Sirius Satellite - To be or Not to be?!?
09-21-06, 03:17 PM
#31
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But an Ipod interface and DVD owns XM, at least for me
I just bought a new truck that had the XM in it, thought i'd give it a try, a month of that crap and I was installing my Alpine DVD player and getting my Ipod in there, now all is good again.
09-22-06, 06:21 AM
#32
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Or, I could work at a dealership and we have had to swap a couple antennas to fix the problem and it worked. But it keeps happening on other cars, and they dont sell the antenna seperately so we have to warranty entire units over and over and over. Sirius makes the units for the lexus cars and something is wrong with them. Customers complain to Lexus not Sirius, so Lexus stopped sale. So lets leave smoke and my a$$ out of this. Thanks.
09-22-06, 09:27 AM
#33
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Or, I could work at a dealership and we have had to swap a couple antennas to fix the problem and it worked. But it keeps happening on other cars, and they dont sell the antenna seperately so we have to warranty entire units over and over and over. Sirius makes the units for the lexus cars and something is wrong with them. Customers complain to Lexus not Sirius, so Lexus stopped sale. So lets leave smoke and my a$$ out of this. Thanks.
09-22-06, 09:39 AM
#34
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What part #s do you have for those? Im not sure what car it was for. But I do remember techs having to replace entire units as per the Lexus rep. Lexus rep said they did not have seperate parts for the Sirius kits and we had to warranty the entire unit to get the antenna they needed. The main point I was getting at was its not Sirius as a whole. But more so the specific parts of the Sirius kits they make for Lexus are not working correctly. We havnt had any problems with any XM kits. Only the Sirius kits have had problems. Mainly with the antennas. So no its not a Lexus problem. It is a problem with the Sirius kits made for Lexus.
09-22-06, 10:01 AM
#35
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What part #s do you have for those? Im not sure what car it was for. But I do remember techs having to replace entire units as per the Lexus rep. Lexus rep said they did not have seperate parts for the Sirius kits and we had to warranty the entire unit to get the antenna they needed. The main point I was getting at was its not Sirius as a whole. But more so the specific parts of the Sirius kits they make for Lexus are not working correctly. We havnt had any problems with any XM kits. Only the Sirius kits have had problems. Mainly with the antennas. So no its not a Lexus problem. It is a problem with the Sirius kits made for Lexus.
09-30-06, 07:25 PM
#37
just as a update to my feelings about my sirius kit, I never had intentions on installing that god awful looking antenna on the inside of my windshield, so I went to my local bestbuy and bought a XM antenna that included a sirius adapter (because they didnt have any sirius antennas)... and I was happy at first but was experiencing the complained about cut-outs everywhere.. so just this friday I went back to best buy and bought a sirius antenna for $34 bucks... pulled the xm out and put the new sirius in, and I have yet to experience a cut-out anywhere!! So I guess all the problems could very well be antenna related, but if someone cant wait and can get there hands on a lexus kit.. you could always buy the $35 antenna from bb, and have no problems.. 
11-23-06, 09:20 AM
#40
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Reason for Sirius Issues
I have a white 2006 GS300 which I purchased in January '06.
The Sirius has given me significant issues.
The first unit was installed with the SIGMA front windshield antenna, and performed terribly -- constant dropouts, tin can sound, etc... I went back to the dealer who tested the product and agreed that it was unacceptable. A month or so later, my original sirius unit burned out and had to be replaced, but that's another story. They then installed a standard Sirius antenna on my back seat tray. Although being less of an eyesore, it represented only a marginal improvement in reception. There are two reasons for this. First, the antenna is designed to be on the exterior of the vehicle and secondly it is supposed to be on top of a metal surface. The location issue is obvious - the roofline is frquently in the way of the satellite. As per the sirius website's installation section, the metal surface is supposed to help channel the signal as well. So is is a function of both location and lack of metal undersurface. Depending on the location of the currently transmitting satellite, I get fine reception or constant drop outs. The installation manuals for both xm and sirius clearly state that the antenna should not be installed inside the vehicle. I think some sirius folks get away with it based in their geographic location, or due to their proximity to ground repeaters. For those of us who have white cars, I'm not excited about putting that black antenna on my trunk or roof because in my opinion is ruins the lines of the car.
