Help me decide - SiriusXM

[7rider]

Hey all.
Got a new buggy in October. New buggy comes with SiriusXM radio, which the dealer threw in a service for 3 months.
3 months are now up and Sirius keeps hounding me to renew (must renew by the 1st.).
Debating - renew or not?
Don't spend much time in the buggy - primarily weekends and/or long trips. It does have an USB port, into which I can plug my iPod, or even stream Pandora over Bluetooth via my phone.
Or - perish the thought - I could just listen to broadcast radio or nothing at all. New buggy is soooo much quieter than the old one...it's a pleasure to just listen to .... silence and not road noise.
So...
Do you have it?
Is it worth it?
Help me decide to renew or not....
Tx

[bmccasland]

I suppose it depends on where you live. I was glad to have XM radio when I had a rental car on a trip. Once I left large metropolitian area and got into rural mountainous area, I lost the radio station I was listening to (NPR). In some rural areas, regular radio is hit or miss, so I could see having XM radio.

[ny biker]

How much have you (a) used and (b) liked it over the past few months?

Being a control freak who sees no point in listening to anything I don't want to hear, I just play my own CDs in the car. There's an input jack for an mp3 player, but I find it easier to rely on CDs in the car and mp3 player elsewhere.

[salsabike]

I went through the same process and didn't renew. It's just not worth the money for me--I'd rather listen to my own music or audiobooks. I didn't use Sirius enough to justify the expense.

[7rider]

Thanks.
I live in a major metropolitan area (Washington DC) with crappy radio stations. Really. They are just awful.
I've gotten used to listening to Sirius in the time we've been in the vehicle because I get to listen to all those songs I used to listen to in college (yeah, New Wave '80s techno pop! :o) but don't own on CD. I might have a cassette of some of those buried somewhere...but who has a tape player any more?
I suppose it's cheaper for me to just download stuff off iTunes -- the weekly freebies I regularly get or - yikes! - purchase some things.

[Blueberry]

I've looked at it twice:

1) New Buggy back when I was commuting an hour a day. Paid for XM (before they merged) for about a year. Liked XM, but never really "learned" the stations and missed traffic/news type stuff. When I stopped commuting AND they merged and screwed up my channels, stopped XM.

2) Next New Buggy: came with 6 months free. Didn't use it during the 6 months, and haven't missed it since. The ONLY time I think it would be nice is long trips in the middle of nowhere where there are no good stations. But.....not worth it for me because those trips aren't that frequent.

ETA: I like classic rock mostly. Never found a happy station for that. You have DC101 - I would LOVE to have that good a station here!

[Bethany1]

DH loves SiriusXM since he does all the driving. I think it's overpriced and has the most annoying DJ's out there. His ran out about a month ago and hasn't renewed it due to cost. After mine runs out I don't think I'll bother since I find the radio distracting when I drive.

My car doesn't have a usb port so I have to use a bluetooth adaptor (tune to a radio channel and have the music come out through the speakers) or regular radio.

DH's has a USB port and I can just run my iPod through that which is nice.

[pinsonp2]

If you don't renew, in a month or two they will send you a deal (usually 1/2 price or less if pay for a year up front). I have XM and dealing with their customer service is a night mare. Watch for their automatic renewals at full price if you have a credit card on record.

P2

[withm]

Wow - my car has the capability but I never signed up for it. How much does it cost?

Mostly I listen to recorded books, especially when I travel. Otherwise I spend all my time with my finger on the seek/scan button. I always have a book going in the car. My library has a pretty good selection, and I can order from any library in the state.

I can also listen to podcasts or any music of my choice via my Ipod and aux. input jack.

[Irulan]

We have it in DH's rig. He travels for work with a lot of no-receptions area. It's work expense for him lol.

Here's my take after a year. it's really genre-specific. The categories are much too narrow imo. I really like an eclectic mix, and you just don't get it with Sirius. You can have the Blues Channel, or the acoustic rock channel, or the Jimmy Buffet Channel, or the bluegrass channel (etc) but you can't get anything that plays all those genres on one channel.

It's gotten to the point where I take my iPod on trips in his rig and play it on shuffle instead of listening to the Sirius. But he's totally happy with it. It's only $12 a month or something.

[PamNY]

I have SiriusXM at home (don't have a car).

I don't watch television, so I like the news channels (BBC especially). I switch back and forth on the music channels and feel it exposes me to things I wouldn't find on my own.

I use it in the rental car when I travel, but it's a bit of a headache to set it up. For me the mental stimulation is valuable on a really long drive.

[Adventure Girl]

My husband's new car came with the same deal (3 month free trial). He tried it for a month and said he liked it. I googled around for things like "XM discount" or "Sirius deals" and found lots of info.

