Toyota Avalon Sirius and XM questions

larrymcj

I hope this message can save someone the misery I have just gone through with a brand new 2008 Avalon Limited. The dealership was to install the Toyota factory Sirius Satellite kit and we all (incorrectly) presumed it would be the same as the 2007 Sirius kit...it was not.

When the technician installed it and I went to pick it up, the antenna, instead of being the normal small one that was installed by the third brake light in the rear deck area, was a HUGE 6"x2" obnoxious looking object glued to the windshield (on the inside) to the right of the rear view mirror.

If that wasn't enough, the sound quality of the Sirius receiver was HORRIBLE. Every channel sounded as if it had a reverberation or echo effect on it. Not the FM radio or CD...but only the Sirius channels.

They did som checking and found out that this is, in fact, the correct antenna now shipping as factory installed or installed later by the Toyota dealership.

Installing the kit was a 3-hour labor process where they have to tear apart the dash and many interior panels to run the antenna wire, and now it all had to be uninstalled as I couldn't live with the looks or the sound of the system.

I suspect with all the hacking on the dash and panels the car will rattle forever, but I'll just have to live with it.

I can't believe consumers will live with this antenna, or the sound quality of the new Sirius units for the Avalon, so if you're thinking of getting this...hold off until the situation is rectified.

LarryMcJ

blackdog4

I have an early 2007 Avalon LTD and have factory installed Sirius radio. I received it in Nov. 2006 and the antenna was on the windshield then as you are describing now. I must admit that I don't even notice it. The sound quality is great. Something must have gone wrong with the installation. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. It is nice on longer trips not to loose a station that you are enjoying. Also the variety of stations meets every mood.

larrymcj

I would agree with you on the antenna placement from the driver perspective, but sitting in the passenger seat it was an awful think to look at and clearly obstructed the view. Since my wife and I plan to retire soon and put a lot of "See the USA" miles on this car, we just couldn't deal with it in that position.

As for the reverberation sound quality, the unit is totally plug & play, so either it might have been defective, but I don't think it was installed incorrectly. This is the largest dealership in SE Virginia and they said they've never seen an antenna like this in all past installations they've done.

They did confer with a couple of other local aftermarket installers and found there is a hold on shipping many satellite kits for various cars, but couldn't attribute it to anything specific.

With Sirius and XM to finalize their merger late this year, I think I'll wait for all the smoke to clear and see if they come up with a re-designed antenna (and receiver) for the Avalon factory kit.

LarryMcJ

tzuppe

I have a 6 yr. old XM receiver smaller than a half deck of cards. I velcro it to the big cover below the radio, plug the output into the AUX input in the center consol, run the antenna wire between the seats, under the rear rugs, tuck it in beside the rear seat, and put the quarter size antenna at the base of the rear window. Works great and I have used it in 6 cars so far. Takes 2 min. to install.

rugster

We have an '08 Limited and had XM radio installed at the dealer. I don't know if the wiring is different for Sirius radio or not but the Limited comes all wired for XM radio. They just had to install the tuner somewhere under the passenger seat and plug it in.

The anntenae is a small black plastic tab that rests on the inside rear deck next to the center stoplight. It's about the size of a "Roach Motel" .

To be honest, I didn't care if was Sirius or XM when I purchased Sat Radio. I just chose XM as the sticker said it was pre-wired. I'm glad I did after reading about your frustration.