FM radio reception

Yeah, wish my FM reception was a bit better too. I cancelled our Sirius subscription because couldn't justify the monthly cost for 2 vehicles after the initial 6 months. Made a long trip over Thanksgiving and had free Sirius reception during the trip, and while glad to have it then, not worth it for around town driving.

 

Is poor FM reception a common California thing due to all the hills/canyons/mountains?

We just moved to OC from Florida. It seems like I can't listen to any FM station for very long while driving around.

Most days we just crank up Pandora while getting into the car. Still never use much of my 3gb data from At&t.

 

NO, the FM radio is CRAP! The Gen III radio has had some of the worst reviews and numerous complaints here on this forum, and others! It is a poorly designed radio. You can complain to Toyota, but do not hold your breath. They do not seem to care! You would be better off listening to a Ipod, or pony up some bucks and get XM/Sirus

 

I agree with Paul79UF that it appears to be a local thing and especially in CA. My FM reception is better than most other cars that I have had. I can pick up radio stations at further distances than I could before the Prius.

The sound is also just as good as the XM radio stations.

 

JDC=Lucky man

 

Maybe this is why there's an extra antenna in the right, rear 1/4 glass. My FM reception doesn't seem any better or worse than any other cars I've owned.

 

Yes, it is the Toyota's reply to well known FM problem. The diversity antenna is deployed in PiP only. The Prius III model year 2013 is still without it.

 

I have a Sony CDX-GT700HD radio in my camry and tacoma. It has the most sensitive fm radio around.
It uses DSP processing for the FM tuner. It is a generation newer than the Blaupunkt digicivier, which was the first radio to use DSP for a FM receiver. It is far better than the entune crappy radio. When I drive in a tunnel, the FM HD radio signal craps out with my prius, but works fine in my tacoma and camry. I would pull the entune radio in a second if it wasn't for the silly integration with the rest of the car.
I know what a diversity antenna is supposed to be, but my PiP has what looks like a standard rubber duckie radio antenna sticking out from my roof.

 

The rubber ducky antenna is for the phone. The radio antenna is in the glass.

 

What phone? My car doesn't have a phone.
Can I remove the antenna to reduce drag?

 

The rubber duckey is, indeed, the radio antenna. There is no antenna in the glass on my 2011 Prius, AFAIK.

 

The latest Prius brochure says it has a roof mounted antenna and in-glass AM/FM antenna.

 

Toyota US displays the glass antenna in their brochure: http://www.toyota.com/content/ebrochure/2013/prius_ebrochure.pdf, page 18
I'm not sure about EU models, but I'll check during my dealer visit.

 

It is possible that the rubber duckie is for the satellite radio and/or gps. That makes a lot more sense than for a non-existent phone.

 

If you have the mix FM/HD radio like I have, I've noticed on some stations I have to switch off the HD to get a better signal. The HD goes up and down in volume or cuts out completely. FM is just fine. But then again I am in Florida. No mountains here.

 

The Toyota parts manual calls it the phone antenna. It's suppose to be for the hands-free phone.

 

That's interesting... my 2012 Prius 3 has an antenna on the rear window similar to what my Camry had. Hmmmm...

 

Besides the grid in the R/R 1/4 glass, there's also a grid in the left/top corner of the hatchback glass that appears to be seperate from the defogger grid. I'd bet that's another antenna.

 

The Right Rear/Passenger Rear little window has a defroster in it like the back windows. It's only on the passenger side because if you are the driver you can't see out the driver's side anyway.

But yeah, the one I'm talking about is on the big rear window .