svt331

I just got my tC and am having problems with the radio. I am hearing a slight high pitched static on all stations about 60 percent of the time. Occasionally the ST stereo indicatior will flicker. I have taken a few people for rides and everyone I pointed it out to can hear it. I took it to the dealer and they said they could not reproduce the problem. Driving away from the dealer I could still hear it. It drives me nuts! Its definately a reception problem. I checked the antena and its mounted tight properly. I guess I will have to take it back to the dealer and take them for a ride to show them what is happening. I hate problems like this.

Anyone else having the same problem?

Thanks!

sciontc_mich

i didn't have any problems with my radio, but some help that is right? only thing I've had is the cd player went bad with two different radios.. third time is the charm

what you need to do is contact scion.. and start a file with them.. also take your car to another dealer, that dealer you're dealing with sounds like the first one i dealt with, just full of excuses and no real work! so yeah i think another dealer would check the antenna and get you another radio.. seems pioneer isn't having really good quality on these..

iowagary

Are you saying that what you're hearing is static? On most of the stations? Most of the time? Not so much that you can't hear the music but enough to be totally annoying? I've got the exact same problem. At present, I'm just chalking it up to an antenna that isn't that big and a deck without the world's best tuner. If someone can show me that it's a defective head unit or something, I'd be pretty happy about that.

But I totally hear you. I don't think my girlfriend even notices but I sure do. It's obnoxious and it's way worse reception than it should be. I don't want to have to change out the stock deck, which is OK, just because of that, but I might end up doing it eventually.

svt331

That is exactly what I am saying. Its driving me frigging nuts! I am going to the dealer tomorrow to show them since they cant hear it on their own. I am not some crazy audio nut I just dont want static all the time when I am listening to the radio. I am not able to get it resolved this time I will have to replace the head unit. Oh well... I will post up what happens.

sciontc_mich

I was thinking the noise you were describing was kinda like a shhhh shhhhh or possibly a multiple ticking noise.. Sound like AM radio if you were to turn a blender on?

But I definitely think it's your radio, since I've gotten the third one in mine, it picks up stations about 90 miles away.. so for me, the antenna is working fine.. I know that the audio is clearer (cd and radio) on this 3rd unit than the other two.. and louder as well.. pioneer definitely has a bad batch out there..

I'd contact scion and get them to get you a new one.. and find a dealer who will work with you.. yeah definitely let us know how it goes..

iowagary

I have a friend who's friend has a tC - I'm gonna try and meet up with him and see if we get different reception - I'm curious to see if there is any obvious difference. If there is, I'll think about taking it in to get a new deck. I wonder how much hassle they'd give me about this...

sciontc_mich

hey gary.. yeah if you find a dealer that's good, they won't give you a problem.. But yeah my cd player was bad two different units.. so I was able to see differences in the radio reception.. but hey if yours isn't bad (in reception) and everything works? I'd say stay with it, YOU'RE ALREADY WINNING! lol.. I'm just glad i finally got one that works right..

svt331

Took the service advisor for a drive and was able to reproduce the static. He said he was going to make some calls this week and get back to me by Monday. Hopefully they will just replace the head unit and we will be done with it.

sciontc_mich

most likely they'll just replace it.. he probably wants to contact scion or toyota's tech line to see what they recommend.. fixing a radio tuner is way outside the capabilities of any dealership (and im not talking sending it to someone else).. so it'll be easy to swap out the radio for a new one.. glad you got someone to listen! let us know how it goes..

svt331

Update: After finally getting in touch with my service advisor (he doesnt like to return my call or call me when he says he is going to anymore) he told me he talked to some tech lines and they were not aware of any problems with the radios in the tCs. He says he just doesnt want to throw parts at a problem... I told him that if the people he talked to are not aware of any problems like mine then done you think its unique and thus you need to replace the head unit??? He said he would replace it but still doesnt want to throw parts etc... I told him its either the head unit or the antena... I dont know why this has to be so difficult. I am still being very professional though. He said he would order a radio yesterday and it should be in next week. I will follow up with him on Monday to see if he has the radio yet. We shall see.........

