Are you happy?

[Ben DB]

Hi all,

New to this forum and have been reading a lot about these 7/8" touchscreen stereo upgrades, have been researching a bit and am finding it difficult to decide whether or not to upgrade the head unit in my SX6. So my question to all you people who have tried the upgrade is: Are you happy with it, and would you recommend the purchase?

Cheers,

Ben

[DJKOR]

In general and not talking about a specific unit, going for a aftermarket stereo with built in navigation unit is surely a good upgrade. Those Navman's and TomTom's were starting to sell really cheap and prior to my head unit, I had the idea of buying one just because they were so cheap. I then thought that I would never use it because it's all gimmicky, so I never bought it. When I got my new head unit, I was quite surprised when I actually started using the navigation. It is so much easier than having to plan the trip first.

The addition of a bluetooth handsfree built in was another selling point. In my last car, I had a Pioneer head unit with bluetooth, and once you use that, you can't live without. Apart from that, I haven't really used any other feature of my head unit. I guess in the end, most of it came down to the aesthetics. It really improved the look in the interior and made the car look more luxury since the stock head unit was pretty cheap looking.

It all comes down to personal preference. I couldn't really stand the way my Aurion looked with the stock stereo. Sure the 6-stacker MP3 was all I really needed, but it just didn't fit in so great.

[JIN]

I agree with DJKOR.

It is all about personal satisfaction.

In my case, I already have Navman so all I needed was the DVD Headunit and the screen.

My budjet wasn't that big enough to get the real good one, so I bought a cheap dvd headunit and screen from ebay and intalled them by myself.

The wiring job and baffles for speakers were heaps of stress but once it's done, I am really happy with the quality.

Because I only spent around $350 in total for the whole dvd units and speakers all around but the system works much better than it's value.

Maybe I will change the dvd units again when better one comes up with cheap price.

So.. yeah I am happy with my new stereo system although some of the wheel steering control buttons are not working(display button is working tho).

[dannywss]

conclusion: depend on wat u really want. (and budget)

i have alpine w202, very happy as i need it for my sound system with pxa/ktx system, then for navi, i get blaupunkt-travelpilot dvx, coz i need a really good, accurate, and even in city with tall buildings(even work with minimum satelite signal)..

but if i have the choice again, with the amount i spent, i rather get the new pioneer avic, with hard disk, navi, blablabla everything.. from wat i heard, price is dropping again soon, as something new will be coming up.. if u have the money, just wait.. ;)

[Ben DB]

conclusion: depend on wat u really want. (and budget)

i have alpine w202, very happy as i need it for my sound system with pxa/ktx system, then for navi, i get blaupunkt-travelpilot dvx, coz i need a really good, accurate, and even in city with tall buildings(even work with minimum satelite signal)..

but if i have the choice again, with the amount i spent, i rather get the new pioneer avic, with hard disk, navi, blablabla everything.. from wat i heard, price is dropping again soon, as something new will be coming up.. if u have the money, just wait.. ;)

How did you mount into the dash? is there a sorround available or did you have to get something custom? ive always had alpine gear, i dont like having something like the generic stereo in the car? did you get the alpine working with the steering wheel controls?

[DJKOR]

How did you mount into the dash? is there a sorround available or did you have to get something custom?

It appears that he now has one from fascias.com.au:

Quick Question about facia kit

Previously, it appears that he had an Aerpro one:

Toyota Aurion Double Din???

Either way, you can get one directly from Toyota for around $35.

[myztik]

Yea I just recently bought my one from Toyota, its gonna come in on Monday. but it was round $35.

[dannywss]

(Joking) DJKOR!!! i hate u!! why u remind me how i wasted my $20

BenDb: yea, great on you to buy the facia from toyota. Either way, both toyota's and facia's are better than aeropro. Before i bought mine from aeropro, i asked toyota, but i was told that they dont have it.. sadly.. (this is over 1 year ago) Also, please read within aurion forum, u will find tonss of info on sound system, even installation or stripping the car!! ;)

for the steering wheel control, i have and idea or making sure it work, but need time and effort.

Solution:

1. The hard way(but cheap if diy): extend all the cable for original HU, connect it and hide the HU somewhere in the car.

2. The easy way: spent around $300 installed for a steering wheel module.

3. The not tested yet way: there r aurion owner with the non-brand aftermarket HU that can get the steering wheel button work, if u can find one and open it up.. study.. then mb can make you steering button work again with alpine or any other HU..

p/s: please donate $100 to toyotaownerclub, for providing these USEFUL infos~~ :D :D :D

[myztik]

sorry to hijack your thread...but I have an Alpine HU, does that mean that I need the $300 steering wheel module to get the buttons working?

i'm not too fuss about the volume button etc, just the display button that im concerend about. but if i could get ALL buttons working that'll be a bonus.\

cheers fellas

[JIN]

sorry to hijack your thread...but I have an Alpine HU, does that mean that I need the $300 steering wheel module to get the buttons working?

i'm not too fuss about the volume button etc, just the display button that im concerend about. but if i could get ALL buttons working that'll be a bonus.\

cheers fellas

If you are only concerned about display button, you don't need to buy any extra stuff for it.

