Pioneer Avic-U310BT


This is my first Navigation head unit and I love it! It is easy to use the Navigation. The touch screen rocks. I love the built in Bluetooth. That is a must nowadays with so many states making it illegal to be on your cell phone while driving. Plus I don't like little bluetooth headsets the always fall out of my ear or hurt it from use. I can hear the other person clear as day and them me as well. I just drove over 1000miles from Key West, FL to Holly Springs, NC and then to Yorktown, VA. The Navigation was dead on and you can set options such as main highways, fastest route, or shortest route. You can also set such things as no tolls. It tells you how many miles you have traveled as well as destination time. I also like how it sets up several waypoints throughout the journey to ensure your still on track. I used the bluetooth several times to keep the wife updated on the journey so she doesn't get upset and all worried. It was so nice to not have to try and shift gears while holding the cell phone with my shoulder and not worry about mis-shifting or dropping the phone or accidentally hanging up which i used to do all the time.

Ok here are the features. You have navigation, CD/Mp3, radio tuner AM/FM, Aux, and Satellite radio and HD radio. The Satellite Radio and HD radio you need the extra devices sold separately but the unit is ready for them. I can only review the Satellite radio as i bought the extra equipment to do so. I love being able to run my Sirius stations through the head unit and not have to use another device to select songs or stations. It displays the station, channel, band, song title, and genre.

The unit has a detachable navigation unit (the stereo faceplate) which has its own battery that charges while hooked up in the car and if you use the included cable to hook up to your computer. I think that is a great feature so you can set up all your routes the night or morning before and then choose them in the car. Plus you can't punch in addresses while driving so you just go choose locations you have already entered which you can do while driving and boom there you go.

The lighting on the headunit is very good and the controls scroll through several different colors. The navigation screen goes to a black background when your lights are on instead of the usual white for night driving. A good feature in my book. But the screen is still very visible.

There is an abundance of audio functions on this unit. I don't even know how to use some of them. I personally like the customizable sound settings such as super bass, powerful, and then there are like 5 more I can't remember. There is subwoofer normal, reverse, off. There is HPF settings. There are several Hz settings. You can totally customize the listening experience to your choosing for any type of music.

Ok now I am still learning how to use this headunit. The instruction manual is on a disk that comes with the unit so I would suggest printing it out which I need to do since it is hard to figure out several things. Now to my Cons and then we will go into my Pros more.


Cons:

How to set the time? I have no clue. I cant figure it out at this moment. I have tried so many different things but no luck. I usually like just playing around with the head unit and finding out things but I can't do that on this unit. You will need the instruction manual. You can figure some things out on your own but not everything like other units I have used. But remember this is my first Navigation unit.

Light settings? I like that there are so many colors to the headunit controls. Its cool how they scroll through the color scheme but where on earth do you set one color? Who know if you even can.

Can it play DVD's? Nope! Why i don't know. I wish it did so the wife could watch a movie on a long drive and not bug me cause she is bored.

Limited POI on the Navigation. You have to purchase them separately or buy the next step up Navigation unit. I think its like 40,000 or maybe 400,000. The other units have over 2 million I believe.

Only 4 preouts in the back. You can use a 4 channel amp for front and rear speakers, or a Two channel amp for each. Or no amp for rear speakers and an amp for a sub. So you have to have your rear speakers run of the headunit. Honestly I don't mind this but it could be a con for others so I listed it as a con.

Well Honestly I think thats all I have to say on Cons.

Ok here are the Pros:

Ease of use overall for basic functions and out of the box is great.
Navigation is spot on and has options on choosing your route.
Built in Bluetooth!!! It rocks. Oh and you can upload your contact list to the headunit via the bluetooth connection as well. Also you can control the ringing volume of calls and the volume of the person you are talking too.
Several Display options to choose from on CD's and Satellite radio such as Artist, song length, song title, genre and more.
Detachable Navigation for walking around town, or biking in the mountains use! First i have ever seen of that. That's just awesome!!
Tons of audio tuning functions.
Unit comes with a USB cord, and cord to hook Navigation up to your computer.
Very easy to install. I just took the wiring harness for the car and the new deck and made the connections the night before inside my house so all i had to do was run the microphone, satellite antenna, mount the Sirius satellite radio equipment (not included) and hook up the RCA's plug it all in and then the harness mount the unit and boom that simple.
Navigation voice is clear and easily understood. I even have my music blasting and I can hear mumbling coming through the music so i can turn it down and switch to the Navigation screen in case you lose track of time or distance.
Very easy to see the screen, and a lot of available colors on the unit controls.

