How to Plan a Trip to the Future

Some of you, like my father, have the capacity to find the appropriate vehicle for you and drive it till the wheels fall off. You can put a couple hundred thousand miles on a car and still love it as much as you did the day you got it. You see a new car driving down the road and you know how much it costs, and it makes you happy just knowing how much money you are saving.

You're thinking about it, but why are you thinking about it?

You don't need a smartphone to connect to Bluetooth; most Android radios nowadays will connect to any Bluetooth-enabled device. However, let's imagine that with the money you saved, you got a smartphone and now want to make use of Bluetooth's hands-free calling feature that everyone else has. Then you discover that you can create a playlist of your favorite music and download it to your phone. Now you want a radio that will play your music while you're driving. To top it off, your new smartphone includes GPS navigation, but it relies on your data. You still don't have a backup camera despite all of these features.

How can you obtain all of these features in your car without having to trade it in or spending a small fortune on an improved radio by using an aftermarket radio? On the market, there are many different types of radios. Some are less expensive than the average automobile payment, while others are comparable to the average mortgage payment. We went with the more economical option. If you want built-in navigation or a backup camera, you'll have to acquire a touch screen radio. Don't be intimidated; if you can use a smartphone, you can use a touch screen radio.

What was included in our new vehicle?

We have a 2016 model vehicle that comes equipped with a touch screen radio, Bluetooth, and a backup camera from the factory. It does not have GPS because adding a badge to the truck would have increased the cost of the vehicle beyond our budget. As a result, we recently replaced the radio in our 2002 year model vehicle with one that includes all of the bells and whistles, including GPS navigation, and we're wondering whether or not we should do the same with the newer truck. The aftermarket radio includes additional features, a larger display, and a nice design.

What made us pick ours?

Our adolescent is behind the wheel of a 2002 model automobile. The main rationale for including all of a radio's safety features. We wanted Bluetooth for hands-free talking and wireless music streaming, GPS navigation, WIFI, a DVR dashcam (yes, a Dash Cam), and a backup camera without cluttering up the dash.

Their music is available as a download or as an app. The radio automatically connects to the phone through Bluetooth, providing them access to their music. There's no need to sift through CDs looking for that one song you want to hear. All those years of flipping through CDs while driving down the road and staying out of the ditches were nothing short of a miracle. Distractions, to say the least!

Finally, I'd want to say

It's perfectly acceptable to take a modest step into the future. You'll probably like not having to pick up the phone to answer calls. Connect the camper or any other trailer with the backup camera and get it right the first time. Navigate to a location without a second gadget dangling from the dashboard. Last but not least, our radio is equipped with a built-in DVR dashcam. I don't think I need to explain why that feature is so important.