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I have an older car that missed Carplay by one year. I want to replace the rather crappy dashboard screen with poor touch sensitivity with a nice new carPlay d

I have an older car that missed Carplay by one year. I want to replace the rather crappy dashboard screen with poor touch sensitivity with a nice new carPlay dashboard so i can navigate and listen to my podcasts. Last time I asked it was 1500 quid plus install from the dealer. I could probably get under a grand now. If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet in there, with industry standard connectors, everyone would be happy, and if anyone hacked my entertainment system they would not be close to the important stuff Cars should be the mobile equivalent of a dumb TV screen. But no-one wants to make them.

sen 5y ago
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.
- antattack 5y ago
  Would you recommend the unit you have?
  - sen 5y ago
    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.
- rograndom 5y ago
  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.
agent008t 5y ago
Back in the day you had a slot in the car for the stereo, and you could install pretty much any stereo you like.
Bancakes 5y ago
I'm sure you can grab a bluetooth OBDII dongle? Would that do much for you?
arkh 5y ago
> If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet in there, with industry standard connectors, everyone would be happy, and if anyone hacked my entertainment system they would not be close to the important stuff I got my hands on a VW Up! in part because they decided to not bother with an entertainment system: you have a better one with your phone. So you get a USB port, a phone holder and an app if you really want useless crap.
jimktrains2 5y ago
> If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet Please no. I don't want a giant screen or touch screens in any car of mine. I like my knobs and buttons that provide tactile and position feedback.
- meowster 5y ago
  The US has a federal law that all new cars must have backup cameras. So there will be a screen in the car. I too want only knobs and buttons for controls, and I think it can be done well, unfortnately I'm not in that field though. Oh well.
  - jimktrains2 5y ago
    Backup cameras do not require giant screens.
oblio 5y ago
Hey, almost no one really wants smart TVs that phone home every minute, yet nobody makes modern dumb TVs anymore (or at least privacy respecting smart TVs). It's cartel behavior. Producers just silently agree to not do stuff that would disadvantage them on the long term. Everybody keeps going on about "yeah, but someone will undercut them, free market, bla bla", but it never happens in practice.
- curtainsforus 5y ago
  Also, the spyware TV's can be sold at a discount because they make money back off selling the user's data.
- the_only_law 5y ago
  > Everybody keeps going on about "yeah, but someone will undercut them, free market, bla bla", but it never happens in practice. I asked about this a while back on HN. I’ve heard enough people complain about smart TV’s even outside of the sort of tech privacy bubble that I wondered why no one tried to take a dumb-TV angle or how difficult it might be to do so. Was basically told, that consumer hardware is mostly a commodity business and that margins are super thin so it’s not really a profitable idea. So the companies turn to smart TVs where they can make up the cost by things like advertising. FWIW in a later discussion elsewhere, I was pointed to a handful of Dumb-TVs being sold at Walmart, etc. I don’t recall whether you have options for high resolution or large sizes though. Commercial displays also get brought up in this discussion, but if my experience with other commercial hardware is any indication, general consumers may have a hard time getting their hands in those.
  - fridif 5y ago
    Seems like a good opportunity for some enterprising young individuals in China to being producing dumb TVs, or at least dumb TV screens that can take a variety of inputs...
    - oblio 5y ago
      And too few people will buy them because users don't really care and this business will just die off. That's what happen in practice. How many security and privacy focused smartphones, laptops, etc. do you know? All the ones I know are Kickststarter types which generally have been in more or less the same stage for years and years and from the get go their hardware was at least 1 generation (if not more) behind the latest ones.
numpad0 5y ago
That mounting point for that screen is probably a 2DIN slot. You can install random Chinese $60 Android stuff from Amazon there if you so insist.
- Forbo 5y ago
  I thought this was about avoiding cybersecurity risks, not introducing them?
- piyh 5y ago
  The last thing I want is a cheap lithium ion battery sitting in my 150 degree car for months at a time.
Hamuko 5y ago
There are still some cars that have a regular 2 DIN slot. I think at least the Toyota GT86 and Dacia Duster are like that with the latter not even coming equipped with a radio as standard.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet in there, with industry standard connectors, everyone would be happy, and if anyone hacked my entertainment system they would not be close to the important stuff The "extra super base" trim models that they make half a dozen of so they can advertise a low "starting at" MSRP are often devoid of radio/infotainment.
eschneider 5y ago
Yeah, my current car came new from the factory with no radio. Every few years I upgrade the electronics like it was a B-52. It's...nice.
kop316 5y ago
As others have pointed out, you likely can install an after market stereo in there. (Not affiliated, but a happy customer!) For self installs, I purchase everything from https://www.crutchfield.com/ https://www.crutchfield.com/ , as I know if they say it fits in your car, it will fit, and they make sure you have all the instructions you need to install it. I did that to my older car so it could have wireless car play for my spouses phone (but mainly because the native entertainment system was awful).

sen 5y ago

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.

antattack 5y ago
Would you recommend the unit you have?
- sen 5y ago
  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.
rograndom 5y ago
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.

agent008t 5y ago

Back in the day you had a slot in the car for the stereo, and you could install pretty much any stereo you like.

