New Toyota Accessory Kit for iPod / iPhone $299

[pezx]

I just got an 09 Prius and had that installed

it works well, I have the iPhone 3G and it DOES charge the phone.

I am still getting used to the screen navigation of the songs, but it plays fine.

Text shows song names and artist, I can use the up/down on the steering wheel or the file knob on the stereo to go thru songs.

I don't know if I would say it is worth $300, I just told them I wanted it included when I was negotiating the price of the car.

I drive alot of highway miles so it is nice to be able to use the steering wheel to handle everything. I can take some photos of it in action if you would like.

Also the cable goes into the glovebox.

[jpadc]

Originally Posted by pezx

I just got an 09 Prius and had that installed
it works well, I have the iPhone 3G and it DOES charge the phone.

Okay, I'm jealous now. Glad to hear it charges the G3. That puts it one up on the competition for now.

Originally Posted by pezx

I can take some photos of it in action if you would like.

I would like, please do!

[Jay in Clovis]

There is another Ipod connector that works thru your Prius with FULL control. I don't know if it works yet (I have to order it next month). Anyway you don't have to give up anything to use your Ipod. It's on Ebay and the companies web site..
If anybody else has tried this unit let me know.

Ebay search under 2004-2008 TOYOTA PRIUS DIRECT iPOD/iPHONE INPUT W/TEXT
or
Integration Solutions

Jay

[zenMachine]

When you plug your iPod into this device, does it (iPod) also get turned on or off automatically when you turn the car on or off?

[Casey123]

Originally Posted by pezx

I just got an 09 Prius and had that installed

it works well, I have the iPhone 3G and it DOES charge the phone.

I am still getting used to the screen navigation of the songs, but it plays fine.

Text shows song names and artist, I can use the up/down on the steering wheel or the file knob on the stereo to go thru songs.

I don't know if I would say it is worth $300, I just told them I wanted it included when I was negotiating the price of the car.

I drive alot of highway miles so it is nice to be able to use the steering wheel to handle everything. I can take some photos of it in action if you would like.

Also the cable goes into the glovebox.

Will it allow you to select playlists and or albums for playback?

[tongyang]

Also, does it give you a warning and ask you to turn the iphone 3G into airplane mode when you first plug it in?

If not, that's another plus!

[timriley]

I'm also interested to hear more about the adapter! I just bought a 2009Prius earlier this evening and will be going back to the dealer tomorrow when the service/parts dept reopens to look at the ipod connector (I was told that they would give it to me at cost if I wanted it). It would be great if someone here could shed some light on whether it has playlist functionality, etc. as I'm trying to compare this with the DICE ipod car integration kit that's now also available for the 2009 Prius...

[timriley]

Well, I went ahead and got the new ipod/iphone adapter for my 2009Prius. It was the first time our dealership had installed one (Kearney Mesa Toyota San Diego); up until now, they had been installing the 3rd party ones. Oh and yes, I did confirm on the box that it was the official Part# 545-00082 and not some 3rd party item that they were installing for me (see posts by previous users). I had it installed in the CD-cubby-hole with the snapdown cover on the front dashboard right under the tuner/screen, rather than the glove compartment as it makes it easier to access from the driver's side. Took less time than they expected - between 1 - 1 1/ 2 hrs (less than the 2hrs they had expected). It charges my iPhone (2G, firmware 1.1.4) no problem and the iphone/cord JUST fits into the slot (the installer placed the hole with the cord coming out in the middle of the back, which in retrospect isn't the best place for it as it necessitates the cord to wrap to the end before being placed into the ipod; the hole would have served better if placed at one of the ends of the cubby-hole); ipod controls are disabled on the iphone itself when plugged in (as was expected). I've only had it for about 30mins so havn't had a lot of time to play with it yet... the screen / steeringwheel controls, etc are not that intuitive and I had to refer to the manual to get things going. You basically end up using a combination of on-screen touch controls together with the tuner knob. When skipping from file to file, name/title display lags a bit (the song will come on almost instantaneously but the name/title won't show up for about 2 seconds) - this makes it basically impossible to skip through a list of songs visually. I couldnt figure out a way to bring up a list of songs in the playlist either (ie. all on one screen) - I doubt that is possible. Somewhat annoying as well is that I can't find a way to display the time of the song there (ie. elapsed or remaining). I therefore can't see what timepoint in the song I am in/at when forwarding/reversing through a song, and have to go just by 'ear'.

I don't have bluetooth setup yet so i can't tell if the audio playback mutes out during a call and/or pauses (I hope it does).

As part of my request during my car purchase, I got the ipod cable at cost (MSRP was between $299 and $313; I got it for $220). Service for the installation was about $150.

[Cate Ross]

I got the accessory kit installed post-purchase--it ran about $500, so that's my Christmas present. It's better than crashing while trying to pull my iPod out of the armrest, but not perfect.

I can select between playlists, artists, albums, audiobooks, and genres. Once that is selected, I use the Tune button to run through the various items listed in each section. The name (of the song, e.g.) shows up on the top line, like it does when I play the radio.

However, there is a bit of a delay, and unless you know that the track you want is the 317th on you list of tunes alphabetically, there is a lot of hit or miss which is not ideal for driving.

It would be nice if there were a better display for the listings inside the category--on the iPod itself, you can see at least 10 or so titles at a time. On the MFD, you can only see the first 12 letters of one at a time.

Plus, I am discovering that since I had it put in, it's fouled up my BlueTooth connection. I reset the microphone volume, but it's still hard for people on the other end of the line.

And I just had my entire iPod memory wiped while plugged into the adaptor, so you can BET I'm going to the dealer to find out what's what.

[jpadc]

Thanks to everyone here who has the Toyota version sharing some of your experiences with it. Please keep the information coming as you learn more about it. A screen shot or two would be greatly appreciated.