rockyboy

My free subscription ran out and I'm contemplating subscribing to SiriusXM because the ELS sound system in the top trim of the RDX is amazing and the music sounds better on SiriusXM than on the regular radio plus it's commercial free. Anyone subscribe?

cu2wagon

Absolutely. It's worth every cent as a premium service. While I was more of a fan of Sirius radio before the merger than I was of XM ("XM" just sounds cheap whereas "Sirius" projects an opulence of luxury), I've afforded them the premiere preset locations on my radio. But I still never mention the XM part of their corporate name... It'll forever be just "Sirius" to me.

You should absolutely renew your prescription to the satellite radio. You drive the premier luxury vehicle, why would you reduce yourself to listening to pedestrian "terrestrial" radio?

Answer: you shouldn't.

snorf

I had XM in my previous car and our RDX came with XM. I found that I didn't listen to it very often. Although they say they don't advertise, the DJs do enough talking to more than make up for it. I don't think they played any more music than the FM stations either. I also believe that the sound quality on XM is not any better than FM and not as good as HD radio (albeit HD radio often fades in and out of HD mode) and does not come close to the sound quality of music recorded on the hard drive (although acura didn't do a very good job of making it easy to put music on the hard drive like other manufacturers have done). I only listened to about 3 or 4 stations on XM and usually changed between them to hopefully hear something I wanted to hear - much like I do with FM - but I don't have to do that with my music that I have on the hard drive. I put music that I like on the hard drive and my wife's music on an mp3 player (the USB isn't anything to write home about in the RDX - not well thought out in my opinion). We didn't even know XM had expired until I got something from them in the mail because we didn't listen to it. I'm sure there are plenty of people who like XM, but it is of minimal value to me. I wouldn't be using it if it was free of charge and I'm not interested in impressing anyone with my "XM radio". There are plenty of excellent XM radio stations in central Florida, but if I lived in a remote part of the country I may have an interest in using it.

Correction - plenty of excellent FM stations in central Florida.

CTNYC

I'm usually able to get 5 months for ~$30 with tax/fees (The most common/mid-tier level - forgot what it was, but includes most channels). I just call before the subscription runs out to say I want to cancel b/c of the price. Like clockwork, they offer a "deal" then when you push harder, they offer the 5 months for $25 + taxes/fees.

emsrph

Just renewed today, same rate as CTNYC. Comes to around $30 for the 5 months. Just say no until you get this rate.

sathiyan

I renewed yesterday, 6 months for $25 (select package). Not saying this to brag. Just wanted to let others know that you can still negotiate. I got an email from them for $30, but I asked if they can do $25 and they agreed.

ceb

I recommend renewing at the full rate. That gets you all of the premium sound that Sirius XM can provide.

cu2wagon

^ This guy gets it.

Comfy

Hah
Ha ha. Perfectly said. And that too with ELS sound system.

YeuEmMaiMai

oh, crap looked at who the OP is.... :facepalm on me :o

OP

do your best to get the lowest rate possible, make sure you tell this that is for your CAR and you should be able to get it at or below $10 a month.

Comfy

The Canadian elite models get it for $10 a year.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

XM is nice.

Himecraig

That is the price point I'm gonna ask for...great deal! Our free trial ends this month.

It's fun to discover something of interest on a long trip...yesterday while driving I listened to 3-hrs of live Ryder cup coverage.

cheffip

$10 a year????

Comfy

Yes that's right. $10 a year. But there's a catch. The deal is available only for "Rockyboy" .

rabid_rob

Tip: When/if you do subscribe, mail them a paper check for payment. If you give them a credit/debit card number, they will enable automatic renewals, which can be a aggravating chore to contact them, and have multiple sales staff try and talk you into continuing. I spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone with them trying to cancel and was transferring three times before I was finally able to get them to cancel the subscription.

With a paper check, they will always send you a paper bill for a renewal, and you may obviously elect not to pay and let the subscription expire.

- - -
I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Always...I pay the $2 invoice fee they instill to attempt to bully you into giving your credit card payment, but you already know with a service like this, it'll be a lot harder to get a refund than to withhold payment.

chickdr

You can always dispute the charge if they charge you after you call and cancel. Just document it. I too do the 6mth for $25 deal. Anymore than that is too much for radio. Intend to renew every 6mths as needed.

