04 Solara SLE is XM radio ready? What's that mean?

[Luc]

So much for that "XM executive," he/she should have their a$$ terminated for being stupid.

On another note, I had a customer who called today and wanted to have satellite system installed in his G35 coupe. According to the dealer, it has been prewired. However, there isn't any adapter for Infinity, so he was out of luck.

Back to the Toyota platform. If my hunch is correct, in order to use aftermarket satellite system like XM with direct plug-in, an adapter from Blitzsafe will need to be used to connect to either Alpine or Pioneer receiver.

[fotodad]

Okay, just got off the phone with an XM technician/consultant (extremely knowledgeable and helpful) who deals with Toyota direct. The XM executive that I mentioned earlier had me talk to this guy. He knows his sh!t. This is what he told me I'd need if I wanted to install XM. This information is ONLY good for XM radio NOT Sirius.

One of my goals was to keep the interior looking factory clean. I wanted to avoid extra equipment hanging from the dash or stuck in a compartment. Going with the equipment listed below will allow me to use my factory radio to tune XM satellite stations. The factory radio will also display the song title and other relevent satellite information.

First, all Toyota dealerships were sent a PANT Bulletin (basically a technical service bulletin) which describes the equipment necessary to get XM working in your "XM ready" 2004 Solara. The PANT Bulletin number is 03-25. The bulletin came out on July 25, 2003 and was updated again in August.

The PANT Bulletin describes what Toyota parts are needed. The Toyota part number to get this all working is PT546-06040. This part number includes: the receiver (mounts in the trunk), the wiring harness, and the satellite antenna (recommends mounting on trunk or roof). The MSRP for this DIO (dealer installed option) AND installation is $488.00. According to the XM guy installation by the dealer should take no longer than two hours. The installation instructions for the dealer can be found at the Toyota TSI website (actual address is only available to dealerships).

Once all this cool stuff is installed, tell the dealership you have an XM Promotion Code. This will get you a month of service free and free activation. The Promotion Code is XM-TOY2003.

Guess where I'm going tomorrow!

Once it's all working (fingers crossed) I'll post yet another update.

[Luc]

Sounds like you are on your way to enjoy uninterrupted satellite radio. When you go to the dealer, can you ask who is the OEM manufacturer for the tuner? I'd like to know as well. Good luck.

[Raven]

I was thinking of ordering my on the web and do a personal install, fotodad, if there any way you could watch how they do the install, I'd sure love to hear it. That's pretty lame they dont want you to know how to do it your self and it takes the car buyer to give them a kick in the a$$ to find out they have to sell a accessory to begin with. I was concerned they would let some inexperienced punk to try rip apart the dash for the install, like so many places I've been before.

[fotodad]

I was thinking of ordering my on the web and do a personal install

Cool! Where on the web can I buy Toyota parts? I think I could save some money, too, by installing it myself. I'd be willing to bet buying off the internet will save some money over buying it from the dealer.

[Luc]

Here are a few online Toyota dealers that you can try.

www.toyotaparts4u.com
www.partznet.com
www.toyotaguys.com
www.toyota-parts.com

[fotodad]

The MSRP for this DIO (dealer installed option) AND installation is $488.00.

HOLD THE PHONE!

The $488.00 price may NOT include installation. I've got calls into XM and Toyota. I'll let you know what I find out. My dealership did recognize the part number for the XM kit. They thanked me for doing their job for them.

[fotodad]

Okay, just got off the phone with an XM technician/consultant (extremely knowledgeable and helpful) who deals with Toyota direct. The XM executive that I mentioned earlier had me talk to this guy. He knows his sh!t. This is what he told me I'd need if I wanted to install XM. This information is ONLY good for XM radio NOT Sirius.

One of my goals was to keep the interior looking factory clean. I wanted to avoid extra equipment hanging from the dash or stuck in a compartment. Going with the equipment listed below will allow me to use my factory radio to tune XM satellite stations. The factory radio will also display the song title and other relevent satellite information.

First, all Toyota dealerships were sent a PANT Bulletin (basically a technical service bulletin) which describes the equipment necessary to get XM working in your "XM ready" 2004 Solara. The PANT Bulletin number is 03-25. The bulletin came out on July 25, 2003 and was updated again in August.

The PANT Bulletin describes what Toyota parts are needed. The Toyota part number to get this all working is PT546-06040. This part number includes: the receiver (mounts in the trunk), the wiring harness, and the satellite antenna (recommends mounting on trunk or roof). The MSRP for this DIO (dealer installed option) AND installation is $488.00. According to the XM guy installation by the dealer should take no longer than two hours. The installation instructions for the dealer can be found at the Toyota TSI website (actual address is only available to dealerships).

Once all this cool stuff is installed, tell the dealership you have an XM Promotion Code. This will get you a month of service free and free activation. The Promotion Code is XM-TOY2003.

CORRECTION!
The $488.00 price DOES NOT include installation. All other numbers listed above are correct. According to Toyota the installation should take about 1.5 hours which will cost me an extra $155.00! So now the price to get your "XM ready" factory radio to be fully operational is around $643.00. That's a hefty price considering you can get an FM modulated satellite system direct from either Sirius or XM, installed, for around $200.00.

I don't know what to do! I like the idea of having XM and keeping the clean factory look of the interior. But I don't like spending $643.00. On the other hand, I like the idea of only spending $200.00, but then I've got an FM modulated system hiding in storage compartments. What would you guys/gals do providing you wanted satellite radio?

One other thing. Apparently in some areas of the country a completely functioning XM satellite radio is available as an option for $595.00, MSRP. I wish it would have been available where I live. I probably would have gone for it.

