New Aussie Prius Owner and some Q's...

Hi Tom, and welcome to the Prius Family!

Regarding your queries...
(1) No, we only get Bluetooth for the phone in Australian models.

(2) I have supplied 2 USB/IPod kits to a Toyota Dealer here in Brisbane for installation on their Demo cars. I will ask if the techs have done the install yet, and if it was successful, then let you know.

(3) The car has a rolling code immobiliser fitted which is regarded as very secure. We did have an Automotive Electronics expert along to a Club meeting a little while ago, and also to the Launch of the Gen 3 Prius here....he is a fairly knowledgeable guy, and I can pass his details on to you if required. He has a mobile service, so should travel to the Goldie.

(4) We do not have the auto locking feature on OZ cars.

Happy to help with anything local, or to meet you anytime if you are in Brisbane...I have a Tasman Blue I-tech with extras.

Cheers,
John
Prius Club of Qld Inc.

 

Hi Tom.

There is a small mod that needs to be done, but it's fine. I actually have a Wildfire fin here in stock if you would like to see it sitting on your car to evaluate. I'll PM you my email address and phone number if you are coming up to Brisbane anytime and would like to see it.

Cheers,
John.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I picked up an ex-Toyota management Prius i-Tech here in NZ a couple of weeks ago. I'm struggling a bit with any dealers knowing anything about the car at all, so...

I got the iPod integration kit PT233-47100 from a US dealer via eBay. It arrived on Saturday and while it all plugs into the NZ (same as Aussie) nav head unit I couldn't get it to select in my audio sources. My iPod Classic turned on when I pressed the start button to power up the head unit so something must be happening, but it wouldn't play and my iPhone doesn't react at all.

Did you get any information or pointers from the two kits you set the dealer up with, John?

So far as I can tell the Aus/NZ nav unit is a Fujitsu Ten product, whereas posts I have read on here suggest the US units might be Denso, is that right? If so I guess I'm out of luck.

If that is the case does anyone know of an aftermarket interface that would work? Grom say theirs works up to 2010, but as they don't list anything for a 2011 Prius then I suspect they are referring to the 2004-2009 model only. Dice only list their FM modulator products for 2010+ (and I'd rather just stick with the aux port than use that). Anyone else?

Thanks in advance for any help. It's a massively useful forum and I have learned a lot about my 2003 and now my 2010 by searching.

Fen

 

Fen- Did you notice Battery Clinic from Auckland recently made a post under the hybrid battery water damage post in GenIII Tech discussion? I lived in NZ 5-months years ago. Loved it.

 

The US iPod kits won't work on the Aust/NZ Navi units (I've tried) as we don't have satellite radio down this way on our units. I have one from Vaistech lying about from my old days which works. Haven't tried it in the iPhone however but I don't use the iphone for music. All I need to do is put all my songs into a playlist and the iPod kit emulates a second CD Changer.

 

Thanks for the replies. When you say the US one doesn't work because we don't have satellite radio, did you perhaps test the other Toyota US iPod interface designed for non-nav models?

I just looked at the Vaistech website, but my concern is that it is US based and only lists one model as compatible with 2010-2011 Prius with nav, and that may not work with my Aus/NZ nav any better than the Toyota one. Which Vaistech unit have you tested with you i-Tech, SmellyTofu? I don't really care if it doesn't work with my iPhone if I can use my Classic.

When you say "from my old days" have you moved on to something else?

 

Hi Everyone,

I own an I-phone my daughter uses it as her defacto I-pod. We just plug it into the audio jack socket in the centre arm rest with a male-male audio cable and switch to Aux on the radio. I didn't want a navigator unit as my GPS is better with more up-to-date maps.

 

Hi

We are another gen 3 i-tech (in Adelaide) which we pick up on Thursday. Not impressed if some of the features gleaned from youtube etc related to the iphone/bluetooth etc don't work - these things seem like some of the basics...

