After market Navigation

I'm in Irvine.

 

Correct, just unsnap the dash pieces, remove stock headunit, plug in new headunit. The hardest part is grounding the blue wire, and that's not hard to do. I stuck the nav antenna directly to the top of the headunit chassis, seems to work so far.

 

I just checked UPS tracking number and mine should be arriving later this afternoon. I did some searching and did not find a Prius specific backup camera for this M&D unit, but they do make a universal one that replaces the license plate holder. I'm probably going to opt out on that option. $70 more from the seller.

 

I'll give a report once I install my camera. I bought it on eBay for $13.99. It looks great, smaller than the stock camera and should mount in the stock location with just one hole.

It's smaller than it looks in the photos:

S0BZ E318 170º Wide Angle Night Vision Car Rear View Reverse Backup Color Camera | eBay

 

Hi Matt_A,

I too use a Garmin and have the latest map updates. I wonder if yours has the propensity to take you to a destination one way, only to take you back home an entirely different route?

I hate that about mine. But I did find a way around it.

If you go to Google maps and select your route, however you want it to be, IE: you can change what Google shows you. Then you download that info into your Garmin. Ok that gets you there. To make sure you go back using the same route, reverse your directions to show from your destination to your home, then download that to the Garmin and you should be all set.........one caveat DO NOT change between "fastest or shortest" or the Garmin will change your input and take you how it wants to.

This mistake cost me 50 to 60 miles going the wrong way and 2 hours extra travel time! Grrr!

As long as you don't change any parameters you can set your route to your destination and back home the way you want it to be.

Cheers,

ES44AC

 

Not a bad deal and I found the small gray plastic knock out under where the hatch opens (left area) for that camera. But from what I could see on the eBay camera, it might not have enough wire to get you to the NAV unit. I've had my car apart back there many times so if I go for it, I may pre-wire for the camera too. I'm hoping Fry's electronics would have the right camera wires to do the pre-wiring.
UPDATE: I just contacted the seller on eBay about how long the camera extension wire is. Apparently, you connect the power cable of the camera to the backup light circuit, But even that wire would need to be 8 to 10 feet to reach one of the lamps.

 

The power comes from the reverse light so it's just a simple wiring cable from the camera to the license plate area, only a few feet max. The yellow RCA video cable goes to the head unit, I'm pretty sure I have an extension for that one if needed.

 

I did a check on the eBay seller for the backup camera and he gets many hundreds of bad reviews. I think I'm going to get the same unit from Amazon dot com for a few dollars more. Notice how this seller shows the video and power cables. Here's the same product:

 

OK - it arrived but I'm taking this cautiously and slowly. Probably going to take more than an hour to do properly which will include wire-fishing the GPS antenna to the upper console area. BTW, their installation guide is very brief and leaves me with questions I may need to call M&D about.
Anyway, I took some out-0f-the-box photos of the semi-prepared unit. According to the instructions, there are brackets on the old radio that need to be reused with their screws. Here are some pictures:
evpv: where do you connect the "reverse" blue wire to? This is required if you eventually want to use the backup camera.

 

Blue wire just grounds to chassis. I used a screw behind the upper glove box.

 

Dashboard disassembly instructions:

Dash removal doc (process) | PriusChat

A wooden paint stirring stick works great for pushing the nav wire into the area between the windshield and dashboard.

 

I just got my package as well & surprised it's much bigger than I thought, meaning the shipping box & package it comes in which makes it a better bargain with the free shipping. Wow, u received yours fast phoenixgreg considering you're in Arizona. Thanx for the pix & laying out the ground work. I think I'm going to sit here quietly & follow step by step what u do. I have some questions for anyone that may help, I have a 2011 prius II with bluetooth. First, will my current iPod connector that is hidden in the center console work w/this new unit? Second, as I stated I have bluetooth that came as an option with the car, will this work independantly with this unit, or is the bluetooth that came in the car only compatible w/ the stock unit? If I am able to use my original bluetooth, will I be able to cancel or turn off the new units bluetooth or vice versa without interference of each other?

 

I just got off the phone with a tech at M&D and learned the following:

1) The blue wire with the white stripe can be grounded to defeat the in-motion safety features, as you mentioned.
2) The solid blue wire marked "back" must be connected to a wire in the joystick shifter that provides voltage when the car is in reverse. This is the only way the reverse camera option will work. NOTE: The camera itself needs a positive voltage (from the backup lights) too.
3) Be careful about the GPS antenna mounting - the black plastic must face UP. You can use the black square metal piece they supply as a base for the mag-grab on the bottom of the GPS antenna. This can be tucked in the dash somewhere and it has its own sticky backing.
4) The external mic for the Bluetooth is recommended - you can mount it in the blank under the Prius power up button and should work fine. Yes, there will be that foam sphere to look at but it's black and matches the blank. The tech says it should work fine - even 2+ feet from the driver speaking.

I haven't started yet as I want to get the video cable pre-wired for the camera so I only need to pull the dash apart once. I'll need to find one tomorrow.

 

Hi all,
Thank you very much for your info. I just ordered one after reading your info on this unit. For installation, do we have to disconnect the battery? Thanks everyone.

 

1. If you leave it disconnected the DVD won't function at all, I tried it
2. Exactly why I didn't start the camera install last weekend... I didn't have enough time to research the installation.
3. My nav antenna is stuck to the top of the headunit using the built-in magnet. The factory mounts it above the AC vents and under the dash cover. It needs a 2" square metal surface for proper operation, M&D supplies a 2" metal plate with the unit.
4. The internal mic doesn't work at all, you must use the external mic.

 

Technically, yes. But it's just a matter of unplugging the old and plugging in the new. I didn't disconnect mine.

 

How is the brightness of the the screen?
I found my Ottinavi unit is very unacceptablely dim in day time.

 

What i did to my unit, in order to make the rear view camera work, is connect the "back" wire to the backup lights together with the power wire for the camera. Since i already had to do all the work with the cables for the camera (i.e. video in cable), i just run one more cable from the unit to the backup lights. Very easy and did not have to fiddle with the shifter at all.
As far as the GPS antenna is concerned, i mounted mine in the middle of the dashboard very close to the windshield and the wire run through the passenger side, the passenger small window and the windshield. The wire can not be seen, and the reception of the antenna is excellent. Most OEM units have the antenna fitted there or at least it's there on my other cars. I can post some pictures if it will help you.

Nikos

 

Thank you Evpv. I will try to install my unit when I received it today. Thanks again.

 

Just checked ups and mines getting delivered today. Hopefully my JBL adapter gets here today as wall. I will install tomorrow. I want planning on seeing up the backup camera but after reading I'm going to. I don't have the camera yet so I plan on running a short rca cable fire now and just hide it under the dash for now and once I order the camera just use a coupler to connect so I don't have to take radio appart again. Wish me luck.