I know I don't ever want an ugly aftermarket head unit in my car, I don't even like new corollas with their aftermarket looking factory head unit.

My MML should arrive today.
I prefer to buy from an American company for price of mind.

My decision is different to others because of the factors at play, an MML is only about $100 (US) more than the Yatour once installed.

 

Some of the stereos are nice, I agree they're not "period correct", so they do stand out. But they are do much nicer than the stock Nav system! Lol

 

The VAIS is certainly made from parts manufactured in China and might be partially assembled in the U.S. There may be some value in dealing with an American company if you have warranty concerns, but that is it. However, when dealing with solid-state electronics that have no moving parts, warranty isn't as much of a concern. If it works when it is turned on for the first time, it will continue to work since there are no wear items, nor deteriorating materials (such as rubber). The most technologically advanced items I own are my Phone (Samsung - Korea), my TV (LG - Korea) and my laptop (Toshiba - China). Why anyone would expect their car's media converter to be any different doesn't make sense to me. My phone, laptop and TV were much larger purchases than my $72 Yatour, yet I never questioned where they were made. Also, since I bought the Yatour from Amazon, it comes with the full backing of an American company and I would much rather seek a refund from Amazon than some small-time shop I've never heard of.

And the Lexus . . .

 

Because my LS is made in Japan (where the best cars in the world are made) and I've seen soldering on some Chinese made electronics that don't like to last very long, which is cool, but getting warranty repairs or returns from them is another thing altogether.
I should have it installed tomorrow and will definitely report back after a few weeks of use.

Not happy with the pricing in Australia, $400 + post for the unit, then installation.
I really want to go through the local distributor but I'm paying a huge premium to do so.

 

Tom, I think I'm going to purchase a MML. I also have the factory xm radio. Thanks for your post and support.

 

You can have both, if you go single din you can easily fit the functionality inside of the folding cd cover! check out the vid for an example. (skip to 2:45)
2003 Lexus LS430 - YouTube



I have a question for Yatour/GROM/MML users, how does the usb connection work exactly? Will I have to compile a list of songs in a certain folder beforehand? Or could my wife say: just hit play from her amazon music account and go?


Thanks,

 

With the Yatour, it is either. You can save up to (approx.) 600 songs on a usb stick and insert that into the Yatour and play off of that, or you can plug in your phone and play off of your Amazon account, Pandora, etc.

 

Install was today.



We decided not to wait 2 weeks for the professional installers and did it ourselves, it took 15 minutes to install (into the LS430) and check to see if it worked, followed by another 45 minutes re-routing cables and tidying up the install. I ended up putting the unit in the glove box which I'm not happy about as it wasn't going to fit under the CD stacker. I really needed the space in the glove compartment

I've just come home from work and I've experienced many minor issues already. My trip home is long and boring, so I have plenty of time to fiddle with the new toy.
For one, the volume **** has been intermittently lazy, I'd turn the volume up and it would take a while to respond and then it was way too high and just frustrating, it did it three times and hasn't since.

The I agree button (which I haven't bypassed yet) takes quite a few seconds (about 10) to disappear when selected as evidenced by the button here in green:




This happened immediately after clicking I agree:




For some reason I can't get Artist information to display all the time:



YouTube videos either show YouTube as the artist name and song which is okay, but a couple of times it's chosen the name of a random song:





This time the artist name is working:




The rear screen and buttons seem to work well:




I'm happy with the product and the way it works, I understand it may have glitches every now and then, but these images were captured in quick succession, about 10 minutes from start to end, so I have many, albeit very minor, issues which are occurring often.
Had I opted for the cheapest alternative I would be a little miffed, but I purchased the best (two of them) from the correct distribution channels, new, so I expected more reliability and am quite dissatisfied as a result.

That's my opinion, I hope it helps with anyone else's decision to purchase, I haven't used any of the other alternatives, so cannot comment on them.

 

One thing I did have to do is upload new firmware and reboot the VaisTech, when I originally received it. Contact Eugene and ask if firmware could be emailed to you so you may try the same. If this does not work, please do not "live" with it - simply return and purchase something that works. You purchased a premium product and should expect it to work ALL the time with ALL of the included features AVAILABLE to you. Anything less and you may as well have purchased a different product mentioned in this thread.

 

Does anyone here have any experience with the Yatour regarding to glitches? Damian@FI, thank you for the very informative post regarding to the minor issues. I hope that the issues you were facing especially with the Nav Screen going wonky for a bit is a rare occurrence. Also, do you have any other suggestions on hiding the box? TOM57, where were you able to mount the box to do such a clean install?

 

As a buyer for a (relatively) expensive item, I'd expect the latest firmware to be loaded BEFORE shipping, especially on something that is not mass produced,

 

WAAAY too many bugs for such an expensive product. And how about the company updating the firmware before the product ships out? It's not like software on a phone or computer that's easily updated by the end user. ClubLexus is full of stories of people having to send their units back in some cases.

Some of these issues are not minor, things like volume **** not working properly or the screen going scrambled for periods of time.

Every time I've purchased something like this that ties into the factory system, it has little issues. Usually you can live with them, but it's still annoying, but these are pretty major issues.

That's also why I prefer ones that tie onto the headphone jack vs a USB connection even at the expense of sound quality. It's much harder to screw that up. The control is then with the smartphone itself and you don't have to rely on firmware updates for the 3rd party unit. Android and iPhones get constant OS updates and then all sorts of new streaming apps and updates come into play. If the iPhone changes its cable (again) that will also be an issue with these, etc.

As far as I know, VAIS doesn't have a headphone jack for these models, which is odd since it's such a simple feature that most of the low-cost units offer. It also doesn't make it future proof in the coming years.

 

Ah, I didn't think about firmware!
Will contact the local distributor here and see if there is one available and yes, I would expect it was loaded with the latest firmware.

i really didn't want to post experiences this soon and please understand it could be issues relating to our install, setup, firmware, or the particular device or software on the device used in conjunction with the unit.
It could be an issue relating to my iPhone (6+), so I'm going to test a small HDD loaded with music today, I'll grab a thumb drive later and test that a well.


I run a manufacturing business that makes premium automotive products and I'd hate to have a review like this so I'm careful to make sure I test thoroughly and report honestly and accurately.

Anyone here understand how to get Bluetooth streaming (from iPhone to MML) working?

 

Since it's a country distributor, it could be that an older firmware is still on the device from when it was originally imported. I do expect expensive products to work out of the box but for the inconvenience of trying to re-install new firmware and "rebooting" the device - I am ok with having done so. Once the device began to work, it has been flawless. To the extent that I do not even think twice about it when I get in the car. iPhone connects to it and car's bluetooth, phone and music integration is completed by the time I have warmed the engine up a tad and I am on the way listening to music.

I did add that if this does not fix it, then return it. I was ready to return the product when I originally had the issue. But now - not so much. Extremely satisfied with the quality of the product.

 

IIRC the MML doesnt support bluetooth streaming, just the usb interface. Its another $200ish module if you want BT streaming. Hence the value arguments running all over this thread and my main issue with the VAIS product line in general.

From poking around and searching the forums, it seems like any aftermarket stereo integration is going to have a certain % of defects and bugs, no matter who you buy it from.