I love this unit! Thats all I can think of right now. But the unit is awesome looking. I just need to get a dash kit and I am set. But any questions feel free to ask. We can figure things out together as well since I am still learning on this head unit.

Final Note:

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. It clearly lists what it is capable of and is ready to go out of the box. I also think its a decent price point. But it could use a slight bit of better ease of use and more POI in my book!

Pics_











Ok those are the pre-install pics and of everything you get and what all everything looks like.

Oh Also I am in no way shape or form responsible for your mistakes in install, you hurting yourself/ killing yourself, or blowing anything up in this install. This is a review and a semi DYI to help my fellow SLers.

Tools:

Phillips head
10mm deep socket
wire strippers
crimpers
kneedle nose pliers
electrical tape
dikes/diagonal cutters
zip ties
wire loom
solder gun and station

This is what I used. I am an electrician so I have all these tools readily available and I like to use them for a nice clean and safe job. Its all up to you on the rest and if you want to use all these tools.

Ok to make things easier on myself i took out my old headunit the night before with the schoshe harness you need to hook up aftermarket decks. I then went ahead and hooked up the pioneer harness to the schoshe harness so all i had to do was plug in the two ends to the car and the pioneer end to the deck.

Connections soldered and then taped over for safety!

Here is the hvac apart and waiting for install.


Ok first off i ran the navigation antenna behind the glove box and up through the a-pillar.
Here is behind the glove box. you cant really see the wire but its there. i have many other wires for subs and LED's. Speaker wire works great for LED's just make sure to label it! I had over 100ft of it so i figure why not.
You can also see my power wire for my amps which runs to a distribution block then to my 2 channel amp for my Alpine type-r components and then to my mono amp which powers 2 JL audio 8" subs.

Here is the antenna mounted on the dash. It comes with a magnetic square that has a sticky side for you to mount it. You have to put the antenna on this. Unless you run the antenna outside the car.

here is the other end of the cable that plugs into the headunit.


next was the microphone.


As you can see i ran it up under the gauge bezel and the lil Double stick tape didnt work so well even though i cleaned off the surface. I went and bought some 3M velcro and it worked great.


Here are the antenna and microphone wires ran though some wire loom to keep things more nice and tidy.

here is the wire loom with the USB cable ran through it as well.


here is where i mounted the other end of the USB cable for use with of course and mp3 player or to play music with a thumb drive.

I had a hole there previously for a switch just like the blue one but didnt need it anymore. So out came the switch and in went the USB cable with a lil help of superglue to hold it in place it looks and works great!

Next i clamped on the grounding wire for the e-brake.

I routed it and held it snugly out of the way of the shifter and everythign with some handy dandy zip-ties!

Now obviously it was time to plug the schoshe harness to the car harness and then mount the deck and reach back and plug in the pioneer plug to the headunit. I went back and ran power and and antenna for my sirius satellite radio later. I have the modules that are sold separately to play sirius directly to your headunit instead of having another control device taking up space. I dont have pics of that but i mounted the SC-C1 module behind the headunit and then the other model dont know the number (all from sirius and sold seperately) i mounted in the glove box since i wanted room for are to circulate around the headunit. I dont want to much heat down there cause i already live in Key West.

Ok on with the pics.







The user agreement you have to agree to when you turn it on!


Here are pics of the color changing buttons.




and more of the headunit.




There you have it!

 

Bump!

 

Nice review of the deck itself, now get a kit to fill those gaps!

 

Im having the same problem with the gaps, and there is no local audio store within 120 miles. Any place online I can get one?

 

Great write up!!!! I'm going to get this soon and this will definitely be a huge help for me!

 

Quick question, are you not using the audio system cover? It looks like you completely removed it? Will it not function properly with the new HU in there?

Do you have gaps around the perimeter of your unit? I noticed in some other installs that there were gaps around the unit. Wondering if you could take some pictures maybe with the flash to show the gaps better. Someone said there was a kit that you could buy to fix that gap but I couldn't find it anywhere. If the gap is really small, then I won't mind it enough to try to fix it.

 

hey mr.hat search for the scoshe double-din scion tc dash kit. I believe i have seen it from 20-40 dollars on different sites.

chekmi- Glad you liked the review. Yea i need to get a dash kit. I took the door out a long time ago cause of the squeaking noises it made. I really wish i didnt though. i lost some pieces and cant get it back together. but I have a spare interior i am gonna throw in with a door soon. But there is a little gap on the sides but you have a hidious one up top. the door will eliminate that or get the double din dask kit from scoshe but it eliminates the door! If you search for pics of the newer tC's with navigation they have a similiar dash kit which you can actually buy but its more expensive.

