want to portray in my business. When I booked it in for the first service the service guy complained he couldn't hear me very well, so that was a good time to notify him of the problem!

- it doesn't integrate with the phone book from your phone, you have to manually enter in a very limited 6 speed dial numbers (unless I'm missing something).

- you can't play music from your phone via bluetooth on the stereo (again unless I'm missing something).

- the music quality isn't that good, acceptable, but not worth $700

- the manual states something like "when playing cd's in random play the same song may be played twice in a row - this is not an error it is normal". Sorry fellas, that's just bad design.

I have complained to the dealer and am going to try to get my money back for the stereo upgrade because the bluetooth is unusable IMO, but I don't like my chances. If you are considering it I would recommend you seriously consider other alternatives - I'm about to start looking.

Tim

BTW, I'm using a Nokia 6120, always fully charged, no other bluetooth devices in the vehicle, phone works fine with other bluetooth devices at home and around the office.

[Iwantone]

I have had the same thought. I personally think the stereo is not that good, not sure if its the head unit or speakers but my old cd player in my last car was 10 times better. Have wondered about adding one with bluetooth but not so keen on messing with the car just yet!. Will be interested to see what you find out.

Good Luck

[Blackkluger]

The people i have spoken to in the past that are in that industry recommend speakers to be changed first, then if your still not happy, change the head unit. They say most cars have cheap speakers which dont do the head unit justice, and say that wasting $$$$ on a the best head unit will only work as good as its weakest link...

Im wanting the pioneer dvd player and maybe the built in dvd in the headrest that i have seen. The grande one is no good as it completely blocks your rearward vision through the mirror...

[Mikeyboy]

I have spoken to an installer who has already fitted systems to the Kluger. He said the spearkers were fairly good and the head unit was crap.

I will be changing mine soon; I just need to make up my mind on how far to go and how much to spend.

Will let you know what Ive done and how it turned out.

[Mikeyboy]

Have pretty much decided to get the Kenwwod DNX7320 with the Kenwood KCA-BT200 bluetooth unit and a PAC Audio SWI.

Will cost around $2100 if I fit it myself. Just waiting to see what wiring diagrams I get from Toyota next week so that I can connect the reverse camera.

[Scott_C]

I have spoken to an installer who has already fitted systems to the Kluger. He said the spearkers were fairly good and the head unit was crap.

Thats exactly what Ive heard, and its often the case with car audio.

Let us know how your install goes!

[Snowy68]

Hi Guys,

Have any of you changed the head unit yet? Do the steering wheel audio controls still work? I'm thinking of getting a KX-R and upgrading the stereo.

Cheers,

Snowy68

Edited August 18, 2008 by Snowy68

[Mikeyboy]

Hi Guys,

Have any of you changed the head unit yet? Do the steering wheel audio controls still work? I'm thinking of getting a KX-R and upgrading the stereo.

Cheers,

Snowy68

I was going to do it shortly, but now I will be away for about 6 weeks on holidy I thought I would leave it until I get back.

The steering wheel controls will work if you get a head unit that has an OEM remote input, but you will also need an adapter that suits both the head unit and the steering wheel buttons.

[boleh]

Have pretty much decided to get the Kenwwod DNX7320 with the Kenwood KCA-BT200 bluetooth unit and a PAC Audio SWI.

Will cost around $2100 if I fit it myself. Just waiting to see what wiring diagrams I get from Toyota next week so that I can connect the reverse camera.

Mikeyboy,

Can you share with us the wiring diagrams from Toyota?

I looking for a "complete guide" on how to do a DIY replacement for the headunit. So on top of wiring stuffs I'd also need to find out how to remove the dash panels. Once I've got enough confidence I'll buy this unit from ebay (pic below). The only one I could afford

[nealo]

Any one seen this? After Market Highlander DVD/GPS etc.

I've sent them an email but am thinking because this replaces "our" (australian) hazard light switch we would need the bit that goes in the hole at the bottom.

Like this

What do you think?

[nealo]

O.k I got a reply back from them and they don't export. What? How hard would it be to send a package from NZ to Australia?

Anyway I've emailed Caska directly and also another mob located in WA that apparently deals with Caska. But from I've come across they sell for around $1700 which is bit much considering the other options out there.

[boleh]

nealo,

Nice find.. have u decided which gps unit for your kluger?

Some other alternatives I'm looking at:

http://www.polarisgps.com.au

http://members.optusnet.com.au/auspacks/

[Mikeyboy]

Have pretty much decided to get the Kenwwod DNX7320 with the Kenwood KCA-BT200 bluetooth unit and a PAC Audio SWI.

Will cost around $2100 if I fit it myself. Just waiting to see what wiring diagrams I get from Toyota next week so that I can connect the reverse camera.

Mikeyboy,

Can you share with us the wiring diagrams from Toyota?

I looking for a "complete guide" on how to do a DIY replacement for the headunit. So on top of wiring stuffs I'd also need to find out how to remove the dash panels. Once I've got enough confidence I'll buy this unit from ebay (pic below). The only one I could afford

Booleh,

sorry for not replying to this. I was in USA on holidays.

Ireceived wiring diagrams from Toyota, but they are only hard copies and unless you are experienced with reading complex electrical diagrams, like myself, they are quite confusing. I am going to redraw them with my electrical drawing package so they make sense, they will also be in a format that allows searching within the PDF, and I will then make them available.

I am stil trying to decide whether to go for a better stereo with bluetooth or to go for satnav and everything. the Kenwood satnav units also have auxilliary outputs which I can use to open the garage door, with some modifications to the remote, so I am still leaning that way.

[dazz]

Boleh,

which gps system did you put in your Kluger. Could you plese post some pictures.

cheers

Dazz