Crutchfield

I am skeptical that one can do it *a lot* cheaper. You can price out the individual pieces Crutchfield will send you for your build, and you won't see them much cheaper elsewhere - unless you buy them used. Maybe you could save $50, if you want to spend a lot of time searching and/or waiting for things to go on sale. I did a one page google search and didn't see my HU cheaper elsewhere. I think Amazon sold the Maestro for like $3 cheaper.

The factory USB in the dash doesn't have a proper USB connector that one can simply connect to the female USB coming out of the aftermarket HU.

Initially, I bought this USB switch.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-Car-Charger-Audio-Port-Interface-for-Toyota-Scion-Blank-Switch-Slots/112093115628?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Upon receiving it, I came to realize that it fits the slots on the left side of the dash, *not* the slots under the climate control where the factory USB is. I never noticed these slots are different, in all honesty. Also, the quality of this Chinese USB switch is of very questionable quality.

I wound up doing this instead.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ermarket-head-unit.103041/page-5#post-9623219
It took many hours of labor and messing around with Dremel attachments, but it's in and I'm very pleased with it.

Edit: I should add that the AUX is no longer functional. I did not bother trying to rewire that part since I won't be using it.

 

Awesome information.
(1) I said someone who really knows their stuff can do it much cheaper. That leaves out the average joe like me.
During my initial research I found Amazon was $50 cheaper on the Maestro Rr but I went with Crutchfield for the support. $20 cheaper on Amazon for the T01 adapter but again Crutchfield offers phone support. My head unit was over $100 cheaper on Amazon but didn't come with the expert support that Crutchfield provides along with free 2 day shipping. Amazon did provide 2 day shipping for the head unit and Rr but not the T01.

(2) That makes sense. I thought the Rr or T01 adapters covered that? Guess not.

(3) That seems to be your lack of research and not with Apple Car Play though. Understandable though as many have done the same thing.

​

(4) You copied bradforj? That was a nice piece of work he did! Glad he shared with a write up.

(5) My AUX works, never know when you need to use older technology. Probably never although it's just as simple as plugging in one connector. Don't blame you!

Thanks for helping me understand buddy! Have a great day!

 

You can sometimes do it a good bit cheaper than Crutchfield (depending on what you buy), but they're usually worth it. For higher end gear like Audiofrog's GB series I can order from some authorized dealers at a lower price. Anyone can. But for lower margin stuff that most buy, Crutchfield is pretty hard to beat. They wrote the book on customer service and have been the pinnacle of car audio retailers for decades.

They've stepped up their game recently too if that's possible. 2 day free shipping is all the rage apparently. I ordered a scratch & dent receiver late Monday night. Free shipping. It got here before noon on Thursday. And their scratch & dent? Lol, someone opened the remote bag. Everything else was factory sealed. No scratches. No dents. 15% off for open box .

I've been ordering stuff from Crutchfield since about 1990. 29 years. You phoned in stuff from a paper catalog . They were amazing then. And they've gotten better. I just wish they still 'made' amps

 

Just want to make a clarification because I see a lot of stuff about the factory USB port not working for CarPlay

-It totally does work for CarPlay and AndroidAuto (at least, it’s worked in the 20+ Tacoma’s I’ve put radios into)

-There are a few adapters available.

$9 AX-TOYUSB - USB-Auxilliary Retention Harness - USB adaptor to retain the OE USB in select Toyota vehicles

AX-TOYUSB by Axxess(Metra) and

$35 ACC-USB-TO2 Factory USB to Male USB Adaptor for TO2 Vehicles

ACC-USB-TO2 (Maestro/iDataLink) to name the main ones. Both work great.

-Functionality can be finicky if you have too long of a cable, or a really cheap or damaged cable. AndroidAuto especially. CarPlay usually loads right up even on cheap cables, but occasionally I’ve seen issues and a new cable fixed it.

 

Yeah, USB is picky. Too much resistance on any pin and it gets fidgety if it works at all. There are also distance limitations. 5 meters in a best case scenario - no splices, extensions, corrosion, etc...

 

Yeah, thankfully toyota didn’t try to put it in the center console like GM did. It’s like 7-feet of length and 4 connections in that run. It’s crazy.

 

I guess this would be a mark against crutchfield because they told me the

$9 AX-TOYUSB - USB-Auxilliary Retention Harness - USB adaptor to retain the OE USB in select Toyota vehicles

AX-TOYUSB by Axxess(Metra) would not work with Apple carplay and their website says the

$35 ACC-USB-TO2 Factory USB to Male USB Adaptor for TO2 Vehicles

ACC-USB-TO2 (Maestro/iDataLink) also does not work with carplay.

I would have ordered one of those if I had known it could possibly work.