I have the misfortune of being stuck doing DoorDash. It means I’m constantly plugging in and unplugging my phone from my car, at least once at the beginning and and again at the end of each and every delivery. Even with USB-C (it’s an iPhone 15 Pro Max), that makes me nervous. It’s also inefficient, having to fumble with the cord and the plug and the phone each and every time. And of course it’s a problem when it’s pouring down rain and the USB outlet gets wet.

So I’ve been trying bluetooth adapters for my 2021 Toyota RAV4 XLE Premium Hybrid. I’ve gone through three of them, now. They each worked great for the first day or so, then died. A message appears on the screen that the device could not be started in “advanced mode” and “normal mode” means the device doesn’t work.

The dealer informs me that the head units which support CarPlay over bluetooth are only available in model years 2023 and newer and cannot be retrofitted to a 2021.

I’m not even seeing the problem acknowledge in a web search. But for me, it’s consistent.

Does anyone know a solution?

  • @die444dieEnglish
    1•5 months ago

    EDIT: Wait I’m sorry I see I misunderstood what you are asking about. I assumed you didn’t have a CarPlay screen. Disregard.

    Original post:

    So I haven’t tried these yet, but I’ve been watching a lot of videos about them. I’m not sure this would work for you, but I’m eying one of these for my 82 truck that still has its factory tape deck:

    LAMTTO 9.26" Wireless Car Stereo Apple Carplay with 2.5K Dash Cam, 1080P Backup Camera, Portable Touchscreen GPS Navigation for Car, Car Stereo Receiver with Bluetooth, AirPlay, AUX/FM, Googel, Siri

    To me, for 100 bucks this beats the heck out of replacing an otherwise decent head unit or just using Bluetooth. It can connect to a line in, then your phone connects to the device with wireless CarPlay.

    You may need to confirm that your lighter loses power when the ignition is turned off, otherwise you may have to wire in to keyed power somehow, or remember to unplug it when you exit the car, but that’s really the case with any of these devices I imagine.

    Aside from line out, it has a built in fm transmitter or will connect to a cars built in Bluetooth if you have that.

    Again, I haven’t gotten one of these yet, but based on reviews I’ve seen, this seems to be the best one to get so far.