sarhento

I find that my satellite signal (2013 RX 350) is weak and fades every now and then. My wife's Sorento has stronger signal and does not fade. I lose the signal just driving it into my garage and it's not even underground. Is there a way to increase the signal? What kind of antenna does Lexus install on these vehicles anyway?

DunWkg

Haven't ever researched this, so it's all supposition on my part. When you pull into your garage, the garage door is up and acts as a shield over the rear portion of your car. The antenna maybe that stark fin on the roof at the rear of the car. The antenna on the Sorento maybe in the front portion of the car and not covered by the open garage door. If you stay in your RX and close the garage door the signal may improve. However, I've read accounts of signal loss due to tall buildings, parking structures and even trees blocking the signals.

Know nothing about antennas, but there must be a bunch of them. AM-FM radio, satellite radio, SOS service, GPS, key fob proximity sensors and even cellular service for remote starts. Locations on the car could be anywhere from front windshield, shark fin on roof, to even inside the rear spoiler.

No useful information, sorry.

BertL

I agree with DunWkg's supposition. At least in my case, this is exactly what happens. XM is on in my truck when I park. If I turn my truck on while the garage door is down, XM almost always comes on. When I push the door open button, XM signal is lost until I back out of the garage. Ditto in reverse -- XM looses signal as I pull into my garage (with the door open, of course!)

I for the most part have great XM reception here in the vicinity where I live. No complaints. If there is stop-and-go traffic and I'm under a concrete overpass too long, signal is sometimes lost, and same thing with big buildings and concrete parking garages (above and below ground). It's the nature of satellite needing line-of-sight reception (e.g. ever wondered why DirecTV and Dish dishes on people's homes all point the same way and in parts of the country with horrible thunder/lightning storms, they loose reception some times?) I don't consider this a Lexus issue as it's the way this technology operates. It does not bother me, but if it did, FM and HD Radio do not have the same line-of-sight reception requirements, nor does my iPod of course -- all 3 are good alternatives.

ISFWes

The XM Sirius satellite reception varies with the area you are in. Some places I am at in Los Angeles. I can drive down a couple of under ground floors of the Highland center. And my radio will work.

But when I am in Vegas. There is one bridge I drive under a lot. And the reception dies every time.

This is because of the local area repeaters that Siruis XM has. And your position to them

BertL

Good point ISFWes. We (and Lexus) can't control what SiriusXM does or does not do with their repeaters. They even sell mini-repeaters for use inside one's home.

sarhento

I got a call from XM Canada to inquire what I think about thecomplimentary satellite radio I have in my RX. I told the lady that the signal was weak and that I experience frequent fading of reception. She said she was going to do a refresh and check with me in a weeks time. Strangely enough the signal seem to have become stronger and the signal fade has disappeared. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though.

ISFWes

No need to call XM for a refresh.

https://care.siriusxm.com/retailrefresh_view.action

Evitzee

We live in Texas and satellite reception is no problem, we have driven the RX and IS up to Canada and found the further north we went the worse the reception was. The satellite is lower in the southern sky as you go further north and we found any moderate sized obstruction (trees, hills, etc) would block the reception. If I lived in Canada I'm not sure I'd have satellite radio. I don't think there is anything you can do about it.

sarhento

Actually, when I got a call from XM Canada and I told them about the weak signal, they said that they will "refresh" the signal. Since then I have noticed an improvement. This is reminiscent of my satellite video signal which I intermittently lost during heavy rains. The satellite company would do a "boost" and the signal would become a lot better/clearer than before, so, if satellite audio operates on a similar principle as video, they can improve your reception by "boosting/refrehing" the signal.

TexasRxh

I am definitely going to try this as my signal seems to fade much more severely than it did with the after-market XM flat antenna I had in my Rx400h. I'm not sure why this would make any difference...but this is a simple thing to try!

BertL

I've bookmarked the link from ISFWes back in post #7. It will come in handy one day as a way to avoid the 15+ minute hold times to reach an XM rep on the phone!

gcbrown1

I lose sat signal in places where my previous RX (2008) 350 and my 2007 BMW did/do not. Nor does my daughter's Envoy. In my personal opinion it is either the antenna or the sat radio it self. I had the Lexus dealer check it and they could find nothing wrong. I'm going to check a couple of my friends cars in the same locations--if they don't lose signal then the Lexus dealer will get to work on it again.

sarhento

i think lexus antenna is weak. my bmw had never had any fading signal. my wife's sorento's satellite signal is pretty strong and no fading reception that we have encountered.