A little more than twelve years ago, we bought a brand new car (GASP! I know — how not frugal! But we are still driving it so there!).
We wanted a Toyota Venza and it was the first or second model year so no used cars were available. (see???)
If you’ve ever bought a new car within the last few years, you were gifted a trial subscription to Sirius XM radio. I think our trial subscription was for six months.
SiriusXM is pretty great. You get high-quality audio, a bazillion different channels so you’ll always be entertained, and it’s available practically everywhere except if you’re surrounded by mountains or in a tunnel. It’s a solid service.
I just didn’t want yet another subscription. We have multiple streaming subscriptions (Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, etc.) and I didn’t want to pay for one in our car.
Their packages aren’t ridiculous. $12.99 for Music Showcase, $17.99 per month for Music and Entertainment, and $22.99 for Platinum still come out to less than a dollar a day. But why pay more when you don’t have to?
But… you should never pay full price for Sirius XM. Never. Ever.
SiriusXM is a prime case where negotiating your subscription rate will always save you money.
All you have to do is call in, threaten to cancel, and wait for them to offer you a “comeback offer.”
The Best Deal: To get the best deal, you have to call and threaten to cancel. They will try to keep you by offering you the best deal — if they don’t, hang up and call back.
Or, if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of calling, you can take their current deal of 6 months of SiriusXM for $30. It is very close to the best deal I’ve seen and you don’t have to call to cancel. The “best” varies month to month but the best I’ve ever seen is 6 months for $25, which is only $5 less. I think SiriusXM got wise to what people were doing so they offered this deal publicly.
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🔃 Updated May 2024 with the latest plans and their associated pricing (the standard price dropped from $10.99 per month to only $9.99 per month and the In-Vehicle has a free 3 month trial). The publicly offered deal is now the best one we’ve seen and it’s for a full year, which means you don’t have to do this again for 12 months. You can get it just by clicking on the link – no need to call and deal with someone in their customer service department!
SiriusXM Standard Pricing: $4.99 per Month
SiriusXM has a few plans but the basic one for your car is $4.99 per month for 12 months (new subscriptions only).
Streaming Platinum is an App Only offer, so you’d have to run the app on your phone and link it to your car. The In-Vehicle Free Trial is the only offer that activates your radio.
The tiers are (all these are plus fees and taxes, see offer details):
| Plan Name | Trial Terms | Regular Price | 1-Year Price* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏆 Streaming Platinum | 12 months for $4.99 a month | $9.99 per month | $59.88 | Get this offer |
| 🚗 SiriusXM In-Vehicle Free Trial | 3 months free trial | $9.99 per month | $89.91 | Get this offer |
| Streaming Platinum | 3 months for $1 | $9.99 per month | $90.91 | Get this offer |
| Streaming Platinum | 4 months free | $9.99 per month | $79.92 | Get this offer |
There are essentially two types of plans – ones that include your vehicle and ones that don’t. The “Streaming Platinum” plans do not include streaming to your car’s radio. You can still stream to smartphones and Smart speakers, so you could use it in your car but through your phone.
The third plan listed in that table is for your car. It’s a 3-month free trial and they do not ask for your credit card. It’s truly a free trial, just have your Radio ID or car’s VIN number ready (or they can search for your VIN based on your license plate). We calculate the 1-year price but there’s no contract, that’s just for comparison purposes.
After each promotion period, the Streaming Platinum will automatically renew at the regular price but there’s no contract so you can always cancel.
The Absolute Best Deal: 6 Months for $25
For years, before they started pushing their streaming services so heavily, the best deal I’d ever heard of was getting 6 months for $25.
Today, that isn’t that much better than the promotional offer they’re offering everyone.
All you need to say is that “I love Sirius XM, I just can’t afford that price. Is there any way you can help me?” — and they will help try to get you on a plan.
If they don’t, and some representatives won’t, you need to hang up and call again. You may have to do this a few times.
You must take note of when your promotional period ends because they will start charging you full price immediately. There will be no warning, it’s automatic renewal at the full price, so mark it on a calendar somewhere and set up notifications.
When the time nears, call them up again. Sometimes they’ll cut right to the chase and offer to extend the deal. If you don’t, cancel it and you’ll get a “winback” offer in a month or two.
What If You’ve Called Several Times?
It could be a note in your account or just bad timing or luck, but if you’ve called a few times and they won’t budge – just cancel.
