Topic: Auto Tech: SiriusXM Satellite Radio

[Autos_Editor]

Mike Schlee brings us the latest in the world of satellite radio.

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[Ex-airbalancer]

Sat radio is over priced, small playlist , does not in fog, and roads covered with a lot tree

[quadzilla]

Sat radio is over priced, small playlist , does not in fog, and roads covered with a lot tree

I won't argue about being over priced which you can easily negotiate much lower fees by asking for retention, but if you have issues in fog or trees then there has to be something wrong with your system.  I only get the odd brief disconnect with a certain kind of over pass (something in the concrete?), one spot while driving up the Hamilton Mtn on the 403 and the giant windmill along Lakeshore.

I just did a 2,000 km road trip through Vermont, New Hampshire and Quebec and never had any issues and trust me, I had all the fog and trees you could ask for.

[tpl]

I find that Sirius does have a few more cutting out periods than Xm used to.  And I found I could not get a stable Sirius signal at home which I could with Xm.

I put this down to the way the satellites of Sirius move around the sky where XM's satellite does not.
Whatever.

I would not willingly have a car without Sirius or XM having had one or the other in cars for nigh on 10 years.

[HeliDriver]

Reception is never an issue with the Sirius in my GTI. Don't know about sound quality, as 99% of my listening is talk radio - CBC, BBC and NPR. I play CDs when I want music.

Then we got the Yukon with XM. Reception cuts out all the time in the mountains, but I can't say if that's an XM issue or a GM-antenna issue. XM didn't even have CBC (they do now, but for extra $), so would have cancelled it except that my wife still wanted it.

Like quad said, if you're willing to spend a few minutes on the phone you can get them cheaper: I'm paying ~50% of the posted rate for each.

Even then, I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep subscribing. In the car, I can get CBC over the air just about anywhere. We used to listen to Sirius at home, but net radio is just as good - and free.

[Fobroader]

Wife has had a Sirius radio in her jeep for a few years, she won her system in a golf tournament. Its great for long trips, between the comedy channels and, when she falls asleep, electronica channels, it makes the drive from Edmonton to Brandon bearable. Ive never heard her and Ive never seen the thing have a reception problem, unless were stuck under an overpass.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Xm in the Prius and Chevy truck had cut out problems
The fog was in Nova Scotia and it was thick


Sent from my iPhone

[Fobroader]

Xm in the Prius and Chevy truck had cut out problems
The fog was in Nova Scotia and it was thick


Sent from my iPhone

I could maybe see ice crystals, but fog.......hmmm

[dirtyjeffer]

i have been enjoying SiriusXM in my new car, first time with sat radio...while i wouldn't keep it at $15/month, they offered me a 3 month renewal for $7.50 ($2.50 per month) for 3 months, so i took it...then, not wanting to keep calling every 3 months, i searched for retention offers and found a 1 year deal for $79, so i called about that and took it...i figured for $7/month, it was worth it.

[Boff]

I just got a new car and it is equipped with Sirius...it is my first experience with sat radio (except when my brother-in-law and I drove from Detroit to Indianapolis listening to Hair Nation in his JGC). Won't be keeping it at $15/month; might at $7/month. The sound quality is not very impressive. The Classic Vinyl station seems to be the worst offender. I'm not a fan of talk radio. The Real Jazz and Symphony Hall stations sound better (why is there only one station of each though?) and the programming is terrific on these.   

[tpl]

To be fair to Sirius/XM some of the channels of older pop/rock stuff.  The original material was not exactly the HIest of FIdelity when it was originally recorded 60 to 40 years ago.

But I agree that some of the channels could well have better quality.

[2latecrew]

i have been enjoying SiriusXM in my new car, first time with sat radio...while i wouldn't keep it at $15/month, they offered me a 3 month renewal for $7.50 ($2.50 per month) for 3 months, so i took it...then, not wanting to keep calling every 3 months, i searched for retention offers and found a 1 year deal for $79, so i called about that and took it...i figured for $7/month, it was worth it.

Yup its becoming an annual thing now. Call a couple weeks before the end of your year contract. tell them you want to cancel. Let them put you on hold,they come back and offer a lower rate say no still want to cancel, do this 2 or 3 more times and eventually end up 50% lowr than the posted rate.

Its a stupid dance but it works every time. I wanted to transfer my subscription between radios and they wanted a "mandatory" transfer fee. The magic word cancel and two on holds and it was gone. Its a stupid wink wink nudge nudge everyone knows what is going to happen system but I guess it keeps the call center people employed so its not all bad.

For $7 a month when you travel out of city areas to a places with limited radio its well worth it. I find mine only cuts out under over passes or really tall buildings and  just have the antenna on my dash.

I agree 5-7$ a month is my price point. After that I could certainly live without it.

[Weels]

I've had XM & Sirius in last two cars and i'd miss it if I didn't have it. 
I pay it annually for just over $100, so for around 10 bucks a month it's worth it to me

Funny, just got an e-mail last night for "Sirius Premier" - for an extra $4 a month it unlocks 'premium' channels such as Oprah, Martha Stewart, NASCAR... & some other goodies...NHL (hah!) NBA,,,    Aahhhh, no thanks.

[pedror]

I had it for 3 months included in my new car subscription.  For the money (retention games aside, how I HATE those games) it is not worth it, especially for the audio quality.  I tried a variety of music channels out while I had the service and most of them sounded like low bitrate streaming Internet radio - too compressed.

Get the price down to $7-8 / month (for everyone, not just someone who whines the most) and commit to CD quality audio.  Then I would be interested.

[canuckystan]

I managed to buy the US version using a US address, no complaints at all, lots to listen to.  Local AM and FM stations are pretty bad and full of commercials.  Even the commercials on Sirius/XM stations are pretty limited compared to local stations.  I wouldn't drive without it - when you're caught in a Vancouver traffic jam it is very nice to have.

[Seafoam]

 I had sirius for about 3 years. Pricing aside , I hated the constant repetition of the music. It was frankly no better than listening to FM rock stations. This was prevalent on the 60's ,70'sand 80's channels. You could look at your watch and predict which song they were going to play next. Really ,for how much music that was produced in those decades there didn't have to be so much repetition on sirius. For that reason I am out.