ex_boxster

HI, first post from a recently purchased A6 owner.

It's a 2006 3.2 Quattro with 37k miles, Audi certified, silver w/black int.

As the titles says, it has the factory Sirius receiver, and I activated it last week. Problem is, it drops out a lot. As in constantly for 2-3 seconds at a time on heavily tree lined roads, and it will even drop momentarily for maybe 20% of the highway underpasses I travel under! For comparison, my wife's Lexus doesn't drop at all on the highway, and I don't remember it dropping on the same tree lined road that mine is unlistenable traveling on.

It's going back for replacement of the Homelink module this week, and I already mentioned it to the service guy, but he blamed it on Sirius and just recommended to call them to get it "reloaded". Yeah, right.

Anyone had problems with Audi's satellite receivers, antennas, is it a common problem? Looking for ammo for the service writer.

Thanks!

MikeZ LI

It is normal to expect a drop off under bridges and heavy tree canope areas. Satelite coverage area has a major impact also.
Mine only drops in tunnels and long underpasses, I also have a problem over some bridges (eg: Throggs neck bridge in NYC).

pierreb

it's common, but I suspect your Lexus' receiver buffers whereas I don't believe the Audi one does.

AV8TORSADF

Congrats on the purchase and welcome.

I also have Sirius and experience drop off in heavily wooded areas and only major bridges for 1 second on the highway. I live in a town that has heavily tree lined roads and once I get within the last 3 - 5 miles from my house I switch to a CD because the dropping of signal is so frequent it's damn frustrating. Perhaps replacing your homelink module will improve your reception. Good luck.

s6drive

i suggest bringing it to the dealer, because my ex wife to be had the same problem with her q7 but mine could be in the same area and would be fine, they changed the fin and it was good so try that..i should have left her with a bad radio,lol

ex_boxster

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get the dealer to do something about it, but it sounds like the Audi implementation just isn't as good as some others. If they fix it, I'll report back on exactly what the fix was.

spence341

I have XM in mine and experience very minimal outages. My wifes MDX operates the same way as the one in the Audi. If one looses signal, so does the other.

I do recall XM having a satilite issue a year ago that caused bad reception. I called them and had them walk through everything. They may have some suggestions that Audi may not.

LT2BLT2A6

This has been the most annoying problem I have experienced with my A6, now that spring is here and the trees are again green the satellite radio is nearly useless. I do not understand how this unit can be so sensitive to signal disruptions when the factory XM in my Accord would very seldom cut out under any circumstances. I enjoy listening to the book channel and it can be really frustrating...

ex_boxster

I dropped my car off at the dealer yesterday evening, so I haven't heard anything back from them. I can tell you that my loaner, a 2009 A4 w/Sirius, is only a tiny bit better than my car. It also cuts out under overpasses and around trees.

I could believe that there is a problem with the Sirius signal, except my wife's Lexus is rock-solid. So it appears that Audi just has a really crappy implementation in either the receivers they use, or the placement of the antenna.

Does anyone know where the satellite antenna is located? Is it in the fin, or is the fin for Nav only? If it uses a standard antenna connector, I may try placing one of those small disc antennas somewhere on the car to see if it's any better. I know that a portable Sirius receiver I have with one of those antennas kicks the Audi's butt.

Buddah

I really do not have much drop out - here in vegas nor when I travel to LA and all over the west for work really......