Bluetooth For an Old Car

[take8easy]

I have this 15-16 year old car that I want to keep for sentimental reasons. It also drives excellent and it still has lot of life left in it. Only issue is that they didn't come with bluetooth in those days.
I need bluetooth only for taking important calls while driving. I have a bluetooth speaker in it, but it is only good for playing music. It does takes the calls but it is just not the same but my own voice is hard to hear at the other end.
I asked around and the audio shops are asking for around $700 for basic most stereo with bluetooth up to $1500 and above for more fancy ones.

Is there a simpler solution? Like, something that I can just plug in so I can take phone calls? I saw some on Amazon that plug into the lighter and they seem to play AM but I am not sure if they will take the phone calls.

Any recommendations will be appreciated.

Your Technically non-Efficient
T8E.

 

[superbrick]

I have the FM Transmitter BTFreq™ from Scorsche and it works pretty good. Haven't made many calls on it. But it connects to my phone super quick at turn on. And the sound quality is good for FM. I was going to drop 1k on a new stereo but I'll just use this thing.

 

[Robert Upndown]

I have a 2006 CTS. I have one of these and it works well for me.
https://tinyurl.com/2ap4prvy

 

[stressless123]

As some others have suggested, the fm transmitter bluetooth combo that plug into 12v car socket will do the job for you. You can find them all over Amazon, eBay and aliexpress. I have used 2 different models and no complaints for either. The call quality has been good too (but obviously not as good as the built in bluetooth my new car came with). This solution should cost you $50 or less. On the other hand if u wanna replace the whole stereo system then it could cost u anywhere between 500-3k depends on the system you get.

Edit: just make sure u set the fm transmitter frequency away from the ones used by local lower mainland fm stations. Iirc 88 or 89mhz worked without interference back in the day for me.. funny enough once a car pulled besides me at a stop light and I could hear his music as he probably had it set to same frequency as me lol

 

[Robert Upndown]

I have a 2006 CTS. I have one of these and it works well for me.
https://tinyurl.com/2ap4prvy

This one looks pretty cool https://www.amazon.ca/BK01-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Wireless-Streaming/dp/B01MSUWCZ0?th=1

 

[emacky]

I have a Bluetooth transmitter, it's Soso for calls. The audio to hear them is good but the reception to pick up the vocal from your voice is restricted based in your phone's microphone. Yes Bluetooth is great but an older car but a headset might be better.

 

[zoomer]

Try Crutchfield. I bought a front end media player(no cd, no cassette) for under $250. Has bluetooth so can pair with my phone for calls and music

 

[80watts]

Do these device scramble between phone and device?

 

[golferjohn]

Audiovox makes a Bluetooth product that interfaces w/your stock stereo, plays music from your phone and uses the factory controls on your steering wheel (if equipped)...it's called Mediabridge

 

[take8easy]

A few years ago, someone gave me this device that would sync with one of the FM frequencies and play music. BUT, the problem was that as I drove around, the signal to these frequencies fluctuated. I guess it was good as long as I stayed in one area. But if I was travelling from say Vancouver out to the valley, the sound quality would drop gradually and eventually, I would just hear static.
Anyway, I will certainly look at the suggestions above.
I usually use PERB for POON recommendations, and this time it is for PHONE recommendations.

Thank you folks!

 

[islander1-1]

There are several Cig lighter Bluetooth devices. I use a Geek .. it also has a USB charger port. For better audio quality mount your cell on the dash where it is close to you. For even better quality audio, and better ease of answering/making calls, try an in-ear Bluetooth. I love this little guy so much I went to a hearing aid shop and had a custom molded earpiece made.

 

[blakealridge]

I feel like an airpod in one ear is your cheap answer

 

[nwtl]

This is a $6 AliExpress problem.

 

[picante55]

I use an older Garmin GPS device that has bluetooth for phone connectivity.

 

[ed62]

For phone calls the dedicated Bluetooth headsets are hard to beat. I had a blue parrot bx250 headset and talked to many people who could not tell that I was driving a semi white talking to them. They are available at most truck stops.