This issue was discussed in other threads which is Steering Wheel buttons

There's a simple(?) solution for the display button working with aftermarket headunit.

There's a board from the factory unit and all the wiring harness are connected into the board.

Take the board out from the factory headunit, connect the display wiring harness only to the board and hide it somewhere.

It doesn't need to be powered, connecting the button harness only would make the display button worked.

In my case, I had to sacrifice the antenna cable into the board as well becos the button harness didn't work alone.

But it started working when I connected both antenna cable and button harness into the board. Strange...

You can buy the module to make all the buttons working but I doubt the module works on every different model or brands.

Just have a look at the diagram carefully first if you gonna DIY.

Edited August 28, 2008 by JIN

[dannywss]

JIN: i still dont understand, if u make the display button work, ok but how to make it work onto the aftermarket HU? dont u need to connect something into the aftermarket HU?

[DJKOR]

JIN: i still dont understand, if u make the display button work, ok but how to make it work onto the aftermarket HU? dont u need to connect something into the aftermarket HU?

From my understanding after reading his post in the other thread (Steering Wheel buttons), JIN only has the functionality of his steering wheel DISP button. I don't think his audio controls are active. To enable the use of the DISP button, he has plugged the circuit board of the stock stereo into the steering wheel harness. Sits completely separate to the new head unit. It may be a messy solution, but if anyone can come up with a better solution, I will pay them for it.

[JIN]

JIN: i still dont understand, if u make the display button work, ok but how to make it work onto the aftermarket HU? dont u need to connect something into the aftermarket HU?

DJKOR is right. Only the Display button is working and other audio control buttons are disabled from I changed my HU.

What I did is pretty simple.

According to DJKOR, You only have to connect the steering wheel(I call it SW from now on) button harness to the board(from stock stereo) alone but the display button didn't work in my case.

So, what I did is I tried to connect some other harness with the SW harness into the board.

I put the antenna plug into the board with SW harness and then the display button started working again.

I connected nothing about the SW control harness to my aftermarket headunit apart from power, speakers etc(normal wiring connection)

Yeah this setup would be messy like DJKOR said because you have to take the board out from the stock headunit and hiding the board somewhere & wiring job really stresses you off

but there's no way to enable the display button except purchasing the module on aftermarket HU..

If you already tried with connecting SW harness to the board and it didn't work, connecting antenna plug and SW harness together into the board would be one of the solutions.

Edited August 29, 2008 by JIN

[Supercharged TRD]

I got the Eclipse AVN6000 which basically does everything from sat nav to DVD playback to washing your laundry (NOT).

I'm very happy with it so far, it's very easy to use. If you are willing to spend the money I highly recommend it, especially with the reversing camera option. After having a camera, I can't imagine going back to a camera-less car! I was also looking at the Pioneer AVIC HD-3 which is about the same price, but has very nice features like hard disk storage and vehicle dynamics mode (which is like having 3 gauges thrown in for free). However, I was strongly recommended against it due to the number of people replacing their HD-3s for AVN6000. Apparently the HD-3s are not as easy to use and crapping out due to hard disk issues, but don't quote me on that. I think it's better to go with whatever interface you feel is easiest to use.

I got the people at Northfield Moorooka in Brisbane to do the job for me. I was absolutely gobsmacked by the job they did. Very good work and the attention to detail was amazing. They even managed to scout out an original Aurion panel for me to replace my damaged one (it was damaged before being sent in to them). They even threw in neons for free. I paid $3,500 to get the AVN6000 put in, wired up and installed with bluetooth, forward and reversing cameras. And they managed to wire up all the steering wheel buttons properly.

You can have a look at my Youtube video in my sig to see how it looks like.

Edited August 30, 2008 by TRD Aurion Owner

[dannywss]

IMO, you paid too much for the avn6000, coz there is a new model already out, and thus dropping the avn price by a lot..

last month, someone offer me the same unit $1.1k(2nd hand, but as new), didnt take it, as saving up for new coming soon pioneer avic..

[Supercharged TRD]

Yes, I know Northfield isn't exactly the cheapest option, I think if you buy online it's even cheaper. Then again, if I wanted cheap I would have gotten one of the EBay sets. I'm very scared of touching anything in my car that would break it, so I rather pay a bit more to get it installed properly. It's like having a child, you only want them to have the best, even if it means costing a bit more. And technology will get obselete very, very quickly, it's just something we have to live with.