Help me decide - SiriusXM

[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]

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.
Waaayyy bigger than what I wanted, but I got talked into by DH.

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. 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.

[Irulan]

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

[GLC1968]

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

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.

[Dogmama]

2012 Honda Pilot.
Waaayyy bigger than what I wanted, but I got talked into by DH.

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.

[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".