Easy to install carplay radio

I am looking to install a carplay radio. 2001 Tundra. I am looking to for something that fits and works well without breaking the bank. My current stereo does not have the Jbl logo on it. This is my first Tundra. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

My son put this one in on his 2020 1794 Tundra Crewmax with no troubles!

$494 Tesla Style CarPlay Android Auto Navigation Stereo GPS Radio Reverse Camera 12.1" IPS Touchscreen Headunit Tablet Media Player for Toyota Landcruiser Prado 2009-2013, if Applicable Octa Core 6G+128G

https://www.amazon.com/KUNFINE-Navi...cable/dp/B0BS8X49QF?smid=A1L6CR07H8GNC7&gQT=2

 

Read the Audio section of this thread, in the first reply. It’s sectionized: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

After you read that, please tell me if you have door tweeters, if you have the in-dash amp discussed in that thread, if it still has the OEM radio installed, and if you need wireless CarPlay or maybe you’d be OK with wired-only CarPlay.

Once you answer those three things accurately, I can give better advice. You need to know what you have before anyone here can tell you what you need. We can rattle off cheap brands all day long, like Atoto and other similar crap, but it only helps you get the radio, not what you need to install it properly in 20-30 minutes without frying your truck.

 

Neat.

 

Won’t fit a first gen.

 

I see the Tesla style/factory replacement Android no-brand head units pop up on Goodwill’s auction site pretty frequently, looking new, but likely dead, some open box.

That’s usually a pretty good indication of whether something is quality or not. If it’s gotten donated to Goodwill and lands on their auction site, it’s either DOA or so crappy someone would rather donate it than sell it. I’m guessing DOA, I’ve gotten quite a few DOA car audio things off there. There’s a couple on there now, actually, even for Toyotas, like this one for a Camry or Prado.

Will say, that’s a great place to get working OEM radios, people will upgrade, leave their old unit in the garage for a while, then donate it.

I wouldn't buy one of those cheap infotainment Android based unless you like throwing away money. You’re likely going to be replacing it later when it abruptly dies or stop working right, or due to lack of any reasonable QA/QC with mainland China electronics, it’ll inevitably fry something in your vehicle or cause other gremlins. But maybe you’ll get lucky. However, if you don’t get lucky and it does fry something, who you gonna sue? Not to mention that but do you REALLY trust something from China, one of the kings of espionage of its people, to have a hacked together Android unit in your vehicle? Connect your phone, there goes all the data on your phone, wouldn’t doubt if the unit is backdoored also.

Tariffs have already caused a 10%-40% spike in pricing of Chinese goods, so if you are planning to go that route, best do it now ….

Not that I trust ATOTO - I’ve seen my fair share of sob stories with their radios, DOA straight outta the box, front or rear channel fried right out of the box, no audio right out of the box - But at least they have a name, “sort of”, albeit one of the ALL-CAPS scAmazon army of ghost sellers. I guess and if you gave me an option of the no-name versus the sorta-has-a-name brand from scAmazon, for free, and I had no choice to spend 10% more to get a real name brand like JVC/Boss/Dual, I guess I might do ATOTO?

But yeah. It’s a tough sell. When you pay that extra $$ for established name brands, you’re paying for that company’s assurance of quality, quality control efforts, support, warranty, etc. and you can rest assured they’ll still exist in 6-12 months when you start seeing problems, which often isn’t the case with the ghost/flea market brands on scAmazon.