Comfy

I didn't renew the subscription after the new car grace period expired despite multiple attempts by them to change my mind. Yesterday they said they will activate a complimentary two month subscription and hope that I will join afterwards. I have now two months to decide if I want it or not.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

once a year i pay 100 bucks per radio, I also have the select so i can stream from my phone to my work truck.
it's all good....and worth it to me.

chickdr

Has anyone renewed recently? I just chatted with them and was told the 6mths for $25 deal is one time only. I won't be renewing if they can't offer this price again.

markAZ

Cancel and wait a couple weeks. You'll get another offer for $25/6mo. And another. And another...

Like some others, best I've been offered is about $100 for a year. Or keep doing the $25 deal.

kipsy

my card used for the 6 month renewal is no longer a valid card, so it should close on its own. ill wait for another 25 offer in the mail.

mindanalyzer

Good idea, you always can subscribe with a virtual CC number (it is called shopsafe for BankofAmerica CCs), that you make it valid for 6 months for an amount of $25.01

Gadgetjq

Agree with another member, way too much talk on satellite music channels. One DJ has people filing traffic reports from their area. I'm interested in that why? The option: I have thousands of songs on my phone or stream free Pandora while in the car.

jcross1231

Seems there's more and more talk all the time. And some of it IS advertising - for another channel or whatever. The main advantage to me was not having to search for radio stations when traveling. I find I'm using music on the phone more and more and XM less and less.

RockTheGlobe

Whoever claimed that Sirius was better than XM due to its "premium" name... I guess you are easily susceptible to marketing. XM was far better than Sirius pre-merger in every way.

As others have pointed out, there's a fair amount of talk on the music channels, and some of the DJs are definitely not better than what was referred to as "pedestrian" terrestrial radio... Madison on Alt Nation makes me want to claw my eardrums out, and I find a lot of the time, the DJs are pitching shows on other channels. While there are some SiriusXM channels that supply music and genres not readily available on FM, it depends on whether you personally want to take advantage of those channels -- if you're listening to SiriusXM because you want to hear Hits1 or The Highway or something like that, save yourself the cash and tune to FM. Or if you really feel like spending money on music, get a subscription to Slacker Radio Plus or Premium for a true commercial-free experience; it's a hell of a lot cheaper than SiriusXM, the audio quality is a lot better, and Slacker also has a lot of the themed-music/genre streams that SiriusXM offers plus a lot more.

markAZ

Slacker is an internet radio service, isn't it? So you use your cellular data for it and it would be available only where there's cell service. SiriusXM is satellite delivered so would be available just about anywhere.

Himecraig

When our subscription to xm ran out we said goodbye...never again given the price and a month of Howard Stern was enough.
When going under a highway over crossing the feed would cut out.
and I always thought in the beginning the xm service could magically be switched over while at home or office.

our son used Spotify on a recent road trip and I was very impressed...
can download playlists and play without need for data wifi.
i normally use free pandora around our home area while driving, then switch to news and traffic

RockTheGlobe

Slacker is Internet radio, but paying customers get the ability to download stations to their mobile devices, much like Spotify. This allows them to listen whether they're directly connected via mobile network or offline.

SiriusXM: Available just about anywhere, except if you're going under an overpass or between tall buildings.

verpan

I prefer to spend my money on Apple Music, a service that I can enjoy both while in the car and elsewhere. And with the ability to download playlists to my phone I don't need to worry about the LTE data consumption either.

jime

I have been successfully negotiating for 1/2 price for every renewal on all three of my cars since 2004. My technique is to call and tell them I am going to cancel because it is too expensive. I put the payment on my credit card, but always call in to renew on the day that the annual subscription automatically renews. My most recent subscription costs have been $93 for 12 months, and that price is for full service on all channels.

RDX-Rick

Can someone explain what the additional fees are. For example on the Sirius website, the "Select" option is $15.99 a month plus "additional fees apply". I understand that the additional fees may include music royalty charges, but was is the value of the fees.

