Volume button orientation

Do any of you find it curious that the volume up/down control on the steering wheel is oriented left/right & the track forward/back control is oriented up/down? Can this button be popped off & rotated 90 degrees to operate more intuitively?

 

I agree, it's truly goofy. Dunno about fixing it though.

 

I was just thinking about this on the way to work this morning.
Not sure if it could be changed.

 

I wouldn't mind changing it too, especially forward/back track buttons on the steering wheel.

 

I wouldn’t open that Pandora’s box.

 

You will get used to it.

 

YES...!!!! I hate that on my 2021 steering controls for music.
Vs my 2019 having dedicated volume up/down buttons and left/right buttons to go to forward and backward on a song time line and up/down buttons to go to next and previous song.
(pics are just generic google images)

 

3 years in and it still annoys me...

 

It’s been a year and I still hate it

 

I haven’t used my stereo in over a year. I did play with it recently just to see if it still works after someone here posted they were having volume control issues. My stereo still works fine. On a side note, it’s crazy that the local radio stations are still only playing the same songs they played 20 years ago. No wonder I never listen to the radio.

 

Agree. Some should call Toyota about this before the next generation 4runner comes out.

 

Horribly annoying. Drives me crazy

 

Crazy how this has never been updated...

 

I thought I was the only one! Its especially odd considering that the Tacoma has the exact same button but oriented the other way and Ive got so used to it after 10 years that i keep hitting volume by accident.

And the wife's Honda is also oriented that way. 4Runner is really hte odd one out.

 

Sadly, I think this IS the update. My 2019 isn't like that. See post #8.

 

No it can't be rotated. The controls are actually a 1 piece circuit board. The Tundra is the same way.

 

It's the bane of my existence. Why some designer thought to do it that way I'll never know.

 

The volume / track select button layout on my 2021 4runner is the same as my 2016 Tacoma.

No issues here.

 

It bothered me too at first but I think I got used to it now (muscle memory?)

It must be a Japanese thing. I have worked with them. Sometimes they visualize orientations and orders and thing like that, a little different than the Westerners...

 

Bugs the crap out of me. And rotating it 90 degrees one of the two would still be odd. If the volume up is orientated up the next track button would be to the left.

Interesting perspective that I hadn't considered. The volume line is left to right on the display, so as you hit volume up the display moves right. So it kind of makes sense in this orientation if you think of it that way.

 

Agreed. I just starting using the round knob old school for volume

 

+1, I actually think they’re in the perfect position. Most people drive with their left hand.

 

I don’t find the up/down button config on my 19 to be in an ergo position myself even though it’s more Intuitive. I use the knob most of the time.

 

Ok f’n hate it, so idiotic. My last 2 Toyotas were up/down volume, and so we’re all the other cars I’ve been (and I used to sell cars). Not sure what the hell they were smoking on this one?!?!? Can we change it from the OBD2 port? Never thought of that as an option.

 

If you upgrade to an after market head unit that can keep the steering wheel controls by using the maestro adapter, you can program the steering wheel buttons to do whatever you’d like them to do. It’s a pricey solution but at least it comes with a head unit that may end up being better than your factory one.

 

I’ve had my 22 ORP for a year now and had to drive my husband’s 18 SR5 to work one day so he could have a tire checked on mine. Mind you, I drove the SR5 for four years since it was originally mine. I’m a pretty serious driver so I wouldn’t look down at them and in the twenty minutes I drove to work, I thought his steering wheel controls were broken! I’ve gotten so used to mine now. We had a “no, you’re stupid!” texting match all day until I got in it to go home and see I was wrong. I’d forgotten, in a year, that there is a totally separate button underneath for the volume.

I’m just saying, roll with it and you’ll soon forget that it was any other way.

 

If I drove no other vehicles, then it becomes muscle memory, but we have 2 other vehicles at home, plus I do use company vehicles for site visits which all have steering wheel mounted volume as up/down. In the 4Runner, I try and use the volume knob to adjust, since I hate thinking “oh, I like this song!”, go and turn it up from the steering wheel and end up changing radio stations or advancing the song

 

Haha! I use the radio replay or whatever it is where if you’re going through channels it’ll play a song from the beginning for you. If you change the station and go back, the song is in its true spot. I’ve hit the wrong button and changed the channel and freaked-out because the song is almost over when I go back. I’m guessing that may be why I learned the orientation of controls so quickly.

 

Same. Makes me nuts whenever I get into this instead of one of my other cars. I haven't had the guts to pull the wheel apart though.

 

It makes sense why it is like that actually. You will be switching songs infinitely more often than changing volume. It is easier to hit with it being where it is