DIY Aux-In for Base Prii for under $100

Here's my solution to Aux-input in my 07 Base Prius. I'm by no means an expert at this stuff, and some people might correct me on some steps or explain how I could have done things better/cheaper/smarter etc...

I welcome any criticism, I just thought this may help some people looking to add aux-in to their Prius

Ingredients:

• $59 Toyota / Scion / Lexus Auxiliary interface(Car2AUX-TOY) Link: In Dash PC - Toyota Lexus Scion 98+ AUX adapter (direct digital interface)
• $12.99 6-Ft. Stereo Headphone Cable, 1/8" Jack to 1/8" Plug Link:RadioShack.com - Cables, Parts & Connectors: A/V cables: 6-Ft. Stereo Headphone Cable, 1/8" Jack to 1/8" Plug
• $5.99 Gold-Plated Inline 1/8" Mini-Jack Coupler Link: RadioShack.com - Cables, Parts & Connectors: Connectors & connectivity: A/V connectors & adapters: Gold-Plated Inline 1/8" Mini-Jack Coupler

Total: $77.98 (plus tax & shipping)

Tools:

• Phillips Screwdriver
• Drill
• Soldering tool

Cook Time: About an Hour

Directions:

First step is get your GROM Car2Aux installed and working properly. This video shows how it's done:

It took me two tries and about 20mins to get this installed.

(If you're attempting this, don't assemble the dash just yet, you'll still need to get behind there...)

After I got this unit installed, tested that it's working properly, I took the head phone cable and cut it in half with some wire cutters. The reason I choose this wire is because it had removable sleeves that you can screw on and off. After cutting the cable, I removed the sleeve and gold spring from the female end and set them aside for later.

I choose to put my aux jack in the compartment below the radio because I figured it would be easy to stash cables and iPod in there, and in case I made some sort of tragic mistake, it wouldn't be very noticable

I drilled a hole just large enough to shove the back end of the female jack through it. (If you're going to attempt this, please please double check behind the box to make sure there arn't any loose cables that may get cut by the drill. In my case there was plenty empty space behind the box so I didn't have to worry too much about the drill bit catching anything BUT YOUR CAR MAY BE DIFFERENT) It took me a bunch of tries because I didn't want to make the hole so big that the whole thing falls though. I finnaly got it just big enough so that the jack fit snugly in it and so that it won't come out if I pull too hard on a cable or something. I then ran the sleeve back up the loose end of the cable and screwed it back in as tight as I could to keep everything secure. (You can probably substitute the sleeve with a finely threaded nut if you can find one that fits)



I now had to put back the cable that I had cut in half earlier. I stripped both ends and there was only three different colored wires inside, so I matched up the colors and tied them together like so:



Tested to make sure it still works (and it did) and then soldered and taped the whole mess back together.

After all this I was left with two male ends, one from the cable I just patched, and one from the Car2Aux unit, so this is where the coupler comes in. (Initially, if you can find a similar headphone cable with two female ends, you won't need a coupler, but I couldn't so I did) I then coupled? both cables together and tested again, and everything was still peachy.



So I shoved the whole cable mess/car2aux unit behind the lower glove box, above the cabin filter....

...and reassembled the right half of the dash, and I am completly happy with my handy-work... for now

 

I really have no idea, last I saw, they had a compatibility list on their website.