When I called to sign up, I asked for a $70 annual subscription rate. The representative said, "That rate is not available." So I told them, "No thanks."

I called right back and asked the next rep for the same deal and she said, "No problem."

What is the annual rate they are asking? Is it worth $70 per year to you?

Also, be careful because because they may automatically renew your subscription after a year at a higher rate.

[GLC1968]

We have it free for a year on our car but I doubt we'll sign up when the time comes. I do love some of the retro stations, but like you, I could just get my favorites onto my ipod and get better variety that way. For the amount of time we listen to it, it's really not worth the cost.

[divingbiker]

7, what car did you end up getting???

No idea about Sirius, my car is too old to even have an iPod jack.

[7rider]

Thanks all.

I'm leaning towards "not". They did have a 6-month offer for $30, which seemed pretty good, but it automatically goes to full price at the end "unless you cancel." I suppose I could just cancel after 6 months - they probably bank on people getting lazy about it. I think costs, after fees and taxes, is in the $14/month range. When you drive the car so rarely (our two trips to CT with it in the past 3 weeks was an outlier), most of the time, I don't even bother to turn the radio on.

I agree about the genre specific. But we have a pretty broad range -- new wave, acoustic singer/songwriters, bluegrass, '90s, BBC, NPR -- on the presets, and I've been hitting the buttons pretty regularly.

Might be time to think about playlists on the iPod, rather than filing everything under "Random Stuff".
:rolleyes:

[7rider]

7, what car did you end up getting???

No idea about Sirius, my car is too old to even have an iPod jack.

2012 Honda Pilot (http://automobiles.honda.com/pilot/).
Waaayyy bigger than what I wanted, but I got talked into by DH.
:rolleyes:
It's the first car I've ever named - or referred to by a name.
I've named it "Babe" - as in Babe the Big Blue Box - a play on Paul Bunyon's Babe, the big blue ox of American folklore.
Because our Pilot is a big blue box.

[maillotpois]

I just renewed on my new car because I spend a lot of time driving - in areas beyond the reach of our good radio stations. Also, for some reason, the auxiliary cord to my iPhone does NOT stay plugged in the port in the car. Any jiggle and it falls out. Very frustrating. :mad: It's like I need a fatter plug. (And I have tried both ends.)

I agree some of the DJs are odious. But I'm really enjoy some of the stations. Big on First Wave right now. :D

[Irulan]

If your car has a cassette player, you can get a cassette to mp3 hookup deal from Radio Shack for about $7.

[maillotpois]

If your car has a cassette player, you can get a cassette to mp3 hookup deal from Radio Shack for about $7.

Nope. I am actually wondering if I can somehow put foil or something on the plug to make it fatter.

[Irulan]

Nope. I am actually wondering if I can somehow put foil or something on the plug to make it fatter.

Go to RS anyway. They have all sorts of weird cables adapters, and other things. You can also get an FM - Mp3 converter.

[jyyanks]

I ended up renewing even thought I initially thought it was a waste of money. Like the OP, there are no good music stations in NY. Although I don't drive a lot, I find that I enjoy having all the music choices. I listen to classic rock most of the time but I also rock out to the 80's and Old School Rap! I definitely have eclectic taste in music so I like the variety that SiriusXM offer.

[GLC1968]

I agree some of the DJs are odious. But I'm really enjoy some of the stations. Big on First Wave right now. :D

Me too!

Funny story - my husband and I each have a key fob to the car. They are coded separately, so they are customized for each of us. That means, the fob remembers our radio station presets, our last climate setting, and any other electronic thing we might customize (like the setting on the intermittent wipers or something). The other day, I accidentally grabbed my husband's keys and didn't realize it until I couldn't find 'First Wave' on my pre-sets! When I came to some metal channel, I knew something was up. Sure enough, his keys. :rolleyes:

[pumpkinpony]

You can get a couple more weeks of it for free while you make up your mind. I have never subscribed with my current vehicle, just don't drive enough to make it worth it. But it is nice when they occasionally do the free weeks.

http://www.siriusxm.com/listen3

[nscrbug]

