Which Aftermarket CarPlay Radio did you go with?

I bought through Newegg and paid $449. A week prior to buying they were $549 everywhere and I'm guessing the price went down in conjunction with the start of CES. Anyway, I plan installing myself using a Maestro RR to integrate steering wheel controls. I soldered up all the harnesses today but won't be installing until the trim plate arrives, hopefully by the end of next week.

I'll certainly post back when I get it installed. My luck with aftermarket mics has been pretty decent, in fact in my Porsche I can carry on a conversation at 40 mph with the roof off through a faceplate mounted mic, something I assumed would be completely out of the question. I plan on disassembling the mic and mounting it in the stock location, that's worked out pretty well for me in the past.

 

Just had a Pioneer DMH1500NEX installed by Crutchfield yesterday. Got Maestro iDatalink installed too. Kept camera and steering wheel controls. New phone coming tomorrow to try out Car Play. My Pixel II XLs Charging port no longer works with headphones or headunits (bad pins? Works with wife’s XL) so it was time to upgrade that too.

 

Doesn't take much lint in the bottom of the jack to prevent a USB-C cable from seating fully. This is almost always the cause when charging still works but audio doesn't. A shaved down toothpick works great for cleaning it out.

 

Sorry for a rehash of my question. For those of you installing Maestro with these headunits, what all gets retained on the instrument mini-display and what is lost? Do you still get notifications for phone, navigation (turn-by-turn), music, etc.???

 

Any USB port on a phone. Had that problem with my HTC One with sawdust.

 

I haven't installed it yet, but I've done a ton of digging and research, from what I understand the navigation stuff is lost from the multi-display in the instrument panel--that is, the turn-by-turn directions, compass, and the speed limit notification. Everything else remains--you still can get music info, phone etc. But again, I'm just basing this off of videos and reviews I've seen, I haven't actually done it yet, but it looks like the nav stuff is all specifically tied to the Entune unit's nav, and can't draw similar info from Google Maps/Waze/etc (which makes sense).

Yeah, lightning cable is almost as touchy, surprisingly given its form factor. I take old credit/membership cards and cut them into slightly-curved strips so I can hook the crap out of there. I broke the tip of a toothpick off in an iPhone a few years ago, and then had to begin a new odyssey of pulling that debris out with tiny tweezers without harming any of the connections... This is all why I am so grateful for wireless charging. Before I had it, I thought it was a stupid gimmick. Now that I've had it for a couple of years, the thought of actually plugging things into my phone for any reason feels akin to attaching leeches to my body for medicinal purposes. It feels archaic and cruel

 

Great! Can you provide confirmation once you have it installed? I've also contacted the idatalink folks (Maestro vendor) with the same questions so we'll see what they come back with.

 

Thanks, I took a thin plastic dental pick to the port and pulled out some debris. It now works!

 

I'm using the Pioneer AVIC-W8400NEX with a Maestro RR harness in a 2017. What I like about it...

Wireless Carplay that works flawlessly.
HD radio.
Full retention of steering wheel controls, backup camera, etc.
Much improved sound.
OBD2 info display.
Capacitive touchscreen.
Built in navigation for when I don't have cell service - actually works very well.
Ability to easily override the "in motion" restrictions.

It does require a new microphone (which comes with the unit), but I don't mind it - it's tucked in up by my rear view mirror. The thing will also play DVDs, although I've never even tried.

Ended up with this unit after doing a lot of research on this site - there's tons of info about the install, as well as other reviews.

 

does it play DVDS while driving? Or do you have to be stopped?

 

Put an offer in on eBay for a Joying unit that I've seen here. Waiting for them to wake up in China to see if it is accepted. Ordered the GPS adapter and Scosche mounting brackets already. I wonder what I could get for the Entune Premium unit to help offset.

E: Woo, order accepted. Now have to wait a week for it to be delivered.

 

There's a very simple procedure to bypass the restrictions and enable full functionality while in motion (see link below). While I haven't done it personally, others have said you can have a DVD playing while driving.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-enable-video-bypass-on-pioneer-nex-units.376546/

 

What price did you get it for? I’d like Best Buy to install for free but I’m seeing their price waaaaaaaay higher than Amazon. Wonder if they do price match

 

I'm going to hold out for the new Pioneer head units that were shown at CES this year. I've had the Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX with wireless CarPlay in my previous car and it ran great.

Screen sizes will be 10.1 inch and 9 inch.

I'm hoping that this one will be a fit in our dash. https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/NEX/DMH-WC6600NEX

 

Ooh, those look pricey.

 

It does work, I usually play dvds for my nephews when we take a ride down to New Orleans.

I paid $1,000 before taxes for the avic-8400nex. This was Dec. 2018. Pioneer has replaced the 8400nex with the 8500nex as their flagship navi system.

 

Kenwood DMX906s
Awesome interface, Wireless CarPlay with firmware update, adding the iDatalink Maestro for on screen gauges is the cherry on top!! I recently installed new Kenwood speakers for the front and rear, and the build in Amp on the DMX906s really makes them sound amazing!

The only thing it doesn’t have is HDMI
Other than that, I’m not sure there’s a better aftermarket head unit on the market

 

I integrated mine into the factory dash, no kit needed. Looks great, didn’t take much effort and looks like factory

 

Kenwood DMX906s with the newest firmware update allows for wireless CarPlay..no speed sensor wire needed

 

Looks sharp!!