 

good review and diy bro!

my 2 pennies - the deck itself isnt very attractive, the huge button and gap between the removable screen and the rest of it is rough.

like i said good thread though!

 

ill check out that kit, im trying to hide the gaps. you said the kit eliminates the radio door which is good because I dont have mine anymore.

is your the tc with some jdm decals on it?

 

hey man i was actually looking into getting this head unit, actually made a post and then i saw this hahaha

 

Did you use the Metra 95-8202 Toyota 00-04 Double DIN Install Kit when doing the install for this?

Did you do the PAC SWI-PS install with this as well?

I'm coming close to buying it buying my parts little by little to prep. I got the wiring harness from Crutchfield.

 

sorry this isnt emailing me when i get responses. I need to check back more.

About the gaps i need a dashkit for that. I will be getting one once i swap out my interior to stock so i can get my radio door back cause as u can see i dotn have mine.

Chekmi21 I dont know anything about that metra toyota00-04 kit. I usually always go to best buy for the schoshe dash kit. But i dont think the have the doubledin one. They usually carry the one if your gonna use a single din deck. I would search online for the scion tc schoshe double din dash kit. I will search later as well and see if i can get you some links!

I have no clue what that what the Pac-swi-ps thing is? help me out a lil on that. PM me if you want as well cause i dont ever forget to check those!

Mr.Hat- I dont have any JDM decals cause the tC isnt JDM. Im the one with the Azure Pearl (baby blue color) tC. Im in C-school in yorktown right now though. I do have scionlife decals on my lil rear windows. ima get the new ones soon though and change them out. I have a band-aid vinyl on both bumpers to help cover up a dent and scratch from 2 hit and runs in parking lots when i was stationd in seattle. I plan to fix the bumpers soon hopefully. i got a new front bumper sitting at home as well but it is RS4 white and i need to paint it. Unless i can get a good deal on someone wanting it then i will just get a primered one. But i do have a I heart tC decal on my windshield as well as a Bond of Bellevue decal as i do love my tC and the Bond of Bellevue was a car show from seattle that friends of mine help put on every year. I also have a CF hood and hatch garnish. But i think i will be selling the CF stuff and removing the 2 windsheild decals cause i wanna attract less attention when i get my turbo kit finished and installed!

 

let me get some dibs on the cf stuff?

I didn't know which tc was yours. the tc im talking about i call the JDM tc...and its ugly.

 

What color is this JDM tc?

Well if you want the CF hood let me know! the hatch garnish i might have some one interested cause he has an extra Azure pearl garnish and i need that since i sold mine awhile back. But he hasnt gotten back to me yet. But let me know. I need a hatch garnish and would prefer AP so i might have to see what they are from the dealer.

 

Not bad when i did mine i left the flip down part on and it acted as a sun block during the day so that you could still see the screen with no glare. I also didnt use the factory brackets i took a aftermarket dash kit and custom designed the plastic arms and used a dremel tool to make things fit the way it needed to be. wish i had picks

 

yea my radio door hasnt been on in over 2 yrs. I took it off when i had my original deck. I plan on getting a dash kit soon. But with that deck i prefer the stock metal brackets cause the plastic ones shook with my single din alpine deck.

 

Ok dash kit has arrived. i also replaced my interior with stock pieces. I was planning on getting these painted professionally a baby blue but i think ima get the gauge piece painted silver and the waterfall redone since it came with a few scratches. I have a radio door now and it looks 20 times better. Now when i install the metra dash kit i wont have the side gaps. I will take pics after install.

 

Just ordered mine! Brand new on eBay for $299.99 shipped! Not refurbed. There are some great deals on this unit right now.

I hope I can follow these directions and do the install. I got the mounting kit and wiring harness from Crutchfield.

Thanks for the awesome write up...looks simple enough to do.

 

Sweet dude! You will love it. The manual is on disk which kinda stinks so you have to lug your computer out to the car. But i contacted Pioneer and they sent me a paper copy which i like better for such a long manual.

 

Highvoltage, any pics yet with the door? I'm going to try the install this weekend. I need to still get the brackets but you mentioned something about using the stock metal brackets instead of the plastic ones?

I have the wiring harness already. I'm not doing any bypassing, any USB, IPOD, or SAT Radio so should be straight forward right?

I'm kind of nervous about doing this myself but BestBuy just said $200 to do the install for this so...I guess Its on me to do it!