USB/iPod integration and Safety Connect

Was at a dealer in the Bay Area over the weekend and every car had Safety Connect listed on the window sticker.

 

Yes, I have the Safety Connect and USB/iPhone ports. My car was made in August. The USB port is added at the port, hence why they call it a port.

 

Mine should arrive this week. It's now the normal package and I can't get it without so like it or not, it's here.

 

Can one get it added to a July-made III?
How much does the feature cost?
What can one do with the USB port?

Plug in a flash "thumb" drive and ... ???

 

I don't have an iPod, I have an iPhone 3GS. But, in short, it seems that it's not a perfect pairing of the iPhone and the Prius. Guess we'll have to wait for Apples iPrius for that!

You can:

1. Plug in a flashdrive loaded with all your music into the port. Then a USB tab appears at the far right of your Audio screen. From that screen you can select by playlist or artists and by songs...the scrolling isn't as fast as some would like and there's always a bit of a delay when switching screens, but I'm happy with it the way it is.
2. Plug in an AUX cable and listen to your music via the AUX tab.
3. Charge your iPhone/Pod with the standard USB/iPhone cable.

You can also, of course, stream music via Bluetooth from your iPhone/iPod if iPods have that capablity??? So, I can listen to Pandora radio or Sirius through bluetooth as well- I don't know if this is a feature of Safety Connect or just the NAV system.

As to whether I'm enjoying it? Well...that should be obvious!!!!

The issues I'm having with it are that I can't really use the iPod built into my iPhone. The one seems to cancel out the other, like they're competing for connectivity somehow.

Yes, enjoying it~!

 

I was also lucky enough to have these options included in the Prius I purchased a week ago but one problem I am having now is the Safety Connect. I was told that Toyota is still working on getting it up and running. Does anyone have safety connect working already?

 

All California cars with NAV will have USB. All package IV and V will have both safety Connect and USB port as well.

I have sold many this way. BTW: for the posted with the iPos issues: they do compete, but the way you get around this is to connect the iPod version of the phone first. Them, you connect the phone and it seems to switch back and forth depending on if you have a call or not.

Dianne

 

Mine shipped before they included this feature. However, I did call the dealer for details. They said it was $295 for the part(s). Apparently it is a cable device that connects to the back of the nav/radio system and an additional $95 for the labor. Here's the best part... they land it in the glove box as a loose cable (no cradle mounting) and you have to plug the cable into it from there. I can't imagine the logistics of reaching, plugging, etc, etc.

For now, I'll use the $8 cable from Radio Shack, plug it into the AUX port and set it in the cup holder. It works great.