Anyone have one in your car? Happy with it? What did you get? recommendations? Auto maker installed or self installed? If you buy from circuit city type store, how do you hook it up? Thanks..

We've had satellite radio for several years. We do long car trips and live in areas with little or no reasonable(our opinion) radio service and it has been a godsend.

We installed XM in one car and on that first trip drove from South Texas to New England and never were with out the radio.

Sirius came in another car and is fine. My husband prefers XM. I don't care.

We tend to listen to news/financial stuff with some Broadway/big band music but there are lots of choices.

If you live near a major city (I think you do), it probably isn't a necessity.

We bought the first one at Circuit City (they installed it) and the second one came installed in the new car. I don't think this is a do it yourself deal.

Hope this helps . . .

Peggy

Thanks!!

Gil has xm. it came installed with the car.

And? Did it cost a lot this way? Is it the radio or an additional gadgetin the car? Is it worth it?

You can see it on Saturday. :)

Andi, Just picked up my new ride, it has Sirius and I love it.

I don't remember what the xm cost installed. It's been 4-5 years so and the sat radio itself was a present.

The Sirius was extra in the new car but for us worth every penny. On the other hand I don't have - and don't want a GPS gizmo - a trade-off. It was available too.

They both replaced the am/fm radio. or the did for us.

Peggy

Ah...so your Beemer had it? Good travels Suzie. In the Lexus, it seems to come as a dealer or port installed feature. I don't have the car yet and was wondering if I should get it.

Andi -

I love my Sirius. Got it via the car dealer. If your car does not have satillite prep then they have a piece of sheet metal they have to install somewhere for the antenna. We researched it because Frank did not have it and we were going to put it in his car. A good reason for a new car (ha ha ha) They told us about it. Also installing it non-dealer can void a new car's warranty - you might look into that.

I got in in my car and Frank just got it in his car that's on order. Have channels for various groups, like all Rolling Stones, All 70's, 60's etc. All Big Band, All Broadway. Lots of Talk. You can subscribe by the year. I got a lifetime subscription for $500.00. If I get a new car, I can just transfer it to the new car. I can also use the same subscription for a second device.

You can check out the channels online and listen for free for three days. www.sirius.com

Thanks...It appears that while XM and Sirius are offered, the car packages don't include it. Therefore, I am not sure if it is a dealer installed item. I will check. Seems folks are happy whether it's Sirius or XM.

For BMW it's not included in the package - but they do the install. It's dealer aftermarket. The cars come with Satillite Prep with the wiring and antenna - BMW uses Sirius only but it's a dealer add on. You cannot get XM installed via BMW.

Just checked.That's like Lexus. Lexus has both, but it looks like they've hooked up with XM for factory install starting in 2008.

Andi, I checked the parts info.for optional equipment with all the bells and whistles but they don't give a breakdown for SIRIUS. My dashboard looks like the cockpit for a 747. If you decide on SIRIUS, Karen will be happy...she has stock in "her golden child"

We just bought a new van; Chyrsler Town & Country Touring and it has SIRIUS as well as the regular AM/FM radio and a GPS all in the same area.


We love the SIRIUS and never listen to the regular radio stations.

I had XM for 4 years and just switched to Sirius. We originally got it for the boat and liked it so much we put it in all our cars. I think Sirius has a better selection for music and XM for talk and sports. If you are a Howard Stern fan Sirius has 2 channels 24/7 for him.
Check out www.sirius.com, you can get a 3 day trial to listen online, which has pretty good quality.

I bought the portable Delphi XM my-fi unit to use in the car and while walking the dogs since it has an external antenna you can clip on, so it functions like a walkman. The reception when using portable is in and out, I'm not sure if that is because we are in the mountains, but if it is hooked up to the home antenna it works great. You can also log into xmradio.com and listen while you are at your computer.

I still haven't hooked up the car antenna, but often just stick the portable antenna up in the sun roof and it generally works OK - there is a piece that plugs into your cassette player so you hear it out of the car speakers, and it also comes with a charger to plug into the cigarette lighter.I really have to find a place that will install the car antenna!

I rarely listen to regular radio since I have the XM in the car. It costs about $10 or so a month - not sure of the exact amount - yearly subscription. So many channels to choose from - have 12 of them as presets but that is not enough, depending on my mood. Like John said, the sorts are better on XM, and I like it because I can listen to all the baseball games that way - they carry the entire Major League baseball schedule. And a college football schedule as well.

Also, when you subscribe to XM, you are automatically entitled to XM on yur computer.

Gil, is yours built in like your radio or dealer added?

It is a part of the radio.

BMW installed mine just a few weeks ago. I bought the satelllite prep when I bought the car. It was a pretty hefty price tag, I think about 800 bucks, but BMW gave me a year free, not much of a deal, but it sure is nice for long trips. I drive alot, actually the other day listened to the E Channel, biography thing. I had no idea Wayne Newton was so interesting.........

Thank you all for your input. As a result of your recommendations, I called up the dealer and told them to include satellite with the new car. Lexus only uses XM, so XM it is! My dealer wanted $795, but other dealers wanted $600 and my dealer matched the price.

Some of the new cars come with XM and traffic built into the navigation screen. I believe Infiniti and the new Lexus LS come with this. What will they think of next?

I understand the new Infiniti M35 will automatically parallel park your car!! I drive round and round to avoid parallel parking.