Lexus LS XM and Sirius

mheni1mheni1 Member Posts: 41
edited March 2014 in Lexus
I purchased Sirius radio with my '06 LS430. Two concerns I would appreciate input on:
1. satellite connection is lost rather regularly when driving around the Wash,DC metro area.
2. antenna box is mounted on front windshield to right of rear view mirror. I can best describe the box as "ugly." Black plastic, triangle shaped, 5" at top tapering to 2" at bottom. Dealer says that antenna cable is too short to mount on rear window. Sirious radio has no suggestions. It seems to me that there should be some cable that will run from radio to rear window. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate same. Will appreciate any suggestions!
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  • mheni1mheni1 Member Posts: 41
    Lexus installed Sirius satellite radio and antenna on my 2006 LS 430. Live in Wash, DC area. Sounds great! Problem--periodic "no signal" and no sound. Sirius suggests outside antenna mounting to improve signal quality. I am not excited about mounting anything on roof. Antenna is now mounted behind rear view mirror. Dealer reports that antenna cable is not long enough to mount on rear window. Would appreciate hearing from anyone with similar problems and solution (s) to same. Thanks.
  • wwestwwest Member Posts: 10,706
    Think of how well it would work on the inside, bottom, front of the sunroof glass and then build a small bracket to mount it in that approximate position.
  • mheni1mheni1 Member Posts: 41
    Thanks for reply.Lexus Sirius antenna is triangle shaped about 5" at top and 2" at bottom and 4" in length. Any other thoughts?
  • thegadgetguruthegadgetguru Member Posts: 27
    This internal front mounted antenna was originally designed for convertibles, not sedans as it was an alternative to mounting the antenna on the roof where you will get your best reception. The rule for any satellite radio or GPS is to have the antenna mounted to receive an unobstructed view of the sky. There are two reasons that Lexus is installing the inside, front mounted antenna for Sirius radios:
    1) It's cheaper to mount and less wire to run.
    2) It's a retrofit as Lexus/Toyota radios are designed to work with XM, not Sirius. If you don't believe me, go to either XM or Siuris's website and see which manufactuer's are authorized.
    It is truly a "cheap" fix and an inside antenna will never deliver the quality signal that you will receive from an outside mounted antenna.
    Also, note that both Sirius and XM have a built in buffer memory that delays the programming for four seconds. When you lose the signal by going under an overpass, you it will kick in and you won't notice the loss in signal. With the interior antenna, you will notice constant dropouts.

    Shame on you LEXUS!
  • topspin628topspin628 Member Posts: 373
    Mine is mounted on my trunk and I still get some spots of "no signal". I think it's the service that is not 100% able to cover the country. By the way, I love sat. radio and think that it's the best entertainment invention since color tv.
  • rgswrgsw Member Posts: 333
    I have XM and it also is mounted on the trunk in the middle at the top of the lid. The only time I loose reception is in underground parking lots. I agree with your comments and find it very satisfying not to have to listen to commercials on music stations.
  • kmbaerkmbaer Member Posts: 20
    Today I test drove an LS460 and was disappointed to see that Sirius is not available through Lexus. I e-mailed Lexus some time ago, and got a BS answer that Sirius quality is not up to Lexus standard. I've had Sirius in all my vehicles since 2003 with no quality issues to speak of. Anyone know if Lexus is truly working on making Sirius available in the near future? I'm afraid that this is truly a deal breaker for me. :sick:
  • sidgriggssidgriggs Member Posts: 122
    My 07 LS460 came with a free 3 month trial subscription to XM and Nav Traffic -- it is great!
  • knowspinzoneknowspinzone Member Posts: 91
    Considering Sirius' precarious financial condition, I doubt that Lexus will add their service. Maybe if the merger is approved they will install dual receivers, but then if the merger is approved, most likely they will deactivate one set of satellites.
  • ljflxljflx Member Posts: 4,690
    What's the difference - they are merging amd I can't imagine the FCC breaking it and dooming one to go out of business. Once they merge they will eliinate the duplicative stations and take the best of breed independents. I have Sirius in my Infiniti and XM in the LS. They are both very good but I'd give the nod to XM on music but it's a photo finish. But no way in the world I let one over the other be a deal breaker for me. As I said earlier the stations are so duplicative in both services.
  • kmbaerkmbaer Member Posts: 20
    Well, I purchased my LS460 back on March 1 with the hope that the Sirius/XM merger would go through sometime soon. I soon realized that even if it happened within the next 6 months, it would probably be at least a year before they got the crossover hammered out. I did use the free XM service for 2 months, but missed some Sirius exclusive stations.

    I dreaded the thought of taking my car apart to install Sirius, but thanks to the folks at VAIS Technology, they have a plug-n-play interface that works with the factory head unit. They even had a converter for the shark fin antenna, so a seperate antenna was not necessary either! So if there are any Sirius folks out there, it's pretty easy to make the switch. I have not had any reception issues that Lexus claims to be a problem for them to not offer Sirius as an option. :D

    I am a VERY happy camper once again.

    KB :)
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