I can only imagine if I am having these types of issues, that it is fairly widespread, and the reinstallation hassles made Sirius a less than desirable option for the new cars. I note that the 2007s have a fin on the roof which presumably will solve the issue for future folks. Xm seems to have fewer issues because they have geostationary satellites (as opposed to the geosynchronous sirius satellites), and there signal strength is slightly better. I like the Sirius programming choices better, so for now, I'll stick with the Sirius service, but I'm not pleased with the dropouts.
If anyone out there is having similar issues and have solved the reception problem, or if they have figured out a way to mount the antenna externally in an aesthetic fashion, I would be appreciative of a photo of the location. There used to be a company called colormatchantenna.com which would paint the antenna to match, but they no longer offer this service. I'm concerned that appropriatel color-matched paint would obscure the receptive capabilities of the antenna.
The Sirius has given me significant issues.
The first unit was installed with the SIGMA front windshield antenna, and performed terribly -- constant dropouts, tin can sound, etc... I went back to the dealer who tested the product and agreed that it was unacceptable. A month or so later, my original sirius unit burned out and had to be replaced, but that's another story. They then installed a standard Sirius antenna on my back seat tray. Although being less of an eyesore, it represented only a marginal improvement in reception. There are two reasons for this. First, the antenna is designed to be on the exterior of the vehicle and secondly it is supposed to be on top of a metal surface. The location issue is obvious - the roofline is frquently in the way of the satellite. As per the sirius website's installation section, the metal surface is supposed to help channel the signal as well. So is is a function of both location and lack of metal undersurface. Depending on the location of the currently transmitting satellite, I get fine reception or constant drop outs. The installation manuals for both xm and sirius clearly state that the antenna should not be installed inside the vehicle. I think some sirius folks get away with it based in their geographic location, or due to their proximity to ground repeaters. For those of us who have white cars, I'm not excited about putting that black antenna on my trunk or roof because in my opinion is ruins the lines of the car.
I can only imagine if I am having these types of issues, that it is fairly widespread, and the reinstallation hassles made Sirius a less than desirable option for the new cars. I note that the 2007s have a fin on the roof which presumably will solve the issue for future folks. Xm seems to have fewer issues because they have geostationary satellites (as opposed to the geosynchronous sirius satellites), and there signal strength is slightly better. I like the Sirius programming choices better, so for now, I'll stick with the Sirius service, but I'm not pleased with the dropouts.
If anyone out there is having similar issues and have solved the reception problem, or if they have figured out a way to mount the antenna externally in an aesthetic fashion, I would be appreciative of a photo of the location. There used to be a company called colormatchantenna.com which would paint the antenna to match, but they no longer offer this service. I'm concerned that appropriatel color-matched paint would obscure the receptive capabilities of the antenna.
11-23-06, 10:27 AM
#41
Lexus Test Driver
I'm trying to decide on a satellite radio as well. Just got '07 GS350, and has been told that sharkfin antenna is ONLY for XM radio. That will absolutely not work with Sirius. My dealership subcontracts Sirius install to a local shop that uses a 16 char receiver. Now, the problem is they insist on Sirius antenna to be installed outside on a trunk which will ruin the perfect Silver look 
They told me it will not work in the back under the window (next to rear break light). Not sure what to do?
They told me it will not work in the back under the window (next to rear break light). Not sure what to do?
11-24-06, 11:38 AM
#42
I have both... Sirius aftermarket in my Landcruiser and XM in my '06 RL.
From music content perspective Sirius is the better of the two, but I've really come to depend on the XM Navtraffic that integrates real time traffic info onto the Nav.
From music content perspective Sirius is the better of the two, but I've really come to depend on the XM Navtraffic that integrates real time traffic info onto the Nav.
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