Drivers revealed they’re harbouring a secret love for CDs after it emerged all mainstream car manufacturers have stopped putting the players in new models.
Which? found there were no new cars with the players on sale, with the consumer group revealing that Subaru, the last brand to sell a car with the device, removed the technology earlier this year.
But the ERA, the digital entertainment and retail association, carried out research which it says shows seven million people still listen to CDs in their cars.
MailOnline took to the roads to see if this is actually the case – with one handy music addict choosing to buy and install a player himself, replacing the satnav slot.
Jane Clarke, 51, is currently driving a car without a CD player but is about to get a new one so she can listen to music again
Roger Morgan, 70, loves to listen to CDs on long journeys in his VW van
Roger Morgan, 70, who was travelling home from Austria in his son’s VW van, loves to listen to CDs.
He said: ‘I have a background CD in my car, generally I listen using Bluetooth but I do like having a CD in it.
‘On the whole it’s only on very long journeys I use them, and since I retired I don’t have many long journeys. This is the exception.
He added: ‘My son listens to CDs non stop, he has a complete collection. He will be 36 at Christmas.
‘I read only two days ago that cars will be coming without them, because what you’re meant to do is put your CD into your laptop, which also doesn’t have a player, and copy them on.
‘I think the trouble is, they have a life span.’
Garry Andrews, 51, is so passionate about music that he would be happy to install a player himself if his new car did not have one.
He said: ‘I would fit it in myself – it’s that important to me. I listen to anything, anything from about the 80s upwards.
‘I have a massive collection of CDs – I need a CD player.’
Garry Andrews, 51, is so passionate about music that he would be happy to install a player himself
Wenzel Berninger, 20, from Germany, had driven 14 hours in a borrowed van to help his friend move her belongings to the UK.
The old van had a CD player, a novelty for the Gen Z driver. He said: ‘We use it because we have this old car now and we feel it a little fancy to have this one again.
The driver only had three CDs to listen to. He said: ‘This one, it’s about a little German band and some strange cities, we found it.’
Although Wenzel admitted that he could live without a CD player, he was enjoying having one. He said: ‘I think it’s more fancy to have.’
Robert Woake, 80, who was driving home from a holiday in France with his wife said: ‘I like my CDs, so I went on the web and bought a player from another model and fitted it myself.
‘I had to do away with the satnav, because you couldn’t have both. I wouldn’t do without my CDs.
‘When you spend hundreds of pounds on CDs, what’s the point in wasting them?’
He added: ‘My car was only 12 months old when I bought it five years ago, and it didn’t have a CD player then, but that might be because of the model.’
Carly Sherwin, 45, has a CD player in her car still but doesn’t use it very often
The ERA said its research showed that 15 per cent of the UK adult population ‘reported that they listen to music on CD in their cars’
Robert Woake, 80, who was driving home from a holiday in France with his wife said: ‘I like my CDs, so I went on the web and bought a player from another model and fitted it myself’
Carly Sherwin, 45, has a CD player in her car still but doesn’t use it very often.
She said: ‘If I think I want to listen to something specific, I’ve got a few CDs in my car I will still use it.
‘I would still like the option. I could live without, but I quite like going to charity shops and recycling, reusing things, and it just seems a shame seeing all these things existing, but not using them.
‘I think it’s a shame, you are losing something, because it physically exists.’
The ERA said its research showed that 15 per cent of the UK adult population ‘reported that they listen to music on CD in their cars’.
Its chief executive Kim Bayley slammed the lack of players in new cars as ‘remarkably short-sighted’.
Jane Clarke, 51, is currently driving a car without a CD player but is about to get a new one so she can listen to music again.
She said: ‘I used to love my Fleetwood Mac, my Michael Jackson, so I do miss it. But I have got used to it.
She added: ‘I’m getting a x6 BMW, and that will have a CD player, all the bells and whistles.
‘I’d prefer to have one, but if my car didn’t it wouldn’t be the end of the world – but generally newer cars do.’
Anthony Roberts, 73, who was once a DJ and has a massive collection of CDs said: ‘It’s purely technology.
‘It’s easier now to access, via the internet, any music you like. So really, it would suit a new car I think. However, I drive old vehicles.
‘I’ve had this for 14 years, this is my car, my comfy car, because it’s an American car.
Anthony Roberts, 73, said he’s the ‘happiest man in the world’ when he is with his CDs
‘I’ve got my CD player and my collection of CDs and I’m the happiest man in the world.
‘I travel to Liverpool to see my family, and I enjoy being on the motorway with my music not annoying everyone else.’
The music fan has varied taste, he said: ‘I like late 70s early 80s soul and funk, I like American rock, I listen to all kinds, there’s nothing I won’t listen to.
He added: ‘I’m not good on technology, I’m 73 years of age so technology has passed me by, I don’t really think it’s my thing.
‘I’ve got a phone where if I push a button and can speak to someone I’m happy.
‘That’s as far as my technology is. I’ve had this 14 years and I love it, it has to have a CD player.
As a former DJ his collection of music is extensive, he said: ‘I was a DJ for 30 years so when I started it was vinyl.
‘And then it went to CDs and over the years just buying and buying and buying CDs.
‘Grossly over-priced at the time. These days nobody wants them, that’s why they’re not putting CD players in.
‘They’re not even putting petrol engines in anymore. It’s a sign of the times.’
