Back in 2007 I purchased a “lifetime” subscription to Sirius Radio. The subscription was first tied to our 2003 Ford Expedition, and then to our 2012 Ford Expedition, which we sold to purchase our new F-250. The F-250 did not come with a SiriusXM capable radio. But our 2015 Hyundai Genesis is SiriusXM radio ready.
I asked Joyce if she wanted to move the subscription to the Hyundai. She said she would rather have it in the F-250, since we spend more time driving together in our trailer tow vehicles, often traveling in remote places without any radio reception when towing the trailer. Adding satellite radio wouldn’t be simple, but it wasn’t impossible. The question was, could I come up with a suitable solution.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Radios
Quite a few years ago auto manufacturers started including satellite radios as an option. There were two choices, Sirius Radio or XM radio. Typically, each manufacturer offered only one option: some offered Sirius and others XM. Eventually the two companies merged into SiriusXM and now just about every vehicle manufacturer offers satellite radio, often as an option (meaning for an additional cost).
Our new truck is the base model, a F-250 Super Duty XL, and does not come with satellite radio. It can be special ordered from the factory with satellite radio for an additional $185. But dealers don’t order these because satellite radio is standard on the XLT trim model, a upgrade of around $5,000.
Bottom line is the radio in our new truck is not satellite compatible. But there are ways around this.
Aftermarket Radios
Many aftermarket radios are satellite ready. This means a SiriusXM receiver can be plugged into the back of the radio and will work, and the controls for the radio will be integrated with SiriusXM broadcasts.
2003 Ford Expedition XLT
This came with an AM/FM radio and a CD player. Not only were we towing a camper often, but my business required extensive travel too. I decided to upgrade the radio to something with a navigation unit, bluetooth for my cell phone, satellite radio, and compatibility with an iPod (although I didn’t have an iPod at the time). All of this took quite a bit of finagling). I had to buy:
- Sirius compatible radio with navigation
- Sirius Radio tuner
- Parrot Bluetooth adapter for a cell phone (Blackberry at the time)
- iPod interface
- iPod 80GB
The components integrated well, and when I bought an iPhone it was simple to connect it via bluetooth.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
As you probably noticed, I asked Joyce what she wanted to do with our Sirius subscription, after we traded our SUV for the truck. I have learned this is the best thing to do, otherwise the conversations are well… bizarre for an old curmudgeon like me.
In the late 70s, before iPods existed, she asked me to buy her a MP3 player for use at the gym, which I did. It was kinda bulky and after a while, she quit using it. So when I decided to buy an iPod, I didn’t give the consequences much thought, but I had only been married to her for five years. After I installed all this stuff in the SUV, we go ready to leave for a camping. When Joyce got into the vehicle, the following conversation took place.
Joyce: “What’s that?” (pointing to the iPod)
Me: “It’s an iPod”
Joyce: “Whose is it?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Joyce: “Is it yours, mine, or ours?”
Me: “If you want an iPod, I’ll buy you one.”
Joyce: “No, I want it to be ours!”
Me: <sigh> <with face palm to head>
2012 Ford Expedition XLT
This came with satellite radio, bluetooth, audio and USB inputs. All I had to do was move the SiriusXM subscription to this radio and pair my iPhone via bluetooth. Oh, I did have to change the clock twice a year 🙂
SiriusXM Lifetime Subscription
Sirius no longer offers this. In 2007 I paid $399 for a lifetime subscription. If we dollar cost average this, it has cost $2.56 per month and each month it gets cheaper. However I can only transfer the subscription three times. I transferred from the 2003 Expedition to the 2012 Expedition, and now to the F-250. I have one transfer left, but given how long we keep vehicles, I will probably die before we buy another vehicle.
Each time the subscription is changed to a new radio there is a $75 fee. So my initial $399 investment is now $549. Dollar cost averaging this, it has cost us $3.52 per month. The comparable subscription package today, SiriusXM All Access costs $21.99 per month!
To be honest, if I had to purchase a monthly subscription, it would not be worth it to me, even the other packages at $16.99 or $10.99 wouldn’t be worth it. I have over 4,000 songs on my iPhone, so that would suffice.
F-250 Super Duty Radio Upgrade
The standard radio is not “SiriusXM Ready,” meaning you can’t just plug a SiriusXM tuner into it. There are a few options if you want satellite radio:
- Buy a factory radio and install it. A refurbished 8″ screen radio costs almost $2,000 and includes a navigation unit.
- I couldn’t find a direct OEM replacement for our 4.2″ screen radio
- Aftermarket SiriusXM ready radio (all required extensive modifications)
- Aftermarket SiriusXM tuner that broadcasts to the FM radio in the dash (crappy sound and has to be mounted externally on the dash and isn’t controlled by the factory radio)
- In-dash tuner with an interface to work with the factory controls
So the last option was what would work best for me. The options were limited, but I found just one I liked, the VAIS Ford Satellite Radio Adapter & Tuner. We have to be realistic about these things – it is very difficult to adapt something to an OEM audio system and get it to integrate perfectly.
So let’s take a look at our factory radio.
OEM Controls
The audio system can be controlled from the steering wheel or the dash.
The dash controls are almost the same as the steering wheel, except the center button in the steering wheel works like a combined Radio and Media button found on the dash (see below).
The unit comes with two FM and one AM selection. Each can be pre-set with 10 channels. The Media button (above) allows you to connect bluetooth devices or a USB device to the single USB connector.
I can stream music to the system from my iPhone using bluetooth. I don’t need the USB connector for anything, other than charging a phone. There are three 12 volt sockets which can be used to charge a phone or other device. I don’t need the USB port to charge anything.
VAIS Ford Satellite Radio Adapter & Tuner
Installation Thoughts
Most people will want to have a professional install this unless they are knowledgable about modern vehicle electrical systems. It is possible to damage onboard computers or even deploy an airbag if you don’t know what you are doing. A quality shop should charge around $150, which is about two hours of labor.
Antenna
The antenna is separate from the radio antenna. I see a lot of DIYers just stick in on the windshield. The proper way would be to remove the pillar moulding, run run the cable through the windshield seal, and mount it on the roof. The absolute best way would be to order a factory antenna, remove the headliner, frill a cable hole through the roof and mount it (not something I would be willing to do).
There are a couple limitations with this kit. First, it needs to be powered by USB. So the unit needs to be connected to the only USB port in our vehicle.
Normally when the ignition key is turned off, the audio system will play for about 15 minutes. Turning off the ignition key immediately turns off the USB port, so the satellite radio will not work when the key is turned off.
Selecting Satellite Radio
The Media button on the dash or steering wheel enables you to choose either bluetooth or USB.
Channel Selection
You cannot use the pre-set buttons in the dash to preset Sirius channels. Pre-sets can be done via the screen and media controls below the radio, but only one station can be saved at a time. This requires turning the vehicle off after each present, or disconnecting the USB cable after each pre-set.
You cannot select preset satellite channels with the pre-set buttons on the dash. You have to hold down the “Previous Track” or “Next Track” buttons to scroll through the presets. You can store up to 36 channel presets. To simply scroll to the previous or next channel available (not presets) quickly touch and release the Previous Track or Next Track buttons.
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