Prius V 2012: I want a new radio that has modern technology!

The only 4G enabled radio came with the 2017 Prius v, which is the last model year offered. All other Prius v model radios use the same older technology. If you can find one in a wrecking yard, it won't be cheap.

 

Don't bother using Toyota Entune! It is the worst software ever written! You can use your audio system just fine without it. I have no problem getting Google Assistant to make phone calls on my Head unit for me. "OK Google" and "Phone Home" just works.

The MultiFunction Display units from a 2015 or 2016 Prius V (Faceplate ID 510057) are a substantial upgrade from the 2012 to 2014 MFDs (Faceplate ID 57011), and are not that difficult of an upgrade. The upgraded unit can be found on eBay for ~$225.

I don't know if anyone has tried to put a 2017 MFD (Faceplate ID 510165) into an earlier Prius V.

Don't bother looking at MFD units that are not from a Prius V. Prius C and regular hatchback Prius units won't fit in a Prius V.

 

first time i here about this.. don't trust everything people say, as well as advisors from crutchfield, just make sure your system doesn't exceed 30amps don't wanna fry or damage sensitive electronics

 

I'm a bit late to the party here, but what I'm planning to do at some point is grab something like this:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500ILXF509/Alpine-Halo9-iLX-F509.html

An unfortunate complication (for my interests, anyway) is that I'm really interested in keeping access to the factory settings (headlight delay, locking on shift to park, etc.) in case I would ever sell. Crutchfield (site only; have not talked to an agent yet) says that requires an iDataLink port in the head unit, which also requires some extra "iDataLink Maestro" module in the installation kit (so the full install kit comes to around $250 alone). And the cheapest in-stock head unit I'd found was around $500 to begin with.

It only had a 7" screen, though. If I'm spending the money and taking the time to upgrade, I damn well want a bit more screen space improvement than just 6.5" --> 7.0". Hence, expensive floating screen. 9" seems to be about the sweet size where it wouldn't overlap with the vents or climate controls, but still be a significant upgrade.

But with how the interior of the v just seems perfectly designed to not have any "ideal" place to put a phone, this feels like the only way I might ever be satisfied. Meantime the best I'm managing is just a cupholder gooseneck type holder in the center console.

It says that the settings options also require it to have a connection to the parking brake somehow, but other than that, I've replaced head units before and I imagine I could manage most of it. And hooking up the steering wheel controls to it would at least satisfy my craving for physical volume controls.

Just gonna be a while before I can commit to spending ~15% of the vehicle's value on this kind of upgrade.

 

I kept the outdated JBL unit with the Navigation and resorted to the available aftermarket add-ons. It saved me a lot of rewiring hassles and additional interfaces to retain most of the factory controls. The add-ons have suction cup mounts. The output sound is directed to the auxillary input or via FM frequency of your stock head unit. (The unit below is an ATOTO P8 with wireless Apple Carplay/Android Auto)

 

Wow thanks for this I had no idea this was an option!