Provided someone makes an adapter for your vehicle, that is. In my case, a 2004 Mazda3 with 6-disc 6-speaker non-BOSE non-MP3 radio.... they do!
I took a chance on a cheap off-brand unit from eBay because A. I sold the exhaust I was saving for the Camry and B. Amazon doesn’t take PayPal. And it was a few bucks more with the shipping. Because I don’t have Prime yet. Waiting for that one show to come out....
So what was in the box? This.
A little box. A USB extension. A microphone. An AUX cable. And connected to the box was the proprietary Mazda cable to connect to the back of my radio, where a CD changer, Satellite radio, or other factory accessories were meant to go.
Meant to work over Bluetooth signals, you can listen to music on your Bluetooth device, and make and answer calls.... More on that later.... and the radio still works like it should, as do the steering wheel controls. Can’t say that about most aftermarket radios, that will need adapters, and in my case a VERY UGLY install kit for the single DIN Bluetooth radio that I had in my Camry.
So pulling the radio commenced. Very easy in the 3. Pop off a panel, remove two screws, pull out radio.
Plugging the unit into the back went as expected, as to say, it felt like shit going in. Its clearly not a FACTORY plug, but it works. I tested the unit by turning on the radio, pressing “CD” twice (once for the built in changer, once more for external), and VOILA!
The display is kinda goofy, and the digits do not change, but that’s okay. I paired the device to my phone per the instructions, and right away I was able to stream iHeartRadio to my Mazda within SECONDS! It pairs automatically on start-up, as fast as my Camry’s Pioneer, and WAY faster than my wife’s CX-5.
Now that I was sure my money was well spent and it was working, I wrapped it up in foam, tied back the excess wire for the adapter and mic (I am not using the USB extension since I do not have a USB drive full of music to plug into it, and I’m using Bluetooth not AUX so that cable is also not in play) and tucked the whole thing into the cassette deck slot in the radio.
I’ll admit it wasn’t an original idea (I read about using the space on a forum when I was researching Bluetooth adapters), but I was surprised how nicely it fit in there, and leaves the interior nice and uncluttered, and NO ONE will know there’s anything different about the radio.
Unless, that is, you spot the mic on my dash.
I’ve had it in for a few days now, and it works... well. It connects quickly, sounds GREAT, and for being cheap the mic seems to be clear enough according to the few people I have talked to.
Edit 9/11/18: And it looks a lot better than what Doug DeMuro’s Ford GT’s previous owner installed:
The problem I have with it is it does not work as described. I should be able to answer/decline calls with the steering wheel or radio buttons for UP/DOWN. Also I should be able to change music tracks. Now while i do not have ACTUAL music tracks on my phone, it may just be an iHeartRadio issue that it doesn’t work well, as it DOES skip the track SOMETIMES, other times it does nothing, then 30 seconds later the radio itself switched off of the “EX” function. Does the same when pressing the buttons to answer calls. THE BUTTONS DO NOTHING. (it does have a pleasant female voice that reads off the phone number of incoming calls, so there’s that)
Oh well. Still works.
Now I just need to find a place to mount my phone so I can easily press buttons on it....