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! ) 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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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.