I just bought a 2007 Lexus GS 350 and I wanted to have the dealership install Sirius radio in it. When I went to buy the car they said install both Sirius and XM radio kits. I called four different dealerships and got four different prices for parts and install. Anywhere from $727 to $799. All of them said that they no longer do Sirius radio and its only XM. Is there anyway I can get Sirius radio in my car?? Do I have to buy the kit from them or is there any other way to buy the adapter etc? These dealerships are driving me crazy.

 

I think they might have said that because Sirius and XM just merged, i know that my father just cancelled his subscription to Sirius and is just keeping XM because it has almost all of the channels that Sirius has plus all the sports now. Someone told me the antenna "Sharkfin" only works with XM, not sure how true that is??

 

Is there any way that you can get Sirius installed in a Lexus without having to do an aftermarket unit? They say it takes them 4-6 hours to install at the dealership. Best buy says it takes them an hour.

 

sirius kit was discontinued long ago... when I bought mine it was around the end of 06... you can just buy the xm unit and basically get the best of sirius package.. I dont know what exactly your looking for in the sirius line up but if I were in your situation, all I care about is Howard Stern and the best of Sirius package would cover me..

 

Most dealerships are probably out of the Sirius adapter, since Sirius and XM merged it really doesn't matter.

You want to take a Lexus to Best Buy? It will be an ugly adapter mounted somewhere on the dash done by some idot making minimum wage. It will not be integrated into the Lexus radio system, and will be visible to anyone walking by.

 

Apparently the deal now is to get XM and that covers most of the Sirius channels. There is now a premium package that gets the rest of the Sirius channels like NASCAR for an extra monthly fee. The merger is probably not a good thing for consumers, but it is a done deal.
Steve

 

does it have to be serius???

 

I was told by the service dept that the car is set up from the factory for the XM unit which will use the shark fin antenna on the car. If the dealer installed sirius they could not use the shark fin and i would have the ugly magnetic sat antenna stuck on my trunk deck.

VAIS makes an adapter so the shark fin antenna can be used with the sirius unit that VAIS sells.

If you really have to have sirius get the unit and antenna adapter from VAIS and have a car audio shop install it.

The bottom line is that most of the sirius channels can now be had on XM (don't know about the sports channels).

 

I found a website a while back, cant remember what it was but they carried a specific adapter for the 07's up that converted the plug on the sharkfins to accept a sirius plug..

 

I have had my 350 less than a year and had Sirius put in it - Its not a factory box its just a box - If you serach for other posts by me you will find the connector info to use the sharkfin with Sirius

sewell has discontinued the part but if you use the shark fin and dont take apart the whole interior like the dealer says to do the install should take under an hour

I bet this one would work

http://shop.sirius.com/edealinv/serv...0&oldParentID=

Directed Electronics Toyota Compatible SiriusConnect™ Interface Model#: TOY-SC1

http://www.al-eds.com/manufacturers....rid=14&cat=394

 

A while back (year +) the dealer stopped installing sirius for a while because the reception was so poor using the antennae they were using. Lots of complaint. XM has always had more reliable reception but with the configuration Lexus was using for sirius it was even more noticeable. They finally figured out an alternative antennae setup and went back to installing them. and you can definitely get a cable that will allow use of shark fin with sirius. Look at vais.com And some dealers at least were installing sirius as recently as Q2 this year. If they no longer are, I would guess as other posters have said it's because the companies have merged.

We have sirius in our G and XM in our R. Now most of the channels are exactly the same tho they may be different numbers on the dial (ie comedy is 104 on sirius, same channel is 151 on xm). Some of the high profile entertainment (Howard) and sports (xm has MLB, sirius has NFL) are not on both unless you upgrade to the best of package as someone else mentioned.

since they are so similar, i'd stick with what the dealer installs unless the price point is prohibitive. have had very mixed luck with places like best buy. The dealer install will no doubt be fully integrated into the touchscreen etc.