We had a really BAD experience with XM Sirius, so my opinion may be a bit biased. We had XM for several years, starting with a portable unit (remember the MyFi?) that I bought for DH many years ago. To that, we added service to one of our vehicles...and continued to renew annually for several years. When the XM/Sirius merger happened, we started to notice a LOT more commercials on what originally was touted as being "commercial-free" radio. We decided at that point, to not renew our service. When the renewal letter arrived in the mail, we just ignored it and threw it in the trash...thinking that by simply not paying, our service would just be cut-off and that would be that. Ummm...not quite. XM continued to renew our service without our consent (apparently they put us on an automatic renewal plan that we NEVER agreed to). When a bill for $30 arrived, we refused to pay it. Shortly after that, we started to get persistent phone calls from a suspicious number. I Googled the number and discovered that the calls were coming from a collection agency on the behalf of XM Radio. When I finally answered one of the calls, I ended up speaking to a VERY nasty and rude person from the collection agency. I was told to call XM directly, to talk with them. After explaining to the XM rep, that we had decided not to renew and were not aware of the fact that they had renewed our service via automatic renewal, we were promptly told by the rep "that's not our problem, you still have to pay the $30". In order to save our credit rating, we reluctantly wrote a check for the $30 and included a note to XM telling them to "never contact us again because we will never do business with them ever". They still send us crap all the time and I just immediately toss it in the trash. I'm sure that some folks have had nothing but great things to say about XM....but in our case, I want nothing to do with them. Just be educated and forewarned of their tactics and make sure you read ALL the fine print before entering a contract with them!

[malkin]

Brewer got a free trial with his new TDI Golf (love the car!) but likes to listen to other stuff better than Sirius. Presently he's cramming Italian for our trip to my parents in a few weeks.

All I can say is 'due cappuccini" but maybe that will be enough.
Gratzie!

[maillotpois]

Me too!

Funny story - my husband and I each have a key fob to the car. They are coded separately, so they are customized for each of us. That means, the fob remembers our radio station presets, our last climate setting, and any other electronic thing we might customize (like the setting on the intermittent wipers or something). The other day, I accidentally grabbed my husband's keys and didn't realize it until I couldn't find 'First Wave' on my pre-sets! When I came to some metal channel, I knew something was up. Sure enough, his keys. :rolleyes:

That's funny!!

[Bethany1]

Uggh. I've started getting phone calls every day from SiriusXM since DH's car has expired. It's driving me nuts. They want me to sign up for some deal for 6 mos but I'm sick of bad DJs, obnoxious ads (thought this was a commercial free service) and they've added royalty fees on top of the price.

However; it's been heaven not dealing with "Dangerous Darren" anymore and other obnoxious hairspray jokes from Hair Nation.

[oldwhatshername]

I like variety and a little surprise. XM/Sirius give me that while keeping close to a genre I'm in the mood for. CDs can't do that.

[OakLeaf]

I've heard that you can negotiate a price down to next to nothing, if you're so inclined.

I'm an iPod gal (with playlists), but it depends on your habits and how often you listen, I suppose - and what your preferred format is for learning about new music. We've got gobs of CDs and several more gobs of digital music, so there's plenty of "surprise," songs we're hearing for the first time and songs we haven't heard in a couple of years. Playlists give you genre + variety.

I'm more likely to learn about an artist or song by reading about him/her/it/them, actually - if the description appeals to me then I'll listen to a clip online, and if I like it, I'll buy it ... whereupon it goes into the playlist of music I haven't heard in the past six months, and eventually it'll come up when I'm least expecting it. To me, radio (even internet radio) has a much higher tedium-to-enjoyment ratio. :p

[bluebug32]

The DH and I have had XM for several years. I think it was a lot better before the merger, but it's still better than commercial radio. I will use my iPhone for podcasts or to stream pandora or play mp3s, but it is nice to keep up with new music and listen to NPR on the XM. I have a portable player that hooks into my car, but also can be used inside and hooked up to a stereo.

[goldfinch]

In Minnesota and Wisconsin I will listen to public radio. There are a lot of good stations. In the south the radio goes off. I listen to podcasts on my iPod all the time. You can get many for free off of iTunes. I listen to several public radio shows, my favorite is This American Life. I also listen to a lot of stand alone podcasts. I have a backlog of about 200 podcasts which I probably will never get through. In one car I have to use an adapter to play the iPod through the radio. The newer car has a plug in.

[Dogmama]

2012 Honda Pilot (http://automobiles.honda.com/pilot/).
Waaayyy bigger than what I wanted, but I got talked into by DH.
:rolleyes:
It's the first car I've ever named - or referred to by a name.
I've named it "Babe" - as in Babe the Big Blue Box - a play on Paul Bunyon's Babe, the big blue ox of American folklore.
Because our Pilot is a big blue box.

I have a 2008 Pilot and I love it. I also have XM and am addicted. I listen to the medical channels and the political channels. I love the "spa" channels and the jazz channels. Some of them are just annoying & stupid - for example, I refuse to listen to the Oprah channel because there are too many &$%# commercials!! I thought I paid for this service to escape those?

The comedy channels are good - I love Blue Collar comedy.