XM & Sirius Satellite Radio

klizmaaa

I completely understand what your saying i recently had sirius installed in to the head unit of my infiniti the dealer quoted me 900 then 700 and then gave it to me for pretty much nothing because i told him i wouldnt lease the car with out. It amazes me that 1/2 hour of work can be so expensive

billingsley

Reading all the comments about XM vs Sirrius, we have XM at home, and love it. Neither of our cars have satellite radio. I did read that neither company has made any money. Although, at last count XM did have 7 million subscribers vs a bit less for Sirrius. I think one company will buy out the other one eventually.

buhockey21

Anyone got a clue as to how much my Honda dealer will charge me to install XM on an 06 Civic LX? I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting the EX which has XM pre-wired but I'm hoping this won't be a huge undertaking.

Thanks

Kirstie_H

My opinion only - you're better off buying and getting it installed at a car audio-specific shop rather than at the dealership. (And mine took about an hour)

nortsr1

kirstie-h:
On the inquisitive side, could you give us a ballpark installation cost and also, was your vehicle already pre-wired? I have been looking at several new cars and I notice that (for example) the Sirius radio already installed is $175.00 plus the first year free,however; some of the cars I am interested in do not have the above offering, so that is why I am asking you for a price.
Thanks,
Nortsr1

Kirstie_H

Well, I went to a place that does all installs for $1. So that was my price

My current vehicle was not prewired, XM-ready, or any of that good stuff. In fact, the G35 stock stereo is set up in such a way as to make it impossible to replace. So.... I had to go for the FM-modulated add-on. I did the Pioneer portable, which at the time was latest & greatest, for around $300.

Pioneer (and some other companies) make XM-ready headunits that can replace the stock one - there's a huge variety in pricing, though, and it really requires a visit to the car audio shop to determine cost based on what works in your vehicle. Places like Circuit City & Best Buy carry a few as well, and also do install.

knowledgeman

Dear Dklanecky:

Sirius is NOT in bankruptcy. That is a big load of crap.

Both are good services.

Sirius has CNN Headline News, Traffic, National Public Radio, Country, Rap, 80's, New Rock, CBC, BBC, etc.

These services are great when taking a long trip.

There are a number of ways to upgrade. The best way is to get the manufacturer's radio delivered with the vehicle. There are aftermarket sales outlets that can sell you the direct replacement radio; try www.radiosandmore.com for many makes including Ford, GM, Chrysler, some others, or for Toyota and Lexus try www.vaistech.com

Knowledgeman

Kirstie_H

Please note that the message to which you responded was 2.5 years old, and the financial situation may have looked vastly different at that time.

nippononly

that message was THREE point five years old!

I am rooting for Sirius, as that is the one I got recently - just a plug-n-play that I move between cars. It works far better than I expected, and is also very addicting: I have completely stopped listening to local radio, which I didn't think would happen. $12.95 a month for this service is an absolute bargain, when you compare to things like cable TV.

And Sirius has a 24/7 BBC World News feed - I can't get enough! Not to mention TWO NPR feeds and all the music.

I think the satellites must move around a bit during the day, and always seem to be slightly east of me here on the west coast, because trees hanging over the east side of the street usually cause me more problems with reception than trees on the west side. But I am a newbie here - still learning....

Mr_Shiftright

I even bought Sirius stock (it's cheap right now). Same as you, I've ditched local radio and my CD collection as well. I either listen to Sirius or plug the iPod into the AUX outlet. Raw Dog comedy channel 104 is great and the World News is SOOOOOO much better than what you hear in the USA.

nippononly

"and the World News is SOOOOOO much better than what you hear in the USA."

Amen! :-)

carnaught

I've ditched local radio and my CD collection as well. I either listen to Sirius or plug the iPod into the AUX outlet.

I don't know but I'm starting to get sick of Sirius especially with their playing of their music in a recycling fashion.

tallman1

I love XM radio but I am so tired of hearing the commercials. Even a couple of minutes every 15 minutes perturbs me. I wonder how much more per month it would be if there were no advertisers for the latest web tool or pet food or whatever.

