Sat-Nav option for Aurion question

[Jacob12]

Hey all,

My names Jacob, I currently get around in a 97 model Supra which I'm selling looking for something a bit more subtle and better suited to a daily driver. Right now I'm wanting to stick with the Toyota brand and the Aurion Sportivo is what I've nailed it down to. Good looks that don't yell 'LOOK AT ME!', bit of go from the 200kw v6 and enough room for more than one passenger without having to cut everyones legs off.

A big factor as I've been searching on carsales is the head unit. As a lot of people these days I have my ipod in the car and use that as its much easier than carrying 1,500 songs worth of cds. Are the earlier model Aurions compatible with ipods? And if so how well? I'm fairly sure by the looks of it I can't just go down to JB-Hifi and buy a new head unit, but I'd love to be corrected on that because that'd solve my whole dilema.

The head unit in question is this one:

But, to complicate things, its seems as though Toyota brought out the Aurion with an LCD double din headunit. That would solve all my problems too but it must have been an option thats only on the more expensive cars on carsales.

Again, picture of what I'm talking about:

Does anybody know if either the headunit can be replaced with an aftermarket one or if I can pick an LCD one up from the wreckers/pay a fortune for one from Toyota and fit that into a car that wasn't optioned with it from factory? I'm assuming the wiring harnesses would be the same accross both cars.

Also those pictures were just taken from listings from carsales so apologies if they belong to anyone here. Probably a whole heap of reading for a tiny problem but I'd like to keep the car for a long time so I'd like to have everything I want in it already so any help is appreciated :)

Thanks all!

Edited August 22, 2011 by Jacob12

[DJKOR]

The pre-facelift Aurion does not come with iPod connectivity from factory. The factory single/6-stacker like in your first photo can have AUX-in added to it by means of modifying the unit (read more here), however this means you need to manually control the iPod.

Both the single/6-stacker and the factory Navigation head unit (like this one) can have iPod connectivity added by means of a SoundLinQ2 (link). You basically create playlists in the iPod and you can control them via the head unit.

That second unit you pictured is actually an aftermarket head unit. There is lots of discussion about that on the forum here, so having a look there would be a good starting point.

Only the facelift Aurion came standard with iPod connectivity. The particular head unit in question looks like this:

[Jacob12]

Ah thankyou so much for that.

Without using either head unit I think I prefer that aftermarket one in my second picture to the ones in the post-facelift model. I'll have a bit more of a browse around the forum and see what I can find out about it, cheers :)

[Jacob12]

Just had a look around and found the ebay link to that unit. Looks the goods and I can fit it to any Aurion I buy which I think is a winner :)

[lasertip]

Just had a look around and found the ebay link to that unit. Looks the goods and I can fit it to any Aurion I buy which I think is a winner :)

You could also try taking a look at eonon. Chinese brand but at least it has a brand, unlike most generic units.

I was very close to purchasing the G2216 but changed my mind at the last minute to save cash.

http://www.eonon.com/Car-GPS/2-Din-Car-GPS-DVD/G2216.html

It's cheaper than most generic units, u can get a custom faceplate and wire harness to fit into the aurion from their site as well.

[Jacob12]

Ok so I'll just update this thread. I've now bought an Aurion (the very one that I took the picture of with the sat-nav and posted in my first post). I thought I'd pay the extra and get an Aurion with it already fitted. Bad move. Its crap.

I don't know how many people have this exact head unit, but i strongly dislike it.

Firstly, the sat-nav. I've never actually used the sat-nav, all I know is if its slightly overcast, it won't work. If its raining, forget about it. That kinda sucks because it means I can only use the navigation when its sunny...

Secondly, the touch screen. Has a mind of its own. When listening to the radio, if the screen doesn't get touched for a few seconds, it switches over to an equalizer thing. Sometimes, the equalizer will dissapear, as if the screen has been touched. Then occasionally it will change the station, again as if has been touched. Sometimes it brings up the main menu, then selects random menus from within. A couple of times it even reset all my programmed stations on the radio home screen to 87.5FM. Bloody annoying.

Thirdly, the car also has DVD screens in the headrests. I'm not 100% sure what brand they are, but the one in the passenger seat decides every time I turn the ignition on, it wants to start up and show a blank blue screen until I reach around for the power button and turn it off. This same one also only displays black and white when watching a DVD, yet as above displays solid blue every time i turn the car on. As well as this they fail at being a headrest. Might as well put a rock behind my head they're that uncomfortable.

