Could you purchase Sirius radio ouitright in the early days ?

fastfredracing · 02-03-2020, 02:34 PM

I think I vaguely remember being able to purchase the receiver without having to subscribe per se. One shot deal .
Reason I ask . At the end of the summer, I went to try and figure out why I had no fm radio reception on the Boxster . I pulled back that center panel, to have a look at the antenna wiring , and lo and behold, I found a Sirius receiver spliced into the antenna wire .
It was on ! I've had the car for over a year now, and have never paid a cent for any subscription .
The weather was nice tonight, so I drove it home, and Sirius was still working just fine . I enjoyed the Chill, and GD channels on my evening commute

pwd72s · 02-03-2020, 03:21 PM

Previous owner may have had a friend who worked in or owned a stereo shop. I didn't ask the details beyond that, but I know a guy who had "free" satellite radio.

I let mine expire on the Mustang...I just don't drive enough to make a subscription worth it. Ipod loaded with over 2,000 tunes more than suffices. I just set it to shuffle play and go.

Sooner or later · 02-03-2020, 03:28 PM

At one time there was a lifetime subscription available.

LWJ · 02-03-2020, 03:52 PM

I have read that when you stop paying for satellite radio, a "kill" signal is issued. It is only issued for a limited time, otherwise the bandwidth would be saturated with kill signals only.

After said time, the signal is removed. IF, the receiver didn't have power during the kill signal aimed at it, it supposedly will work for free and for eternity.

I don't have satellite radio but it seems plausible.

unclebilly · unclebilly's Garage

I have a lifetime subscription in my Tundra. I think I paid $300 for life back in 2011. They sent out an offer after my 6 month free trial ended. I called up the number and made up a bogus offer at 1/2 the cost that they offered and said I was supposed to get an autographed Rita McNeil poster as well. I was on hold for a loooooong time while they tried to find this deal. They came back to the phone with bad news about the poster but would honour the price. True story. I was just joking around but I took their counter offer.

Mike Andrew · 02-04-2020, 06:22 AM

Been a subscriber since the "early days" and went thru a couple of receivers before I had sat radio as standard equipment. Always paid for the service and was never made aware of a lifetime script. Man, would that have been a deal at $300.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

We have XM satellite in our Cessna 182T. It does have music, but that is not why we subscribe. It makes the ADS-B and color radar work out in the boonies.

Sooner or later · 02-04-2020, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Andrew

Been a subscriber since the "early days" and went thru a couple of receivers before I had sat radio as standard equipment. Always paid for the service and was never made aware of a lifetime script. Man, would that have been a deal at $300.

Lifetime was for the receiver life and not the owner's life. There was a class action lawsuit.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

Lifetime was for the receiver life and not the owner's life. There was a class action lawsuit.

I bought a "lifetime warranty" battery from JC Penney's back in the 1970s for my 914. Penney's got out of the automotive and sold it to Firestone. They used a cheap battery, that lasted about 24 months. So every other year I went to Firestone and had them test the battery, and they would replace it for free. I got a lot of batteries for free until 1991 when I sold the 914. Now I have to buy batteries dang it.

unclebilly · unclebilly's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

Lifetime was for the receiver life and not the owner's life. There was a class action lawsuit.

Unless the receiver breaks then they will move it to another receiver.

fastfredracing · 02-05-2020, 06:56 AM

I guess I better hang onto that receiver ! Thanks guys. I thought that is how it was . I remember inquiring about purchasing, and it was something like $300.00 with no subscription fee. My buddy has one also . Still going strong without ever paying a penny after the initial purchase .

mattdavis11 · 02-05-2020, 04:14 PM

Interesting. I got a freebie JVC tuner years ago and it came with the XM stuff, but I never hooked up the XM parts. Wonder if it will work?

We have XM in her MDX but we have to pay $5 month, and the signal cuts out way too much. Not really worth it to me, but she likes it.