Does anybody know anything about aftermarket audio Options like GROM or anything like that I have a 2002 LS430 UL and would like the option to use spotify without one of those FM/AM Transmitters like I currently have

I currently have this and it works well but would def like to be able to use my nav screen and actually have functioning maps not 20+ year old maps with wrong streets.

 

I use a GROM BT3 adapter and I think it works really well. It's a bluetooth adapter only, so you'd still need something else for navigation. Personally, I just use my phone with a cigarette lighter mount for maps. My phone connects automatically when I turn on the car, it's playing music by the time my phone is out of my pocket. Steering wheel controls still work for forward/backward skips. Audio quality is good, much better than one of those AM transmitters or a casette adapter. You do need to remove the radio to install it, but it's honestly really easy and the whole installation takes maybe 30-60 minutes. I only have experience with the BT3, but there's an option from sc430mods that should work for our car. There's another thread about that adapter where the OP installed it on their 02 LS430. The BT3 was installed in my car when I bought it, but if I were to do it again, I'd probably just go with the sc430mods option. I don't see how it would perform any differently, and it's less than half the price.

You could also go with one of the 10" android tablets from AliExpress, which replaces the entire nav screen with an android tablet. Just google "2002 LS430 10" android tablet" and you'll find a few different options. Since they run android, you can download apps directly onto the tablet without having it sync with your phone. But as far as I know, the tablet doesn't have data capabilities, so you'd have to either buy a hotspot from your phone service provider or use your phone as a hotspot if you wanted to run the apps directly off of the tablet. I think you can also get them with carplay/android auto, which wouldn't require a hotspot since it syncs with your phone. I was hesitant to buy one of these since I was concerned about keeping the factory backup camera. There's a long thread dedicated to these tablets, but from my understanding, I think you have to splice a wire on the factory wire harness to get the backup camera to work, and I wasn't willing to do anything that I couldn't return to 100% stock.

GROM also makes a carplay/andoid auto adapter called the VLine or VLite, which utilizes the factory display. The VLine is essentially a standalone android device that uses the nav system as a display, while the VLite does the same thing, but it requires a phone to be connected for it to work. I bought the VLite but I ended up returning it. The VLite had much worse audio quality, intermittent connection issues, and was generally just slower to use than the BT3. It would take at least 20-30 seconds for my music to start playing after starting the car, compared to the BT3 starting my music before the Lexus logo even disappears from the screen. I also had to take apart the VLite and tighten it's antenna jack from the inside, since at least part of the connection issue was due to the antenna jack being loose. After about a week of troubleshooting with GROM support, they said there must be something else wrong with my car, so I just got a refund. The car's audio quality sounds great through the BT3 or the CD player, so I doubt that. I really really wanted to like the VLite, but after paying nearly $500 for it, I expected it to work a lot better than it did. And I almost forgot to mention that there's no good place to mount it. The VLite just barely fits in the space behind the stereo, and the VLine won't fit at all. GROM recommends mounting it somewhere with good airflow, since it gets hot to the touch. The glove box seems to be the most common place to mount it, but you have to drill a hole in the glove box for the wire harness to reach it.

Sorry to go on a rant about GROM, but you mentioned them by name so I figured I would at least warn you based on my experience with them. If my car didn't already have the BT3 installed when I bought it, I would've just gone with the adapter from sc430mods.com. And if you bought the car recently, it wouldn't hurt to remove the trim below the stereo to see if the previous owner had installed a bluetooth adapter already. I was using a casette adapter in my car for about a month, until I bought the VLite and found the BT3 was already installed.

 

The care care nut just did a you tube video on installing a Vline Grom unit in his 2001 LS which looked pretty decent. Check it out!

 

I have a GROM TOYLU3 in my 2002, which I only use for an iPod, since I am old school.

It initially had a Bluetooth dongle on it as well, which allowed for BT streaming and also hands free calls, but the Bluetooth portion of it would work fine if you turned the key to the on position, but then starting the engine would interrupt the power supply to the radio and then it would no longer work. After talking to GROM tech support over a few emails and making no progress on it, I finally just disconnected the Bluetooth adapter and just solely run the iPod module.

Just my experience with their stuff.

 

How does the BT3 work, do you need to use the FM radio, tape, or cd?

 

The CD changer has 2 modes, CD1 and CD2. You just press the CD button to toggle between them. The stock 6-disc CD changer uses CD1, and the BT3 uses CD2. I think it's just an additional output so you could install an aftermarket CD changer as well.