What I'm thinking of doing is just scrapping the whole thing and buying the unit here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230659905881?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

And opting for the headrest monitors for the extra $180 (pictured near the bottom) in grey as the Sportivo seats are closer to this than any of the other colours they have. Has anybody bought this particular unit?

Couple of questions with this, the car has a reverse camera already installed that I'd like to keep rather than installing another. Do you think the plug for this would be universal and would fit into the new head unit? I'm also slightly worried that since the wiring has been tampered with when the current head unit was installed that I may have more troubles this time round. Most likely it'd be a plug and play harness but theres no gaurantee they haven't hacked it to bits :P.

Thanks for any answers to the above guys.

[Steven]

Ok so I'll just update this thread. I've now bought an Aurion (the very one that I took the picture of with the sat-nav and posted in my first post). I thought I'd pay the extra and get an Aurion with it already fitted. Bad move. Its crap.

I don't know how many people have this exact head unit, but i strongly dislike it.

Firstly, the sat-nav. I've never actually used the sat-nav, all I know is if its slightly overcast, it won't work. If its raining, forget about it. That kinda sucks because it means I can only use the navigation when its sunny...

Secondly, the touch screen. Has a mind of its own. When listening to the radio, if the screen doesn't get touched for a few seconds, it switches over to an equalizer thing. Sometimes, the equalizer will dissapear, as if the screen has been touched. Then occasionally it will change the station, again as if has been touched. Sometimes it brings up the main menu, then selects random menus from within. A couple of times it even reset all my programmed stations on the radio home screen to 87.5FM. Bloody annoying.

Thirdly, the car also has DVD screens in the headrests. I'm not 100% sure what brand they are, but the one in the passenger seat decides every time I turn the ignition on, it wants to start up and show a blank blue screen until I reach around for the power button and turn it off. This same one also only displays black and white when watching a DVD, yet as above displays solid blue every time i turn the car on. As well as this they fail at being a headrest. Might as well put a rock behind my head they're that uncomfortable.

What I'm thinking of doing is just scrapping the whole thing and buying the unit here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230659905881?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

And opting for the headrest monitors for the extra $180 (pictured near the bottom) in grey as the Sportivo seats are closer to this than any of the other colours they have. Has anybody bought this particular unit?

Couple of questions with this, the car has a reverse camera already installed that I'd like to keep rather than installing another. Do you think the plug for this would be universal and would fit into the new head unit? I'm also slightly worried that since the wiring has been tampered with when the current head unit was installed that I may have more troubles this time round. Most likely it'd be a plug and play harness but theres no gaurantee they haven't hacked it to bits :P.

Thanks for any answers to the above guys.

There are literally dozens if not hundreds of aftermarket sat navs for the Aurion out there and they are all very different, so unfortunately there is no quick answer to your question.

For the most part the reverse camera uses an RCA signal to the headunit which would be fairly universal, however how the camera is activated depends on model to model. Some require a wire from the headunit to the reverse lights, others use the reverse lights to power the camera itself (and switch whenever it turns on). It can be figured out whenever you switch the units but would require a bit of know how in how these things work.

As for the wiring, 99% of these units plug directly into the factory harness without any cutting required, so you should be in luck there when it comes to connecting a different unit. However like I already said, you can't be sure until you remove the unit you currently have and take a look.

[Jacob12]

There are literally dozens if not hundreds of aftermarket sat navs for the Aurion out there and they are all very different, so unfortunately there is no quick answer to your question.

For the most part the reverse camera uses an RCA signal to the headunit which would be fairly universal, however how the camera is activated depends on model to model. Some require a wire from the headunit to the reverse lights, others use the reverse lights to power the camera itself (and switch whenever it turns on). It can be figured out whenever you switch the units but would require a bit of know how in how these things work.

As for the wiring, 99% of these units plug directly into the factory harness without any cutting required, so you should be in luck there when it comes to connecting a different unit. However like I already said, you can't be sure until you remove the unit you currently have and take a look.

Thanks heaps for that. Looks like this is the option I'll be going with. If anybody is buying an aftermarket head unit and recognizes it as the same as what I've got installed, steer clear :P

So basically my only other qusetion is does anybody else have the unit I posted the ebay link to installed? Not crucial but I'd love some feedback on it before I lay down $800 for it and the headrest monitors...

[longreach]

Jacob, I was having a look at that unit too and contacted the seller. Something to be aware of, and apologies if you already knew this, those headrests don't have speakers installed which was one thing that put a spanner in the works for me, apart from the cost.

