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When did 3rd Gen Prii start getting USB?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by dave11686, Mar 22, 2017.

  1. dave11686

    dave11686 New Member

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    Hello everyone!

    Long time reader, first time caller.

    One week ago, while I was driving down the tollway, a semi hit my wife's 2009 Prius. We are wanting to get her into another Prius, and we are shopping 3rd Gen Prii. However, she is wanting to find out what year was the first year that the 3rd Gen Prius came with USB.

    Thanks!
     

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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    not sure, but definitely by 2012.
     
  3. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Ouch! It looks serious accident. I hope you and your wife were OK. My Prius is 2015 Model Two, so it is the last year of production for Gen 3. It has USB as standard, if you mean the ability to plug in USB thumb drive with MP3 files to play on the audio. Not sure about when they started having this feature though.
     
  4. Eve Barbanell

    Eve Barbanell Junior Member

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    Yikes! Looks like your Prius protected you well! Hope you are okay!

    I have a used 2013 that has USB and Bluetooth installed. Love it!


    iPhone ?
     
  5. TampaPrius.com

    TampaPrius.com Active Member

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    USB is optional on 2010-2011 ( Must have nav and JBL) and became standard in 2012
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    fuzzy1 likes this.
  7. bingee3

    bingee3 Active Member

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    Good Grief ,,, glad you were able to "walk away" ,,, yes my 2012 has USB
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The USB browsing built in to the 2012+ models (the 7-inch-with-nav version anyway) is somewhat nicer than with the 2010-11 add-on box. You can find things by artist and album ID3 tags, not just by folder and filename.

    -Chap
     
  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Wow!! Hope everyone's OK. Sounds like you got your questions answered and I learned some more from these walking and typing encyclopedias, too. ;)
     
  10. dave11686

    dave11686 New Member

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    Thanks everyone!
     
  11. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    Yep - our 2010 has the JBL audio and does have USB.
     
  12. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    JBL and nav in a 2010-11 may be necessary but not sufficient conditions for having USB. The USB is still an extra accessory in those years ... a small box under the driver's seat.

    The large box down there is the XM radio tuner. If there's a smaller, more deck-of-cards-sized box also mounted there, that's the USB interface.

    Both extra boxes went away in 2012; the 7-inch nav has both XM and USB built right into the headunit (but to make room, it has just the single-disc player, to the 2010-11's 4-disc changer).

    -Chap
     
  13. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Our 2011 trim 3 with JBL audio and navigation has usb as well.
     
  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The USB outlet is located in the centre console bin.

    The CD changer was removed because nobody was using optical discs as often as they used to so a single disc sufficed.

    Note that new offerings from Toyota omit the CD player (RAV4 Limited, RAV4 Hybrid Limited, Prius Prime Advanced)
     
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Right, sorry if what I said was confusing. In 2012+, the cable from that outlet in the console bin runs straight to the headunit in the dash; in 2010-11, it runs down the carpet at the side of the bin, to the accessory USB reader under the driver's seat.

    So you can check whether a 2010-11 has USB either by looking for the outlet in the console bin, or glancing under the seat.

    -Chap
     
    Tideland Prius likes this.
  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ahh I see. It was better integrated in the 2012+ models.
     
  17. Jmack111

    Jmack111 Member

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  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    You're thinking AUX jack. (3.5 mm)