Can anyone direct me to an after market satellite add on kit that will enable the E.S. 350 radio to receive satellite stations. (like what Lexus would add as an option)?
oakplank

 

Hi Oak, I had the XM radio installed by the dealership after purchase. XM is supported by Lexus as it’s offered here as a option, not sure about Ontario.

Check around for best price as dealerships will charge for the XM and install labor$$ what the market will bear. My total cost was $547. One good thing about having the dealership install the XM was in my case when they were replacing the car the question was asked did I have the XM install by Lexus (a dealership XM install is considered a factory install) so the XM radio was included in the replacement car.

The ES radio will work well with the XM radio, if you have the NAV it will show stations, text and give you many perset stations too.

Coverage: Ontario is way up north – call XM first to make sure your area is covered at 1-800-967-2346, or you can go on line at xmradio.com and look around. I hope this helps.

 

XM covers Ontario. They even established a separate company to offer XM in Canada, complete with Canadian-specific programming (both in French and English). I believe Canadians have to sign up through the Canadian XM company, which I believe has their headquarters in Ontario.

 

You have a couple of choices. lexus-parts.com has a complete kit for $299 along with on-line instructions for installation. It's the same part that will be installed at the dealership. Vaistech.com (a advertiser here) has black box adapter that allows an aftermarket Terk tuner to work like a factory system. It also gives you an additional hard wired auxillary input. The black box is $299 and the tuner is $49.95. Pro-tech has a bracket to hold a portable XM tuner like a Roady or SkyFi. The bracket is under $30 and usually takes about 20 minutes to install (I've put 3 in different cars). You can then use the FM modulator or hard wire it to the 350's aux input for better sound quality.

The dealership accidentally installed XM in my 350. I didn't want to pay the $485 factory cost and was still deciding on which route to take. They knocked $100 off the price and I kept the factory option.

-Robert

 

Thanks guys. I will forward this information to my friend who has a ES330.
oakplank