Factory or aftermarket Bluetooth?

Hi all and thanks for reading my thread.

Basically the rumor here in New Hampshire is you can no longer hold the phone to your head and talk to people on the phone while driving. It must be hands free. Also, one of the few options I did not get when I bought my truck was the Bluetooth option. There is a spot on my 2009 steering wheel for Bluetooth controls, but the buttons are not there. BTW I have the 5 disc CD changer for the head unit.

To those that have the factory Bluetooth option, do you like it? Any problems or complaints about it?

To those that went aftermarket, was it hard to install? Do you like your aftermarket option?

Has anyone installed the factory Bluetooth on their own?

Will I be able to stream Pandora music from my phone to the head unit without plugging in the headphone cable?

Any other information would be helpful. And before I spend any money I will make sure this "rumor" is actually a fact.

Thanks all.

- Brian

 

If you have an aux port you can buy a $20-30 Bluetooth addition and use the aux port and power socket. I was using this before upgrading to a pioneer:

$40 Kinivo BTC450 Bluetooth Car Kit (Hands-Free, AUX Bluetooth Adapter for Cars with Ground Loop Noise Isolator, 3.5mm Aux Input, Apt-X)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NLTW60/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It worked well, played music and used the phone through it with no issues.

 

There is a complete write up that I used to do the Bluetooth mod . Click here for many details
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/aud...s-my-08-a.htm

Edit If you have a factory deck without the bluetooth function , it will not work .
You have 3 choices and 1 choice has been mentioned above which is your cheapest bet
2- update your head unit to a newer Tacoma touch screen with bluetooth functions
3- Go with a complete aftermarket head unit that has bluetooth functions and the right side controls will work fine


Here is my winter project
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/364009-doing-stereo-mod-double-cab-2010-a.html

 

Thanks kingston73 - Easily the quickest cheapest way to go and avoid running the headphone cable to the AUX jack. I think what would be missing would be a microphone, and it wouldn't interrupt the FM/CD, I would have to switch it to aux.

Thanks Gearcruncher - I just want to completely understand what your saying.

Option 1 - What I was hoping to find out is that all I needed was some buttons that could be added to the steering wheel and it would work with the factory head unit. My steering wheel does have the volume controls on the left side. But on the right there is just a blank piece of plastic where the Bluetooth controls mentioned in the owners manual would go. I'll get a picture of it later and post it here. But what your saying is even if I found the "Buttons" accessory, and installed it, it would not work with the factory head unit?

Option 2 - A newer Tacoma touch screen sounds kinda spendy. I guess I could call the local junk yards and see if I can find one cheap.

Option 3 - I have installed my own head unit and separate amp in a car that I used to own. Back then all the car manufacturers had a defacto DIN mount. Cars here in New Hampshire are disposable because they use a lot of salt on the roads in the winter. So I was planning to take the head unit and amp out of my old car when I retired it and install it in whatever I was going to buy. But, the next car was the my 98 Tacoma that had no DIN mount, and now the 09, and gone are the days of the DIN mount. This is why if I don't like the whole aftermarket head unit option. When the car retires I have to retire the head unit as well.

Thanks all for your help. Live long and prosper.

- Brian

 

Hi again everyone -

I have spent a lot of time searching through what others have done with their head units. I guess the Defacto DIN mount is not gone. But it brings me back to some of the problems I have the 1st time I tried to install an aftermarket head unit in a DIN mount. The factory head unit was held in by 2 large metal brackets on the side that was not going to move unless the car was damaged in some way. But the aftermarket head unit only mounted to the plastic bezel at the front, and a metal strap in the back. It was weak and caused problems. When I was done with the car I had been through about 4 plastic pieces in the front. At least they were cheap at the junkyard. It was not the only problem that I had, and that car never went 4 wheeling. (sedan with no 4 wheel drive.) What I want is a problem free install.

These days has the defacto DIN standard been made more standard and robust?

I googled for the wiki page for DIN mount and found nothing. I would think that this is something the car manufacturers would be able to come to an agreement on, and could advertise that their car is able to mount anything that meets rev XYZ of the DIN mount standard, making it a lot easier to install the head unit of your choice. And the dealership could offer installation service of a much wider variety of head units when you buy a car. Maybe I'm just a dreamer....

Anyway thanks for reading my thread and any info you can add would be great.

- Brian