SiriusXM frequently will send a “winback” or “comeback” offer that is similar to the best price. They know that it costs them the same to run their service and each customer is just profit. They will attempt to win you back shortly after you cancel and you will just have to manage not having satellite radio for a little bit.
✨ Related: How to Cancel Subscriptions You No Longer Use
25% Military Discount
If you are military personnel, which includes veterans, retirees, active duty, and reserves; you can get a 25% military discount. This is for the life of the subscription and you can call customer service at 1-866-635-2349 to learn more – or visit this page.
In Summary
If you only care about getting the very cheapest, then the 12 months for $4.99 a month offer is the cheapest. Get the app on your phone, link your phone to the car, and then play it as you would Apple Music or Spotify.
If the price is less important (if you’re being reimbursed or it is a tax-deductible expense) and you want the convenience of using Sirius XM natively in your radio, get the 3 month trial.
Ha, we just did this. (or rather, we actually cancelled and they kept sending this deal with free installation, so the hubby paid for it as an anniversary present.) We don’t have quite the same collection of channels, but I’m really enjoying having my satellite radio back.
When we had it, we only ever listened to 5-6 channels. Since we both work primarily from home nowadays, it doesn’t make much sense to pay for it… even at such low prices. (tbh, I just don’t want to call back and play this game every 5-6 months!)
Amen to that I’m over it canceling this am.
I bought a new car that had a SiriusXm free trial so I sold my 2 portable SiriusXm radios, boom box and automobile install kit; removed the units from my account and added my new car radio to my account while it was still on the free trial. Then I noticed the adds for new subscribers for $60 per year and felt cheated. Had I cancelled my subscription and only kept the free trial then subscribed that radio I would have saved almost $200! So I called SiriusXm tonight to cancel and explained how I felt and they offered me… Read more »
HEAR ME OUT ON THIS ONE 🤨 lol. The best deal you will get (and I’ve done this about four times on my 2016 GMC sierra), is $25 for five months, or you can get six months for $29.95, And they will send letters continuously, asking you to resubscribe For this price, and on two occasions they offered me a six month subscription for $29.95, and this also included the app. This is very handy because if you have Apple CarPlay you can plug your iPhone in and on the CarPlay menu, you will see the serious XM icon on… Read more »
All subscriptions come with auto renewal. Even if there is no card on file. They will NOT cancel unless you notify them. If you don’t cancel when you renew they will bill you at full rate for time already used before you finally get your best deal.
I call every six months and get charged $59.88 for two cars which includes all fees and taxes. Never give them your credit card. I always pay by my online banking account. Also, never let them charge you a paper invoice fee. That way they cannot auto charge you after six months. I just renew every 6 months. I have done this for the last 4 years.
Buy Sirius XM gift cards at Best Buy, then you don’t have to pay the fee associated with some pre-paid cards.
Like others said, you can’t get around the automatic renewal. Even if you don’t have a card on file, they will bill you.
Negotiate like you did about a month before renewal.
Awesome advice as i never wanna haggle with these birds again, the prepaid card is genius, thanks..!!
They will bill you. And full price
Five years ago , after my Sirius was expired for a while , they offered me Five years for $99.00 ! It has just expired and I will wait until I get a great deal again. I doubt I’ll get that deal again but I can wait.
Dang!! That’s a super deal! I’ve seen this once before, called them to get it, and they wouldn’t honor it because they said it was for new customers. I was a little PO’d about that, but whatever. I should do the same cancel, and wait for this same offer in a mail or email format. Hmm?
Wow I thought I was getting a good deal 3 years ago, $99 for 3 years. It took them about 3 to 4 years of having the car before they offered that deal.
Thank you for the great advice. Threatened to cancel, said how much I enjoyed it but couldn’t pay the nonpromotional price. After third person I got the promo price renewed. Very happy. Worth the effort.
You don’t have to threaten to cancel. As for the Customer Retention Department when you call, and they’ll forward you to a department that will give you the best rates without haggling. I’ve been doing it for seven years, and it always works
Just received the $99 for 3 years offer (current monthly rate $16.99). Plus taxes and fees. Says service will not automatically renew. This is after 4 years of ignoring them.
You can do it online now with the chat function and it takes five minutes and you dont have to wait. Super easy. Can get the top tier right now with an echo dot for 4.99 month.
