How to take your trip into the future
Some of you have the ability to choose the vehicle that is right for you, like my father, and drive it until the wheels fall off, so to speak. You can put a couple hundred thousand miles on a vehicle and be as happy with it as the day you bought it. You see a new vehicle driving down the road and you know the price they are paying for that new ride and it makes you happy to know the money you are saving.
You are seriously considering it, but why?
You don’t really need a smartphone to connect to Bluetooth, most Android radios today will connect to any device that is Bluetooth ready, but let’s say with the money you’re saving you bought a smartphone and now you’d like to do the best of Bluetooth with the hands-free calling option that everyone else has. Then you discover that you can download a playlist of your favorite songs to your phone. Now you want a radio that can play your tunes while you’re in your vehicle. And to top it off, your new smartphone has GPS navigation, but it uses your data. Even with all these features, you still don’t have a backup camera.
How can you get all of these features in your vehicle without trading or spending a small fortune on an upgraded radio, with an affordable replacement radio? There is a wide range of radios on the market. There are some that are less than the average car payment and then there are some that are as much as the average mortgage payment. We opted for the reasonably affordable type. You’ll need to get a touchscreen radio if you’re looking for built-in navigation or a backup camera. Have no fear, if you can operate a smartphone you can operate a touch screen radio.
What came with our new trip?
We own a 2016 model year vehicle that came from the factory with a touch screen radio, Bluetooth, and a backup camera. It does not have the navigation because that would have required an additional badge to the truck which would put the cost of the vehicle out of our price range. With that being said, we recently upgraded the radio in our 2002 model year vehicle with a radio that has all the bells and whistles, including GPS navigation, and we are seriously debating whether or not we should upgrade the newer truck. The aftermarket radio has more options, a bigger screen, and looks great.
Why we chose ours?
Our teen drives the 2002 model year vehicle. The main reason for adding all the safety features a radio offers. We wanted Bluetooth for hands-free calling and wireless music streaming, GPS navigation, WIFI, a DVR dash cam (yes, a dash cam), and a backup cam without cluttering up the dash with gadgets.
Your music is downloaded to your phone or through an app. With built-in Bluetooth, the radio automatically connects to the phone, giving them access to their music. No more flipping through CDs just to find the song you want to listen to. It was nothing short of a miracle all those years of flipping through CDs while driving down the highway and keeping it between the ditches. Speaking of distractions!
In conclusion.
It’s okay to take that little leap into the future. You will probably appreciate answering phone calls without reaching for the phone. Use the backup camera to connect to your camper or any other trailer and get it right the first time. Navigate to a destination without having an additional device dangling from the dash. And last but not least, our radio has a built-in DVR dash cam. I don’t even have to explain the importance of that function.
