1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Replacement XM Antenna?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by tkoegel, Sep 19, 2009.

  1. tkoegel

    tkoegel Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2009
    10
    0
    0
    Location:
    Mill Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I purchased a 2007 Prius new from the dealer with the package with the "XM Ready" head unit . . . but without XM installed. Because the dealer had misrepresented the model--I was told that the car I was buying had the factory pre-installed XM and that all I needed to do was activate the XM subscription--the dealer ended up installing the XM tuner and antenna. The antenna, I believe, is a little black box that was mounted on the front dashboard, passenger side.

    Sorry for the long backstory. Reason for the post is that the performance of the antenna has always been subpar. I have aftermarket XM in another car (a Volvo wagon) where the antenna is mounted on the outside of the car. While satellite radio transmission seems to have its limitations, particularly when the southern sky is obscured by overpasses, hills, etc., the Prius reception is far worse than the Volvo. Recently, the performance has gotten even worse. I did run into a similar deterioration problem with an antenna on the Volvo, which had to be replaced.

    Does anyone know if the setup I have is supposed to have an antenna mounted OUTSIDE the car? Whether there are better antennas, aftermarket or otherwise, that would fit with the Toyoto XM Tuner?
     
    #1 tkoegel, Sep 19, 2009
  2. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    946
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Try searching the posts, for XM Antenna Reception.

    This has been well discussed!

    But in short, mine is inside, I have NO receive issues. You can, however relocate the antenna to just behind the AM/FM antenna outside the car simply by rerouting the XM antenna cable, I mentioned this procedure in a previous post.
     
    #2 KK6PD, Sep 19, 2009
  3. nascrlvr

    nascrlvr nascrlvr

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2009
    1,200
    25
    7
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    tkoegel.....I had the same problems as you with the interior mounted XM antenna. It was located on the passenger side of the dash. I had XM in my previous car with an exterior antenna and really no reception problems. I took the car back to the dealer and told them I wanted an exterior mounted antenna. They put one just behind the AM/FM antenna. The installation was covered under warranty......Toyota fixed this problem with an exterior mount for the '10 Prius......
     
    #3 nascrlvr, Sep 22, 2009
  4. tkoegel

    tkoegel Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2009
    10
    0
    0
    Location:
    Mill Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Thanks for the suggestion. Tom
     
    #4 tkoegel, Sep 23, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)