That’s great news! I love using online chat – I hate waiting on the phone.
We just threatened to cancell.1st offer was for $20/month. Worked it down to last years rate, $6/month including taxes and fees. We’re fine with that!
I only pay $4/month for their all access package. And that is $4/month for one year. I just call back at the end of the year and they give me the same deal.
I got my renewal bill for 294.00 and thought that was too much for All access and streaming. I called said I wanted to cancel. They came back with a 149.00 for the same. That included taxes and fees. Then just for the heck of it I said; “throw in an Echo Dot and you could have a deal”. She came back on the line and said, ” After some fancy work on my computer I was able to get you that Echo Dot”. I’m happy until April 2020.
They’re happy, you’re happy, and you aren’t paying $294!
They auto-renewed me for a 3-year all access subscription at $697.55. I had no idea until I looked at my credit card statement. I’m used to the 6-month calls and have plenty of time during my commutes to play their games. They came back with $58.27 (after tax and fees) for 6 months, all-access and threw in an echo dot 3.
$697.55, though…are you kidding me?!?
Just bought a car from dealership says it has sirus but it unscription anyway my husband has an acct but only allowed to transfer it to three vehicle and well I sold my car which was third car and now I need to buy sirus what deals don’t have
My renewal notice for two cars was $422 per year. I just called and they reduced that to $228 per year for two cars. Still a premium price in my estimation, but acceptable.
Just threaten to cancel and tell the you will simply cancel and reopen the account under a different name so you can get the same price. Works like a charm for the past 4 years in a row. Last year I forgot to call in on time and they billed me a full year at full price. I was able to get them to give me a refund of the difference directly back to my account within a few days and receive my old price with the same tactic. Took a bit of haggling for the direct deposit, they wanted… Read more »
Wow, thanks so much for this advice! I have a free trial for Sirius XM in my car and had no idea you could get a comeback offer! I will definitely look into this soon!
Yes, they will very aggressively try to win you back when you leave. 🙂
haha glad i came by this site, i got mine with my new truck and it runs out in 2 weeks, so i called them, they offered me 70 bux for 6 months and i said no, 2 days later they called and offered me 30 for 6, so i said yes, took your advice jim, set myself a reminder in 5 months, will play the same game, worth saving 70 bux every 6 months
I tried to do this and straight-up canceled for a month. They really didn’t try to win me back with any kind of deal. Well, they gave us a worse package at around a 40% discount.
It’s my wife’s car and now she just listens to the free, ad-sponsored Google Play through Bluetooth. She’s happy with the selection and quality.
Just wait… the comeback offer will come. 🙂
I just cancelled because I was charged on my credit card and foolishly did not mark my calendar to cancel in advance. Lesson learned. They are refunding my money. I love Sirius and hope they will come back with a new offer. We shall see. Was paying $131.00 just to listen mostly to one or two news channels when we travel.
Typically they’ll offer you a deal when you cancel if you say it was too expensive…..sometimes you have to push back more than once to get the best deal……It’s a pain to have to talk to them ever 6-months to a year, but it saves a ton….
I just contacted Sirius XM because no way was I going to reup for 247.52 for listening to BBC World Service, CBC1 and NPR (and some rock on the side). I said I’d just plug in the iPhone. With that, I was offered $6.04/month. I asked, “So I just annoy you every November?” Yep
Don’t ever use a credit card. Buy a gift card from Best Buy and pay using that. Then negotiate for the best price. Currently, here is what I’ve gotten for the last 5 years:
For Select: 6 months for $25.00
For Full Access: 1 year for $119.00
You have to pay tax and royalty fees on top of this. Just remember to call about a month before it expires, or they’ll charge you full price.
Brilliant!
is it possible to get out of their ridiculous “connection fee”?
They did this to my Aunt. She had 4 up for renewal at the same time. XM Radio took over $900.00 out of her checking her account without warning. She forgot that they were all up for renewal and when they tried to negotiate they refused to offer her any deals for 4 cars. On top of that it was around Christmas. She eventually got her money back through the Attorney Generals office. You can buy XM radio gift cards at Best Buy. Never give them access to your bank account.
Yeah, I got dinged for a couple months too… thankfully only for one car. That partially motivated me to write this post… 🙂
what is a connection fee?
Check out Privacy.com, there you can create virtual cards that you can limit the spending and create ‘one-time’ cards that only works once.