Does Sirius do this as well?? I don't mind station IDs or reminders of upcoming features but selling stuff is getting to me, considering that I'm paying a monthly fee. :P

stickguy

there are only ads on a few of the stations (I think all ones that were added this year). SOmething to do with them being some group network (like a Westward one?) that they simulcast, and it has commercials. ALmost like picking up a local station and putting it on the sat.

It is odd when I am on one of those stations though and a commercial comes on.

Note, I rarely listen to talk stations, so no idea if more of them have ads..

nippononly

I just did a 10-hour round trip this weekend, and I never heard the same song twice. But I do surf among 8 or 9 favorite stations for music. I hope I do not eventually discover this pattern you are referring to. I hate repeated music.

Shifty: I still carry a few "road tapes" for long trips, as I am accustomed to them, but it was about 98% Sirius for me this last weekend! :-)

Oh, and I haven't heard a single commercial on Sirius yet, so I must not be listening to the stations that carry them? :confuse:

Mr_Shiftright

There are a couple of ads...I think on the talk and comedy channels.

I haven't noticed music repeats but then I'm not listening 5 hours a day either, so I don't know. I like off-beat stuff and maybe it's less repetitive than mainstream music for the younger crowd...but sure, if you listen to Margheritaville (31) you're gonna get pretty sick of Jimmy Buffet. Coffeehouse (30) is pretty interesting, and I like Discord and Shuffle channels. The UK station can be amusing (is it 12?) but they do play some weird stuff. I really hate the 80s music and can stand just a small dose of that 1970s "I'm so stoned I'll do a 24 minute guitar solo" music.....

nippononly

my faves are the electronic stations, area 33 being the best of the bunch. But there is also a "Boombox" station, is it 34? That's good too. I set them on the presets the first day I got the thing, so now I don't know what the station numbers are, I just know 'A1', 'A2', etc.

'A8' is set to Sirius 141, BBC World News, still the most commonly used preset! :-)

Mr_Shiftright

I tried 33---made me want to "do the robot".

nippononly

Yeah, it's a bit like that. I like Classic Rewind a lot too, plus 1st Wave, and there are a couple of other really good stations in the rock group.

jwboyce

I love the XM radio in my 06 Jetta, but there are problems:

1. XM is constantly "Updating Channel Listings" (>50% of time) so you have no idea what is playing.
2. Car sometimes forgets that it has XM, cant find XM, requiring restart of car to "remember" it.
3. Field where title and artist are displayed is only ~3 inches wide, while screen is twice that width, but all the extra space is just wasted. So instead of getting Artist, Song Title, and Album Title information, all I get is part of the artist, and part of the song title.

Does anyone know of any fixes for any of these problems?
Does anyone even know WHO I can complain to?
Any genuine (or REALLY funny sarcastic) advice would be appreciated.

tallman1

I haven't noticed the channel listings update. I have noticed that there are sometimes no artist or title listed but that is rare for me.

Also haven't experienced the "remember" issue.

I don't have experience with other systems so I'm not sure if more info can be displayed. Makes for some funny titles at times though.

Have you checked the XM website for contact info?

blane

This may be a silly question. But have you hounded your VW dealer's service department? This sounds like a warranty issue with VW's equipment.

If nothing else works, I'd visit another VW dealer with more competent technicians.

jwboyce

blane & tallman1, thanks for the replies.

the reason i havent taken it to my VW dealership is that their solution will be to take away my car for a week (or more, based on previous experience). I've been waiting for something else to go wrong (only a matter of time) . . . and in the meantime, I thought I'd post the problem to see if anyone else had dealt with it. Step one, gather info; step two, act.