Our 97 Mitsubishi Delica has Autolocking doors as did our 2005 Jeep? Toyota seem to brag about the hill stop brakes (hmmm had that on a 85 Subaru DL Wagon so it is good they are keepin' up with Technology)

Cheers

Sam

 

I think the US car has auto locking as standard but the RHD version (and the Euro version) don't have it. We get the HUD though

 

Hi Sam,

I'd be really interested to hear if any of this stuff has been added to later production examples than mine. I have my fingers crossed both for you that they have sorted this out, and also for me as, once I know there are parts in existence, there will be a chance I can find a part number and retrofit the functionality to mine.

 

How updateable is the GPS in terms of Aussie Maps?

 

The maps are on DVD, so they are updatable as long as Toyota release updated DVDs.

I have to say that while I don't exactly dislike the car, I won't be having another Toyota when this lease is up. Sure it has some technology, but as you say, where are things like auto locks or RDS radio?

Frustratingly even the stuff it has is implemented poorly, for example the auto headlights constantly switch on and off as you pass under overpasses - there is absolutely no logic built in to wait a second or two to see if the sudden reduction in light is going to last.

Worse is the auto wiper / headlight interaction. The stupid (and useless I have to say, unless you want to ruin your economy by letting the car scream off like a scalded cat every time the distance to the vehicle in front increases, and don't get me started on the tendency to slam the brakes on if the car in front pulls into an exit lane and slows down, even though there is a clear lane past it...) DRCC knows when it's raining and disables itself due to "adverse weather conditions". The Prius isn't intelligent enough to turn on its headlights in that same adverse weather however. Net result I don't use the auto lights.

Even the wipers on their own frequently get into a cycle of wiping when it isn't actually raining, so they need to be turned off more than they should.

Lastly are even simple things like the dimming rear view mirror which barely functions well enough you'd notice it has one - and what about dimming the door mirrors at the same time?

I've had a number of vehicles over the past 10 years or so with good implementations of auto lights, auto wipers, dimming mirrors, auto locking etc. All of them European, however. I suspect I'll go with a Euro diesel next lease, as I so nearly did this time.

 

Duplicate post

 

So you don't like it then?

 

I don't dislike it, I'm just disappointed in most of the technology kit.

 

OK - now we have our i-tech have started to have a bit of a think about this problem.
Solution is simple and cheap
FM transmitter plugged into the iphone with a remote - you should also be able to get something similar (or all included to run a USB with an SD card in it)

Something similar here

FM Radio Transmitter+Car Charger+Remote For IPod iPhone | eBay

Let me know your thoughts?

Cheers

Sam

 

Find someone with the latest disc then it copy to a blank DVD. Instant update.

Fen, you can adjust the timing of the auto headlights. The dealer are the only ones that can adjust that. I don't mind the flickering anyway given it's LED and not HID. Flicking HID on and off is the quickest way to burn them out (so I've been told). LED not so.

Auto wipers only has one sensor at the interior mirror base. Make sure that has a bit of rain-x on it. Does improve it but it can't tell between light rain and heavy rain or frost/dew but does well on rain intensity. Don't move it much to off myself as I park my car inside. The Corolla I park outside also with auto wipers performs the same.

Dimming exterior mirrors are available on Lexus. It's a Toyota. Don't expect too much and seriously, it makes little difference having driven cars with them.

The radar cruise like all Toyota & Lexus radar cruise does not work if your wipers are in auto and working at full speed. If you have them tied to headlights, then you'd have to think how much the headlights flicker as the Prius doesn't have a camera to understand fully the road & weather conditions.

The car is smart, but doesn't have artifical intelligence. There still needs to be some organic bit between the seat and the steering wheel to decide when things need to work. This is the same for any car of all origins north of $200,000.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, both of you.

@ Blackcat:
My solution for iPod playback is to use a TomTom cradle for iPhone (which I had from my previous car). I mounted it using the stick-on disc it comes with on the passenger side of the centre console bridge. It doesn't get in my wife's way there when she's a passenger (might do for a big, burly bloke I guess though), and it's reasonably unobtrusive.

