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Ugh. Double din. Need more single din units like the alpine. I don’t care about wireless and I can’t justify what alpine is charging for them now so I guess I’ll be waiting another year or two.
 
What are you talking about???? I fitted an aftermarket head unit like this and it involved none of the steps you described... there are companies that sell specific wiring loom converters so it’s litterally plug and play.. getting the dash open to see what you’re doing takes way longer than the wiring side, but anyone with some practical skills and YouTube can carry out the fitting.
Yea sure if the seller wires the car harnesses to the receivers' wiring for you. But if you don't opt for that route, you have to splice wires and you do that by reading the wiring diagrams. Not every car is the same my friend.
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I would want wire not wireless and lose audio quality
That makes no sense. The wireless is over WiFi, which by today's standards are at least 300 Mbps. Nothing is lost. Not to mention if it was bad enough to cause audio loss, then it's way too bad to project an interface onto the display.
 
I might install one when I can get a wireless unit with a decent sized capacitive touch display for under $500.

Having wireless CarPlay would be cool but is it really worth spending an extra $400+ just for that feature? No..

Most of us like to have our phones charging while we drive, so that means we're going to have to plug in a cable anyways. Yes i know there's wireless Qi charging but its slow compared to USB.

That being said, for those interested in a budget CarPlay headunit should really check out the Soundstream VRCP-65. Its currently $199 on Amazon right now and supports CarPlay, Android PhoneLink, SiriusXM, Bluetooth, DVD, etc.
Side note, but related: I’ve found that before getting a wireless charging mount in the car, I would hardly ever plug in my iPhone when driving. Maybe if it was a long trip and I received a low battery notice, but it was always forgotten to take the tangled cord from the center console, pass it over the steering column and plug it into the bottom of my device (sometimes blocked by the holder) which can be difficult and unsafe while driving. I recommend everyone get it because my iPhone gets topped off every time I’m in the car now. I have the iOttie one which seems to charge it fine even when running BT music streamed over LTE while using navigation.
 
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I have the Sony XAV-AX5000 and love it but still can't find a aftermarket CarPlay radio that support an iPod classic. I would love to be able to have my 160gb iPod connected as an option.
 
I ordered it. My 07 tundra hasn’t had a working touch screen in 2 years. I just use a bluetoooth radio transmitter ‍♂️ Figured this would be a nice upgrade. I have nothing against the Boss brand, had one in our old expedition and it worked fine for us.
 
How many cars made in the last decade even have the ability to swap out the stereo? Seems like they're all built-in and combined with the climate controls and other systems.

I was really into car stereos in high school and college... but that was in the 90's

:p
 
What's the lack of a physical volume knob like? Is it easy to adjust?

No issues. I have volume buttons on my steering wheel, but they only take effect if the unit’s radio is playing, not if audio is sourced via CarPlay. I did read today that it does work if you change volume while Siri is invoked. Will give it a whirl (trying Hey Siri, turn volume down too).
 
Yea sure if the seller wires the car harnesses to the receivers' wiring for you. But if you don't opt for that route, you have to splice wires and you do that by reading the wiring diagrams. Not every car is the same my friend.

Again what? I’ve done at least 5 stereo change outs and never once spliced a cable, there are companies who specialise in cable converter harnesses which suit the model of your car switching back to a standard fitting which most aftermarket units use.
 
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Again what? I’ve done at least 5 stereo change outs and never once spliced a cable, there are companies who specialise in cable converter harnesses which suit the model of your car switching back to a standard fitting which most aftermarket units use.

Agree! Anyway, it would be crazy to splice into the car's loom. I would (and have) make up my own loom adapter before splicing (a.k.a. wrecking) the factory wiring.
 
Well, there is a major price difference. Mine's a bit more expensive Mine's an Alpine, and doesn't support Android Auto. Specifically built for Apple Wireless CarPlay.
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Nice one. :D That's it.

About three times the price..
Thanks for pointing out how ridiculous your first post was.
 
How many cars made in the last decade even have the ability to swap out the stereo? Seems like they're all built-in and combined with the climate controls and other systems.

I was really into car stereos in high school and college... but that was in the 90's

:p
This is exactly what goes through my mind when I hear about aftermarket receivers. I assume, possibly incorrectly, that it's going to be a major headache dealing with all the ways newer vehicles intertwine their features with the head unit.
 
pfffft.

I was really wanting CarPlay.

Imagine my surprise when I actually used it in a rental.

I decided that having my iphone in that bracket mounted on the dash (like in my daily driver) was actually better, as in, less aggravating to use, 2x-as in, less nanny BS to wade through.
 
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How many cars made in the last decade even have the ability to swap out the stereo?

A lot of people have cars not made in the last decade, or cars that were but are still able to pretty easily swap out the stereo (like mine, a 2010 Accord). There's definitely a market for this. My car is going to last me at least another 3-5 years, and I'm definitely not going to buy a new car before then just to use CarPlay, but this... this I'm considering.
 
What's the lack of a physical volume knob like? Is it easy to adjust?

Actually, the volume can be changed via the steering wheel in CarPlay too. Not sure what issue I was having. I think maybe adjusting the volume while navigating.
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Are you telling me the head unit changed the color of your car's interior??

I don’t see where I wrote that.
 
How many cars made in the last decade even have the ability to swap out the stereo? Seems like they're all built-in and combined with the climate controls and other systems.

I was really into car stereos in high school and college... but that was in the 90's

:p

Many newer cars with climate controls etc. built into the head unit can still be replaced using products like iDatalink Maestro or similar, that end up putting the same climate controls on the new aftermarket head unit. Sometimes it can even add features like gauges etc. that your car didn't have before. This assumes the factory head unit and display are still one piece like Honda, Chrysler, Ford, GM etc.

Vehicles that have just a display slapped on the dash like BMW, and the actual head unit located somewhere else are the ones that pretty much can't be replaced.
 
I got a Boss head unit as a gift once and still felt ripped off. Total piece of junk, it has constant hiss from speakers unless its muted. The display brightness and quality might have been acceptable in the 90s. Every time I turn it on I have to disable and re-enable the loudness setting otherwise everything sounds muddy and terrible. Obviously a bug since changing the setting fixes it. I'd stay far away from Boss and spend more on a quality brand.
 
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