Do any new cars come with a cassette player?

[Beyond Rational]

After seeing a curiously specified 2005 BMW 325i in which the only alternative to the radio was a cassette player, I am pointlessly wondering if we have seen the passing of this form of in car entertainment? I'm thinking more about a cars from a mainstream manufacturer and not about some sort of one off, shed built papier mache TVR.

[sherman]

I dont think you can get a new car with a cassette deck in Britain anymore. Finding one with out an MP3 socket now might be harder though

[vit4]

IIRC the Lexus LS was the last car to be offered with one, either this year or last year? Might have been in the US though.

[MX7]

What was the last main stream production car with......

Flying Toaster said:

Lexus SC 430 was the last car fitted with a cassette. They were still fitted with them until last year, of course they had a CD player as well.

[Dunebasher]

Didnt the previous model Kia Sportage have a tape deck?

[koolchris99]

alot of boggo vag base spec models did didn't they??

[Vipers]

Interesting thread, but why would you want one? You'll be after an 8 track next

[simer553]

I got a brand spanking Mitsubishi "Nativa" (Shogun sport in the UK) last may. And YES - it's got a fecking cassette player. Weirdly, it's also got an MP3 auxilliary jack??????

[sjg]

The three cheapest new cars in the UK (Nissan Pixo, Perodua Myvi, Chevrolet Spark) all come with CD these days.

[U T]

My Audi has an SD card slot. It's the best thing ever! Load hundreds of your fave songs onto the card and it's done.

Why don't all cars come with an SD card slot. How much can it cost? Probably about a fiver at the factory.

[thinfourth2]

sjg said:

The three cheapest new cars in the UK (Nissan Pixo, Perodua Myvi, Chevrolet Spark) all come with CD these days.

Which is just about going the way of the tape

[anonymous-user]

HellDiver said:

U T said:

My Audi has an SD card slot.

Christ, was there really any need for that?! Wrong wide of the bed or what.............

Edited by Big Al. on Tuesday 15th November 19:59

[jbi]

Cd's are starting to exit the door as well now.

Was it ford who said they will be phasing them out starting now?

[paoloh]

HellDiver said:

U T said:

My Audi has an SD card slot.

Calm down dear

Edited by Big Al. on Tuesday 15th November 19:59

[HellDiver]

[pacman1]

HellDiver said:

U T said:

My Audi has an SD card slot.

<cough>osser..

Edited by Big Al. on Tuesday 15th November 20:00

[MarkRSi]

What I can't understand is why cassettes were used in cars for so long? Surely by the turn of the century CD players had surpassed cassettes in terms of size/cost/anti-skip etc...?

[pacman1]

MarkRSi said:

What I can't understand is why cassettes were used in cars for so long?

Most people probably couldn't be arsed to transfer their favourite tunes over to CD, so customer demand, I would suggest.

[AlexiusG55]

Vipers said:

Interesting thread, but why would you want one? You'll be after an 8 track next

You can get one of those iPod-to-cassette adaptors, which are more reliable than the FM ones and less clunky than a car's iPod interface...

[mikeyr]

HellDiver said:

Is this an "in-joke"? Hope so!

Going back to the OP's point - our 2003 car has got a cassette player and I thought that was as late as they'd have been installed so amazed that they've carried on.

As for the SD card - seems a good idea to me. Anyone remember using one of those cassette converters which you used to play CD's from a Walkman?

Edited by Big Al. on Tuesday 15th November 20:02