Where Is the DCM in a 2016 Toyota Prius?

The DCM — the Data Communication Module, part of Safety Connect / Connected Services — is the module our bypass harness plugs into. Finding it is the only tricky part of the install. Pick your vehicle and we will show you where it lives and what has to come apart to reach it.

Not sure whether your vehicle even has one? Look for an SOS or Call Toyota button near the rear-view mirror or in the overhead console. No button means no DCM — and no need for the bypass harness.

Short answer

Behind the centre dash, under the radio.

Moderate - a dash end panel, the centre cluster finish panel and the radio (or navigation) receiver come out. No airbag work, but do the auxiliary (12V) battery disconnect first.

What it looks like in the car

Photos from vehicles we and our customers have actually had apart.

DCM location photo - Toyota Prius — Dash opened up on this 2019 Prius - the module sits low in the centre, behind the screen.

Where it is

In the centre stack behind the dash, under the radio unit - the same place as the later cars.

How it sits: It lies flat on its bracket, wide face upward, with the connectors along the right-hand end - the large white plug is the one the bypass replaces. The smaller grey and blue leads next to it are the GP

How to get to it

Disconnect the negative terminal of the auxiliary (12V) battery first. Then the right-hand dash end finish panel and the centre cluster finish panel come off, the radio (or navigation) receiver comes out with its bracket, and the module unbolts from behind it along with its antenna cord and telephone brackets. The radio and navigation cars are the same basic job - only the trim panels differ. On the 2019 car the module sits directly behind the large centre screen: two 10 mm bolts along the top of its bracket release it, and it comes away with the dash section that runs across toward the passenger side. Once you can reach it, swapping the plug over is only a couple of minutes' work.

No SOS button near the rear-view mirror or overhead console means the vehicle was built without Safety Connect - there is no DCM to bypass and this kit is not needed. Every 2016-2020 car, including the Prius Prime and PHV, uses the earlier module and the AHH-DCM92. The head-unit-dependent split only starts with July 2020 production - those are the 2021-2022 models, listed separately.

The bypass harness for this vehicle

Our bypass kit disconnects the DCM without losing your front right speaker or the hands-free Bluetooth microphone — the two things that stop working if you simply unplug the module.

See the AHH-DCM92 DCM bypass harness »

Still cannot find it, or your trim looks different? Email us with your year, model, and a photo of your dash and we will point you straight at it.

Vehicles we have mapped so far

We are adding vehicles as we confirm them. Do not see yours? Ask us — that is how this list grows.

Looking for the harness itself? AHH-DCM77 (2020 and newer) — AHH-DCM92 (2016-2020).