Bancakes 5y ago

I'm sure you can grab a bluetooth OBDII dongle? Would that do much for you?

arkh 5y ago

> If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet in there, with industry standard connectors, everyone would be happy, and if anyone hacked my entertainment system they would not be close to the important stuff I got my hands on a VW Up! in part because they decided to not bother with an entertainment system: you have a better one with your phone. So you get a USB port, a phone holder and an app if you really want useless crap.

jimktrains2 5y ago

> If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet Please no. I don't want a giant screen or touch screens in any car of mine. I like my knobs and buttons that provide tactile and position feedback.

meowster 5y ago
The US has a federal law that all new cars must have backup cameras. So there will be a screen in the car. I too want only knobs and buttons for controls, and I think it can be done well, unfortnately I'm not in that field though. Oh well.
- jimktrains2 5y ago
  Backup cameras do not require giant screens.

oblio 5y ago

Hey, almost no one really wants smart TVs that phone home every minute, yet nobody makes modern dumb TVs anymore (or at least privacy respecting smart TVs). It's cartel behavior. Producers just silently agree to not do stuff that would disadvantage them on the long term. Everybody keeps going on about "yeah, but someone will undercut them, free market, bla bla", but it never happens in practice.

curtainsforus 5y ago
Also, the spyware TV's can be sold at a discount because they make money back off selling the user's data.
the_only_law 5y ago
> Everybody keeps going on about "yeah, but someone will undercut them, free market, bla bla", but it never happens in practice. I asked about this a while back on HN. I’ve heard enough people complain about smart TV’s even outside of the sort of tech privacy bubble that I wondered why no one tried to take a dumb-TV angle or how difficult it might be to do so. Was basically told, that consumer hardware is mostly a commodity business and that margins are super thin so it’s not really a profitable idea. So the companies turn to smart TVs where they can make up the cost by things like advertising. FWIW in a later discussion elsewhere, I was pointed to a handful of Dumb-TVs being sold at Walmart, etc. I don’t recall whether you have options for high resolution or large sizes though. Commercial displays also get brought up in this discussion, but if my experience with other commercial hardware is any indication, general consumers may have a hard time getting their hands in those.
- fridif 5y ago
  Seems like a good opportunity for some enterprising young individuals in China to being producing dumb TVs, or at least dumb TV screens that can take a variety of inputs...
  - oblio 5y ago
    And too few people will buy them because users don't really care and this business will just die off. That's what happen in practice. How many security and privacy focused smartphones, laptops, etc. do you know? All the ones I know are Kickststarter types which generally have been in more or less the same stage for years and years and from the get go their hardware was at least 1 generation (if not more) behind the latest ones.

numpad0 5y ago

That mounting point for that screen is probably a 2DIN slot. You can install random Chinese $60 Android stuff from Amazon there if you so insist.

Forbo 5y ago
I thought this was about avoiding cybersecurity risks, not introducing them?
piyh 5y ago
The last thing I want is a cheap lithium ion battery sitting in my 150 degree car for months at a time.

Hamuko 5y ago

There are still some cars that have a regular 2 DIN slot. I think at least the Toyota GT86 and Dacia Duster are like that with the latter not even coming equipped with a radio as standard.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

>If there existed a car with no entertainment system at all, and I just stuck a specially adjusted tablet in there, with industry standard connectors, everyone would be happy, and if anyone hacked my entertainment system they would not be close to the important stuff The "extra super base" trim models that they make half a dozen of so they can advertise a low "starting at" MSRP are often devoid of radio/infotainment.

eschneider 5y ago

Yeah, my current car came new from the factory with no radio. Every few years I upgrade the electronics like it was a B-52. It's...nice.

kop316 5y ago

As others have pointed out, you likely can install an after market stereo in there. (Not affiliated, but a happy customer!) For self installs, I purchase everything from https://www.crutchfield.com/ https://www.crutchfield.com/ , as I know if they say it fits in your car, it will fit, and they make sure you have all the instructions you need to install it. I did that to my older car so it could have wireless car play for my spouses phone (but mainly because the native entertainment system was awful).