Anybody do a HU install on a late model Toyota Avalon?

[Rochambeau 10+ year member]

My wife is starting to drool at the idea of getting an Avalon. However, being married to me, she has developed an appreciation for good sound and the superiority of after-market electronics as opposed to the caca that is stock electronics. So I swung by a Toyota dealer today and checked them out and was disturbed by what I saw... A display that incorporates the radio, navigation and (ugh) climate controls.

Has anybody swapped out a head unit on these so they can tell me if we are gonna have problems caused by the integration of all these systems?

The salesman was SO quick to say that there would be no problem whatsoever that I suspect he didn't know what he was talking about.

Ultimately, it looks like we would have to go with a flip out DVD/Nav which sadly enough would probably look very out of place in an Avalon. We may just be better off using a factory-integration solution (ie: Rockford 3Sixty2 or something similar). Ugh, I would hate to have to give in to the factory system.

Come to think of it, is replacing the factory display possible and incorporating the climate controls with the after-market display?

Click to read more...

 

[Rochambeau 10+ year member]

Awwww.. C'mon, with all the installers on this forum, noone has had a customer bring in an Avalon?

Pretty please?

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

iirc, youll need some custom work done

id trust http://www.aifresno.com //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

dont drool http://www.aifresno.com/img/gallery/index.html

 

[gl0ck 10+ year member]

what year?

 

[Rochambeau 10+ year member]

2007

Well, this is for the benefit of anyone who researches this subject and comes across this post.

Yes, you CAN put an aftermarket stereo in a 2005-2007 Avalon IF you don't have one of the two JBL systems in it. This from the people at Crutchfield.com who say that because the climate controls go through the stereo, you need to get a special harness so you can RELOCATE the factory head unit (to the trunk or wherever). Then feel free to put in an aftermarket head unit, etc.. They say if you have the JBL system (with or without Nav system) then you are out of luck, no aftermarket soup for you!

 

[Rochambeau 10+ year member]

Further update in case anyone goes a'searchin for Avalon. We got one WITH the JBL system and SpeakerWorks was able to do it no problem. They relocated the factory head unit to the trunk with a custom harness and did a custom trim piece for the HU. I only recommend doing this with the very best of shops. It is not a job for a run of the mill shop.

Picture of the HU installed:

It was tougher than it looks because the radio mount is tilted towards the driver ever so slightly so the two sides had to be very carefully sanded just so to get the piece to look as symetrical as possible. Kudos to the guys at SpeakerWorks.