- Toyota is offering retrofits for Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa connectivity for the 2018 Camry and the 2018 Sienna.
- The 2019 Avalon was the first Toyota model to get CarPlay and Alexa.
- Late last year, Mazda began offering retrofits for CarPlay and Android Auto for certain 2014 or newer models.
After first introducing Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa capability to the brand with the 2019 Avalon—and subsequent new models like the Corolla and the Tacoma—Toyota is now introducing a retrofit for the two systems for 2018 Camry sedan and Sienna minivan owners.
The choice of cars is a deliberate one, with Toyota saying that the retrofit enables the technology "on some of [its] most popular vehicles already on the road." There's no word on whether it will be offered for older years of the two cars or for other Toyota models, but we wouldn't be surprised for both to be the case in the near future.
Toyota says it will be notifying Camry and Sienna owners and "encouraging them to contact their dealer" about the retrofit; the installation will be done at dealerships. We reached out to Toyota to ask if the retrofit costs anything, and a spokesperson for the brand said there "may be a small service charge" and that dealers will be able to provide more information. Toyota doesn't say how long it will actually take to complete the installation.
Last year, Mazda announced that it would be offering a retrofit for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for all of its cars that were a 2014 model year or newer. Mazda was also late to the CarPlay party, with the first Mazda to get the systems being the 2018 6 sedan, followed by the CX-5 and CX-9. That retrofit costs $199, not including labor, and takes about two hours.
Daniel Golson has been an avid car enthusiast since he was a toddler, and after spending a few years studying automotive design in college, he made the jump to Car and Driver in 2016. When not evangelizing about four-door coupes, he can be found watching The Real Housewives with his two cats.
