I wish they provided an optional cd player.

 

Here's one I found via search om Amazon... No idea how well it works.
CD player for use in cars

 

Thanks

 

The best bet for CD's you own is to use a computer to convert them to digital audio files, which you then copy onto a USB flash drive stick that you can use in the car. You can get many, many CD's onto one USB stick.

 

I actually have done that but for some reason the Highlander seems very finnickey on playing the USB properly. Doesn't always recognize the USB. I have no idea what is wrong. On the other hand, I have a car that plays the USB perfectly.

 

Could you burn the CDs to audio files and put them on your phone and play them via bluetooth or Apple Carplay or Android Auto?

It seems that CD Players have largely gone extinct in new cars. I was amazed to find that when my wife and I purchased our 2021 Passport- Honda offered a CD player as an accessory... for $350 plus installation. No thanks. Honda stopped offering it in 2022.

When we traded in our 2007 Camry to buy that Passport- we laughed because the fancy 6-disc in-dash CD changer that came with that car had the same CDs in the player that we put in when the car was new. We thought it was a 'luxury' to have an in-dash CD changer back in 2007... and played with it for a few days... it only took a few weeks for the novelty to wear off... and we quickly forgot about it. I think we took advantage of it once when we did a cross-country road trip back in 2008... but then the world evolved and we just started using the auxiliary jack and played music on our phones starting in 2009 or 2010.

 

I have a CD player in my 2015 RAV4, but find this the best solution. I have 2500 songs on itunes and they are loaded onto my phone so I have whatever / whenever i want to hear it. And it syncs over bluetooth so nothing to plug in.

 

If you own your music on CDs or in MP3 format, putting it on a USB module for the road really is the way to go.
You don't risk damaging your CDs by dropping, scratching, etc. and the sound quality is excellent.
There is no need to be handling or losing the USB module after it is filled with music.
Just plug it in to the vehicle and leave it.
I use an old 8 Gigabyte module that has about 5 Gigabytes (1500 songs) of MP3 music files on it.

If you want to edit the metadata (album name, band, genre, etc.) for each song, use this excellent MP3 tag editor:
Mp3Tag Software

 

I use an old 8 Gigabyte module that has about 5 Gigabytes (1500 songs) of MP3 music files on it.
View attachment 411513
If you want to edit the metadata (album name, band, genre, etc.) for each song, use this excellent MP3 tag editor:
Mp3Tag Software

I used a USB (same one as above) untill the USB port in the Camry quit.. I know it was the port and not the drive since it still works in my other car. At one point I had I think 5 of the tiny ones pictured, but can now only find 1. LOL

 

I agree with the above statements. I don’t use my phone for music because phones are so expensive now. I rarely use it for CarPlay but I do for the times I need navigation.

I’ll put the CD’s on the USB someday.

 

Hi Bob, I put purchased this USB CD player off amazon and it works fine in my 2021 Highlander.

Amazon.com

It comes with a hard wired USB cable and 2 USB cable extensions. I found if I used either USB extension cable the car would not recognize the CD player. I bought this USB extension cable and it works fine with the CD player. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M6B62T3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
I put the CD player in the center console so it's out of the way.

 

Hi Bob, I put purchased this USB CD player off amazon and it works fine in my 2021 Highlander.
It comes with a hard wired USB cable and 2 USB cable extensions. I found if I used either USB extension cable the car would not recognize the CD player. I bought this USB extension cable and it works fine with the CD player. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M6B62T3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
I put the CD player in the center console so it's out of the way.

That CD player you linked to, on Amazon says "does not play Mp3 files?
"Compatible Formats are WMA or WAV, but not MP3; Play your favorite Music CD's and listen to them through your vehicle's factory radio and sound system; Retains full radio control ability"
Well many of the CDs I burn myself, are MP3s.
As for worrying about scratching your CDs. I copy all my CD's to a blank CD disc. Original CDs stay inside at home. Direct CD copies = better audio quality, so the MP3 issue might not matter.
I miss the 6 disk CD player I had in our 2012 Subaru Tribeca. That car was sold in November, and my Hybrid Highlander replaced ti.

 

Interesting, my 2019 Avalon with the old Entune 3.0, only listed file count/file folder limitations as shown below. I regularly use 32GB USB drives, loaded with higher resolution music files (FLAC) and they sound great, to my aging ears anyhow. I typically have about 25 albums on each drive.

 

I don't have a CD player but I ripped all my CD's using MS media player and put over 3000 songs on a tiny flash drive. So awesome and not no more fumbling. CD's have gone the way of the 8 track and VHS tapes. Believe me, the flash drive option is awesome.

 

Use a plugin Bluetooth transmitter on your portable CD player

 

I had over 11K songs on my Ipod that died, gotta get that thing fixed! GF gave me an mp3, but it's a sad substitute.

 

What are CDs?

 

There are sellers on ebay that offer original Toyota factory installed CD players Figure out which ones fit your Highlander and buy one of those; they will plug right in,

 

This idea might work if some current trim levels had a CD player and some didn't, but you can't get a head unit from several years ago with a CD player and expect it to plug right in to today's models.

 

Best Buy has aftermarket units.