New here, looking for help/info on available mods to the stock audio/tochscreen...
 

Hey Everyone,

Was sent to this site via a close friend of mine.

My name is Mike. I lost my 2006 Toyota Camry in the Washington, IL. tornado that occurred on Nov 17 2013. I have since purchased a new 2014 Toyota Camry SE.

Now, when I was shopping, the next model up Camry was almost $7K more and had the voice control via bluetooth, GPS navigation, Pandora, etc. I thought to myself that I would save money since I can get all of that on my Nexus 5 cellphone.

I am trying to find out if there are any kind of hacks/mods/etc that I could do to somehow mirror my phone GPS on the touch screen? Is there a way to install a rear cam and have it stream to my cell phone? Is there something aftermarket I can attach to enable bluetooth voice commands? Are there any mods I can do? My local car shop wants to charge about $800 to install a rear car cam and make the screen for it installed into the rear view mirror.

Basically, I am trying to see if there are any sort of "options" I can tinker or toy with to feed my nerdy geeky side. I am not the best at car stuff, more into electronics and what not. I want to try and leave the stock deck well basically stock instead of buying aftermarket decks like Pioneer or Sony or Alpine, etc.

I work at a hospital doing medical Ultrasounds. I have been on FMLA since the tornado since I survived the tornado literally going through me as I held on for dear life and saw and came to terms with preparing to die in the whole situation.

So I come here to look for help/guidance/advice on things I can do to alter or modify the stock radio/usb/ etc.

Wow, quite the adventure you have been through my friend. I'm glad that you are still with us and I cannot imagine what you went through and are still going through. I lived in Ohio for a couple of years and I saw a couple of twisters but nothing major or close. That said, it was still scary as Hell to see those funnels. I hope that you are okay and/or on the mend. FMLA can be quite the ordeal depending on how good your employer is.
Anyway, I don't know too much about the latest cell phone links to head units. I think your best bet is to go back to the dealer and get a price on doing the stereo upgrade to support blue tooth. If your head unit is not set up or capable of blue tooth, then it never will be. It either has it or not. The other option is to get an aftermarket head unit but then you run into it not looking anything like stock or working with your steering wheel controls. A back up camera can be added if you have the proper head unit but why do you want to see it on your phone?
Again, I think the simplest and most user friendly option would come from the dealer. The options that you want are pretty extensive and involved and I think that getting an aftermarket unit would be a huge head ache that would be very problematic and it would end up being Frankenstein's monster.
Welcome to the forum as well. Keep us posted about your decisions with your Camry and if you find a better alternative as well. We are all looking to gain knowledge here.

Hey Patonium,

Thanks for the reply and the information.

I have bluetooth that I sync up to my phone and stream music that way as well as make/receive phone calls. Just no voice commands.

You may be right in just talking to them and seeing how much I suppose.

I ask about seeing the camera on my phone because I have a infinity car mount for my phone. So the screen is right there over the touch screen a bit and I have my screen on all the time running the Waze GPS app.

And the company I work for has been very cooperative and supportive and understanding in the tornado situation. It's not everyday a town looses 1000+ homes to a tornado and one of it's very own has a tornado literally go through him and survive :)

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it,
Whiteice

You are very welcome. Keep us posted on what you do with your car and I'm glad your employer is treating you right.
Again, welcome to the forum.

You want Blu Logic Part number PT923-00111 it's an add on OEM Toyota part. It will add Blue tooth connectivity to your factory radio. Now the part number is for the 2007 to 2011 Camry. You may need another part number. It is easily found on EBAY for a LOT less than what most dealers want! There are also several factory looking aftermarket radios available with Blutooth and a camera capability. They look alost like the factory radios. BUt for a 2014 Camry they can be in the $400 and up range. There are dash kits available for non stock units. Again Ebay is a good place to start looking or Google 2014 Toyota Camry radio upgrades...

I put small strip of velcro over the top of radio and to the back of my phone. It works amazingly well. I just ordered a $5 Generic USB Bluetooth Music Audio Stereo Receiver. I'm hoping my phone is smart enough to use my phone's microphone. Holding down the search key will allow me to make voice commands. "OK Google".
Interesting. I've never researched rear view cameras before. You would think there was a system that used BlueTooth to phone but I don't see one. YouTube Search 'Rearview Camera' might help.