I turned my ancient car stereo into a Bluetooth-powered modern stereo with an amazing $30 device by Ben Gilbert on Feb 7, 2018, 11:12 AM My partner and I just bought a car, against my better logic as a New Yorker. It's this glorious old Volvo station wagon: 
Buying a 13-year-old car means buying a 13-year-old car stereo, as I recently learned. And a 13-year-old car stereo is very likely to mean no Bluetooth, and no auxiliary port for wires. The only way to play music in my new (old) car is to play CDs (!!) or to listen to the radio (!!). In 2005, there wasn't even an iPhone yet! In 2018, my phone is a supercomputer that plays music over Bluetooth or auxiliary wire. So, how to solve this problem of old technology meeting new technology? As it turns out, there's an amazingly simple, elegant way to solve this. SEE ALSO: We've been using Alexa in a car for 6 months and it's the best infotainment system we've ever used. Since my car stereo is a CD player/radio combination, I'm unable to use my phone with it directly. One solution would be to replace my entire stereo. It's a bad option.  Replacing car stereos is expensive! Like, hundreds of dollars if not more. We bought an older car specifically because we wanted to keep price down. Immediately dropping hundreds of dollars on a new stereo — solely so that my phone could pair with the stereo — was not an option. Also of note: Volvo car stereos aren't straightforward, rectangular head units. Replacing this guy would likely cost more than usual. No thanks!
So I started Googling, and found an amazing solution: FM transmitters.  Since my car stereo has radio, there's a simple solution for adding Bluetooth: an FM radio transmitter. Using the existing car stereo, the Nulaxy FM Transmitter is able to play whatever your phone is playing over the car's existing speaker system. It works really simply: 1. Tune the Nulaxy FM Transmitter to an unused FM signal (one that comes through as static on your car stereo). 2. Tune your car's radio to the same signal. That's it! Your phone is now able to play music, or podcasts, or today's HQ Trivia game through your car's speakers.
Mine took no time at all to set up — it's literally as simple as plugging the Nulaxy into your car's cigarette lighter.  In my sweet new (old) ride, the cigarette lighter port is in the center console between the driver and passenger seats. That's convenient in this particular case because I can easily plug the Nulaxy FM Transmitter into a really accessible area to anyone sitting in the front of the car. That said, you could totally plug this thing in somewhere less conspicuous. I'm pretty seriously thinking of moving it to the back seat!
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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