So our beloved 2009 Fit most likely will be totaled in a day or two here. A valet lost control of it and drove it into a wall. Bummer.

Now we're looking to replace it and my two big things that I wanted in any new car included Sirius XM and Android Auto. I'm assuming any product that does Android Auto can do Sirius XM.

The real question that I don't get is that Honda seems to charge $4,000 for any model with Android Auto.

Is that the case with the Honda Fit? We'd want a Sport or up (and not the base level).

 

If you ant Sirius XM you need get EX-L otherwise lower end Sport, EX, or EX-L will have Android Auto on 2018.

 

Both SiriusXM (subscription needed of course) and Android Auto are included in the 2018 EX.

 

Can confirm: have a '18 EX and I've been enjoying the free trial of XM

 

wish my wife's valet guy would do dat for me.. perfect reason to get her the new impreza 5dr with carplay and eye sight immediately.

 

I've ran Android auto on my phone and it works ok. Not sure it's worth the price increase to have it connected to the head unit

 

My 2018 EX definitely has Sirius XM and my trials about to run out. It has android auto too but I've never felt compelled to use it.

 

why not? ive not tried android auto, but carplay is fantastic.

 

I don't know what it does and apparently haven't needed it since I haven't cared to find out. I think Hondalink wants me to plug my phone into the car to get it to work so I haven't bothered.

 

huh.. i dont mind plugging in my phone as i can charge it too while driving. with android auto you'll be able to use nav, internet radio, etc natively off the headunit meaning near full featured. you can only do so much through BT.

just try it. youre missing out on modern infotainment features even though you have a car that can provide it. im an iphone user so only use carplay, but it is a very pleasant experience on my cars.

 

working great for me i love it 👍

 

Interesting so like the GPS in my phone would display on the touchscreen? That's pretty neat.

 

yes, it does. it's quite cool.

 

Why base the car you want on Android Auto? There are some great aftermarket players you can put in any car. The upcoming Sony XAV-AX5000 looks amazing, capacitive touchscreen, and has both Android Auto and Carplay. I'm getting one as soon as they release. The current Sony model is also great but I want a capacitive screen, not resistive.

I think most aftermarket players are better than the ones included with cars. It's also SiriusXM ready but you'd need to buy a tuner. Don't be forced into a higher model just for Android Auto. An aftermarket player, XM tuner, and installation can probably all be had for $600 or less.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/in-...ers/xav-ax5000
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_220SXV...0V1-Tuner.html

 

if you aren't using it on your 2018 ex, want to trade head units with my 2016 ex ?

 

I've been trying to get the most out of carplay but I'm sure I am. Seems fairly limited at this stage. What do you love about it?

 

It has it's limitations but it's better than most systems that come with a car, especially when it comes to controlling music. However, if you listen to mostly the radio I guess it doesn't matter, but I have a ton of music on my phone and controlling through CarPlay is much better than anything else. I just wish CarPlay allowed the use of Google Maps. Apple Maps are getting better but still not near Google Maps.

 

GOOGLE MAPS! Tell me about it. It's a struggle between the convenience of apple play and the shittiness of apple maps

 

Wife's car has car play and mine just connects through blue tooth. The only difference I can tell is the ability to have on screen navigation. Which is awesome, but as others have said, it's too bad it doesn't work with Google Maps. Apple maps is awful.

In some ways, I prefer mine with simple blue tooth connection because the phone isn't constantly trying to take over the screen. With car play, it wants to use the phone as the primary source and is constantly switching from the radio to the phone as the source any time you touch the phone for anything.

Through my blue tooth connection I can still control pandora, amazon audio, podcasts, etc on screen.

Granted, mine is a Ford with the sync system that actually works. Modern Honda systems (outside of the '18 Accord) are downright horrible.

 

You may find this to be crazy, but I bought a Moto E4 Android phone for $39.99 at Target, bought an unlock code on eBay for $3 (this isn't required I just figured I'd do it while I could). I use it as a GPS so I can keep my music on the CarPlay screen.

Google Maps now allows offline maps so I use the Moto E4 basically as a GPS device only. I download all the maps I need for a trip at home via WiFi (they are good for 30 days before they need refreshing), then I mount the phone in the car and use it as a Google Maps stand alone GPS device, and for $40 it's great. Not the largest or most detailed screen, but it's a nice little device. You could technically hotspot your main cell phone in the car to the E4 so you get live traffic data as well, but I don't.

I'm happy with this solution so far, but I may buy a better Android phone in the future if I can get a good deal. The E4 works but a larger/better screen would be nice, and I'd imagine higher end phones probably have more sensitive GPS modules as well.