So if you were going to play DVDs to the headrests you would either need to have a separate player, with its own speakers, connected to the headrests or play the DVD though the main head unit and have the audio through the car speakers. I didn't like the idea of having to stash a DVD player somewhere and run cables to the headrests. And the idea of listening to The Wiggles cr*p on about their big red car for six hours straight though the car speakers made me shiver and curl up into a ball. Not that I don't like The Wiggles, but you can get too much of a good thing. Could always change the DVD to Chuggington I suppose.

[Jacob12]

Jacob, I was having a look at that unit too and contacted the seller. Something to be aware of, and apologies if you already knew this, those headrests don't have speakers installed which was one thing that put a spanner in the works for me, apart from the cost.

So if you were going to play DVDs to the headrests you would either need to have a separate player, with its own speakers, connected to the headrests or play the DVD though the main head unit and have the audio through the car speakers. I didn't like the idea of having to stash a DVD player somewhere and run cables to the headrests. And the idea of listening to The Wiggles cr*p on about their big red car for six hours straight though the car speakers made me shiver and curl up into a ball. Not that I don't like The Wiggles, but you can get too much of a good thing. Could always change the DVD to Chuggington I suppose.

Thanks heaps for that input, its appreciated.

To be honest having no speakers in the headrests themselves doesnt really bother me. When testing out my current headrests with my brother (when I figured out one was only displaying B&W), the speakers were so much shoddier than the car speakers so I ended up muting both headrests and using the car speakers anyway. And lol @ the big red car. I'm 18 so I don't think I'll be having that problem for a while :P. Not many of my friends will be watching The Wiggles in the back hahaha.

If they have headphone jacks that'd be fantastic in case I didn't like what was on and forced the backseat people to keep it to themselves :P. But as is I'm still happy to buy it.

Thanks for your advice mate.

EDIT: Also what has clinched my decision to bin the current head unit was yesterday while driving home from work listening to the radio it decided to close the equalizer (as if touched), change that station up one channel, wait for a few seconds, change the station up again, and repeated about 3 times until I pressed a button on the steering wheel. Rubbish head unit *sigh*

Edited October 6, 2011 by Jacob12

[Beep Beep]

EDIT: Also what has clinched my decision to bin the current head unit was yesterday while driving home from work listening to the radio it decided to close the equalizer (as if touched), change that station up one channel, wait for a few seconds, change the station up again, and repeated about 3 times until I pressed a button on the steering wheel. Rubbish head unit *sigh*

OOer... It's possessed! Quick, killlll it!!! *runs away* :P

[Jacob12]

EDIT: Also what has clinched my decision to bin the current head unit was yesterday while driving home from work listening to the radio it decided to close the equalizer (as if touched), change that station up one channel, wait for a few seconds, change the station up again, and repeated about 3 times until I pressed a button on the steering wheel. Rubbish head unit *sigh*

OOer... It's possessed! Quick, killlll it!!! *runs away* :P

Haha don't worry mate I'm definitely going to put a hole in it with a hammer some time soon :P

[oozuk]

sorry jacob for hijacking your thread, but my question directly relates to your thread.

I'm in the market for a black TRD 3500SL aurion and I've been looking for a good one for a while and wanted one with the factory options with sunroof and satnav, which leads to my question.

Is the satnav head unit that you were complaining about at the start of you thread a factory toyota satnav unit ? should i avoid looking for a TRD with a Factory fitted Satnav ?

does the factory satnav have iPod/iphone connectivity ?, can you install rear headrest screens of the factory satnav unit ?

I'm missed out on a black TRD 3500SL with 35000kms and owned by 1 50yr old owner since new, kicking my self i didn't jump on it when i had the chance as i haven't seen anything on carsales that can match the condition (like brand new) of the one that got away..

i guess what my question is that if the car i'm looking for happened not to have a factory satnav it would not be such a deal breaker.

[Jacob12]

sorry jacob for hijacking your thread, but my question directly relates to your thread.

I'm in the market for a black TRD 3500SL aurion and I've been looking for a good one for a while and wanted one with the factory options with sunroof and satnav, which leads to my question.

Is the satnav head unit that you were complaining about at the start of you thread a factory toyota satnav unit ? should i avoid looking for a TRD with a Factory fitted Satnav ?

does the factory satnav have iPod/iphone connectivity ?, can you install rear headrest screens of the factory satnav unit ?

I'm missed out on a black TRD 3500SL with 35000kms and owned by 1 50yr old owner since new, kicking my self i didn't jump on it when i had the chance as i haven't seen anything on carsales that can match the condition (like brand new) of the one that got away..

i guess what my question is that if the car i'm looking for happened not to have a factory satnav it would not be such a deal breaker.

Hey mate, nope the head unit thats installed in my car is an ebay one. I'm pretty sure its one of the cheapest the previous owner could find because its rubbish.

