How surprised I was to find out my new MDX doesn’t have an XM receiver. This is so standard in new vehicles I never thought about it until after taking delivery. Of course it wasn’t mentioned during the sales process. If I had known I probably would have gone for a Lexus or Mercedes. After streaming XM on a trip from NY to FL I experienced two drop outs, not as bad as I feared. I suspect that if you are in a rural area it could be much worse. There is NOTHING positive about Honda’s decision to get rid of the XM receiver. My experience:

1. You will need a cell phone with an unlimited data plan.
2. You need to sign up with XM for streaming.
3. When you turn off the car the XM streaming stops immediately.because the WiFi connection terminates.
4. When listening in accessory mode you cannot remove your phone from the car. This is a pita. Often times my wife would listen to XM while I would shop. I need my phone to use Apple pay so she cannot listen to XM while I’m away from the car with my phone.
5. I did experience drop outs and sometimes XM fails to load.

i hope Honda feels their savings are worth it. I was planning to purchase the new gen 5 when it comes out but without an XM receiver i’ll switch to another brand. Sorry Acura, this is one sale of many you will lose.