[tex2670]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

What do you think is it worth paying for? Are you paying for it and how much are you paying? I got offered $30 for 6 months of the select package after my trial expires. It will auto renew at regular rates unless I cancel. Can I call to cancel auto renew but keep it active until then?

I think that's the best deal they have going. The first time I renewed, the representative told me to set a reminder in my calendar for the last day of the term, and call and threaten to cancel unless they gave me a new promo. So I go thru this every 6 months (for 2 cars, which are on staggered terms ). I call, and they tell me "Good news, we have 12 months for $99 for fees and taxes" and I tell them that is 2x what I am paying (or at least, it WAS when I had $25/6 months), so just go ahead and cancel. And then they miraculously come back with a better deal.

Only you can decide if you think the $$ is worth it--but there's no way I'd pay full boat.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMW11

do not ever give them your credit card because they will keep billing you forever once the sub ends. and if you pay by check then they will sneaky re-subscribe you and not tell you and send you a bill like 6 months later saying you owe blah blah for the last 6 months! they are so sneaky lol

It's not sneaky--that's what you are agreeing to. They don't even hide it in some buried fine print--they explicitly state it and repeat it like 2-3 times when you call to renew. They have a set script that they read you when you extend.

Originally Posted by COKen

The sound may not be the best but the reason I don't use them is because I will not do business with a company which is as unscrupulous as this company is. If they would deal honestly with their customers and charge a fair price without the customer needing to know all of the tricks and secrets in order to get a reasonable price I think they would get more customers.

So then you use public transportation, right? Because purchasing or leasing a car requires customers to know all of the tricks and secrets in order to get a reasonable price--right?

[RRedline]

Biggest problem is that the fidelity of the Sirius tuner that comes in the F30 is completely inferior to the XM tuner that comes in other cars (like my wife's Volt).

In all of my recent cars, the XM tuner fidelity is always much, much better.

[COKen]

Originally Posted by tex2670

So then you use public transportation, right? Because purchasing or leasing a car requires customers to know all of the tricks and secrets in order to get a reasonable price--right?

Nope. I don't waste money leasing cars. But you are talking about apples and oranges.

[otay]

Originally Posted by RRedline

Biggest problem is that the fidelity of the Sirius tuner that comes in the F30 is completely inferior to the XM tuner that comes in other cars (like my wife's Volt).

In all of my recent cars, the XM tuner fidelity is always much, much better.

This^

[jnecr]

Originally Posted by DrifterX

I've had my car for 15 months and only ever used it once last month - I was surprised how low quality it was and only a couple channels were of interest. Was also surprised that I could even use it lol - maybe the free subscription starts when it's first used? Who knows

You probably just turned it on during the free period that they do every year. It was free for a couple weeks in May just before Memorial Day.

If you bought your car new they will active the subscription when you purchase the car. Sirius XM doesn't know if you turn your radio on or not...

[Wires]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Your call, yet the sound quality is severely lacking. Hi-Res Audio is on the brink of going mainstream, which is better than CD sound quality from decades ago. Why would you want to go backwards with mp3, which is worse than CD, or compromise with even lower quality with XM Radio would be the logical question. Even the comoany that created mp3 has recently abandoned licensing mp3 as it is just too low a sound quality given today's possibilities.

XM sound quality is lacking (really low bandwidth), and vastly lower than MP3.

The company that created MP3 didn't abandon it, the patent ran out in April 2017. It's still one of the best compress techniques. It was the backbone for HD-DVD, so not sure what you mean "too low sound quality given today's possibilities".

[Humdizzle]

Quality isn't the greatest. But I couldn't live without it. I listen to a lot of music rap. Rock. Pop. Edm. Even an opera station.

Sirius always has the latest stuff from top DJs too. Then if you want to listen to it in higher quality just make a YouTube playlist on your phone and listen to it from there.

Both iPods and Sirius aren't going to sound as good as a physical CD

[BMW11]

Originally Posted by tex2670

It's not sneaky--that's what you are agreeing to. They don't even hide it in some buried fine print--they explicitly state it and repeat it like 2-3 times when you call to renew. They have a set script that they read you when you extend.


So then you use public transportation, right? Because purchasing or leasing a car requires customers to know all of the tricks and secrets in order to get a reasonable price--right?

Yeah I guess its marketing vs. consumer rights. still don't feel its fair to be jumping thru hoops every 6 months with clerks on the phone at xm/sirrus radio it should be what the customer wants and it shouldn't be hard to cancel at all which they make it hard to cancel I once cancelled and it didn't get canceled and they went after me for money even though i cancelled yes its SNEAKY and not FAIR & REASONABLE Business Practice what so ever

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by COKen

Nope. I don't waste money leasing cars. But you are talking about apples and oranges.

You are right--apples and oranges car purchase vs. satellite radio. If you don't know all the tricks for a car purchase, you get ripped off by $1000s; for satellite, maybe $100. Good point.