That’s what I use for pretty much anything online.
I called 2 days before my renewal date and they offered to extend last year’s special offer for me which I agreed to ($120/year All Access). They then told me an amount higher than I paid last year (because of royalty fees) and I told them that was more than I paid last year and I want the same amount I paid last year. She cleared it with her manager and waived the fees. To boot, they tossed in two more echo dots! $10/month is fair for the service imo.
What happens to the lifetime purchase program XM had in the past? I am really curious.
Thanks for the tip, just tried it and worked perfectly – $25 per radio ($32.31 with taxes and junk) for 5 months. They even gave me a credit for the previous month since I pay quarterly.
Set a reminder for yourself in five months to call them back, they won’t remind you that your contract is up.
They will also give you a 6 months for $30 deal which is the same as the 5 months for $25 but it extends the subscription out one more month. I just did this.
I got this offer as well. I haven’t started the subscription yet, but just FYI, you can get this same offer through Ebates and they (Ebates) will credit your account $5.00. (Ebates pays you a check once a year anytime you shop through their website). Which would be a great deal !!! Six months for $25.00 🙂 That’s the route I’m going to use . Hope this info. is worthwhile and beneficial. 🙂
I just saved $100 on my Select subscription. $99/year
What does Select include?
It has 165 channels – includes MLB, NBA, NHL and PGA. Does not include Howard Stern, NFL or NASCAR.
My trial just ended a couple days ago. I didnt get All Acess, but I got a year for $60 plus the taxes. Came out to around $78.
Enjoy several talk stations, especially at home. Would miss Dr. Laura and sports talk shows. Music quality is terrible. My car HD radio stations blow it away. Considering using Google Play or IHeartRadio. Possibly Apple Music. Anyone do a cost analysis of data use when playing these services in the car?
What would you miss about Dr. Laura? Ms Moralistic?
Why do you care why someone would miss a particular show? Sounds pretty judgemental to me and not nice! Enjoy your day and listen to whatever or whomever you wish!
You can always stream satellite through your phone and it’s high quality just make sure you have the streaming service with the package
I use Pandora a lot and really enjoy that music app through Bluetooth. Even with the free one I don’t get that many commercials. They sometimes will play a long commercial and then I won’t get any for over an hour
We use this method every six months to keep cost to a minimum on our two vehicles. We bought a 2010 Honda Accord for our soon-to-be teen daughter and college sis to drive. Daughter #1 goes to school in DC, so car at home after purchase. Enjoyed the two months free, then let lapse as car was just sitting in garage. Offers come in for 40-50% off…not interested…no one driving car. Then, low and behold, Dec 10th get an offer for 84% off…yes…$99 for 36 months. That was too good to pass up, go to website to accept, and there… Read more »
That’s a pretty good offer… I’d probably do that long term one because then you don’t have to call back every 9-12 months.
I asked for that deal, 36 months for $99, and was told that deal was for 2009 and earlier models.
I just got a new car and it has this Sirius radio in it. Free for 3 months. I only like listening to 95.1 FM and KFI on AM. Sure hope they do not charge me a renewal for Sirius. Sounds like a rip off to me. Cheaper putting a CD in to,listen to. Can they automatically renew me without my permission .I never asked for the service in the first place it came with the car.
I’m not sure, I believe you have to opt in and give billing information to continue… but I don’t know for certain. You should call the dealership or Sirius to confirm.
I just got their 3 mo. trial for a new car. When I read the rules and regs they said you owe nothing unless you subscribe. I guess I’ll try it out for the next three months and see if it’s something I just can’t live without. I’m mostly interested in the music but I couldn’t find how much it said the mostly music plan cost.
I bought a new car in May. When the trial is up, you’ll just get prompted to subscribe if you switch to the satellite radio. Mine’s been expired for 4 months now, no charges. They don’t have your credit card info.
They keep sending me good offers, though.
They forgot about me. I bought a Car in June and I am still on my 3 month trial. My sister and daughter all bought new cars from the same dealership all new Nissan’s. And their trials have all ended except for mine.
That’s nothing, I was on a season plan. I called to turn off my service when my car was stored for the winter. They told me to call back when I wanted to turn it back on in April. Well they never turned the service off, I never called them back to turn it on either. Bottom line, I got 5 years of service for FREE! All the while they kept sending me offer saying they want my business back. They never figured it out.