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SiriusXM

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

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I wondered who else is using SiriusXM?

I see 3 basic packages: Select ($15/mo), All Access ($20/mo), Mostly Music ($10/mo).

https://www.siriusxm.com/ourmostpopularpackages

I hardly use car radio now except on interstate trips (air museum, etc.) of 30 minutes or more. NPR, APM, some FM music stations. Lots of audio books on CD.

(You can tell I've never had satellite radio before!)

Thanks.
Tom M.
2018 Altima just arrived. Lots of digital learning curve ahead!
 
Gliderman8

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Tom,
We got a 6 month free trial of Sirius when we bought a Toyota for my wife. After the six months ran out we decided not to subscribe since my wife does not spend that much time in the car.
I have to say it was TERRIBLE marketing on the part of Sirius Radio.... they kept calling our cell phones, sending emails and snail mail trying to get us to sign-up.
It was SO ANNOYING be BADGERED CONSTANTLY by them!
By the way.... if you hold out long enough, they will drop the price to $5/month... really!
All I can say is once you get on Sirius you will be hounded if you decide to cancel.... good luck.
 
Brooklands

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I use Sirius XM instead of AM/FM. When listening to music, I am glad to lose the commercials. When traveling on a road trip, it save constantly looking for a new station because we keep losing signals. But mostly I listen to channel 148: Radio Classics. We really enjoy the old radio dramas, especially Johnny Dollar and Gunsmoke (it is fun to imagine William Conrad jumping on his horse). I also have listened to F1 races, World Cup games, and other sports when out of range of my local area. I use the all access to also listen to shows while in the house using my phone or computer.
 
JPSmit

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I agree re: the hounding and terrible customer service - I got free 6 months when I got the car but no one told me - so, 3 months later when I figured it out they would not extend it a day.

While I love it for travel - I also hate it for travel, partly because the play lists are remarkably short when you listen for a while. partly because while I listened to the comedy channels a lot I found I started thinking that way after a while (which was quite disturbing) and finally because radio stations (and I am a radio guy not CD or other media) connect me to the community and area I am driving through. Interstates and AC in the car disconnect me enough without listening to radio from space.
 
Grantura_MKI

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I hear you. What you don’t know, it that they will make their equipment opposite and force you to purchase new items!
 
Bob McElwee

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I use it for long trips, very rarely in town. When i get to where I'm going, I'll look for local stations sometimes. I have a reminder in my calendar to call and cancel when my next renewal is coming up. Last time i did it at the end of my 6 month freebie, I ended up getting a year for $5/mo. If i can't get it again at that price I'll cancel and start using my iPhone songs on the road.
 
Basil

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I have XM Select in my Santa Fe. I listen to some music (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind) but mostly one specific talk station.
 
Mickey Richaud

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Pandora here. Free, unless you upgrade (which we've done), and you can tailor your "stations/channels" to the music you want. There are other similar choices as well. Wife uses it all the time, as it's tied to her Toyota Highlander entertainment system, and I do when I tether my phone to the stereo in the truck and the MGBs.

Sirius offers talk stations and sports talk, neither of which I care to listen to, but they also have old radio programs that are kinda fun to check out. However, I can't really justify paying for that.

Oh, and congrats on the Altima arrival!
 
OP
NutmegCT

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Thanks gents. I think I'll enjoy the trial period, and make my decision when it ends. When I "registered" the car with Sirius to get the trial started, they were a bit eager (!) to get me to subscribe immediately. When they asked for my home address, home phone, cell phone, email and backup email, I followed Nancy Reagan's advice: I just said NO.

Doctor cleared me for driving (after my hernia surgery) yesterday, so I took the Altima out for a few miles. Wow - great car. Photos later.

By the way, it's sharing personal experiences, info and opinions that really makes BCF Pub a great place to meet.

Thanks.
Tom M.
 
Alfred E. Neuman

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Late to this conversation, but we had the Sirius trial in our Toyota we bought 5 years ago. Been subscribing ever since. I absolutely couldn't imagine listening to local terrestrial radio anymore. Huge mix of genres to pick from, broken down into subcategories. No commercials!!!! That's the biggest selling point for me. We live a pretty minimalist lifestyle, and you don't realize how bad the drumbeat of useless consumption that's pumped into your brain is until you remove it.
I have to drive cars for testing at work, and it's amazing the amount of commercials for garbage you're exposed to. Worth every penny not to have to deal with it.

If the car wasn't equipped with a Sirius receiver, I'd get one of the docking type of receivers that I could plug into the car and into a Bose speaker station for home.
 
3798j

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Bob McElwee said:
I use it for long trips, very rarely in town. When i get to where I'm going, I'll look for local stations sometimes. I have a reminder in my calendar to call and cancel when my next renewal is coming up. Last time i did it at the end of my 6 month freebie, I ended up getting a year for $5/mo. If i can't get it again at that price I'll cancel and start using my iPhone songs on the road.
Click to expand...
I do the same. They're actually very nice on the phone. I've been doing the basic "$5 a month promotional 6 month package" for more than 3 years now...explaining each time that while I like their product, I just don't listen to the radio enough to pay for the higher priced packages.
 
OP
NutmegCT

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The comments about the unending commercials sure ring a bell. But listening to NPR, APM, and area FM music stations, as well as books on CD, I don't think I've heard a commercial on car radio in many years.

Thanks.
 
D

DavidApp

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Had Sirius and loved it when I was driving long distances for work. When my work travel patterns changed I did less driving so I found I was paying for something that I was lot using so I dropped it. Do enjoy it when I am driving a rental.

Good to hear you are back after the hernia surgery.
How did it go? I have the same in my future.

David



NutmegCT said:
Thanks gents. I think I'll enjoy the trial period, and make my decision when it ends. When I "registered" the car with Sirius to get the trial started, they were a bit eager (!) to get me to subscribe immediately. When they asked for my home address, home phone, cell phone, email and backup email, I followed Nancy Reagan's advice: I just said NO.

Doctor cleared me for driving (after my hernia surgery) yesterday, so I took the Altima out for a few miles. Wow - great car. Photos later.

By the way, it's sharing personal experiences, info and opinions that really makes BCF Pub a great place to meet.

Thanks.
Tom M.
Click to expand...
 
Gliderman8

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Tom- I never gave Sirius any contact info whatsoever. The Toyota dealer supplied my info to Sirius and it was a nightmare of constant badgering. As it happens, there was a class action suit brought against Sirius and they lost. I received a settlement check for approximately $87.
 
Popeye

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JPSmit said:
the play lists are remarkably short when you listen for a while.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. Lots of choices, but each choice seems to be overly specific. 1980's pop, 1980's rock, 1980's punk, 1980's R&B ... etc. As such, I found a given station gets tiring quickly. It almost needs a "scan" feature - i.e. I am looking for upbeat music, don't care if it is folk, country, rock or R&B. And don't care what decade it is recorded in. Patsy Cline followed by Green Day then Rolling Stones, ...etc. is OK in my book!

Caveat: I only had the 6-month (or 3-month?) trial period offered when buying a car.
 
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