Dash-In Stereo Replacement For Toyota Prius T3

[Spacoom]

Hi there,

We have now our Toyota Prius T3 for the fourth year and quite content with the car.

Unfortunately little one stuffed the stereo with coins, after those were retrieved, it hasn't worked since (CD player only). I contacted local Toyota service and price for a refurbished unit is almost 400 pounds.

Apparently Toyota Prius has quite an odd stereo system, so new stereo dash-in systems are not available any longer nor you could buy one in Europe or the USA. I was led to believe that due to driving on the left side of the road the units are incompatible.

Google & the forum search is exhausted. I found couple of tutorials on YouTube and replacement looks fairly straight forward, the trouble is where to find suitable dash-in unit?

[Guest]

Hi there and welcome to the asylum. I assume you have tried the scrap yards? Someone will no doubt be along soon to point you in the right direction, or offer a better solution, like an aftermarket unit.

[Spacoom]

Hi daveb1089,

I was curious whether it is possible somehow to by in OEM part somewhere (Japan springs to mind).

Alternatively, perhaps somebody replaced standard Prius dash-in stereo with something else. I would interested in such experience and price, but for the UK version only (i.e. left side of the road driving). I was led to believe that right hand side driving models are incompatible in terms of installation.

[JHRC]

Hi spacoom,

Try eBay I have looked and there is 1 priced at £100 or best offer, finishes tomorrow, person stays in Rochdale collection only.

Enter in search

Toyota Prius 2010 to 2013 radio/cd/dab player

There could be more hope this helps

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I'd say eBay too but make sure you get a RHD version. Also, the problem with getting one from Japan is that use (or did use) a slightly different fm range to that in the rest of the World. As such you might not get some stations and get a big area of static.

I've often considered upgrading my crappy t3 fm radio to the satnav version in the t-spirit but original items are way too expensive and the dodgy looking chinese version available on eBay just...well, don't inspire any confidence for their £300 price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcast_band#Japanese_bandplan

[Devon Aygo]

There is always the option of fitting a fascia plate then any single or double din units would fit:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ctkty06-toyota-prius-2010-radio-installation-kit

[Grumpy Cabbie]

There is always the option of fitting a fascia plate then any single or double din units would fit:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ctkty06-toyota-prius-2010-radio-installation-kit

And I looked at the link and I was sure they were just LHD versions despite the link being a .co.uk website. I then selected the links within the website and in the small print it stated "left hand drive only". Hmmm.

So it appears RHD versions are still rare as rocking horse ****.

[Devon Aygo]

There is always the option of fitting a fascia plate then any single or double din units would fit:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ctkty06-toyota-prius-2010-radio-installation-kit

And I looked at the link and I was sure they were just LHD versions despite the link being a .co.uk website. I then selected the links within the website and in the small print it stated "left hand drive only". Hmmm.

So it appears RHD versions are still rare as rocking horse ****.

Found one on Connects2 :http://www.connects2.co.uk/ProductInformation.aspx?id=17142&p=CT23TY36

[johalareewi]

If you want a bog standard RHD T3 head unit, I still have mine that I swapped out for a Chinese touch screen all singing and dancing unit. PM if interested.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

If you want a bog standard RHD T3 head unit, I still have mine that I swapped out for a Chinese touch screen all singing and dancing unit. PM if interested.

Did the Chinese unit actually work correctly? What's it like? Is it worth the money or built to a price with limited functionality?

[johalareewi]

Chinese unit was purchased a few years ago from a local PriusChat member (who is now on this forum).

Being chinese it has its quirks but it is functional and is a factory fit replacement.

Mega write up on Prius chat at the time (start at post 24...

http://priuschat.com/threads/factory-look-gps-on-ebay.94772/page-2#post-1344396

Not sure if you can still get one.

It runs WinCE6 (chinese) so finding apps and doing any customising is almost impossible.

[JSHarris]

I have a spare Sony double DIN , with TomTom sat nav, stereo, MP3 player etc, etc for the Prius, with the Toyota mounting facia. I took it out of my 2010 T4 after it was written off, and it's just been sat in my spare room ever since.

I was planning on sticking it on eBay, but haven't got around to it.

[johalareewi]

Hi Jeremy. Chinese unit still going strong. :)

[JSHarris]

Good news!

