Impossible to install an iPod interface kit in a 2010 Prius III?

I received an iPod interface kit for Christmas. It's a Toyota OEM accessory for the 2010 Prius (Part number PT545-00082). Yet two different dealerships have been unable to install it.

The first dealership (where I purchased the vehicle) said that an XM receiver had been installed at the factory, and that it is impossible to disconnect. Therefore, it is impossible to install an iPod interface kit.

The second dealership claimed that there should be no difficulty in disconnecting the XM receiver, but that the Navigation package was required for the iPod interface kit to work.

I called Toyota's "Customer Experience" line and asked them for the real story. They claimed that the Navigation package is not necessary, but that if an XM receiver had been installed at the factory then unplugging it would constitute a "modification" and would therefore void the warranty. Thus no dealership will have any procedures for disconnecting the XM receiver, and by extension, no means of installing the iPod interface kit in any similarly equipped car.

Which, if any, of these are accurate? Is the iPod interface kit really unusable?? Anyone have a similar experience?

 

I have the non-Nav JBL as well. Originally the dealership said that they couldn't get the kit working and did not know why. They showed me an iPod plugged into the interface kit to my car, the iPod flashing a "Do Not Disconnect" message (indicating it thinks it's connected) while the radio reported "No Signal."

The following day they told me that it simply could not be done. They claim the interface kit requires removal of the XM receiver, but there is no way to disconnect the XM receiver once it is installed...

 

I am hoping that is not the case, for two reasons:

1) The kit is a gift. I'm not interested in only semi-functional iPod interfacing solutions, or engaging in a long exercise in trial-and-error to find a replacement Christmas gift. So if the Toyota kit is as useless as the dealerships are claiming then I'll probably just go back to the plain Aux input.

2) This would probably make me feel very reluctant to purchase any more Toyota brand accessories. The interface kit is marketed as if it were compatible with all 2010 Prius models. (A compatibility list is provided for iPods, but not for vehicles.) The only caveat mentioned is that it will disable satellite radio... as in, if you already use satellite radio, you'll have to give it up. Now it seems as if those claims are untrue, and in fact exactly backwards: it is not the kit that disables the satellite, but the satellite that disables installation of the kit (even when said satellite is not in use)! Further, I've gotten the distinct impression from speaking with Toyota representatives that Toyota does not clearly understand how its interface kit works, or which cars it works with (or even the fact that they produce more than one type of kit). So the bottom line is, I'm left feeling that if I buy a Toyota accessory, nobody (not even Toyota) will know exactly what I'm getting or whether it will work as advertized. What do you think -- am I being unfair?

 

I suspect you're right that the Toyota adapter will not work with JBL. However, I DID read Toyota's caveat carefully, and it does not say nor even suggest that the presence of satellite would prevent installation of the kit. The original exact wording of the warning, taken from the Owner's Manual of the kit, is as follows:

"NOTE: With the Interface Kit installed, Satellite Radio use is not possible."

I don't see any way to interpret that sentence to mean that the kit is not installable in a car which is already equipped for satellite. If that is what it was meant to say, then their wording is not only poor but actually incorrect.

But I digress...

I will check into the USA SPEC adapter and see if I think I'd like it. Of course, the fact that this adapter is a Christmas gift means I'll have to find out if the useless Toyota adapter can be returned, etc... if not, I'll still end up back in Aux land.