I had been going back and forth as to whether or not to install satellite radio and I just couldn't take terrestrial radio any more. I decided to go with XM because of the ease of installation and the luxury of being able to use my shark fin antenna on my 07' GS350 w/ML. I am a vendor at a Toyota store, so I got the tuner and fit kit for $250.

I downloaded the instructions,read them over a couple of times, and then began to tackle the job. The instructions were well illustrated and I had the trunk totally apart in 15 minutes. The first thing to do is mount the tuner under the rear speaker shelf and that might have been the most challenging of the steps because I am 6'4". I crawled into the trunk to get a better look and mounted the tuner with no problem,except when I tried to get out. I seriously thought I was stuck, but I managed to wiggle my way out.

The next step was to run the wire harness from the tuner to the amp. One tip that I would like to share,is to make sure you unplug the required factory wires from the amp,and then plug the new harness in the amp. After you plug the new harness into the amp, then plug the factory plugs into the new harness. If you plug the factory wires into the new harness first, it is very difficult to plug the new harness into the amp because the harness and plugs are very stiff. I grounded the amp to the screw that was shown in the instructions and plugged in the shark fin antenna.

Before I put everything back together, I wanted to make sure it worked,and when I turned on the radio, the XM preview channel came right on,so I knew I was in business. I flipped the trunk panel over that covers the rear shelf,and there is a pattern that needs to be cut out so the tuner doesn't get covered. A standard X-Acto knife did the job perfectly,so I began putting everything back together. In about 10 minutes, all the trunk panels were all back together and the job was complete. I would think I saved myself a few hundred dollars,and it was so simple, even a caveman could do it

Now came my favorite part, calling XM and beating them up on a subscription. I got someone on the phone after waiting about 5 minutes,and I told him I was a previous customer that was thinking about returning. I told him I received something in the mail saying if I returned to XM, I could come back for $77 a year. He said he had no record of that offer and wasn't sure if he could do it that low. I said ok, I will just install Sirius because they have a cheaper offer. Right after I said that, he said "Oh wait, here is that $77 promotional offer, I can do it". Now me, being the pig that I am, said " That's a great deal, but is there a promotional offer that will give me Howard Stern too"? He said "As a matter of fact there is, I can give you a year of XM with Howard Stern for $100". I said I'll take it and please send me an invoice. The reason I said to send me an invoice, was because I don't like them having my CC on file because they will automatically sign you up after the yearly subscription expires and charge you the regular rate.

 

$100/year? that sounds great.

if I can get the preview, it means I already have the hardware right?

 

Correct. If you push the SAT button, and it brings you to the preview channel, you are good to go. Tune to channel 000 and it will show you the radio ID that you need to give to the XM rep.