I was happy with the Sony XNV L77BT unit, and would have transferred it to the new car, but the Touch and Go unit seems better than the sat nav that was an option when I bought the 2010 Prius, and actually has an FM radio that works (the factory fit FM radio on the 2010 was absolutely hopeless, so useless that it meant R4 reception here was just about impossible). It also seems to be more integrated into the car, as it has the old Gen 2 type car display available, so probably isn't that easy to swap over, even if I wanted to.

[johalareewi]

... FM radio on the 2010 was absolutely hopeless ...

In the facelift gen3 they added an extra FM aerial to help improve things.

Not sure if they did this in the PIP as well.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

... FM radio on the 2010 was absolutely hopeless ...

In the facelift gen3 they added an extra FM aerial to help improve things.

Not sure if they did this in the PIP as well.

I suspect the PiP probably has then, that'd explain the aerial in the rear quarter light window that I was confused as to the purpose of.

[johalareewi]

I suspect the PiP probably has then, that'd explain the aerial in the rear quarter light window that I was confused as to the purpose of.

That is the second FM aerial to improve FM reception.

[JSHarris]

I can confirm that the PiP does have the second diversity antenna on the offside rear quarter light. This probably goes a fair way to explaining why the radio reception is so much better in the PiP than it was in my old 2010 Gen 3.

[Spacoom]

Team,
Yesterday I finally fixed my Toyota Prius T3 dash in stereo.
Options that were available to me:
1. Obedient – I went to Toyota service center.   A year later quotation was - an exchange unit is £308.83 inc vat & labour cost is £63.00 inc vat.
2. Alternative. New radio with harness. Harness alone was quoted at £92. Here is exert from email exchange: “We have gone away and searched far a wide. Sadly this taken up much of our time to locate a supplier.   We are happy to advise we can supply the correct harness for your car. As you can understand this will be a special order. This can take up to 4 working days. All the accessories required will cost approximately £92.00”. On top of it minimum £150 for new stereo.
3. Get it fixed. I took the dash in out  myself (my praises go to the manufacturer – very easy to do).  I learnt that the optical drive is manufactured by Fujitsu. Took pictures and part number. Contacted them directly.  Reply came from Belgium - The flat rate price will be 140, 00 € + shipping charges + sales tax. 
4. DIY. Stand alone optical drive from Belgium - 58,50€ + shipping costs for your country (the UK).
5. DIY el Chipo. I found wonderful website in China. They were most wonderful. It was actually the only site in google when you enter optical  drive + serial number + revision.  Cost only $12 USD + shipping. 

So everything is possible if you resist high unreasonable prices.   Optical drive arrived yesterday and got it replaced. Everything is working. Competition at work. 
Tip: When you take out your optical drive take the picture of the pin connector at the bottom. They are different from revision to revision.

Happy to elaborate or help.
 

[johalareewi]

Just in case someone else needs an orignal gen3 Prius T3/T4 head unit, mine is still sat in a box in the garage.

[Mas1221]

On 3/7/2016 at 9:28 AM, johalareewi said:

Just in case someone else needs an orignal gen3 Prius T3/T4 head unit, mine is still sat in a box in the garage.

 

 Hi was wondering if you could help me out I recently purchased a 2014 gen 3  facelift prius but it is a Japanese import it comes with a built-in screen with reversing camera but it is all in Japanese trying to find a solution and was wondering what you would recommend I know there are a ton of Chinese replacements but was hoping I could find a good specification OEM screen with some good  features many  thanks

[TonyHSD]

10 hours ago, Mas1221 said:

 

 Hi was wondering if you could help me out I recently purchased a 2014 gen 3  facelift prius but it is a Japanese import it comes with a built-in screen with reversing camera but it is all in Japanese trying to find a solution and was wondering what you would recommend I know there are a ton of Chinese replacements but was hoping I could find a good specification OEM screen with some good  features many  thanks

You can try Halfords, I have seen some offers on tech recently. Anything with screen will work for you and been in English not Japanese, there are some good one with Android auto and Apple car play it depends what you after and your budget. I never look for any of these as I don’t find them useful except for the rear view camera. 👍

[johalareewi]

17 hours ago, Mas1221 said:

 

 Hi was wondering if you could help me out I recently purchased a 2014 gen 3  facelift prius...

Hi. My gen3 prius was a 2009 model and i swapped out the stock cd player for a chinese touchscreen nav+backup cam which was made for right hand drive gen3 prius.  Not sure if it would work for a facelift gen3.  A good place to look and ask are the prius chat forums.  There is one for gen3 prius audio.  https://priuschat.com/forum/gen-3-prius-audio-and-electronics.98/