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Getting iPhone to play music on my 2005 Prius

majordude

majordude

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 28, 2007
2,441
75
Hootersville
I have an 2005 Prius. The year after I bought mine Toyota included an auxiliary port. Grrr! :mad:

I want my iPhone to play music in my car. I tried a Monster FM thingamajig a few years ago and it sucked. I tried some sorta Belkin cassette tape deck insert and that was even worse.

Any ideas?
 
Do you have the navigation system or just the standard? I believe with both of them, there are ports in the back of the head unit, to allow a "CD Changer"....this is where accessories come to the rescue in hooking up iPods/iPhones to the head unit.

This will involve ripping out the dash, however, but it is the most cleanest looking solution, coupled with a car mount, this setup would work great.
 
dontwalkhand said:
Do you have the navigation system or just the standard? I believe with both of them, there are ports in the back of the head unit, to allow a "CD Changer"....this is where accessories come to the rescue in hooking up iPods/iPhones to the head unit.

This will involve ripping out the dash, however, but it is the most cleanest looking solution, coupled with a car mount, this setup would work great.
Click to expand...

Yeah, mine has nav.

Do the iPhone transmitter thing-a-majigs work? Where you tune to an FM channel and hear it there? I really don't want to tear apart the dash!!!
 
majordude said:
Do the iPhone transmitter thing-a-majigs work? Where you tune to an FM channel and hear it there? I really don't want to tear apart the dash!!!
Click to expand...
They don't work well period, and they don't work even halfway decently when you're in an area with a lot of radio stations, like SoCal (I'm assuming you're here too, from your location). I just bought a new car, and am dealing with this issue, because I used the cassette adaptor before. The cassette adaptor is actually the next best thing to the AUX in/back of head unit port, because it's wired.

I'm waiting until next week, when I can buy the iPod adapter that plugs into the back of the head unit. I'm in Long Beach, and the radio transmitter is an absolute joke! There are not really any spots on the radio dial without some high or low-frequency station, so I get nothing but interference.

My friend ended up taking her antenna off, and her FM transmitter works better, but still not great. I listen to NPR in the car, so I'm not willing to do that.


I suggest you bite the bullet and either install it yourself, or pay someone for an hour's work to do it. It's not hard. I'll be doing it in my Corolla next week. I'll post pics if you want.
 
Ntombi said:
They don't work well period, and they don't work even halfway decently when you're in an area with a lot of radio stations, like SoCal (I'm assuming you're here too, from your location).
Click to expand...

Earlier today I learned my lesson. I bought an expensive one (Monster) at Target. $79. I didn't hear jack! I took it back and now I'm burning mix CDs. HAHAHAHA
 
That's exactly what I did after struggling with the damn thing for two days!

I can't wait until next week! I'm already sick of the CDs, and I have a 6-CD in-dash changer. :rolleyes: It's funny how the iPod spoils you.
 
You might take a peek over at priuschat.com. I just got a 2010 prius III about a month ago and there are lots of threads on getting iPhones plugged in to the various configurations of Prius'.
 
majordude said:
I have an iPhone 2nd gen and it doesn't work with that.
Click to expand...
They finally added the USB cord instead of the firewire that used to be sold with it, so now it's compatible with all iPods and iPhones. :) I have the 3GS (same compatibility as the 3G), and it would work. You just have to be sure your dealer isn't getting rid of old stock. ;)

Actually, I just found a Dice dealer/installer just down the street from me. They'll sell and install the Dice kit, which has better iPod control integration than the USA Spec version. It costs about $25 more for the kit, but I think it's worth it.
 
I actually installed a new head unit in my 2004 Tacoma to get the better audio quality out of my iPod and iPhone and it came with the feature to control the iPod/iPhone with the head unit ... I turned that off the second I got it, Apple got the controls much better than the people the made my head unit.
 
^^Seriously?

No thanks. I don't trust those guys. I'd rather do it myself. If I weren't going with these guys (having it done right now, actually!!), I would be doing it myself.
 
I just bought a Griffin iTrip SmartScan to use in my work truck because the radio is on an AM/FM unit with no cassette or ability to plug into a auxiliary adapter in back...

So far, the signal strength and sound quality are pretty decent. Much better than other FM transmitters I have used in the past. When I plug in my iPhone 3Gs, I get the "this is not supported" dialog BUT it works fine and still charges the phone...
 
Ntombi said:
^^Seriously?

No thanks. I don't trust those guys. I'd rather do it myself. If I weren't going with these guys (having it done right now, actually!!), I would be doing it myself.
Click to expand...

You don't have to use Best Buy, but I would at least look into some speciality audiophile-type stores in your area.

These types of places typically aren't nationwide chains, so you'll have to ask around or post on car audio message boards to find someone who is reputable in your area.

Actual car audio installers are typically a proud bunch and a great deal of their work comes from referrals, they aren't going to leave you dissatisfied. Best Buy's guys are just getting paid by the hour and mostly couldn't care less, although sometimes you can get lucky.

Go to a place that sells very high-end audio gear and just say "can I pay you to install this cable behind my head unit?" and they will, and shouldn't charge you terribly much. For someone that is used to working on car audio installs, you can have the dash apart and back together in literally 10 minutes. I've installed car stereos in 2 minutes if the proper connections are available, there's very little to it.
 
Someone once posted a comment about these units made by Satechi. Have a look at satechi.com. I don't have first-hand knowledge about it, however.
 
Raineer said:
You don't have to use Best Buy, but I would at least look into some speciality audiophile-type stores in your area.

These types of places typically aren't nationwide chains, so you'll have to ask around or post on car audio message boards to find someone who is reputable in your area.

Actual car audio installers are typically a proud bunch and a great deal of their work comes from referrals, they aren't going to leave you dissatisfied. Best Buy's guys are just getting paid by the hour and mostly couldn't care less, although sometimes you can get lucky.

Go to a place that sells very high-end audio gear and just say "can I pay you to install this cable behind my head unit?" and they will, and shouldn't charge you terribly much. For someone that is used to working on car audio installs, you can have the dash apart and back together in literally 10 minutes. I've installed car stereos in 2 minutes if the proper connections are available, there's very little to it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's why I had it done at one of those places. ;) That's what I said a few posts up.



BTW, I'm 90% happy with the DICE system I have now. I'll post pics maybe tomorrow, but the UI is okay, and it displays the track number, artist, and song, and is controllable via the radio controls or my iPod/iPhone. I can disconnect the iPhone, do a bunch of things on it, and when I connect it again, it'll pick up right where it was. :cool:

There are a couple of glitches, though. It displays the "this device is not supported..." when connected, which is not only annoying, but it means that my Navigon screen will dim (though not go to sleep) after two minutes. It brightens again when the song (or podcast) changes, but it's still annoying. It does work fully, though. Also, about 20% of the time, if I go to the iPod app while it's connected and playing, it'll display a screen that just says "device connected" and won't let me do anything. If I disconnect and reconnect the dock cable, it goes back to normal.
 
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