Best Buy radio malibu 2002 installations

Great sound, easy installation, confusing accessory list, August 23, 2010

By 

esanta “esanta” (San Jose, CA USA) – See all my reviews

  

  

I hadn’t installed car electronics in ages, and just decided it was time to replace the factory stereo in my 2002 Toyota Highlander. I was sick and tired of juggling with the lousy sound and wires all over the place, cassette adapter, iPhone charger, Sirius radio… it was time for an upgrade. With Amazon running a sale on Pioneer car audio, it seemed it was time to jump. In the process, I learned a few things that I hope will help you make the right decisions.

TIPS

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1) Pioneer sells a $35 “Double DIN install kit”. I’m sure it’s needed in some cars, but the 3200 was a perfect drop-in in my Highlander, at least as far bolting it to the equipment chassis. The screw holes are exactly in the same place as on the Denso factory double DIN stereo it replaced,.

2) Getting a wire bundle adapter (available from Amazon, cost is under $10) simplifies the installation tremendously and makes it easy to put the original stereo back in. It’s basically a connector that looks like the one on the factory stereo and has a color coded bundle of wires attached. You solder or crimp these wires to the bundle that comes with your new stereo and you’re in business: it’s now a perfect drop in substitute for the factory stereo. The bundle adapter is specific to your car, not the stereo you’re installing.

3) Lock-out of some features (movie playing, phone number pad dialing…) is done by detecting the state of the parking brake. If you don’t connect the parking brake wire, you will not be able to use these features, ever. Of course if you were a bad person you would just attach this wire to the ground somewhere, which would disable the lock-out. I’m just sayin.

4) Why are there so many iPod cables for this family of receivers? It’s infuriating! There’s the CD-IU50, the CD-IU50V, and the CD-IU200V. The IU50 is just a very expensive iPod/iPhone USB cord like the one that came with your iPhone. Despite what its description says on the Amazon page, it will not provide video. The IU50V will play video from the iPod (it has a USB jack and also a minijack for the video, which both plug into the front). The IU200V is similar to the IU50V but is for the 4200DVD only (according to the manual). If you want to play video from your iPhone on the 3200BT or 3200DVD, get the IU50V.

5) There’s a hideous gap of 3/4″ to the left and right of the receiver, and a smaller one at the top and bottom. Once again, Scosche to the rescue; they make an inexpensive kit that fills the gap. It was harder to find than I would have hoped.

Now that this is out of the way, how about performance and ease of use? Well, here goes.

PROS

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- Sounds great, lots of equalization options, easy to configure, lots of power.

- Great user interface, very responsive and easy to use.

- Displays all songs in iPhone (I used with iPhone 4), allows browsing by artist, record, song, even displays the album artwork!

- PACKED with features (supports rear view camera, second zone video, HD radio, Sirius/XM, etc…)

- Customizable theme

- Plays DiVX

- Bluetooth phone feature very easy to setup and works like a charm. Loaded the contact list from my iPhone 4 in seconds, and people I have been talking to can’t believe I’m using a hands free system in a car, it’s just that good.

- Convenient USB and A/V inputs in front.

- Convenient SD memory card reader

- Charges iPod/iPhone during use. You can still use your iPhone while music is playing.

- Available AVIC-U220 navigation option

CONS

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- Screen washes out in sunlight and can get very hard to read

- Must use front connector for iPod/iPhone, so leaving a discrete connector permanently plugged in is not an option with the 3200BT model.

- No stereo bluetooth, if you need that get the AVH-P3200DVD and purchase the pricey CD-BTB200 option

- Remote control is optional

- Options are prohibitively expensive (Navigation,…

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Great system for the money – My experience as a Droid owner, May 28, 2010

By 

Jimmie D. Smith “JimmieD” (Oklahoma City, OK) – See all my reviews

  

I recently had this unit installed and I really love it. With an optional kit I was able to keep my steering wheel controls. I wanted a unit that played well with iPod but that would also work with my Droid for phone functions. This unit is a winner in both respects.

As far as iPod is concerned, the navigation system is flawless. You can basically access everything on the screen just like you would on your iPod. It handles iPod videos well and will even display album art as it’s playing music.

The Droid easily pairs with this unit for phone functions. It will not stream audio, but that’s why I have an iPod. I was troubled at first when I paired this with my Droid and my phonebook didn’t show up on the unit. You need to look for a notification on you Droid after it pairs and approve the sharing of your phonebook with the head unit. BTW…this only has to be done the first time. After that it pairs automatically and you have access to your phonebook.

My major complaint with this unit is the lack of a rear USB port. I had a cable run from the front of the unit back behind and into the glovebox where I store my iPod. Why Pioneer couldn’t put one on the back is beyond me. I would have gladly spent an additional $20 for this and I suspect it would cost them much less to implement. One other annoyance is that when you use a data disk, SD card or USB drive, it shows the folder structure on the disk in random order. Seriously?!?!?! Why is it not alphabetical?

The sound from the unit is awesome and it has a high degree of customization. 3 different levels of loudness are a big plus. Customizable EQ is welcome.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the feature-to-price ratio and would recommend this unit within its limitations.

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Beware of this bluetooth unit, February 23, 2010

Just got this unit after researching online and spent couple hundreds to install it. Somehow, the “Built-in bluetooth” is only working for mobile phone calling. It DOES NOT do Bluetooth audio streaming. I called Pioneer support and they said they were surprised when they got the unit themselves too figured that AVH-P3200BT is not as good as AVH-P3200DVD + Bluetooth Adaptor. Somehow, Bluetooth audio streaming is missing from this “Built-in bluetooth” function. Pioneer support warranty department said to me that it’s not their fault about the unit as it’s not defected. To me, I think it’s their design flaw and their fault to not mention it in their product page. Pioneer, please put something like “Built in bluetooth not having full features as the add on bluetooth adaptor”!

Also, Crutchfield misadvertised this unit to have Bluetooth Audio Streaming(Obviously, they were confused by pioneer too). Crutchfield then fixed the page but I am still able to find it from google cache. I took the screenshot just in case someone want to return their order and no proof on their misadvertise.

Belows is what crutchfield took out from the page.

“The AVH-P3200BT supports audio streaming as well. If your mobile device can store music files or stream on-line music sources, you can listen to them over your car stereo without the need for an inconvenient patch cord.”

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