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this is the one I purchased. My total cost was under $200. It’s installed in my 2016 GSF and the last remaining issue I need to investigate is the steering wheel control not working (ie. next/previous song). I added a front camera in the lower grill so I don’t hit parking stops or speed bumps. The support from this vendor sucks, very delayed and they don’t appear to have someone that can even google translate my questions. I found most of my answers on these forums. One curious fact is that mine reports the hardware as “Lexus2” and I haven’t seen any others like this. Overall the sound quality is great. I can easily switch between stock and CarPlay. My unit is fixed Natalie’s in the passenger footwell behind the carpet and you can notice the small bump. If anyone has insight on why the steering controls don’t work, please share. I do have two extra cables that came with the unit. B/c I have a 2016 with joystick control I know one should definitely not be installed. The other seems the be some type on CAN cable with what’s labeled on the connector as a reset. It didn’t fit so I didn’t force it in the head unit but suspect I need to try again.
There is a setting in carlinkit to flip/change the steering wheel controls. If you do this then the buttons will work.
so in my settings there was a button called “wheel key swap”. Once I changed that setting, my steering wheel buttons worked.
Originally Posted by DavidL
this is the one I purchased. My total cost was under $200. It’s installed in my 2016 GSF and the last remaining issue I need to investigate is the steering wheel control not working (ie. next/previous song). I added a front camera in the lower grill so I don’t hit parking stops or speed bumps. The support from this vendor sucks, very delayed and they don’t appear to have someone that can even google translate my questions. I found most of my answers on these forums. One curious fact is that mine reports the hardware as “Lexus2” and I haven’t seen any others like this. Overall the sound quality is great. I can easily switch between stock and CarPlay. My unit is fixed Natalie’s in the passenger footwell behind the carpet and you can notice the small bump. If anyone has insight on why the steering controls don’t work, please share. I do have two extra cables that came with the unit. B/c I have a 2016 with joystick control I know one should definitely not be installed. The other seems the be some type on CAN cable with what’s labeled on the connector as a reset. It didn’t fit so I didn’t force it in the head unit but suspect I need to try again.
I recently installed this unit in my 2013 GS350 non ML and it seems that the joystick is working for me or at least I think it is. Please confirm and let me know. I will share my install if this is working better than others.
I'm very happy with how it works and have gotten use to the joystick as you have to move side to side vs up and down. My unit came with an additional harness that connects to the joystick which has connections that go to the CAN and OLD Display connectors on the main harness.
@glad76 is your unit Carlink or some other brand. I got mine over the weekend and installed it but my joystick is pretty unusable as it sits today. While chatting with the carlink tech, i realized that i didnt hook up one of the cables which i should have. Is this the extra harness you are also talking about? I plan to take out the trim and the put it in today to see how it goes. If it gets as good as yours i will be a happy camper.
Having said that, it would be amazing if we could get the full screen. @peasodos you were able to source a 2016 head unit....where did you source it and how much did it cost you? I was planning to call couple of auto salvage / wreckers to see one if its available and second how much do they want to charge.
going through the thread, i found that there is another option from lslait...their box is a full blown andriod unit which is different than the carlink/ beat sonic etc...to see if they can get me the full screen....but if its tied to my 2015 head unit then i am in the same boat
@glad76 is your unit Carlink or some other brand. I got mine over the weekend and installed it but my joystick is pretty unusable as it sits today. While chatting with the carlink tech, i realized that i didnt hook up one of the cables which i should have. Is this the extra harness you are also talking about? I plan to take out the trim and the put it in today to see how it goes. If it gets as good as yours i will be a happy camper.
Having said that, it would be amazing if we could get the full screen. @peasodos you were able to source a 2016 head unit....where did you source it and how much did it cost you? I was planning to call couple of auto salvage / wreckers to see one if its available and second how much do they want to charge.
going through the thread, i found that there is another option from lslait...their box is a full blown andriod unit which is different than the carlink/ beat sonic etc...to see if they can get me the full screen....but if its tied to my 2015 head unit then i am in the same boat
You have to install this cable behind the 12.3" display otherwise joystick totally useless. It's been a while but I think I found the parts on car-parts.com. I searched for other things found a car and asked about the radio and display.
going through the thread, i found that there is another option from lslait...their box is a full blown andriod unit which is different than the carlink/ beat sonic etc...to see if they can get me the full screen....but if its tied to my 2015 head unit then i am in the same boat
I have the Lsailt in my 2013. No full screen. It pretty much sandbox the environment. I do have the say, the smaller 1/3 of the screen will be static display.
Thanks @peasodos based on your input i searched up car-parts.com and there are few head units available from 2016 onwards....most of them are in the 1500-2000 range... a bit pricey in my mind. I would think that this is a mere firmware upgrade that Pioneer could potentially provide as they are the manufacturers of these units but the chance of that is next to none.
Thanks @peasodos based on your input i searched up car-parts.com and there are few head units available from 2016 onwards....most of them are in the 1500-2000 range... a bit pricey in my mind. I would think that this is a mere firmware upgrade that Pioneer could potentially provide as they are the manufacturers of these units but the chance of that is next to none.
Yeah that's way too much. I searched for steering wheels or bumpers and when I found a 2016 I asked about the radio and head unit. They don't always list all the parts and if it's still on the car you have a better chance of getting a better price throwing them a low ball offer. These are junkyards, price is negotiable, and they just make it up.
