# Xm radio in Toyota Sienna



## ibooksrule

My wife and i are looking to purchase a new Toyota Sienna which will have the Xm radio in it along with the Navigation system. Not sure if XM is available with out it or not.

Anyway we currently have Sirius and we have checked and all the channels we listen to are on Xm as well and some new ones we might take a look at.

But our radio has the ability to pause and replay music so my question is do the car installed ones such as the one in the Sienna offer that or do we have to use the radio we have?

Thanks


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## rudeney

I have yet to see a built-on Sirius or XM unit in a car with the "replay" feature. There might be some out there, but I've dealt with GM, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Nissan and Infiniti and none of those have had it. In fact, even in aftermarket solutions, the Sirius SC-C1 module that most brands now use doesn't do this. 

Another issue you will encounter is that you will have to pay for a "new" XM subscription. Even thought they are the same company now, they don't allow "cross stacking" of accounts. They say this will be available "soon", but who knows when that will be. An alternative would be to buy a sock-and-play Sirius radio with Replay (like the Sportster 4 or 5) and stack it on your existing Sirius account and use it with your new Toyota.


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## ibooksrule

I may end up doing that. I just liked the idea of not having something on my dash and cords running around. But i assume there must be a way to directly connect the plug and play radios to your system rather then using the FM transmitter


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## david_jr

I ran into the same issue when I bought a Ford Expedition which has Sirius and I have 2 XM subscriptions. My portable XM has much more functionality and a better display than either the Ford Sirius or my Honda XM OEM units. I am using my portable XM Xpress RC connected directly to the radio using a Direct Adapter. I was going to use the built in Sirius antenna but couldn't locate it. So I just ran the portable antenna and snaked it through the door and under the dash. There are some wires showing, but I am going to have a 12 volt adapter installed behind the dash which will make most wires reasoably hidden. As for mounting I am using a mount that plugs into the 12 V cigarette lighter. It is not the best solution as it tends to let the radio fall left or right when you turn. I will be looking into one of the vehicle specific dash mounts, but haven't been able to find one for my model as yet.

Hope this helps and good luck.


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## rudeney

ibooksrule said:


> I may end up doing that. I just liked the idea of not having something on my dash and cords running around. But i assume there must be a way to directly connect the plug and play radios to your system rather then using the FM transmitter


I don't know about the Sienna, but some Lexus and Toyota vehicles have AUX input ports for iPod/MP3 players and they might work for this, too. My wife had a Lexus and I put a Sirius Sportster 4 in it like this, but I also had to add a "ground loop isolator" because of problems with static and engine noise feedback.


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## larryk

rudeney said:


> I have yet to see a built-on Sirius or XM unit in a car with the "replay" feature. There might be some out there, but I've dealt with GM, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Nissan and Infiniti and none of those have had it.


I have this feature on my Cadillac 2010 SRX, it's handy, when I remember that it's there...


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## woodyrr

The Sirius receiver in my new Mitsubishi Eclipse does not have review. 

As to the subscription, I calculated that the subscription for the second radio on my XM account costs about 80.00 per year on the family plan. When the complimentary six month subscription for the Eclipse runs out, I plan to offer to keep the radio active for 80.00 (fees inclusive) and to subscribe for a year. That is a fair deal for both Sirius/XM and for me. They apparently regularly offer 77.00 a year as a retention incentive, so my offer is not out of line especially in view that I am a long time two radio subscriber becoming a three radio subscriber.

We'll have to wait and see if they want to be reasonable or have another inactive radio floating around. That is something that you might try before adding an outboard unit.


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## ibooksrule

rudeney said:


> I don't know about the Sienna, but some Lexus and Toyota vehicles have AUX input ports for iPod/MP3 players and they might work for this, too. My wife had a Lexus and I put a Sirius Sportster 4 in it like this, but I also had to add a "ground loop isolator" because of problems with static and engine noise feedback.


HOw do you install that?


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## tcusta00

ibooksrule said:


> HOw do you install that?


It's just a small adapter that you plug the aux output from the radio into and then it plugs into your aux input in the car.


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## stevewallace

Our 06 Sienna has an Aux port, so I can't imagine that they would have gotten rid of it. However, that aux port creates a horrible ground loop when your accessory (iPod or whatever) is plugged in. Hopefully that fixed that in the new one, my Silverado doesn't have that problem.


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## tcusta00

stevewallace said:


> Our 06 Sienna has an Aux port, so I can't imagine that they would have gotten rid of it. However, that aux port creates a horrible ground loop when your accessory (iPod or whatever) is plugged in. Hopefully that fixed that in the new one, my Silverado doesn't have that problem.


My '08 Accord had that issue after about 6 months owning the Kensington adapter. They sent me a filter but it didn't work so they sent me a new one and it's been fine for another 6 months now.


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