Tag Archives: Toyota

My new in-car-entertainment system

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So I have finally had my new “Entertainment System” installed in my Prius.  A Kenwood DDX4038BT.  Toyota were kind enough to throw it into my purchase agreement for my Prius.  The original system which came standard was one of the worst in-car-systems I have ever come across.  The bluetooth functionality is useless and the radio was always losing signal.  I would definitely not recommend you buy a Prius and keep the existing system. 

So I thought I would tell you what I think of the new Kenwood system…..

I spent hours in the vehicle last night figuring out how it all works.   

My iPhone connects to it via bluetooth and it calls up all my contacts.  Not rocket science nowdays as most in-car-systems can do this.  The phonebook is very clumsy and very slow.  You can set up presets for quick dialling – however the presents only display a number and not the actual contact – so you have to have memorised peoples numbers in order to use the preset otherwise you have no idea which number belongs to whom.  If you use the phonebook – you have to have patience – it takes a while to call up and then you have to have more patience while you scroll down screen by screen – there is no quick way to call up contacts starting with H for instance.  It handles incoming calls quite efficiently so can’t complain there.

It accommodates voice dialling (using my iPhones voice dialling functionality).  So I thought I would give it a try this morning while I was dropping the kids off at school and it went something like this:

I say: Call Home

System says: There are multiple Peters – please try again

I say: Call Home

System says: calling Claire x (x denotes a surname)

I say: Call Anthony x (x denotes a surname)

System says: Facetime with Cormac (and calls up facetime on my iPhone)

So I had a really good giggle and laughed that functionality off.

It streams music from my iPhone as well, however no track information is displayed.  I have to plug my iPhone into a cable which connects to the system to see track information displayed (a little clumsy having a cable).  But this works very well.  Kids like to plug their iPhones in and listen to their music most of the time.

The Sat-NAV system is a Garmin so quite happy with that end.

It plays DVD’s – again the system is slow to respond and it does not keep your place when you switch the vehicle off – you have to start the DVD up all over again and go through the notices etc.  Not that this is an issue as I don’t spend enough time in the car to watch a DVD nor will I ever want to watch a DVD whilst driving – so this is an obsolete function.

Have yet to try playing a CD or plug in a USB thumb drive – will try this later.

My new in-car-entertainment system

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So I have finally had my new “Entertainment System” installed in my Prius.  A Kenwood DDX4038BT.  Toyota were kind enough to throw it into my purchase agreement for my Prius.  The original system which came standard was one of the worst in-car-systems I have ever come across.  The bluetooth functionality is useless and the radio was always losing signal.  I would definitely not recommend you buy a Prius and keep the existing system. 

So I thought I would tell you what I think of the new Kenwood system…..

I spent hours in the vehicle last night figuring out how it all works.   

My iPhone connects to it via bluetooth and it calls up all my contacts.  Not rocket science nowdays as most in-car-systems can do this.  The phonebook is very clumsy and very slow.  You can set up presets for quick dialling – however the presents only display a number and not the actual contact – so you have to have memorised peoples numbers in order to use the preset otherwise you have no idea which number belongs to whom.  If you use the phonebook – you have to have patience – it takes a while to call up and then you have to have more patience while you scroll down screen by screen – there is no quick way to call up contacts starting with H for instance.  It handles incoming calls quite efficiently so can’t complain there.

It accommodates voice dialling (using my iPhones voice dialling functionality).  So I thought I would give it a try this morning while I was dropping the kids off at school and it went something like this:

I say: Call Home

System says: There are multiple Peters – please try again

I say: Call Home

System says: calling Claire x (x denotes a surname)

I say: Call Anthony x (x denotes a surname)

System says: Facetime with Cormac (and calls up facetime on my iPhone)

So I had a really good giggle and laughed that functionality off.

It streams music from my iPhone as well, however no track information is displayed.  I have to plug my iPhone into a cable which connects to the system to see track information displayed (a little clumsy having a cable).  But this works very well.  Kids like to plug their iPhones in and listen to their music most of the time.

The Sat-NAV system is a Garmin so quite happy with that end.

It plays DVD’s – again the system is slow to respond and it does not keep your place when you switch the vehicle off – you have to start the DVD up all over again and go through the notices etc.  Not that this is an issue as I don’t spend enough time in the car to watch a DVD nor will I ever want to watch a DVD whilst driving – so this is an obsolete function.

Have yet to try playing a CD or plug in a USB thumb drive – will try this later.

The Power of One – Toyota

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My husband has been driving a Range Rover Sport for the last 3 years.  The Range Rover itself is a very nice vehicle.  However we have had endless trouble with it, not to mention the attitude and hassles from the service centre as well.  Now I could ramble on about Land Rover itself for hours but this is probably left for another blog down the line.  The only thing I can say is that there are certain companies and products I will NEVER EVER support ever again and Land Rover is one of them. 

Last year I traded in my Chrysler Voyager which was the perfect vehicle to accommodate 4 kids.  Now that I only have 2 kids at home, the Voyager was far too big   So I purchased a Toyota Prado 4.4 VX – top of the line.  It is absolutely brilliant.  The entertainment and navigation system is fantastic and it is a pleasure to drive.  The only down side is that it is a very hungry beast. 

So we were feeling rather guilty that we have 2 vehicles which are both heavy on petrol and we decided to offset some of the carbon footprint by purchasing a Prius.
I tried to purchase a Prius Exclusive from Toyota in March – around the time that Japan had the earthquake, but Toyota have had no stock.  I have been calling Toyota on a regular basis to ask when they will have stock again and of course no one ever got back to me.  I eventually complained to Toyota’s Customer Centre at Head Office.
I have been very impressed by their reaction and have had various calls to assist me.  I finally made a deal agreeing to trade in the Range Rover for a good price  and purchase the Advanced model of the Prius and they would throw in a full DVD, Navigation, Bluetooth, touch screen system with rear cameras and sensors.  This would all integrate with the steering wheel controls as well.

I took ownership yesterday of my new Prius.  It has not got the entertainment system installed as yet as they are still waiting for the faceplate and I should have this installed within the next 2 weeks.  I was quite impressed with the drive home from the dealership – it is extremely silent and will take some time getting used to the silence when driving, especially when stationary as one could easily forget the vehicle is actually on.  It is certainly not underpowered and can stand up to any 1.8 litre engine. 

I am rather disappointed with the current entertainment system – it is equivalent to something one would find in a much cheaper vehicle and certainly does not do the Prius any justice.  Based on this, I would not agree to purchase a vehicle for this sort of price, however this issue will be resolved in 2 weeks when they install the new Entertainment system.   

It does not come close to my Prado, but it certainly makes one feel good to know that you are doing your bit for the environment and I know my petrol bill will be much less each month.