XM Radio trouble

[jesus_man]

We got 3 or 4 months free XM with the car when we bought it and it worked great, but that expired in Nov Being the thoughtful husband I am , I wanted to buy a years subscription for my wife for Christmas. We try to activate the radio, and nothing happens. We try again and again, 6 or 7 times and still get nothing. We have waited on hold at XM for a VERY long time. We have not had any time to take it to the dealer, but in fact, the dealer is on my %^$& list. I am wondering if there is anything I can do to try and get things to work myself before I have to deal with the dealer? I don't understand how the thing can work perfectly and then a couple months later, it's dead. I guess my first thing is to unplug the XM module in the trunk and plug it back in? Thanks for your help!

J.D.

 

[Lightflyer1]

I don't believe there is much you can do for this yourself. I think this is either replace the unit or XM needs to get their act together. There have been a number of people who have had the unit replaced by the dealer. Alot of people have complained of having to deal with XM as well. I just use the mpg CD player instead.

 

[jesus_man]

I am afraid of that. Thanks for your help.

 

[wldwsel]

My XM did the same thing about 4 months after I bought the car (2006 Pkg 1).

I took it back to the dealer and they had to replace the XM module of the radio. It had a different serial number, so I had to talk to XM in order to re-load to the satellite and it's been fine since then.

If you have a VAGCOM or know somone who does, hook it up. When I got mine, the first download showed the failure and a note put in the car's computer by a tech stating the symptoms.

As an aside, the dealers don't seem to have any expertise on XM or Bluetooth at all. If you don't have one, get a VAGCOM, you won't be sorry.

Good Luck

love this car

 

[KarlTrumpet]

My car has had the exact same problem, XM died in November, "national backorder" on the part, I paid for a year of XM... have none to listen to. A major pain in the a--. No help, no hope... Anyone ever tried to troubleshoot the unit to see if it's just a fried diode or something?

 

[nnjtdi]

Same thing happened to me but with Sirius, radio could not find reciever. I had dealer replace under warranty. It took the dealer three days to replace but they covered me with a loaner car. Working fine for now 2006 PKG1

 

[KarlTrumpet]

xm radio

is there any way to fix the controller since they can't get a replacement part? it's only the radio, BUT it is something under warranty they can't fix!!! annoys the h--- out of me to not have something I paid for, that I enjoy, etc.. there's gotta be something we can do. ideas?

 

[Sloose]

We got 3 or 4 months free XM with the car when we bought it and it worked great, but that expired in Nov Being the thoughtful husband I am , I wanted to buy a years subscription for my wife for Christmas. We try to activate the radio, and nothing happens. We try again and again, 6 or 7 times and still get nothing. We have waited on hold at XM for a VERY long time. We have not had any time to take it to the dealer, but in fact, the dealer is on my %^$& list. I am wondering if there is anything I can do to try and get things to work myself before I have to deal with the dealer? I don't understand how the thing can work perfectly and then a couple months later, it's dead. I guess my first thing is to unplug the XM module in the trunk and plug it back in? Thanks for your help!

J.D.

I had this EXACT same problem. I got my car in august 05, when the free 3 month expired (Despite me already having an XM account - i have had XM radio for 2 years prior) the radio stopped working. Despite trying to refresh/activate the radio about 300 times, XM said there was something wrong with the transponder. My dealer was trying to tell me it was XM< etc etc etc. Part was on backorder - took approx 8 weeks to get.

After about 2 weeks i started calling the parts manager weekly, then eventually daily. They got so annoyed with me they found my new transponder.

 

[Sloose]

is there any way to fix the controller since they can't get a replacement part? it's only the radio, BUT it is something under warranty they can't fix!!! annoys the h--- out of me to not have something I paid for, that I enjoy, etc.. there's gotta be something we can do. ideas?

call the parts manager and annoy him...that's what I did and it worked

 

[airwolf]

Same thing happend to me and my XM. Although I made an apointment and it was fixed the same day. I was told I was lucky that they had one in stock.

 

[tomo366]

Sirius and XM decided to merge today.......You think you have problems now....
The equipment from the 2 companies is not compatible.........

