How does one mount and power a Garmin Nuvi in a 2020 Corolla?

5604 Views 27 Replies 11 Participants Last post by patrolhead, Feb 22, 2021

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · Mar 8, 2020

1. must not require drilling or cutting dash or devaluing interior in any way
2. must be 50-state compliant, no windshield mounting
3. must not get in the way of any controls or gauges
4. must have screen positioned for easy view by the driver
5. must be a stable mounting that doesn't shake

Where is the 12VDC (cigar lighter style socket) outlet for the 2020 Corolla dash?

What is you most elegant solution for locating a stand-alone GPS in this awkward new interior?

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

takemorepills

· #2 · Mar 8, 2020

What's so awkward about the new interior?
All of your criteria are difficult to address in my other 2 vehicles also.

Vangm25

· #3 · Mar 8, 2020

www.proclipusa.com

2020 Toyota Corolla Dashboard Mounts

ProClip Dashboard Mounts are designed to fit your 2020 Toyota Corolla with precision. Get the most secure mounting base for your phone, GPS or mobile device.

www.proclipusa.com

www.proclipusa.com

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 8, 2020

takemorepills said:
What's so awkward about the new interior?
All of your criteria are difficult to address in my other 2 vehicles also.

The new 2020 Corolla like the new 2020 Kia Forte and so many other new compact cars have a very cluttered-looking dash with many sharp edges and protrusions.
You have the infotainment screen sticking up out the dash like a sore thumb. The dash and consoles also look less roomy they did in the older cars. I like the classic clean smooth dash.

My 1995 Corolla has a much cleaner and even roomier dash and ample space to position a GPS and a large cubby hole above the ashtray. Since I don't smoke, my Garmin sits on the ashtray with the ashtray pushed in against the lower edge of the Garmin to hold it snug. The cigar lighter socket is handily to the left of the ashtray to plug in the GPS.

It seems as car interior designers have forgotten about those who plug in portable 12VDC electronics.

I think the conspiracy is to make the new car buyer spend thousands more to get an infotainment system with "integrated" nav built in.

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 8, 2020

Vangm25 said:
2020 Toyota Corolla Dashboard Mounts

ProClip Dashboard Mounts are designed to fit your 2020 Toyota Corolla with precision. Get the most secure mounting base for your phone, GPS or mobile device.

www.proclipusa.com

I was thinking to myself, what if a GPS mount could hang off the side of the infotainment screen? Will a Garmin attach to that mount?
Also, where is the 12VDC outlet on a 2020 Corolla to even plug it in? I've looked at a bunch of pictures online but could see neither
hide nor hair of a 12V socket.

takemorepills

· #6 · Mar 8, 2020

jonmyrlebailey said:
The new 2020 Corolla like the new 2020 Kia Forte and so many other new compact cars have a very cluttered-looking dash with many sharp edges and protrusions.
You have the infotainment screen sticking up out the dash like a sore thumb. The dash and consoles also look less roomy they did in the older cars. I like the classic clean smooth dash.

My 1995 Corolla has a much cleaner and even roomier dash and ample space to position a GPS and a large cubby hole above the ashtray. Since I don't smoke, my Garmin sits on the ashtray with the ashtray pushed in against the lower edge of the Garmin to hold it snug. The cigar lighter socket is handily to the left of the ashtray to plug in the GPS.

It seems as car interior designers have forgotten about those who plug in portable 12VDC electronics.

I think the conspiracy is to make the new car buyer spend thousands more to get an infotainment system with "integrated" nav built in.

When we first saw a 2019 Corolla HB last year, I was totally ready to bad-mouth it over the "tombstone" infotainment screen. As time went on, in the search for my wife's car, it became clear we needed to consider the Corolla HB despite the "tombstone" radio.
I finally sat in the car, the tombstone radio does not jut out like I thought....I thought it'd interfere with sight-lines. I can still see the hood-windshield cowl over the top of it. Same sight-lines as my Q60. It's just that the dash drops down behind the tombstone giving the impression that it must be "sticking up".
We quite like the style.
However, compared to my Q60 and Titan, neither one of those have an advantage over the Corolla HB. My Q60 also has darn near no storage options, it's just as (bad) as the Corolla.
A car that we tried that does have good storage options, the new Civic. Much better than Corolla.
But, the Corolla isn't any worse for Navi mounts than any other car, no matter how bad you think the tombstone radio is.

