Ok, I bought a new car last week and absolutely love the thing.
I know I'm still basking in the glow, but so far I really have no complaints ...knock on wood.
During my exhaustive pre-purchase research (It's a Saturn Astra by the way) I kept reading that the lack of an auxiliary input on the stereo was one of the car's most glaring defects.
I read this repeatedly in the automotive press and chalked it up to the reviewers' need to find something negative about a car they wanted to dislike going in, but further reading in internet forums revealed that many people consider this a deal breaker.
The vehemence of some folks was downright surprising.
Many flatly stated that they would never buy a car that didn't have one and it was clear that the majority of these Anti-Saturnites were under age 30.
Now I am not an old fart, I have owned an iPod since they came out and have even used one in the car with a cassette deck adapter.
It's cool but I have always hated the inelegance of a wire coming out of the dash and the iPod sitting in the cup holder.
The presence of an aux input would do nothing to alleviate that particular situation.
The stereo in the car will read MP3 discs however, and to me, burning several of them would not only allow you to transport nearly as much music as your iPod, but leave you with a much neater driving environment. You can even navigate through the menus using the steering wheel controls in the car. Much safer than looking down at the iPod you just fished out of the center console.
This puts the aux jack in the "Nice to have but not necessary" category for me.
Is today's average Gen Y'er so addicted to his or her MP3 player that they are unable to drive a car without using it?
Is today's average Gen Y'er too lazy to take the time to think the situation through and do a little bit of work to remedy the problem? Especially when it might mean they get the car that might meet the rest of their needs splendidly?
At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I'm going to say yes.
2 days ago
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