Even if I did negotiate a decent rate like $93/year ($7.75/month) , what are the additional fees going to end up costing me in total. Do I also have to pay my local sales taxes or is tax not charged due to the Global nature of the service?

markAZ

The last deal I got was in March of last year. It was $99 for a year of XM Select plus a 'U.S. Music Royalty Fee' of $13.76. No sales or other taxes on the bill.The fee is described as 'SiriusXM is required by law to pay copyright music royalties.' Here's a link to their FAQ: 2015 Royalty Fee Announcement - SiriusXM Radio. They can also charge a 'radio activation fee' or a 'package change fee'. I'll call a couple days before the sub runs out & threaten to cancel...it always seems to work. If not, I'll wait a couple weeks until I get another offer in the mail.

Personally, I think it's all a rip-off but my wife likes it. I think I'll let her call next time.

RDX-Rick

Thanks markAZ, I had searched for that information previously but was unable to find it without the assistance of your link.

The web site says that the Royalty Fee is 13.9% of the package cost. So for your $99 package the Royalty Fee is $13.76. The site also says "any state and local taxes we are required to collect based upon your address" will also be added. I assume you must be in an area where taxes do not apply.

Whenever Sirius offers a free trial period, I almost always listen to "The 60's on 6" and rarely anything else. I definitely enjoy the music, particularly when travelling out of range of terrestrial radio stations. However I find that it is difficult to justify even your discounted annual cost of $112.76, to listen to what I listen to. All the same, it is still tempting. I suppose the "Mostly Music" pack ($5.00 less) might be a better value for me. I think I will continue to sit on the fence for a while longer.

I also find that the pricing of royalty fees a little odd. I always thought that the artist received a fixed value every time his music was played. I can understand purchasing a package with fewer channels would have a lower royalty fee, but It seems that the royalty fee should be fixed for the sake of the artists. As it works now,if Sirius discounts the cost of a package in order to make a sale, then the artist is forced to take a cut as well. This process makes me wonder if the artist is getting 100% of the fee that Sirius charges on their behalf

As an alternative to Sirius, I purchased an Ipod which I leave in my RDX permanently. It is loaded with all my favorite music, and has the added benefit of playing any artist or song that I request. by voice.

Comfy

I will probably wait till next Christmas when they might offer another two weeks of free trial. .

chickdr

I agree with your sentiments... I don't understand why they don't embed the royalty fees into the package price. I think it is a bit disingenuous to add 14% to the cost of a package when you are already paying for the service in the first place. The advertised prices are misleading to say the least. They don't tell you about the royalty fee until you go to sign up. As for the Mostly Music package, while it is cheaper, they don't offer a discount for it on the web site(as they do for the other packages). I suppose you could call and ask for 50% off and see what happens. Personally, I resent getting 6mths of service for $25 then SiriusXM wants me to pay 3x that amount to continue. Where is my bonus for being a loyal customer?

If I can't get the same deal I got last time I will cancel. I have all the music I need on my phone. This is for my GF and she listens to audio books most of the time anyway.

jcross1231

If you tell them you want the same deal you're getting currently, they'll usually give it to you. Otherwise, tell them you want to cancel. They'll eventually come down to that anyway. I just hate having to negotiate like that. I went through that same dance when buying the car in the first place. Their annual charge isn't all that bad when considered on a per-month basis. I'm just getting tired of all the talk on the music channels. It's no better than over-the-air is now.

I'm doing similar things to what others are doing. All my music is on the phone and Bluetooths to wherever I'm listening. Android 7 just made that a bit easier by fixing a few issues and adding some utility to the interface.

markAZ

I agree with you guys...SiriusXM's business model is not the best. I think they're kind of a sleazy outfit, overall.

We mostly use a portable XM receiver that we switch between our truck and our RV and home. We often stay out in the boonies where radio selection is kinda slim. It's mainly used to listen to NPR and baseball games (my wife is a baseball addict). At home it's used for background music, mostly one or two channels. And it's 99% for my wife...I don't hear well and most music sounds awful to me (take care of your hearing, folks). We'll spring for one of their $25 offers for the RDX every now and then but I think we (I) could easily live without it. Putting your music on a phone or iPod is probably a good alternative but doesn't work too well for sports .

chickdr

Just to update the thread for others. The 5mths for $25 deal is still available. They will also send you a reminder before it expires to let you know to call again.