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jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 8, 2020

takemorepills said:
When we first saw a 2019 Corolla HB last year, I was totally ready to bad-mouth it over the "tombstone" infotainment screen. As time went on, in the search for my wife's car, it became clear we needed to consider the Corolla HB despite the "tombstone" radio.
I finally sat in the car, the tombstone radio does not jut out like I thought....I thought it'd interfere with sight-lines. I can still see the hood-windshield cowl over the top of it. Same sight-lines as my Q60. It's just that the dash drops down behind the tombstone giving the impression that it must be "sticking up".
We quite like the style.
However, compared to my Q60 and Titan, neither one of those have an advantage over the Corolla HB. My Q60 also has darn near no storage options, it's just as (bad) as the Corolla.
A car that we tried that does have good storage options, the new Civic. Much better than Corolla.
But, the Corolla isn't any worse for Navi mounts than any other car, no matter how bad you think the tombstone radio is.

Maybe replace the stock tombstone radio for one of my liking?
I am thinking an aftermarket head unit replacement with built-in sat GPS nav might be another solution, an elegant one at that.

takemorepills

· #8 · Mar 8, 2020

jonmyrlebailey said:
Maybe replace the stock tombstone radio for one of my liking?
I am thinking an aftermarket head unit replacement with built-in sat GPS nav might be another solution, an elegant one at that.

Pioneer and Metra have you covered.

Metra Online

As the Installer’s Choice for dealer parts and car audio equipment, our team at Metra knows it is important to listen to our customers so that they keep listening with us.

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jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 9, 2020

I thought of the Arkon sun visor mount for Garmin Nuvi too.

Vangm25

· #10 · Mar 9, 2020

Only if you want your visor down all of the time will that work.

got-rice

· #11 · Mar 9, 2020

The new one has an updated headunit but you want to use a Garmin? You should just get an older Corolla, it doesn't have Carplay and the possibility of upgraded infotainment in the future (ie. Android Auto), so a Garmin would make better sense for older cars that can't be upgraded.

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 9, 2020

Hopefully car-makers one day soon will offer integrated GPS on even their base models, maybe for a couple hundred dollars extra, not just on top-end models costing thousands more.

I don't use GPS that much anyway, only for driving places I don't know. If that's the case, one only need hang the GPS on the sun visor for those occasions and keep the unit stowed away most of the time. I will be damned if I pay Toyota thousands more to have the sheer elegance of GPS built right into the head unit.

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 9, 2020 (Edited)

got-rice said:
The new one has an updated headunit but you want to use a Garmin? You should just get an older Corolla, it doesn't have Carplay and the possibility of upgraded infotainment in the future (ie. Android Auto), so a Garmin would make better sense for older cars that can't be upgraded.

I don't want to use a Garmin just for the sake of using a Garmin, I just want to be able to navigate via satellite whenever I'm out of the range of a cell tower. I don't know anything about CarPlay or Android Auto. All I know is the Garmin Nuvi 1350 (retail $158 new) I've had for the past nine years allows me to navigate anywhere there is a satellite signal, even in the desert.

If I could get integrated navigation in a new Toyota base model Corolla or a Tacoma SR5 truck for not more than a few hundred dollars extra, I would rather do that than have to deal with the Garmin. It's a compromise between not having an elegant GPS solution and spending thousands more to do that. Even hanging off a sun visor, a Garmin is not as elegant in the interior as having full satellite GPS right of the info screen. A standalone GPS is never as elegant as having it factory in-dash. It's all about money.

I would rather just hang a Garmin off the passenger sun visor than pay Toyota another $7,000 for a Tacoma Limited that has GPS integrated in dash. The bottom line is I'm only willing to spend so much more to have the privilege of that in-dash elegance.

Toyota hasn't yet realized that even Tacoma SR5 drivers may venture into the mountains or deserts where there is no mobile telephone service at all. The Scout Link mobile GPS app, available on lower Toyota models, relies solely on having a smartphone and thus a cell tower in range. Satellite signals continue where cell signals end.

