Hacker News Reader

Almost any car that doesn’t have CarPlay/etc can have the standard entertainment stuff stripped out and a CarPlay head unit put in using a double-din dash conversion. Costs about $4-500 for the head unit and $1-200 for the dash conversion depending on your car.

I’ve done it on both my and my wife’s cars. They now have standalone CarPlay units for music and maps and calls, yet zero integration into the car itself and it’s perfect.

View on HN

Would you recommend the unit you have?

Definitely. I’ve got 2 different Pioneer units (DMH-W4660NEX and another I forget atm) and I’d basically recommend any of theirs. Just get the best one you can afford from their series. Even the cheaper ones are decent but obviously get even better the more you spend.

I wasn’t a fan of the JVC one we had previously though. Not very responsive and the lag made it annoying to use. The Pioneers are fast and pretty much perfect in comparison.

For most common cars you can also use the steering controls adapter kit which lets all your factory steering wheel controls for volume and answering/making calls.

All the cars I've looked at this year that have CarPlay / Android auto only available on the mid/upper trim levels, on the lower trim levels, the entertainment system also contained the climate controls and couldn't be removed.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com