This Subaru Model Is The Last New Car In The US With A CD Player
As technology shapes the way we live, it also changes the cars we drive. In-car entertainment through music has been one aspect of vehicle design that has evolved rapidly. Over the decades, several different devices have been used to play music in cars, keeping their occupants from being bored on a long journey. One of these devices is the CD player, highly popular in the 90s and early 2000s but almost impossible to find in new vehicles today. We use the word “almost” because there is one new car that still offers a CD player: the 2026 Subaru WRX. Let’s take a closer look at the car that refuses to let the CD player go, how in-car entertainment has changed, and which other models offered a CD player in recent years.
2026 Subaru WRX front quarterSubaru of America
2026 Subaru WRX Specs
Engine
2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four
Horsepower
271 hp
Torque
258 lb-ft
Transmission
6-speed manual / CVT
0-60
~5.5 seconds
The last model on sale in the United States that still offers a CD player as an option is the 2026 Subaru WRX. The WRX is a sports sedan that began as a variant of the Impreza in Japan in 1992. From 2015 onwards, however, the WRX became a separate model in its own right. The standalone WRX is currently in its second generation, which was introduced in 2021 for the 2022 model year. The 2026 WRX is available in a variety of trim levels, including a special edition called the Series.Yellow. All versions feature a single engine on board: a 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four producing 271 hp. Two transmission options are available: unusually for a modern car, a six-speed manual is standard on most trims. A CVT is available as an option on the Premium and Limited trims, but standard on the GT trim.
2025 Subaru WRX tS, Side RollingSubaru
The optional CD player, priced at $449.95, is not just unusual because of its rarity, the system is also unusual because of the location. Rather than being in the usual location you would expect, with the CD inserting into the dashboard, in the WRX, the device is located further down, next to the cupholders and small item storage. To access the CD player, you have to open the center console armrest door. While the availability of a CD player may lead you to think the WRX’s interior could be slightly antiquated or not particularly high-tech, the opposite is actually true. If listening to CDs is not quite your thing, the standard modern features include an 11.3-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. The CD player just offers an extra option for those who still have a few favorite mix CDs and would like to listen to them on road trips.
Other Recent Models With CD Players On Board
2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness Blue Front Angle Dirty Off-RoadSubaru
The WRX may be the last one left, but up until not too long ago, there were a few more models on offer with a CD player as an option. This group includes a few other Subaru models: the brand has been reluctant to let this particular accessory fall into oblivion, as evidenced by its continued availability on one model. Lexus is another brand that stands out from the crowd for holding on to the CD player longer than most automakers. Here are four cars that still offered a CD player as of the 2025 model year but stopped offering one afterward. Subaru Impreza: 2025 was the second model year of the legendary Impreza’s sixth and current generation. It was available exclusively with a hatchback body style and a CVT, as the sedan variant and manual transmission were killed off at the end of the previous generation. Two flat-four engine options were available: a 2.0-liter and a 2.5-liter. Subaru Outback: 2025 was the last year for the sixth-generation Outback before the latest, seventh-gen model arrived with a more traditional SUV appearance, rather than looking like a lifted station wagon. The engine options for the 2025 Outback included a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter flat-four and a 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four.
2025 Lexus RC front 3/4 angle in white while drivingLexus
Lexus IS: Subaru was not the only automaker to keep offering CD players for a long time. Two Lexus models also had one as far as 2025. One was the IS, a model currently in its third generation. The 2025 IS was available exclusively as a sedan and offered inline-four, V6, and V8 engine options. Lexus RC: Another Lexus that offered a CD player in 2025 was the RC, a model that was discontinued that year after a decade-long production run. A sports coupe, the 2025 RC lineup was also available with inline-four, V6, and V8 engines. This model year also saw the RC F Final Edition released, which included bonus features as a send-off for the nameplate.
Base Trim Engine
2.4L H4 ICE
Base Trim Transmission
6-speed manual
Base Trim Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
271 HP @5600 RPM
Base Trim Torque
258 lb.-ft. @ 2000 RPM
Base Trim Fuel Economy (city/highway/combined)
19/26/22 MPG
Segment
Compact Performance Sedan
How The Way We Listen To Music In Cars Has Evolved
BMW 507 radioBMW
CD players are just one of the many different types of devices people have used to listen to music in cars over the decades. The idea of music as in-car entertainment dates back to the 1930s. Before portable recorded music became available and popular, the primary way to listen to some tunes on the go was the radio: the first car radio, an AM-only unit, appeared in the mid-1930s. However, it was rare and extremely pricey.
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Later, the 1950s brought FM radio to America's cars, with better sound quality than AM, and popularized the idea of in-car music as entertainment. More people owned cars, and the distances driven grew longer. The dawn of the road trip made the in-car radio increasingly popular. During this era, some manufacturers tentatively began exploring the possibility of playing recorded music in cars: Chrysler briefly sold an in-car record player that played custom discs. However, this device was far from practical and functioned poorly, and the idea of playing records on the move was soon abandoned.
1999-2004 Acura RL Center Stack CD Player w/ a Person Inserting a CDAcura
Eventually, however, other formats of recorded music emerged that were better suited for playing in a moving car. The 1960s saw the introduction of 8-track cartridges, which, however, were still quite bulky. Later, from the mid-70s onwards, compact cassettes overtook 8-tracks, becoming the dominant format for recorded music in cars and elsewhere for around a decade.
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In the mid-1980s, the CD began to emerge, but it took a few years before CD players in cars became widespread. The first American model to come with a CD player was the 1987 Lincoln Town Car. It was in the 1990s, however, that CD players truly became mainstream.
The CD remained the preferred way to play music in cars for a long time, until digital music began to take its place in the mid-2000s. MP3 players and, later, streaming services gradually took over. CD players have been phased out of most models over the past decade, replaced by increasingly sophisticated and connected infotainment systems.
Beyond The CD Player
2010 Kia Optima - AUX, iPod, and USB portKia
The CD player is not the only automotive music-listening feature out there that’s rapidly heading for the archives of history. Car technology is constantly evolving, as is consumer taste: as new models come out every year, it doesn’t take all that long for a previously-ubiquitous feature to fall by the wayside. Here are some things you might have spotted in most cars a few years ago, but are much less likely to see now. AUX Jack: as digital devices replaced CD players, the AUX jack became the primary way to connect external devices (like MP3 players or phones) to a car’s sound system. However, Bluetooth and streaming quickly displaced the wired AUX connection; many models still feature an AUX jack today, but several have ditched it in favor of wireless-only music streaming. Aftermarket Stereo: In decades past, it was common for car owners to install an aftermarket stereo if the one their car came with was not up to their standards. Before the arrival of modern infotainment systems, which are far more high-tech and difficult to access, it was much easier to replace a car’s built-in stereo, and many enthusiasts chose to do so to add a personal touch to their vehicle.
2018 Nissan Murano Interior Infotainment Showing Apple CarPlayNissan
Wired Apple CarPlay: even Apple CarPlay, the phone-car connection system most of us are familiar with today, did not start in its present form. When it was introduced in 2014, it relied on a wired connection to function. Soon after, however, iOS 9 was introduced, and with it the wireless CarPlay system that has become commonplace in cars today.
Sources: Subaru, Ford, Lexus