I will check out the XM site(s) to see if there's any solution to the display problem. I guess it's not so much a problem as a stupid decision on the part of the software engineer: "We have a 6 inch nav screen to work with, so let's just use the middle third for our XM display". As someone who writes (scientific, low-level) software all the time, and as the son of a software professional, this attitude amazes me.

thanks again.

tallman1

Another factor may be that XM sends a signal to more than cars with navigation systems. I don't know the details but those small XM receivers may only contain room for that much info so that is all that comes out no matter how wide your navi screen is.

blane

jwboyce,

I don't think that checking XM's website will be fruitful. You are dealing with a VW hardware problem. If you expect to check websites, the Edmunds VW Jetta: Problems & Solutions forum might be a good starting point.

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.ee994fa/0!make=Volkswagen&model=Jetta&ed_- - - makeindex=.ee994fa

I'm glad that it was you, and not me, that wrote "I've been waiting for something else to go wrong (only a matter of time)".

jwboyce

I am positive we have less screen info than my Dad's tiny portable XM reciever (he has three lines versus our two, and he has more characters per line!). So i think they could have put more info in there, they just chose not to (or there is a secret setting we cant find to change it).

as for "waiting for something else to go wrong", we are talking about a car that died on the way home from the dealership: jwboyce, "Volkswagen Jetta: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" #164, 24 Jun 2006 2:09 pm

Of course every time I drive it (since then), I'm glad I didnt buy anything else!

thanks again for the helpful input.

blane

jwboyce,

I'm sure that the more-or-less screen info is a function of the manufacturer of the radio. In this case, VW or their audio supplier.

My 2004 Accord's built-in XM display shows fewer, and larger, characters than the XM SkyFi² portable unit that I've installed in my wife's Subaru Legacy. We also use the SkyFi² in a home cradle when its not in her car.

We're both addicted to XM's great programming and selections.

Keep pestering your VW dealer to fix your hardware problem and you'll be fine.

perna

I love the XM radio in my 06 Jetta, but there are problems:

If XM is your only problem with that car, consider yourself touched.

In an unrelated note, Sirius has a killer deal right now where you get a free radio if you already have one in the family. You just need to agree to pay the extra monthly fee ($6.99) for 6 months or so.

Kirstie_H

XM had that deal in July... and I missed it I'm hoping that they run it again to match the Sirius offer.

nippononly

that if they go in to a long quick turn, like doing a 270 on a freeway cloverleaf-style off-ramp or something, that the Sirius will lose the signal for a second, almost like it can't keep up with the direction change enough to track the signal?

Steeply banked on- and off-ramps are when I notice this the most.

blane

I've never noticed that, because I have XM.

jwboyce

Except for it stopping DEAD in the middle of the road on the ride home from the dealership on day one, it's been fine. Hehehe. But in all honestly, every time i drive my GLI i'm glad i own it.

intensivist

This is a problem with a bad xm module in your car. I had a similiar problem with a sirius module that was resolved by replacing the module in the trunk.

avalon7

I am planning on paying for a lifetime contract with SIRIUS for $500...does anyone know of any discount coupons available? Thanks

blane

Is that YOUR lifetime? The lifetime of your receiver? The lifetime of your vehicle? The lifetime of Sirius as a company?

carnaught

I am planning on paying for a lifetime contract with SIRIUS for $500...does anyone know of any discount coupons available?

The question is, how long is Sirius' lifetime?

nippononly

$500 is about 3 years and 4 months at the normal monthly fee, so if you hang in there at least four years (and I would put good money on the idea that Sirius will last at least that long) you have come out ahead.

Now, the only hitch is that they charge the activation fee for each time you change receivers, so you would have to love the one you activated now, or the savings would take longer to achieve. Worse yet, you are only allowed like four new activations on your "lifetime plan". Now what's that all about?

blane

That couldn't be deceptive advertising on the part of the Dog, could it?

scottinmass

Have you received any information on replacing XM with Sirius ? I would like to do the same.

lobsenza

is for the lifetime of your equipment and cannot be changed to any other receiver. You can have your receiver repaired. A lifetime subscription is only a good idea if you are keeping that receiver over 4 years.

blane

So much for truth in advertising.

sb55

Same with my TIVO. I got lifetime subscription when they 1st came out,in maybe 2000, (I think $199.00) for my 14 hour machine. My hard drive went, and when I called cust. (no)service, they said sorry..lifetime is only on the receiver. I then found an aftermarket company and bought a new hard drive and put it in the Tivo. Now I have 180 hours in the same old box and still have liftime plan.

