I was wondering what fellow TSXer's feel about XM Radio. This is my first experience using it. I like it so far but I haven't really used it all that much considering that I still listen to my local sports station, USB, and CD's.

My free 3month subscription will experience in July and I was wondering if anyone has considered purchasing a longer subscription?

 

i would wait to purchase anything, the sirius and xm merger has been approved and will probably have a much better selection of stations and of course stern. I've been a sirius subscriber since it was available and I'm not really feeling XM at all.

 

If I had a choice (note to Acura, some manufacturers offer a choice between the two), I'd go with Sirius. I like their channel line-up better, and of course they have Howard Stern. That said, I really like satellite radio, even though it's XM. It's not something I would have bought had it been optional, but I find myself listening to it all the time. I do get sick of the same old stuff on my iPod & CDs all the time, so it's nice to have a random selection of commercial-free music I like at my disposal. I haven't listend to terrestrial radio since I got this car, I don't see why I ever would again. So the question isn't whether to subscribe again, but for how long? I sure as hell wouldn't fork over $300+ for a 3 year subscription, because what if you change your mind or get rid of the car? So it's either another 3 months or a year. That way if circumstances change, you don't eat too much of the subscription cost.

As for those holding out for a doubled channel lineup after the merger, don't hold your breath. My understanding is that the two will continue operating separate service and channel lineups with the biggest change being them operating from one studio complex with all redundant personnel between the two eliminated. Any cross programing will be limited to a few al a carte choices at best for an added fee. That's assuming the existing tuners for each will be able get the other service.

 

i have XM in my first gen TSX and have had it for 2.5 years now. your first year is only $75 or something if you buy a new acura (Call XM about it) so i'd suggest you try it for that first year and free 3 month trial (15 months for $75 is like $5 a month). Might as well especially if you have a commute more than 15 minutes it is completely worthwhile.

absolutely love it. honestly the regular radio stations in LA and SF (the places i've lived while i've had the tsx) are terrible clear channel monstrosities.


A coworker has sirius (in his GTI) and i'd have to say if you are into music XM is better. XM has a great selection of dance music if you are into that that is unmatched by sirius. much better hip hop also. i've heard if you want to listen to ncaa bball , or talk stations then sirius is better for that . though xm has baseball (which idont listen to).


also if you subscribe to XM and then cancel your sub, they credit back your money so you arent locked in for 3 years. i think they just want you to put up the money up front so you will be more likely to keep it. you can also easily transfer your radio ID to another radio anyway on the same account.


Lasly the reason acura doesnt offer sirius is because they have an exclusive deal because they OWN 10% of XM. GM also owns 10% of xm.

 

All I care about is the traffic.
We'll see what I get offered for that when our trial sub runs oot.

Nothing on XM or serious I'm intrest in. I'm odd, but learned to live w/it.

Walt

 

Check the 1GEN forum for a very long thread on getting XM for much less than their advertised price. Usually $77 for a year (prepaid up front), a long-standing "winback" promotion. Many Acurazine users have called and "haggled" more or less according to a "script," and gotten the lower price.

On the last page or two, I posted scans of letters I rcvd after letting my trial expire. More recently they've offered some special 3 month specials. No pricing or cross-service swapping of channels has been announced (that I know of), and there are only rumors that XM-Sirius might offer a la carte pricing once the merger's concluded.

Without a crystal ball ... I'd suggest you explore the channels, see if you find some favs (I did), and then decide. I bought a portable which records, so I don't currently have the car subscribed (there's an additional fee for additional radios, which defies common sense -- you only have two ears and they travel with the body). I might later though, I miss 45 and 77 and 84 and 50 and 44 in my car.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but I got the impression that the add-on traffic service required a base subscription. When I read that I was a bit miffed; what if, like you, someone just wants the traffic and weather, not the 200+ channels.

Your dealer ought to know.

 

i was under the impression from what my dealer told me at delivery is that i can just buy the traffic or weather seperatly without the XM music service, but you may want to double check.

 

I just checked XM's website, and you can't even tell from there whether you can get it separately or not. My guess is no. Best thing would be to call XM and ask. The dealer probably wouldn't know....go to the source.

 

You CAN get traffic/weather only BUT for $10/month.

This is $120/year....way more than the $77 that it seems most people get for the full service.

Might be worth $50/year to me but even that's high.

I wonder what 09 Nav weather/traffic costs compared to the audio Xm version?

 

Tried getting XM today for the $77, couldnt get it....anyone have any pointers for me?

 

It's definitely nice to have so many channels and different genres. I love the ESPN and MLB stations so you can follow your teams where ever you are. What about NFL and NBA games???

What I don't like is that many of the stations play the same songs over the day. Now granted there are many stations to choose from.. but overall I would not extend it beyond my 3 free months. USB and Ipod are much better at playing music I want to hear. I would like to keep the Traffic - but I don't think the weather is all that useful. It the Weather option could display Radar maps of wher I am or other cities, that would be impressive.

 

i think the nfl ison sirius. the nba is also. ncaa bball i know is a sirius only thing.

they cant merge fast enough. the sports and talk selection on sirius is better, but the music is lacking. so each service has its own focus, combined it'd be even better.

 

So far, prior year owners have gotten the music service for $77 a year ... but not "full service" with traffic and weather data, since that's a new feature for 2009. Your mileage may vary.... I would certainly haggle, with gas prices at record highs, XM has got to be feeling the pressure to win over consumers resistant to paying more for their car's operation.

Read the XM thread in the 1GEN forum ... last few pages have the usual tips and tried and true anecdotes. Some have had to call 2-3 times, but most reps understand what to do when someone says, "it's too much, but if you could lower the price, I'd go for it...."

