Android Auto is a major improvement over anything ANY of the car manufacturers have ever offered their customers in the way of infotainment systems. For this reason, and the fact that nearly every Australian adult owns a smartphone it boggles the mind that not all Australian car manufacturers include the Android Auto / Apple CarPlay option in their cars.
One hold out Toyota, has finally given in to the weight of numbers and has announced that they will finally be bringing Android Auto (and Apple’s version) to their Australian cars — albeit only three models at this stage.
Beginning in Q4 of this year Android Auto will be fitted as a standard feature on some new models and offered as a retrofit add-on in some older models. The first car to receive it will be the Rav4 which is set to launch next week but customers who purchase it before Q4 will have to return their car to Toyota to have them install it later in the year — this will be a free upgrade for them.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be rolled out progressively as a standard feature across select Toyota models from the fourth quarter of 2019 onwardsToyota spokesperson
Not all older-model Toyotas will be able to be retrofitted with Android Auto but the latest Camry and Corollas will be eligible. It is unclear at this stage how much the retrofit will cost users but as a long-term Android Auto user it is definitely worth the upgrade, no matter the cost — for reference, Mazda charged $495 for their retrofit last year.
It is great to see Toyota join the 95% of car manufacturers in the world now using Android Auto. If you have an eligible Toyota model when Q4 arrives, run — don’t walk — into your local Toyota dealer for your upgrade.
My 2016 Aurion probably won’t be eligible. It could probably run it but they wouldn’t bother with a 3 year old car.