At least Sirius will let you change receivers for a fee. I have lifetime, and don't mind, as long as it doesn't break. I don't need the latest technology when it comes out, as long as the old one works..

blane

sb55,

That's not what lobsenza wrote in post #1179. He wrote "Sirius Lifetime Plan is for the lifetime of your equipment and cannot be changed to any other receiver".

Which of you is correct about Sirius?

I'll stick with my excellent XM service.

carnaught

"Sirius Lifetime Plan is for the lifetime of your equipment and cannot be changed to any other receiver".


Too bad. It is obviously NOT for a car unless you're keeping it for a while.

sb55

I was told that I can switch to another receiver for $75.00, up to 2 times. I have had Sirius for about 1-1/2 years (and I also have XM). A friend had his car broken into an lost his much older Sirius radio. Sirius honored his lifetime on a new unit.

mtngal

I still love the programming of XM but their accounting/customer service is absolutely the PITS! I'm extremely close to pulling the plug on them and buying Sirius radios. Right now I wouldn't recommend anyone touch them - they have our account SO screwed up. I've ended up overpaying for at least one of my radios, they've cut off my service when they shouldn't have, and every time you talk to them on the phone, they give you a different story. It's an absolute nightmare - go with Sirius!

blane

I've had absolutely nothing but the best, most competent, service the few times that I've ever needed to phone XM.

Since I prepaid for three years of discounted service on each of my two radios, there has been no need to contact them ever since the initial account setups, several months apart.

I'd highly recommend XM's service and programming to anyone considering satellite radio

mtngal

That's what I thought until I added a radio and then another radio came up for renewal and then they extended all of the radios, not just the one that I asked them to renew (and paid for) and then they cut off service to all the radios because they said I owed the rest of the money for the service I HADN'T REQUESTED TO BE EXTENDED. When we gave up figuring out why they extended radio service for radios that didn't need it and just paid the amount they said we owed, they didn't start service, saying we had to do that. And all we did was renew one radio. Absolute nightmare! I think I've probably over-paid but maybe not. I just hate it when they said I wouldn't owe anything until the next radio came due and then they cut off service to all three radios a month before the third one was supposed to be due- the amounts didn't match because they extended the other radio, I think. What they did still doesn't make sense to me, all I know is that I've given them more money than I had anticipated because we have one account and their accounting system wants all of them to have the same expiration date. No - I am NOT a happy camper.

I love their programming, have no problems with a loss of signal etc. But their accounting is incomprehensible and no one seems to give you the same story when you talk to them on the phone. I haven't canceled my subscription, but if anything else unexpected like that happens again, I sure will!

carnaught

I still love the programming of XM but their accounting/customer service is absolutely the PITS! I'm extremely close to pulling the plug on them and buying Sirius radios........... It's an absolute nightmare - go with Sirius!

Well, I have both Sirius and XM and although both leave something to be desired, Sirius by far is the worst of the two when it comes to customer service. The hold times are far worse, they lie to you and I've been hung up or cut off twice, plus multiple calls are required to get an issue resolved (with Sirius).

mtngal

LOL! And now we know why neither one is making any money!

Oh well, at least XM didn't lie to me (they just didn't include all the facts), I've never been hung up on (though once my cell phone timed out while I was on hold, not XM's fault), though it's taken multiple calls to get my issue resolved. I THINK I have most of the problems worked out, but won't know until tomorrow when I get to the office and go through the reactivate procedure for the office Roady (sigh).