[COKen]

Originally Posted by tex2670

You are right--apples and oranges car purchase vs. satellite radio. If you don't know all the tricks for a car purchase, you get ripped off by $1000s; for satellite, maybe $100. Good point.

As others have pointed out, the satellite company is unethical and is pushing the laws to the limit if not pushing through them. Buying cars, or anything else, you do your research and then dive in. Not the same thing.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

That's twice as much as XM for $5 a month.

Are you saying you don't value sound quality? Do you value the ability to make playlists and navigate your music selection? Am amazed many people rarely hear the decades old CD 44kHz/16-bit because of Napster in the early days and mp3. Perhaps if you gave TIDAL or the like a month or two listen, then go back to XM or mp3 you'll realize how horrid sounding XM radio is. Came for free for a bit in tbe 435i, XM was soo bad i basically never bothered listening to it.

If you love music, pleeeease give TIDAL or other higher quality music services a try. Hi-Res Audio is starting to become the norm. It is sad so few people even bother with CD sound quality, friggen low end streaming and mp3 have ruined the music biz imho for those who care about their music. Its not your fault, tne problem is people have no idea of the possibilities in good sound quality.

Mp3 is kinda like saying McDonalds is gourmet food.

[GCinFLA]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

What do you think is it worth paying for? Are you paying for it and how much are you paying? I got offered $30 for 6 months of the select package after my trial expires. It will auto renew at regular rates unless I cancel. Can I call to cancel auto renew but keep it active until then?

Between added taxes and fees, that $30 increases roughly 50%.

They were under Government Mandate not to raise rates for merger approval, so they labeled it a "music licensing surcharge" instead of raising rates.

Thanks Obama.

[DrifterX]

Originally Posted by jnecr

You probably just turned it on during the free period that they do every year. It was free for a couple weeks in May just before Memorial Day.

If you bought your car new they will active the subscription when you purchase the car. Sirius XM doesn't know if you turn your radio on or not...

Good to know!

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by COKen

As others have pointed out, the satellite company is unethical and is pushing the laws to the limit if not pushing through them. Buying cars, or anything else, you do your research and then dive in. Not the same thing.

What do you mean? OP is doing his research right here and finding the best deal.

Not sure what "limits" sat companies are pushing. They tell you, explicitly, your subscription will automatically renew at the full price. Heck--the rep was the one who told me directly how to get their best deal and not pay the full price.

You don't want to buy satellite? Fine; no problem. You hate the satellite company? Again, I have no problem with that. But YOU are the one who made the overarching statement that you would not buy anything from a company that doesn't just give you a fair price without tricks, etc. Which completely describes a car purchase. Just because the internet makes it easier for a customer to end up with a fair deal doesn't change your initial statement.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by GCinFLA

Between added taxes and fees, that $30 increases roughly 50%.

No it doesn't. I have that deal right now. Base charge $29.94; US Music Royalty Fee: $4.16; State and Local Taxes (i.e., nothing to do with Obama): $2.05.

[Bob in IL]

Originally Posted by tex2670

No it doesn't. I have that deal right now. Base charge $29.94; US Music Royalty Fee: $4.16; State and Local Taxes (i.e., nothing to do with Obama): $2.05.

This is what I've been paying for a while on both cars. It's a pain to have to call every 6 months, but worth it to me right now. The good news is that it's voluntary, and if it isn't worth it just cancel or don't renew in the first place. Problem solved.

[RoundelM3]

Satellite radio is not worth it by any means. You hear the same tunes at the same times EVERY day - so much so that you can almost set your watch by the tune that's playing. Better to copy your music collection to a USB stick and listen to that - at least you can randomize the selections. At one point, before they added that "Artist's fund" fee or whatever it is, the price wasn't bad. But $160 a year for repetetive music on every channel? Better spent on NetFlix, which is cheaper and, although it's not available in your car, it's a whole lot more entertaining.

[paul e]

I used it like 3 times max when I was on the free trial, each time I was like "People pay for this?".
It's nice that you can always get a station, but the sound is hardly high fidelity. It sucks.
The $5/month for 6 months seems the best rate.

Warning - once you let it lapse, they are just as bad as any phone scammer, they call so often I have added them to my call blocker list.

[enjoythemusic]

Artist fund is so those who make the music you enjoy get paid. On one hand it is a way XM can claim their rates are low, on the other hand it is basic accounting so they break down XM's fee versus what content providers get paid. Am sure you agree that musicians, songwriters, etc deserve to be paid for their work.

[lo_xyooj]

Amazon music via bluetooth for me. Quality isn't the greatest but so is XM.

[icwhatudidthere]

Wow, I don't know how I would get along without it. Quality is fine. Not great, slightly worse than MP3 streaming over Bluetooth and could depend on the station you're listening to. Definitely not AM radio quality.

Best feature for me is live shows like Craig Ferguson, news or comedy shows during long road trips. I hate FM radio since it's just one long advertisement these days. And not having to search for channels every 45 minutes is great. I mean, what other options exist for live radio shows?