 

I have had XM in my Pilot for 2 1/2 years and really enjoy it. My wife loves the jazz stations, so the extra $6.99/mo is no backbreaker......worthwhile investment to keep the wife happy, I might add. Our 3 mo trial is now over, so we are now a permanent subscriber

 

So they couldn't cut you a discount on the "additional radio" fee? I'd be a bit irked if I paid $77 for my subscription, then another $83 for another car. Maybe I'm chintzy, and that's a fair price.

 

id purchase it but I love my ipod and the dice intergration kit runs through the xm port if im not mistaken

 

It's only money!! And not enough to get irked up about either. There are bigger fish to fry than spending time wailing over a few bucks. If I have to bargain and take time to cut a $20/mo bill downward, I shouldn't really be buying/subscribing in the first place. Some folks spend more than this per week at Starbucks or with cancer sticks......I don't do either.....so what's the difference? As I said earlier, when it keeps the wife content with her added listening choices, it's an added bonus.

 

I dont think the fee is outrageous or anything. I'll gladly pay $10 a month for the music in my car.


I wish that somehow you could remove the satelite ID out of the car and put it on a home unit. Though I guess you can listen for free though the internet website if you have any sub.

 

Actually, XM played on your home computer sounds pretty good if you have the right speakers and sub, which I do have.

 

Yep, in my new home (yes, new home, new furnishings, new taxes, hence some of my frugal thinking about other expenditures), I can't get it downstairs, only upstairs in the bedroom and the office. Sounds great on the 2.0 and 2.1 sound systems in those rooms, even just streamed. But I'm trying to figure out how to stream from a pc to the hi-fi downstairs.... there are ways, there are ways.

If you listen enough, it is indeed a good service.

 

I thought one of the major points of XM is that there are no commercials, yet I hear them a lot while driving around. Is that just because I'm in the trial period? Also some of the stations seem to play a lot of the same music over and over. Still way better than FM radio though, so I'll likely subscribe when my trial is over.

 

Only some stations are commercial free. Check the channel card you either got with your OM package, or from XM. If neither, it can be found online here or here (as a downloaded PDF).

 

I've had both over the years and really prefer XM. The rock/metal stations are a lot better in my opinion and that is mostly what I listen to.. Not having Howard Stern is a plus in my book

 

its only commercial-free on music stations. the non music stations like say espn still have them.


also theres 4 stations that are run by clearchannel and because of some lawsuit have commercials. i know one is XM-21.

clearchannel is going to divest themselves eventually so they will probably replace those 4 stations eventually.

 

Not to sound like an ad for XM, but there are some things I've really learned to like. On a road trip or two, I discovered the 002 XM Exclusive channel, with hour-long shows with musicians who can perform what they want, the way they want ... XMU and The Verge are pretty interesting, even the XM Hear Music Starbucks Cafe (they merged) channel is above average for "coffeehouse" mix. And ... the ones I just mentioned are commercial free.

 

I was able to use the winback code for Weather/XM Radio/Traffic for $80 the first year, I was also able to get them to add an additional 3 months free after the Acura trial expires. Just keep asking for a supervisor and insist Acura gave you this information, went thru about 4 reps and they finally agreed. The supervisor said “yes I do see that offer” sure you do buddy sure you do.

 

Has anyone tried this lately? My trial expired and might sign up if I could get this discount. A year of radio/traffic/weather for $80 (or $77?) is a good deal and, what the service is really worth. Maybe I should hold out for an a la carte offering (if it happens).

The xm radio is just ok...could completely do w/o it. But the traffic is nice...not for $10/mo tho.

 

FYI..

I had no problem getting the deal.

$77/year for radio
$3.99/mo for traffic
$3.99/mo for weather (declined)

I really just want the traffic at that price. Don't care about the radio...I use an ipod and pandora. Maybe later I can cancel the radio and keep traffic for that price.

Who actually uses the weather??

 

It's neat, but I would probably be more inclined to pay for it if it had the Doppler Mapping that the '09 TL will have.

 

I've had Sirius since '04. I honestly could not live without sat radio, but I live in a rural area with limited stations and spotty reception. I have iPod hookup as well, but one can grow tired of the playlist over time. The beauty of sat radio:
Commercial free music
CD quality sound
Various genre's to suit your mood
Sports and newsradio when desired

I went with Sirius way back due to some research I did at the time. From what I was told by independent shops was that Sirius has better quality sound due to them not compressing their music channels as XM did. Sirius compresses the talk/sports channels but not the music, whereas XM compressed equally across the board. Not sure if this is still the case or if it was indeed fact, but what I was told by a few independent installers. I was also told that Sirius's 3 sat's followed a different orbit than XM which resulted in fewer drops throughout the country. Again, can't state as fact, just what I was told. I also had free Sirius from Dish network at home and liked their music lineup so all these factored into my decision to go with Sirius. BTW - direct connection is the only way to go with sat radio, people that use the FM transmitter deal loose too much sound quality. Not relavent here as most reading have it pre-installed on their Acura which is a direct hook up.

I pay a lot more than $77 per year though, that sounds like a great deal. But to me in my location I have no problem spending $11 - $12 per month (i do pay annually) for the benefits of sat radio. It is very difficult to hear ad after ad on regular radio once you are used to sat radio.

All this being said, I would have no problem dealing with XM if I purchased a vehicle from a manufacturer that had a contract with XM.

I do have many that question me though - "you pay how much for radio??!!" I liken it to those that don't comprehend why I pay extra for HD sat TV and have a large widescreen - you can't go back once you experience it

 

Sirius and XM will soon be the same company