As for your question on the TRD Aurion, I'm afraid I haven't really done much reading on the differences. Pre-facelift Aurions have the head unit pictured at the very very top of this thread, which no does not have Ipod/Iphone connectivity.

But post-facelift Aurions have the head unit DJKOR posted a picture of in the second post and as he said these do have ipod connectivity. As to which of these head units TRD Aurions came out with from factory I can't comment.

Good luck with your search, I would have loved to have paid the extra for a TRD model.

[Steven]

sorry jacob for hijacking your thread, but my question directly relates to your thread.

I'm in the market for a black TRD 3500SL aurion and I've been looking for a good one for a while and wanted one with the factory options with sunroof and satnav, which leads to my question.

Is the satnav head unit that you were complaining about at the start of you thread a factory toyota satnav unit ? should i avoid looking for a TRD with a Factory fitted Satnav ?

does the factory satnav have iPod/iphone connectivity ?, can you install rear headrest screens of the factory satnav unit ?

I'm missed out on a black TRD 3500SL with 35000kms and owned by 1 50yr old owner since new, kicking my self i didn't jump on it when i had the chance as i haven't seen anything on carsales that can match the condition (like brand new) of the one that got away..

i guess what my question is that if the car i'm looking for happened not to have a factory satnav it would not be such a deal breaker.

For starters, finding a decent TRD for sale is often hard enough, but considering the Satnav was an optional extra then you're going to be much harder pressed to find a TRD with the sunroof/Satnav option.

I wouldn't bother if I were you. My car came with the factory Satnav unit and it was a piece of rubbish - no Aux or Ipod (without the use of a very expensive external module), complicated GPS, and generally useless. Although my current aftermarket Satnav has some small issues I prefer it any day of the week over the factory rubbish.

Further having to pay roughly $300 for every map update meant the unit wasn't economical either. It would have been considered fancy pre-2005, but for a 2007+ onwards vehicle it is incredibly behind the times.

[oozuk]

sorry jacob for hijacking your thread, but my question directly relates to your thread.

I'm in the market for a black TRD 3500SL aurion and I've been looking for a good one for a while and wanted one with the factory options with sunroof and satnav, which leads to my question.

Is the satnav head unit that you were complaining about at the start of you thread a factory toyota satnav unit ? should i avoid looking for a TRD with a Factory fitted Satnav ?

does the factory satnav have iPod/iphone connectivity ?, can you install rear headrest screens of the factory satnav unit ?

I'm missed out on a black TRD 3500SL with 35000kms and owned by 1 50yr old owner since new, kicking my self i didn't jump on it when i had the chance as i haven't seen anything on carsales that can match the condition (like brand new) of the one that got away..

i guess what my question is that if the car i'm looking for happened not to have a factory satnav it would not be such a deal breaker.

For starters, finding a decent TRD for sale is often hard enough, but considering the Satnav was an optional extra then you're going to be much harder pressed to find a TRD with the sunroof/Satnav option.

I wouldn't bother if I were you. My car came with the factory Satnav unit and it was a piece of rubbish - no Aux or Ipod (without the use of a very expensive external module), complicated GPS, and generally useless. Although my current aftermarket Satnav has some small issues I prefer it any day of the week over the factory rubbish.

Further having to pay roughly $300 for every map update meant the unit wasn't economical either. It would have been considered fancy pre-2005, but for a 2007+ onwards vehicle it is incredibly behind the times.

steven, thanks for the information, i will keep looking for a black SL TRD but now the satnav will not be a deal breaker

[DanielV]

I bought an Alpine INA-W900E GPS double din head unit, with a genuine surround, spacers and also bought the steering wheel interface module (so I can still use my factory steering wheel controls on an aftermarket headunit). Cost me about $2000 but it is a very good headunit. good sound very accurate GPS guidance but does have a few small problems but you will not find an aftermarket unit that is perfect. I had a look at pioneer, kenwood and JVC units but didnt have the same speed and accuracy as the alpine one. I drive through tunnels and the GPS still works and it does also highlight whether you are underground or not. My 2 cents if it helps

[Jacob12]

Eh, I'd love to spend 2k but at the moment thats just not going to happen. Hell, at the moment I can't even afford $500 for a cheap Chinese one (just bought a set of standard Aurion wheels and I'm going to have to buy 4 new tyres before fitment).

[TRD468]

What aftermarket GPS head unit is not suffuring with radio reception quality? My current one is crap, i drive 1 hour away from sydney metro and the radio reception starts to die. Which head unit does not have this problem?