Any knowledgeable here about car radio?

[question everything]

I have a 2014 Kia Soul with less than 16,000 miles. Sirius radio was installed when I purchased it and I have been keeping the service.

All of a sudden a month ago I could not connect. Long talks with very patient representatives and finally I was told to take it to the dealer (which is not the original one) for a technician to call a special help number.

The conclusion was that I need a new Audio Head Unit for the cost of almost $1,000.

Anyone knows anything about this? And why is it only Sirius but not the FM and AM which are still available?

(While there the mechanic "suggested" more treatments close to $1,000 even though last summer I had a $15,000 miles service. A different topic.)

Thanks.

[Meadowoak]

1. if you just want sirus, and your fm stereo still works, consider buying a seperate add-on receiver,

the have them on amazon for about $50 it will connect through your fm and use the same speakers.

[question everything]

2. Does it mean not using FM? Thanks

[Meadowoak]

3. no, you can use either or, I believe you set the fm tuner to a certain station, it comes with a list

for your area, then the sirrus add-on plays through our fm stereo, its also portable and you can move it inside the house if you wish.

[taxi]

4. Sirius gets its signal from a transponder, not an antenna

If there are any car stereo shops in your area they may be of help. Try typing 'car audio' into your GPS system. Look for one that generally services young, hard of hearing kids with cars that go boom boom boom.

[Meadowoak]

5. it comes in a kit, it has a magnetic thing that looks like a large bug that sticks on the roof or

trunk lid. they work fine. I had one for a bit, but I sold the car.

[taxi]

6. Right. It is possible that the connection from the transponder to

to the radio head is compromised. It would be the first thing to check should you be unable to make a connection. People at a car audio shop generally know all the tricks and can better troubleshoot this type of problem than mechanics at the dealer whose solutions too often are to replace a part.

[Meadowoak]

7. why spend $1000 when you can spend $50 and it does the same thing? I had one, in a car that never

had sirrus, its just a seprate unit that plays through fm. same/same why spend a ridiculous amout of money to fix the old one?https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XSGYCHC?ref=vse_pfo_cp_widget&th=1


ok, I was wrong, they're $69

[taxi]

8. Around here they don't charge to look at it.

[question everything]

9. Thanks. I will look at it. Hope they are easy to install.

[Best_man23]

10. Couple of options here

1. Find a used audio head unit to replace yours, then find a good independent tech to install.

2. If you have a Bluetooth smartphone that can connect through the existing audio head (assuming that part of the audio head still works), you could try playing Sirius in your car using the Sirius smartphone app. That's how I listen to Sirius when I need to rent a car.

[question everything]

11. Interesting. Thanks

I wonder though, Sirius is a subscription program so I wonder whether once I use the app whether I will have to pay for it.

This is what I saw when I went to Amazon as suggested above. It requires $50 a month.

[Best_man23]

12. I don't think the subscription for the app is expensive

For streaming devices its around $12/month.

https://www.siriusxm.com/plans