bender2929

any further update on this? I've got a static-y radio reception as well

iowagary

I would love to hear someone who seems to be getting this statick-y radio thing actually get it fixed, but I think I've come to the following conclusion:

1. The antenna isn't the world's best.
2. The head until doesn't lock in stations perfectly.
3. The head EQ, especially combined with the HEAR or FEEL settings (mostly HEAR) really blows out the trebel, so I think what is happening is that the static you might not notice as much is getting heavily accentuated by the fact that our radios seem to love the trebel sound of static.

Thoughts?

LeeD

I've also got static on my xA's radio, and it's got much worse reseption than the bose in my Z, or the radio in the Accord I sold. I sent a message on the xA forum, and they all said the their reception is awsome, and better than any car they've owned.

If I'm not mistaken, we've got the same radio.

svt331, don't let them pull your leg. The guy is already showing that he can't be trusted and isn't reliable. He doesn't return your calls or call you when he says he will. He said he would call you when the radio comes in, but it's not very likely. You have to hound these guys and stand your ground. Put to them very simply.

The radio has a problem.

They need to fix it.

You don't care how they fix it, and don't care if he wants doesn't want to replace head units. They need to fix the problem, period.

Good luck!

svt331

Well once again he had not called me back by this morning so I called him. He said he would check to see if the radio has come in yet and call me back. Right now, thats where I stand. I bet he wont be calling me back today. This is getting a little obserd. Next time I talk to the guy I am going to ask him whats up with the delays and no call backs. This dealer's customer service is starting to ____ me off!

svt331

Update: Got the radio replaced and the static is still there just like before. I am going to have to schedule another appointment with the dealer to check into it further. Guess its the antena...

iowagary

I think I've got the same thing going on. I have a hard time thinking it's anything but the antenna. Anyone with more audio experience or more experience with this car want to chime in? As far as I know, the antenna is pretty small, but somewhere between it and the deck there is a powered amlifier. I don't think I did anything to mess it up, but my reception is definitely less than it should be. I'd get a new deck (stock or otherwise) but I doubt it would change anything. I do know that there is a blue antenna wire and a blue and white antenna power on wire in the wiring harness. That's all I know. If there was even an aftermarket part that would really boost the reception of this thing, I'd be on it in a second.

LeeD

Anybody get this fixed yet????

I've also got a problem with my radio reception! Crappy, almost all stations full of static. If I do get a station that's clear, it'll eventually start getting static and driving only ~10-20 miles I'll start to loose the station..

iowagary

I still haven't gotten it fixed. At this point I don't think it's the deck. If it was, I'd probably just get an aftermarket one. I think the antenna is crappy and the amlifier or whatever isn't really helping it. Maybe the solution is just to get sattelite radio and forget about it. But if someone can get the damn thing fixed, I'd sure like to know how.

Kyle480

Hey fellow Scion owners,

Just got my xB on monday and I rarely listen to the radio (I hate commercials) the other day I was with my buddys driving to the mall and my buddy metioned that all the radio stations I have programmed are really unclear/staticy. I turned it up and sure enough it sounded pretty unclear almost like I was on the outskirts of the city and I was loosing the radio signal. I am happy I found this post beacuse it was starting to drive me nuts. Like I said I barely listen to the radio but I paid for the 6 disc to be in there and the damn thing should work right. I am a full time college student and I work part time so I barely have enough time to take into the dealership but as soon as winter break rolls around I am going to make sure my xB gets looked at.

Hopefully Scion realizes whats wrong and makes a recall.

Kyle

iowagary

Keep us posted - the xB, unlike the xA or tC, doesn't have an external antenna, so the amplifier and everything else is that much more important. I'd guess it's probably got worse reception in general, but my tC is pretty friggen bad.