From there I have run the power lead and a 3.5mm audio lead (the TomTom has a line out port) to the power and aux-in connections under the armrest. I managed to route the cables out of sight with some minor disassembly, so the armrest lid closes as normal and they are only visible for the last 3cm where they come out of the side of the bridge into the cradle.

It's a decent enough solution with the exception that the track details don't appear on the screen and the steering wheel controls don't work (other than volume). What I would like is both of those things (as the NZ CT200h, and the US Prius have), plus the pause/resume of the music controlled by the head unit. They are small things, but they make the difference between an OK experience and a quality one.

What would be really good would be to have an iPod Touch in the tray under the armrest, controlled by the stereo, as when the next release of iOS comes out it would synch my new purchases or podcasts one wifi while in the garage and I'd never have to remove it.

In all honesty I haven't had good experiences with FM transmitter iPod solutions in the past and while YMMV I think you'll find you get better sound quality using the aux-in.

@ SmellyTofu
The LEDs don't actually flick on and off all the time as another quirk of the auto lights is that the car seems very keen to run on parking lights only, and that is all it turns on and off under overpasses in daylight. I'm not a huge fan of driving with just parking lights on to be honest - they are called parking lights for a reason after all. Of course it turns on the LEDs when it is properly dark, but it will drop back to parking lights only long before I'm comfortable it's light enough for others to see me with only 5w of yellow incandescent light on my front corners. It's in for first service on Tuesday so I'll ask if the dealer can desensitize the headlights then.

I'll try RainX on the auto wiper sensor - I hadn't heard of that tip before. They work the same way as the BMW (and Mini), Skoda and Audi ones I've had in the past, but they are more prone to wiping much faster than necessary than the German ones were, and also they will randomly start wiping even in dry weather sometimes. One thing I do like about them is that they can be left turned on. In the BMW/Mini and Skoda (and I think the Audi also) they need to be turned on each time the ignition has been turned off. I think that's to prevent them starting up if frozen to the screen, but I always found it a minor irritation. I do still use them, and prefer them to old-school intermittent wipers.

I've had dimming door mirrors twice before. I actually think they do make a huge difference, to the point I wonder why manufacturers only do half a job (BMW are bad for that as they offer dimming door mirrors as an additional option on top of dimming main mirror). If a following vehicle has headlights aimed high enough to dazzle (or has high beam on) then the driver gets dazzling reflections from all 3 mirrors, not just the centre one. In the Prius the centre one takes ages to react so it's less noticeable than in the BMW I have just now.

Radar cruise is a gimmick. I guess if you don't give a stuff about your fuel figures then technically it works, but I'm going to take a stab that it costs 25% in fuel economy terms in the type of driving I do if I use it. It also insists on changing the central display to the utterly useless cruise display every time it detects a car AND every time it detects a car is no longer there. What on earth for? An additional green warning light would be far, far better are telling the driver if there is a vehicle in front, though why I need to be told that at all is a bit beyond me - I can see whats in front for myself after all.

I refer back once more to the BMW, Skoda and Audi. All of them had auto wipers and headlights, and all of them turned the lights on when the wipers sensed they needed to be on beyond a threshold speed. There isn't a lot of intelligence required to make it work without switching the lights on and off constantly; just a delay. "Has it got darker than X according to my light sensor, and if so has it been that way for Y seconds? Better turn the lights on if it has" or "are the auto wipers working faster than speed Z, and if so has that been for Y seconds" etc.

I actually made a point of thinking about how I view my Prius after GrumpyCabbie's post. Overall I do actually like it. It has all the constituent parts to make the technology package compelling (apart from the USB iPod port), but the software that drives that technology is poor when compared to European vehicles - even those costing similar amounts to the iTech's sticker price.

When I went with the iTech it was shortlisted against a CT200h and a Mini Cooper Diesel. For the sticker price of the iTech I could have had a Mini with most of the kit the iTech has, and I know it would have worked better in the Mini. I decided against the Mini for 2 reasons; I got an iTech at waaaay below sticker and (ironically) I wanted radar cruise...