sat xm qusetion

i have a 2009 tacoma with the satelite shark fin antenae on the roof. When i push the sat xm button on the radio nothing happens. Is there no module installed or am i missing something?

 

Do you have a Sirius/XM subscription?

 

You probably don't actually have the tuner. That's how my 2009 was. Give you the antenna and say the truck is "xm ready" then make you spend a few hundred bucks for the actual tuner.

But then yea you'd obviously need a subscription however without it you'd still get the preview channel of the tuner was installed.

 

I have an 09 and previously had a dash-mounted sirius receiver but wanted to go all "stock". It's pretty dumb because you have to buy multiple things - a tuner, an interface, and a shark fin adapter. Granted this is all to have Sirius in the truck. Maybe it's different for XM?

here's a great thread for Sirius: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/28731-sirius-factory-radio-install-2009-tacoma.html

 

This. In my 09 i bought a aftermarket headunit, the shark fin adaptor and a $20 siriusxm receiver. An for some reason it works without a subscription. Have had it almost a year and haven't paid a dime

 

Sirius IS xm now. Your 09 is just sat "ready" meaning the shark fin on top is wired and ready to be used, but you don't have the sat receiver installed which is why the xm button doesn't do anything. The thread linked above is probably the best resource to figure out what you need.

Options for sat on the 09 are: 1. do what the thread above did

2. buy the Toyota oem tuner from a dealer, you can find the part online and directions on how it installs.

3. buy an aftermarket head unit - but if you do that I think you still need a sat tuner as well.

I have the set up described in the thread and love it, having steering wheel controls and no wires anywhere is really nice. Search on here for sat. threads, there are several. One I was just reading is how a guy set up a portable sat receiver and is using his sunglass storage to put the interface.

There are advantages to getting a plug N play unit, some of them have song and/or artist alerts that will indicate when your favorite is playing on another station, and some have built in memory buffers so you can rewind and listen to something you missed, like if you stopped for gas or something. It's a trade off and I don't think you can ever have those features if you have steering wheel controls.

 

Yep this is perfect. Aftermarket headunits that are "sat ready" also need a tuner specific to the brand of the headunit. Another benefit I noticed with having a plug N play was that it was wayyy easier to jump between channels that aren't presets and navigate by genre, etc. However, nothing beats the clean look of having everything stock. Pros and cons..

 

thats what i figured. One last question. If i buy a used stock xm ready radio from a seller on here is it difficult to install?

 

Its pretty easy. You said you have the sat xm button though, so i think that means your head unit is xm "ready"

 

I think installation is going to depend on having a wiring harness or not. If you have a plug N play harness it should be easy, at least taking the stock head unit out is easy.

 

I bought a stock head unit with xm from a member. The difference in the one thats just xm ready and the one that actually has the sat receiver installed is a blue plug on the rear of the unit. The one with the blue plug is the one you want.

 

You still need the antenna wire though right? The one that plugs in under the drivers side kick panel

 

That is quite possible. I have a 2007, so no shark fin or wire. I bought an aftermarket antenna. I then disassembled the head unit and removed the toyota antenna connector in order to connect the new antenna to the receiver.