Whew! This has been an exhausting, frustrating journey.

[Luc]

Welcome to dealer pricing. So far, I've had no complaints from customers who have had FM-modulated XM & Sirius systems installed. The "cheapest" set we have is the Audiovox Sirius, about $160 installed. Again, the other option is to go with the adapter route which will send the signal straight into the OEM HU, but you will have to use the aftermarket's tuner display to control the music selection.

[Raven]

I'm going to do my own install, hey, If it looks to complicated then let them have the $155, it might be just one plug to put in back. I just don't like to take the headset out with no proper instructions. Maybe the 04 solara tech. manual they sell or have at dealer can be helpful to look at. I was thinking of buying one anyways, I think they're about $75. Fotodad, my opinion is you'll probably want to spend the extra money seeing you paid to have the nice big touch screen display already. I'd just be wary about who is going to be working on your cars interior (your dash), if the same dealer did'nt have a clue or have his employees informed right about this accessory, then it makes you wonder if it's going to be more of the same crap. Maybe it will be fine, I just got so sick and tired of places eager to take the money and say every thing will be fine and then throw the keys to some unexperienced jacka$$ that just doesnt care about doing things right, then hear the run around from the same sales people that start given excuses how they are not responsible. I had this happen atleast 10 times to me, the worst is when they damage something, dont say anything and you dont realize something is broke till it falls out of your dash. Well thought I'd try to helpful for you. Where did you get that kit for under $500?

[fotodad]

I'd just be wary about who is going to be working on your cars interior (your dash), if the same dealer did'nt have a clue or have his employees informed right about this accessory, then it makes you wonder if it's going to be more of the same crap. Maybe it will be fine, I just got so sick and tired of places eager to take the money and say every thing will be fine and then throw the keys to some unexperienced jacka$$ that just doesnt care about doing things right, then hear the run around from the same sales people that start given excuses how they are not responsible. I had this happen atleast 10 times to me, the worst is when they damage something, dont say anything and you dont realize something is broke till it falls out of your dash. Well thought I'd try to helpful for you.

Raven,
I couldn't agree more with you. In fact I just got off the phone with another Solara owner who basically said the same thing: "Keep the dealership away from your dash!" I want to thank everyone for your extremely valuable information and assistance. I have learned a valuable lesson in all this XM-searching-for-answers crap: believe what you read on Solara Guy NOT what the dealership or Toyota tells you!!

Anyways, I think I'm going to hold off on getting the Toyota XM kit for $600.00. Reason #1: Too much money. I'm getting ripped off. Reason #2: I don't want some high school mechanic who only does oil changes ripping my dash apart. Reason #3 (closely related to #2): I don't want my car to be their XM experiment. The dealership told me they've never installed something like this before. Reason #4: Many folks on this forum believe Sirius to be a better satellite radio service. Reason #5: Too much money (Oops, said that twice)

While I'm not happy about going with an FM modulator and not keeping the factory look, I think I'm going to wait a bit to see what other companies make. According to JADED many other companies will soon be introducing satellite radio equipment. Plus I'll save a ton of money. And I'll be getting a better service according to those who have had both XM and Sirius.

Where did you get that kit for under $500?

That's the price my dealership quoted me minus the installation. I checked websites for the same part number, but none had it listed.

[Luc]

In all honesty, it's always best to do your own install, so this way, if you accidentally break something, you'll just get mad at yourself. Otherwise, you will get the blame game roundabout from some other person(s).

That's one thing I dislike about doing installation: cleaning up other people's crap. So far, I had to clean up the previous installer's laziness and unprofessional courtesy to customers who paid to have these installed: 1) drop down video screen that was just screwed to the headliner without any support to the body frame, and fell while the customer was backing out of the driveway, 2) dynamat that a customer had paid for, but never installed, 3) On-Star interface that wasn't even hooked up; he also had broken the front grill, yet never told anyone, this was back in early June, 4 months ago!!! Now I know why he was so urgent in getting out of mobile installation since those people probably have called and asked about it. And of course, who will get blamed? It's always the last person who had worked on it.

Anyway, enough ranting. Back to the '04 Solara. If it's all similar to all the Toyotas, the panel surrounding the radio should be able to be popped off. You may need to use a fine pick just to go around the bezel. Then, there are 4 (or 6) 10mm bolts that gets removed. Now, the radio & brackets should be able to be popped out.

Since satellite radio is still in its infant stages, it doesn't hurt to wait a bit and see what the aftermarket offers.

[fotodad]

Yes, I'm still struggling with this satellite radio decision. But I'm glad I've waited. I just got this email from Blitzsafe regarding their manufacture of an adapter for our "XM Ready" factory radios. This adapter, I believe, is only good for the XM service, not Sirius. This sort of sucks because I wanted to get the Sirius service.

We will have the audio input adapter in a few weeks. The one you saw on XM fan will be out eventually for your car. Will put you on the Toyota mailing list.


Thanks,
BlitzSafe Technical Support
techsupport@blitzsafe.com
201-569-5000 800-597-SAFE

By using this adapter and buying an XM receiver and antenna, you will be able to use your factory radio to tune XM stations, I think!

[Whatever]

toyota dealers are dumb asses.....they never know anything...

Totally agree with that....and some of em are A-hole...

[Grazi07]

hoooolyc crap... kudos to Fotodad for putting that much effort into this. After all that hassle, I'm amazed you're still willing to go through with it all. Now, I have an aftermarket headunit (Alpine 9815), will it cost that much as well?