Xm/sirius Aftermarket

[lambobaby1218]

The dealer wants $1,000 to install what I need for the satellite radio. Is there anything out there aftermarket that doesn't require as much money and is the same thing?

Trina

[1990LS400]

Plug and play sat radio kits are available on eBay for most if not all "recent" (2001-up) Lexus vehicles. If I remember correctly, they run around $250. They are easy to install if you know how and don't mind doing the needed and fairly substantial interior disassembly.

[lambobaby1218]

And I don't know how to do all of that. Argh.

[1990LS400]

And I don't know how to do all of that. Argh.

I think the eBay sat radio kits come with decent instructions. Do you have any friends (you trust!) who like to tear car interiors apart and have a set of interior trim removal tools? I think it is mainly a matter of pulling the head unit, plugging the sat radio unit into the back of it and running the sat radio antenna to mount somewhere acceptable. The antenna is usually supposed to be mounted on the exterior (e.g. the trunk lid) but some mount the antennas in the interior -- commonly on the rear package shelf and some hide them in high mounted rear stop light housings. A common route to run wires from the front to the rear of a car is under the door sill thresholds - they usually pop off easily.

I'm guessing that a "professional" could install a sat radio kit in about one hour. I'm obsessive and might spend several hours doing it to get everything perfect. Probably a car audio shop could do it but they might also want to sell you the kit and make some profit. Some of the audio shop "professionals" I've seen do not have a very high skill level so be careful if you go that route.

[lambobaby1218]

Isn't that what that little shark fin on the rear top of the car is for, the antenna? They run the wires to it? I thought the wires would already be there if that antenna was there......

In the alternative, would you happen to know how to get an iPod Shuffle to play in the car? I don't have a USB port, but I notice there's another input jack in the middle console. Do I need some sort of cable for it, or is there also an installation process for this?

Thanks for all your info, I really appreciate it!