In my experience.......
The Tape thingy's wear out over the time, so you have to buy a new one every so often
The iPod Frequency thing is annoying as you have to keep re-tuning it every time you start the car .... and the iTrip I had would change frequency on a random basis
I eventually did the iPod Hack, and it was a much better solution, just plug in press play and off you go. no fannying about
The only other alternative is to get a new Head Unit.