kurjan

Questions about dealer installed Sirius Satellite Radio on 2006 RX330:

1. When you tune to a Sirius stream, are the channel name, artist, and title displayed (as they are on aftermarket Sirius units)?
2. Does the answer to (1) depend on whether the factory installed nav/backup camera option is installed on the vehicle?

visoredge

Hello,
Mine came pre-installed on factory radio/CD/Cassette...
It does have 3 sets of Sirius presets available, and it shows the name of the station (at least),
don't know about song/artist name, I haven't played around with it much yet.

kurjan

Now I'm really confused....one dealer (Stevens Creek Lexus, San Jose, CA) told me Sirius is available now; and in fact they're offering it free in September and October. Another (Putnam Lexus, Redwood City, CA) said some parts are not yet available - Sirius will be offered "soon". And another post on this forum said it'll be available in May 2006. Does anyone know what's really going on?

visoredge

Lexus Stevens Creek DOES have it, for now it's FREE and 9m service too! I know, b/c I bought one there 10 days ago... It's worth about $600 and it's FREE, so since they're the biggest dealer in the Bay area, you prob can get the best selection there. They are the only dealer locally with this deal. Penske (racing and trucking company) owns them and Longo LExus in LA, and they have a deal with Sirius (separate from Lexus mother company)

Officially Lexus says it will be available I hear in Feb 06 or so...

Save yourself the trouble, go thru the Internet Dept @ Lexus SC. Ask for Steven Chan.
I worked closely with him. He's always available there, at all hours! Tell him
"Ken with the Breakwater RX" sent you!-- he'll know

kurjan

Thanks, Visoredge!!

Is the Sirius unit Lexus of Stevens Creek is installing fully integrated with the car's audio system, and covered by the full Lexus manufacturer's warranty? :-).

Or is it like an aftermarket unit, with a lower level of integration and a weaker warranty?

katzjamr

Just so everyone is clear, I called Lexus of Stevens Creek, and spoke to both sales and the parts departments. They are installing the Sirius system on all thier new cars including the 400h an yes it IS integrated with the nav system. As far as i can tell it is part of a free promotion that does include nine months of service for free also. The Stevens Creek , and Longo dealerships have a special relationship with sirius that makes this possible. They will not do it for free if YOU DID NOT BUY THE CAR FROM THEM. You can still get the sirus system installed however they will charge you.

katzjamr

Also, Kurjan, they do warranty the work they do on the installation and will repair it if there is a problem.

KenLex41

Any word on iPod integration? I would think they could hook it up the same way?

Mike21LA

Are you certain...are the controls for the satellite radio & the information is displayed and integrated into the touchscreen navigation system display? That's what Longo Lexus first told me...NOW they are telling me something different and saying the the satellite info is displayed through the regular radio/cd display instead...similar to that VAISTECH solution. Is there something I need to specify in order to ensure the nav screen is incorporated correctly?

Thanks,

Mike

visoredge

The Sat controls are just like the FM/AM controls, they are NOT via touchscreen, they are lower down on the LCD that displays the radio stations.

There are 3 SAT preset (6 stations each) that appear AFTER you press AM (so after you scroll past the AM preset, you see the 3 sat present groups). YOu DO get the station name in the LCD, but NOT the song name/artist.

The Voice command WILL recognize the command "satellite radio" BTW...

kurjan

Here's what I learned at Stevens Creek Lexus today:

-The Sirius units are warranted by the dealership, not by Lexus. They have a 4 year warranty, but only Stevens Creek Lexus will provide warranty service
-The integration is reasonably good. You can tune Sirius channels and adjust the volume using the controls on the steering wheel - the same way you can tune/adjust FM or AM. (There is no nav system integration.)
-You can see artist and title by pressing the Text button on the radio. But the display length is short - if the full artist or title does not fit, the display truncates (does not scroll).

grigsby

I'm going to make an appointment with Stevens Creek to get the Sirius radio installed on my 2006 RX400h. I did *not* buy this car at this dealership, so I expect to pay for the hardware and installation (I'm guessing around $600, just based on what I've read, but maybe more). (Maybe the hardware is $600, but doesn't include labor? I don't know.)

From what I've read in this and other forums, here's what I expect to get:

1) A hidden and fully integrated Sirius receiver into the normal audio system.
2) It will be accessible and display through the regular audio system -- i.e. where
the CD/FM controls/display are -- NOT through the NAV screen (which has no
other radio functions, as far as I can tell).
3) I'll get some number of "satellite" presets, probably by pushing the "AM"
button several times
4) I'll have an antenna (sigma?) installed on the inside of the windshield, above
the rear-view mirror.
5) The Sirius channel names, artist, and title names will be accessible through
the regular audio system, albeit with text truncated to 10 characters (using the
"Text" button."

If I'm mistaken about any of this, please let me know!

I'll report back as soon as it's installed. (Maybe two weeks? I have to call
for an appointment.)

Scott

kurjan

I believe your expectations are correct. The "AM" preset will cycle through 4 bands - AM, SAT1, SAT2,. and SAT3, each with six presets.

M3 Bob

Does anyone know if they sell the parts without installation for Do-It-Yourselfers? Don't expect a warranty of course.

longjohn

You may be better off going through http://www.lexus-parts.com. It's about $300 there.