 

[Sloose]

Sirius and XM decided to merge today.......You think you have problems now....
The equipment from the 2 companies is not compatible.........

its going to take months to iron out the details... *IF* the fcc approves it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/business/19cnd-radios.html?ex=1329627600&en=cc6a0c7153a30d74&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

XM202 forever baby

 

[jesus_man]

OK, so I gotta figure out why I am not getting emails showing responses to my threads?? Anyway thanks for the support guys. I know I am not alone. Now to find time to deal with the stealership! Might have to trade the wife cars for a day and take it in myself. We are supposed to be covered with a loaner car too.

J.D.

 

[KarlTrumpet]

it ain't over yet, but I just called Lewisville, TX VW, and was treated really well, and they said they can now get me a new XM controller from Germany, takes 2-3 weeks. I've been waiting for 5 months, dealing with Cable VW in Oklahoma City (I bought it in TX but live much closer to OKC). Cable is NO HELP at all... like I said, it ain't over yet, but Lewisville VW gave me the feeling that they are happily all over it and that I'll get my XM controller.

 

[J003223]

I've had my 2006 Jetta pkg 2 for 6 months... 3 weeks ago the XM crapped out. I have an appointment with the dealer next week for 20K service and this will be on my hit list to them to fix while it's in the shop. At first when I mentioned it to my service advisor, he said that I needed to check my subscription and make sure it's paid before VW will really look into the issue. I told him it's paid in full until July 2010 so I'm sure it's good. Anyway I'm about to go hook up the VAG-COM and see what I can dig up. I'll post any findings or resolutions. On a brighter note, XM gave me a month free because of the problem. Didn't ask them, they just offered. Total wait time 8 minutes on hold, 3 minutes to get through the auto attendant.

 

[jesus_man]

Ours is getting replaced as well. In fact it should be in any day now. They said it was on backorder, " but we ordered on the internet and it should be in next week". So we'll see. XM was nice about it for us too. They gave us 3 months free since it's been such a hassle to get this repaired.

J.D.

 

[Sloose]

kinda retarded that so many people have the same issues....

 

[KarlTrumpet]

XM Radio replaced

Lewisville (TX) VW got my XM controller in a week, installed it yesterday, washed the car for me, etc., no hassles. It works.. Cable VW in Oklahoma City (MUCH closer for me) was NO HELP. They have had it on order for FOUR MONTHS and nada... Lewisville VW rocks so far.

 

[Herkypilot]

Well I've used my XM since Oct '05 with no problems until just this past Monday - 15 Oct '07. I stopped for a short while, hopped back in the car, started it up and I get an "Updating" message on the screen for about 15 minutes. I figure XM is off the air for a bit doing some updating so I'll check back later. I try it the next day and get an "uploading" message with no sound. About 5 minutes later the sound popped on with the usual XM advertising. Tried refreshing a few times which didn't work. Talked to xm on the phone and turned the radio back on. I waited about 5 minutes again for the sound to come on. Just prior to the sound coming on, I see a "Failure" message for about 5 seconds then a "Updating" message. The only tunable channels are 000, 001, 130, 143, & 247. The tech said I have a receiver problem and would have to address this with the dealer.

We'll see how that goes!

Herkypilot

 

[Herkypilot]

XM radio is fixed

The dealer installed a new control unit under warranty. I had to re-activate my radio, but it was easy to do on the web. The new control unit had a new ID. Once I registered the new one, all is well.

Herkypilot

 

[idioteque]

Glad to see this post

Can I get clarification from a few of you?
Does the XM still work on 001, 130 and 247 but no other channels? Mine is currently doing that. So I know the transponder is functional, as is the radio (albeit partially)

Seems odd to me that it would partially work. It sounds as though the reciever actually needs to receive some sort of update from XM (over-the-air) and reprograms itself.


what a pain... where's radio shack so I can put some 6x9's in the rear deck above the trunk and run wires through the cabin!?!?!?!?

thanks guys

 

[TDICube]

I am having the same uploading problem as the previous poster; 247, 001 Channels and the radio is previewing. Did your radio ever come back? I will see if it will update tomorrow morning. The radio always took forever to lock into a satellite station.
TDICube

 

[darrenf]

I am having the same uploading problem as the previous poster; 247, 001 Channels and the radio is previewing. Did your radio ever come back? I will see if it will update tomorrow morning. The radio always took forever to lock into a satellite station.
TDICube

Cube, this is normal behavior when the radio misses it's activation signal. Go to the XM website and there is a button to re-transmit the activation code. Have your radio on when you do this, drive around for 20 minutes and then try the other stations.

Good luck!

-darren