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Imaginary27

· #14 · Mar 9, 2020

I believe the Seicane head unit offers what the OP is looking for.

takemorepills

· #15 · Mar 9, 2020

Couple of opinions from my use of many newer technologies in the last decade:
-Once all Toyotas have AA/CP, most people will be able to utilize Google Maps
-Google Maps is NOT perfect and has sent us WAYYY off track before
-Google Maps updates constantly
-When Google Maps is online (99% of time unless you are out of cell range) you also have map results from internet searching
-Google Maps re-routes, many times without you realizing (the notification to reroute isn't clear and will proceed if you ignore it) and can make some trips overly complicated and confusing
-OEM navigation is consistent. If you like it, it'll never change on you.
-Sometimes OEM navigation can be updated, sometimes it may be out of date.
-Google Maps can work off road out of cell service. If you plan your trip, you can save a very large area to device memory and the GPS will work just as well as any other GPS. This is true of other routing apps also.
-OEM works well off-road only if it has the maps.

Lastly,
I would never buy that Seicane unit. Any HU that operates on Android based OS is a ticking time bomb of pre-planned obsolescence. Eventually, all Android devices become depricated (drop dev support) and become useless for what you originally intended them for.
Furthermore, updates can cause a unit that was working fine (or well enough) to become frustrating to use when new glitches show up. Android Auto along with OEM infotainment are more reliable (not perfect) and OEM navigation is way more consistent. The Seicane unit has issues that only "techie" people can bother to babysit. I would guess the OP is totally not interested in have a unit in-dash that always feels "half-baked".
Some people are cool with that, so if that's your thing, have at it!

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Vangm25

· #16 · Mar 9, 2020

I'm gonna stick with my Garmin. It has not failed me and it will adjust its route according to the decisions I make. Google maps have told me to drive into alleyways too many times for me to really make full use of it. I will use Google for short distances or for help finding a address that I will input into my Garmin but not much else.

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takemorepills

· #17 · Mar 9, 2020

Vangm25 said:
I'm gonna stick with my Garmin. It has not failed me and it will adjust its route according to the decisions I make. Google maps have told me to drive into alleyways too many times for me to really make full use of it. I will use Google for short distances or for help finding a address that I will input into my Garmin but not much else.

My most recent Google failure was when it took us to our destination just fine (Amusement Park) took us to lunch off-site just fine, then when I set it to take us back to the amusement park using the history function (little clock icon and amusement park name, just before our lunch place) you'd assume that would be correct? Nope. Took us to some guys backyard via alley (didn't go in there) about a mile up on a hill overlooking the amusement park. It even said "you have arrived"!

That's not the first time it's done crap like that to us.

Vangm25

· #18 · Mar 9, 2020

takemorepills said:
My most recent Google failure was when it took us to our destination just fine (Amusement Park) took us to lunch off-site just fine, then when I set it to take us back to the amusement park using the history function (little clock icon and amusement park name, just before our lunch place) you'd assume that would be correct? Nope. Took us to some guys backyard via alley (didn't go in there) about a mile up on a hill overlooking the amusement park. It even said "you have arrived"!

That's not the first time it's done crap like that to us.

Yep, sometimes I just want one constant answer instead of an answer that can be manipulated to give you "a better answer". My Garmin works offline and will typically give me a constant answer unless I myself change the route.

jonmyrlebailey

Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 9, 2020 (Edited)

Vangm25 said:
I'm gonna stick with my Garmin. It has not failed me and it will adjust its route according to the decisions I make. Google maps have told me to drive into alleyways too many times for me to really make full use of it. I will use Google for short distances or for help finding a address that I will input into my Garmin but not much else.

I'm not interested in having any product that is more trouble than it is worth. That bundle of snakes hanging off the dash looks really "pretty".

OEM navigation is offline navigation is satellite signal navigation, the same technology as Garmin, Magellan TomTom and others.
It would be so nice to have a factory HU from Toyota that works so much like Garmin for GPS mode, without paying thousands more.
I hope Toyota will make integrated navigation standard on base models or on models one notch up above base models someday real soon.

Until then, it's a not-so-elegant Garmin in the cabin for whatever I drive.

Vangm25

· #20 · Mar 9, 2020

jonmyrlebailey said:
I'm not interested in having any product that is more trouble than it is worth. That bundle of snakes hanging off the dash looks really "pretty".

OEM navigation is offline navigation is satellite signal navigation, the same technology as Garmin, Magellan TomTom and others.

In comparison to everyone else's bundles, it really is pretty. They are not tight only because if they are, I can't pull the phone away if I need to and that is a hazard. I rather not pull the phone away either way but that is not always the case. If I could get some sort of winding system, that would be great but that in itself is another set of issues and mostly a matter of space as if you look on Amazon for self-winding wire holders those things are huge.

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