Tacoma needs new tunes…and a gps. (Gimme suggestions)

[GrindIntoSecond]

My 2011 taco currently has a radio. It plays a CD. It does not have blue tooth. I’m not safe when navigating with my phone and without a headphone jack, well…

I’ve resigned myself to living with the Tacoma for a few more years since it’s just broken in and is paid-off and will live another few hundred-thousand miles. (Although the paint in some places around windows is starting to flake and show the primer underneath…) I have considered a new Ridgeline, but that is still a payment on a $28k note even after I sell the taco….that is a big note. So I figure I could just invest in the taco to give it what it is missing:
-(christmas) a Bluetooth smartphone compatible radio+decent speakers
-(spring) BilStein 5150 suspension upgrade (for the smooth ride vs. old stock)
-(sometime in there) decent seat covers (because they actually make some that properly fit tacos.)

Step one is the radio. So I’m looking and I’m torn between gps and non-gps examples. I live in the mountains, and phone reception is alright, but there are areas where I lose bars, and using my phone for nav isnt exactly quick or reliable. Especially if I go out east with receptions problems, the phone based nav is an issue.
But…
I’m not in that region too often, and do I really need that GPS? I’m not really traveling extensively where I’m out of reception. Besides, sometimes a good map is hard to beat.

So is ponying up for GPS in the radio worth it?
The prices are decent for junk brands, but anything of decent quality is immediately $800-$1,800….

If I don’t go that route, then the device must be able to replicate the Waze app on the screen, and not just give me limited options of drivetainment.

Who here has made such a purchase and why did you buy what you did? Have any recommendations? My interests are being 48 and wanting what I put in to work as intended and not hate what I just did. (Something something curmudgeon something)

[MUSASHI66]

@grindintosecond I got a cheap Alpine with a backup camera for $300 or $400 for the Tundra. I do CarPlay - you can do offline maps if you’re going places with bad signal.

[frinesi2]

@grindintosecond I have an Alpine iLX-W650 in the Land Cruiser. It doesn't have a volume knob which is annoying, but you can swipe the screen with one finger to skip tracks, swipe with two to change the volume, and tap with three to mute/pause music (although those features don't work when you're using Car Play/Android Auto ...). It also has CarPlay/Android Auto (through USB only - so I installed a dedicated connector ... also you can't extend the USB too long so if you go with this option you can use this which works if you don't add any extra extensions) which was pretty great for our recent road trip.

I bypassed the factory amp because it has a reference ground that causes horrible noise when you put in an aftermarket head unit so I also lost the rear subwoofers but the sound quality with the head unit driving the door speakers directly is still a major improvement.

I also installed a parking brake bypass because it has some STUPID interlocks that make it almost useless otherwise. Most modern head units require something like this these days.

It has connections for front and rear cameras which I haven't implemented yet.

I also agree with downloading maps for spotty areas.

[MUSASHI66]

@frinesi2 I second everything you said. I have the same model, but I did install the camera.

[GrindIntoSecond]

@frinesi2 @MUSASHI66
I have not a full data steering wheel, just volume and tune preset buttons. Do you guys have that and did you have to get anything else to make this work with it or did it plug and play?

[frinesi2]

@grindintosecond I have no steering wheel controls (as in - there were none on there originally).

[MUSASHI66]

@grindintosecond I have no steering wheel controls, so that was easy for me. I think they might have adapters for steering wheel controls, but I didn’t research them at all.