so my XA came with the 6 cd changer...how do i know if i have xm radio0 capability in there....becuz i looked on the scion website and it showed a pic of the antenna in the middle of the rear of the car n i have that but does that automatically mean i have xm radio capability..

basically i wanna get it turned on, but i dunno where to go from here...if i have to buy something that needs to be installed in the car then i dont want it, but if its already there n i just have to trun it on then il do it

could anyone gimme a good answer?

thanks!

 

You would need to add the XM add-on kit/reciever. These use a small square box that goes on your roof so it does not go through your antenna you are talking about.

Right now it is about $300 at the low end but word is there is going to be an adapter that will allow you to use aftermarket kits with it and use the stock HU for XM soon so if you want to wait it out like I am it may be worth it.

Also remember XM is like $10/mo so regardless you are going to have to pay that on top of whatever the kit is.

 

your radio be it he factory single disk or 6 can be hooked
up to the factory xm tuner witch uses the radios display
and controls to control the action this way the sound is cd quality you can opt for less expensive fm modulated units non factory but sound quality is fair/poor or you can get an aftermarket radio and sat tuner and thats pretty much it
there was massive posts on this subject no to long ago but
i just told you everything ya want to know factoy xm tuner
around $ 300 or so plus install aftermarket radio and xm tuner can be around the same price or more and the least expensive is the add on fm modulated brands witch can be purcased anywhere good luck and enjoy your car

 

Recently had XM installed in my xA. Sounds good. The Pioneer Scion factory radio has non-standard Molex connectors for the IP bus so you really need to get the factory wiring harness and XM adapter that mounts under passenger seat. Cable for antenna just extends to where the XM adapter is located. The dealers don't seem to want to install these units and usually send you to a recommended auto stereo shop.
The place I went to had the whole install done in less than an hour. The new XM $49 Trek adapter and wiring adapters ($49) do NOT mate with the factory Scion radios. I tried that before I returned and bought the factory XM adapter. Scion was (or still is) running a special price on the XM adapters. The Scion XM wiring harness is $90 just by itself!

 

I installed a Delphi Roady2 in my Xa. As mentioned before, the sound quality was bad, really bad. I ordered a PIE adapter off of xmfanstore.com for around $65, this allowed me to connect my Roady2 directly into the stock Scion head unit. That gave me the 100% digitial sound quality I wanted. I heard that the stock head unit will not let you scroll through stations to see what is on, it will only display the song title once you select the station. This, for me, would be a step backwards from the Roady2, or any other aftermarket XM radio. I think the display on the stock unit is only 12 letters, where as most aftermarket radios are 16 letter. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

so wait, lol, basically i need to just buy an adapter for my radio and then i pay the bill each month?

 

No, you have to buy the adapter, and an aftermarket XM radio. Then pay the $10 each month.

 

and the xm radio has to replace where my 6 cd changer is now right?

cuz the whole point is that i dont want to lose the radio i have now. iw as under the impression that all i had to do to the radio was have the xm radio turned on, of course with like an adapter added or sumthin. but i dunno if i need to have major installation doen on my car, like replacing the radio i have.

 

The XM radio works with your stock head unit. You stock head unit will basically only be an amplifier for the xm radio. The XM radio will pick up the stations, and it will send the signal to your stock unit, through the adapter I mentioned earlier. You will have to change the channel on the xm radio, and only thing you can do with your stock head unit is adjust the volume. So the way it ends up working with the stock head unit is: you hit FM, and you get your local FM radio stations, you hit AM, you get your local AM stations, you hit CDone time, and your CD player plays the CD, you hit CD a second time, and you listen to XM radio.

 

ohhhh ok i wasnt understanding. so where will they put the xm radio if i keep my stock unit?

 

I mounted my Roady2 directly in front of the steering wheel. It is only 4" wide and 2-1/4" tall, and it came with a couple of different mounting adapters. It has three wires coming out the left hand side that run down and through one of the blank switch panels on the left of the steering wheel. If your interested, I could email you a couple of pictures tomorrow, just send me your email address.

 

that would be great thank u very much..il pm u my email address

 

I bought the Roady 2, and now I am wondering how I should hook it up. I didnt want to go through paying 400 dollars to get the factory one, where I could get something different, like the Roady and hook it up. If you could, could you send some pictures this way too so I can figure out how to plug it in, and hook it up. I know you need some additional adapters and what not in order to plug it into the head unit. What exactly do I need, and if I can get some pictures it would be great!

 

I think as long as you already have an XM ready factory you might as well put the factory XM adapter to keep everything stock. I like how everything is powered up so you can switch over to XM or CD or radio anytime and get fairly quick sounds. The factory Pioneer display shows only 10 digits...and must hit TEXT to scroll across to additional text messages. I don't think it is that big of a deal since the XM channels are on presets anyway. Your eyes should be normally on the road!
I kinda wish the radio also had RDS text messages. Can't have everything. The CDs still sound vastly better than XM or any FM stations.