Woman saves hundreds of dollars by doing Mazda 3 upgrade herself, praised for inspiring others
- TikTok personality Julia Huynh has left drivers stunned with a car hack
- The Mazda 3 owner upgraded her 2013 car to the modern day
- And she saved hundreds of pounds doing it all herself
Published on Jan 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM (UTC+4)
by Jack Marsh
Last updated on Jan 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
One woman has gone viral on TikTok for saving other drivers hundreds of pounds, as she spent a fraction of what a garage would charge to upgrade her Mazda 3.
Nowadays, cars come with more bells and whistles than a church choir at Christmas.
But while the more modern models are advancing the dashboards beyond recognition, older reliable cars don’t have to be left in the past.
That was the case for one TikTok personality, who made a significant upgrade to her 2013 Mazda 3 to bring it into the 2020s.
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TikTok star makes incredibly cheap upgrade to her Mazda 3
Despite newer cars getting more advanced by the day, there’s a lot to be said for cheaply-ran and reliable cars that make life much more affordable.
The biggest miss in the older models though is interactive dashboards and car play.
Now, one woman has showcased how you can simply buy your own system and wire it up to replace the car radio with a bit of DIY, even adding parking sensors.
Julia Huynh (@julia.hunyh) bought a CarPlay feature and a camera for her Mazda 3, claiming that she’s in her ‘engineering era’, and it took next to no time to install herself.
The trickiest part of the upgrade was the camera, which had to be snaked through the entire vehicle and under the seats.
“I’m not magic, I just learned that cars are literally legos,” she said.
The CarPlay unit and camera cost a combined $300, which completely transforms the car. she advised that there are cheaper alternatives out there, but not every system is compatible with her car.
Woman inspires others with quick car fix
Technology has been making driving much easier, and now more people want to follow in Julia’s footsteps by adding a CarPlay device to their older vehicles.
“Love that they have these now it’s such a good idea and no need for a new car just for CarPlay features,” one commenter said.
Another added, “This is actually so girl boss of y’all for this. Need to do this!!”
Others revealed that they were charged upwards of $500 for its installation, showing just how much the TikTok personality saved by doing it herself.
“I also have an older Mazda 3…I will now finally be putting a CarPlay in,” a third commenter said.
While this Mazda 3 is now rigged up with modern tech, it still doesn’t beat the double-entertainment systems rigged up in the new Dodge Ram.
