I don't think it's hard to install and 98% of the time it works exactly like it should. CarPlay in a 2007 vehicle is a dream. I'll never own another car without it.

With that being said - Grom is a s$!t company. If I had any alternative, I'd choose it.

 

So 98% is good enough? I agree it's not that hard to install for me and probably a few others. I installed all my aftermarket stuff (vaistech etc), but for those who had to pay someone to install and THEN have it work "98% of the time", is borderline fraudulent IMHO. I have seen the trials and tribulations of this product develop on the other Lexus forums and it fared equally as bad. They admitted in early 2018 to releasing their product without proper testing, basically leaving to the forum members to be Alpha and Beta testers. Then releasing V2 versions that were equally as bad. You mention 98% working as it should, but it seems that number is generous. I doubt Grom advertised that it worked 98% of the time. If they did, I wonder how many of us would have bit.

 

Well it's the only game in town that's decent. I get to improve my car to the current standard of new cars without huge tear ups...it's pretty plug & play so I'll put up w/ a bit of issues once in awhile so even if they told me ahead of time, I'll prob still buy it.

 

If it comes down to having carplay 98 out of 100 starts or 0 out of 100 starts, I'll take the 98. Those other 2 usually just require a quick powerdown, 15 second wait, and restart or, at worst, pulling the power connector for a bit.

If another company came out with something similar - I'd be there in a heartbeat.

There's nothing borderline fraudulent about them - they are fraudulent. They sold the VL2 as shipping with Android 7.1. Right before original units shipped they said, oops, we won't have it ready at shipping, we'll get it to you in 2 months. Almost a year after release, oops, no 7.1, we're going to give you 8.1. Then, oops, we can't get you 8.1 with an OTA update, you need to pay us $20 for the upgrade that we advertised as included on the original item you purchased.

 

I agree with you that if it's the only game in town, then you try to make it work. Personally, I won't give a company like that my money. But that's me. Best case scenario, maybe they'll finally sort it all out and you guys will get what you paid for. Hopefully, they won't be a fly by night op and leave you guys with a sub par product.

 

Can my uninstalled vline hot spot link with my iPhone X versus a dedicated in dash unit?

 

Yes, but with the VL1 I don’t think you’re gonna want to mess with the regular UI. It’s painfully slow. Just plug it in and use CarPlay. You can thank me later

 

It’s a vline 2

 

Yep - you should be good, then. No problem with using your iphone hotspot. I still much prefer CarPlay to the native interface because not all apps are optimized for the vline. But it is nice to have the flexibility to run all sorts of different apps if you choose.

 

Totally agree with you! And 98% is waaayy too generous based on my personal experience. I would say I have about a 50% accuracy rate at best for working as advertised. Have to deal with a whole new issue that I just haven't had time to troubleshoot yet. I believe it's interfering with my climate control system. Has anyone else experienced this? And again all of a sudden it's not optimized to fit on the left half of the screen but instead loading across the whole 12" screen, with the right side blocked off by the native system.

 

I'm thinking about the Vline for my 2007 LS460. Would appreciate feedback from those with it. A few questions:

Does it work with Android Auto?

What do you do for a mobile network connection?

Do the steering wheel controls work?

Do you use the Vline for phone calls or built in OEM blue tooth?

What are the shortcomings of the system?

 

I'm thinking about the Vline for my 2007 LS460. Would appreciate feedback from those with it. A few questions:

Does it work with Android Auto?
There's talks but I don't think it's available yet.

What do you do for a mobile network connection?
I use my mobile hotspot.

Do the steering wheel controls work?
Yes

Do you use the Vline for phone calls or built in OEM blue tooth?
I'm not sure but you have to connect to both car & VL2 bluetooth

What are the shortcomings of the system?
Once in awhile the system doesn't turn on & you have to cycle the power (I turn the car off & on again). I like it because it brings my car up to 2019 technology.

 

Thank you!

 

Those of you that have had the Vline2 for awhile, I'm interested in your thoughts after living with it. What's it like to use the built-in apps? How is it with CarPlay? Is it really as unreliable as some people have said (like it fails to start 50% of the time)? Beatsonic has declined to make a version of their product compatible with the pre-2013 LS, so the VLine2 seems to be the only game in town if you want any hope of having CarPlay in a 2007-2012.

 

RogersMJ,
I have three VL2 units, all in 2007/08 LS vehicles running Android 8 at latest firmware/software levels. Mine all start up 100% of the time, and CarPlay starts up without issue when the phone is attached. I can see how you might get other impressions from reading the forum, and I’m sure there are those with faulty units, bad wiring, corrupt software, or unrealistic expectations. I had issues with one of my prior VL1 units which required a replacement video cable, but typically updating the software resolves issues, and I credit GROM with providing support and updates over the years. CarPlay runs well, but the factory screen’s resolution and touch support is what it is, so don’t expect two finger zoom and swiping to work like it does in new vehicles. If your wanting a good sounding well integrated system using factory screen and factory ML amp, then you will not be disappointed. If you live near Louisville, PM me and I’d be happy to provide a demo.