Actually here is one from a 2016 GS LHD car, but it's from Europe, so the maps are going to be wrong. It even has the nanoe generator attached to the bottom of it. This was never offered in the USA. I have the parts to do the retrofit, but haven't gotten around to it yet. https://www.ebay.com/itm/264817066594
"Nanoe technology is designed to be gentler on occupants' skin and hair by adding moisture to ions (microscopic particles) sent into the cabin.
The system works by coating negatively charged microscopic nanoe ions - from the driver's side centre vent - with approximately 1,000 times greater water content than regular air ions via a peltier generator.
The remarkable technology behind Lexus' nanoe air conditioning system can significantly increase occupant comfort, especially for those with sensitive skin,"
Thanks @peasodos . i can always use my sd card for the maps assuming if they are transferable. Looked at the listing, thanks so much for sharing but couldnt find anything that confimred that this is a 2016 or above unless all 450h could do full screens.
I could also use some help with getting the carlink working. I tried pretty much everything so far.
a) i put in the cable that i had missed behind the screen. this was supposed to fix the joystick issue but i didnt see any change
b) tried different dip switch settings that were told to me 123, 23 (this was by the carlink tech on whats app)
it seems that the actual screen behind the screens is 12.3" and is getting truncated by the split screen. When i go into the settings, my screen looks no way close that of @glad76 . His screen looks well laid out within the real estate available + the right split screen. Mine seems to be stretched behind
Yes I had to install that cable to the display and also received a harness that connects to the joystick which has CAN connectors that needed to be connected to the main harness that goes to the back to the radio unit. See picture below.
I believe my DIP switches are 234 but will confirm
Last edited by glad76; 10-20-21 at 11:48 AM.
Reason: Add image
First off I just want to thank @peasodos and the rest of the community for contributing so much. I just got done reading every post on this 50 page thread, and it's all very useful.
I ordered a RoadTop unit off of eBay before I happened to come across this thread. I decided to give it a shot, so here's my experience and I hope some of you 2013 GS peeps might be able to try some things out; I hope it helps. The instructions provided for installation aren't fully detailed as there were a few things that were missing, but mostly the same as what has been posted here for the carlinkit.
My car is a 2013 GS 350 F Sport.
1. After installation and upon initialization, I followed the instructions and used DIP switch settings 2, 3, 5 as instructed. My CarPlay screen was filling the full 12.3" with the right half blocked by the factory Lexus display making the CarPlay unusable, similar to @katariat post. I thought I was sent the wrong cable at first, but I randomly decided to test out DIP switch settings 2, 3, 4, 5, and when I restarted the car, the screen displayed properly on the left side (I don't have full screen capability as I have a 2013 model). Full screen would be cool, but I'm not going as far as sourcing 2016 head units and screens.
2. Audio was not working, but I didn't realize I needed to plug the 3.5 mm jack into the center console to enable AUX (this was not in the installation instructions whatsoever). After I did this and changed audio to AUX, the sound worked, but has a lot of static/buzzing. I will try some of the loop grounding devices and messing with the settings to see if I can help this, but I can always use the Lexus native bluetooth for calls and music just fine.
3. The joystick... it's not perfect by any means, but it works well enough. Sometimes I can move up/down/left/right, and then other times it seems to only go left/right like @peasodos describes for 2013-2015 models. I don't seem to have issues with it controlling the native system in the background. I'm still working with customer support via WhatsApp to figure this out.
4. I changed my wheel control settings, I forget to what, and I think that was able to fix my next track steering wheel buttons. Although volume up changes the CarPlay screen to the recent calls. I will continue to test this to figure out more about the steering controls in various setups/screens.
5. AirPlay mirroring works, tested and it shows your phone screen, photos and videos from the phone library. It does not show Netflix on screen as others have stated due to DCMA rights or Netflix disabling the feature. Haven't tried any other platforms, but I will continue to test this.
6. Phone calls sound fine on my end, but the caller does hear echo. I will need to test this more to see, but I may rely on the native Lexus bluetooth if its too much trouble as it is very easy for the system to use the Lexus bluetooth and then change back to CarPlay audio via AUX after the call has ended.
7. My factory reverse camera works as intended after I changed in the settings to use original. The system changes to the rear view camera when I'm in reverse, then changes back to CarPlay when I change to Park or Drive.
I haven't tested the USB or HDMI options yet, but I intend to see what the basic capabilities are. I do not have an Android phone so I did not test the AndroidAuto features.
Just tonight, I was instructed by support to change my Mic Echo PreConfig to lx570 for the audio testing, and the touch pad setting to Remote Lever to help with the joystick. I will try these in the AM and report back.
Installation was fairly straight forward, but the cable they sent me has additional cables/harnesses etc that I still can't fully figure out; I wonder if it's the joystick cable that is mentioned. This weekend I plan to open it up again to take another look around before sealing it up fully. I'm still trying to figure out the best place to mount/hide this as I don't know if I see the space to put it behind the glovebox like in the beatsonic installation video.
Overall, I am satisfied with the RoadTop CarPlay kit and plan to keep and use it. Wirelessly it connects right away when the car turns on and now that the screen issue has been resolved with my guess to use 2,3,4,5 for the DIP toggle switches for my 2013 GS, I can live with this. The audio I don't care as much about as I don't mind using the native bluetooth for calls and music if I have to, but I'll try to troubleshoot it for a little while to see if I can get it to work. This is an easy install, you can do yourself, but the troubleshooting and configuration takes patience for sure. Thanks again for this community!
09-23-21, 07:57 AM
