Sirius/XM Channel Change with Steering Wheel buttons

[cheers3893]

Just got my car on Sunday. I didn't see an answer to this on the message boards yet.

We have Sirius/XM on it and programmed our favorite 6 channels. Those buttons work fine on the touch-screen if we want to switch between those favorite 6 channels. When we change channels with the forward/back buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, it changes the channel by 1 each direction. For example, if we are on Sirius/XM channel 10, it goes to 11 if we press the forward button. In our previous car, as I would expect, pressing the forward button goes to our next favorite channel, not increasing the channel # by 1. That's why we have these favorites programmed. It is very distracting and a bit dangerous to search for that touchscreen button while driving. Is this a limitation of the current firmware release or is there a way to get the quick-access buttons on the steering wheel to change between our pre-programmed 6 favorites?

 

[aviators99]

Just got my car on Sunday. I didn't see an answer to this on the message boards yet.

We have Sirius/XM on it and programmed our favorite 6 channels. Those buttons work fine on the touch-screen if we want to switch between those favorite 6 channels. When we change channels with the forward/back buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, it changes the channel by 1 each direction. For example, if we are on Sirius/XM channel 10, it goes to 11 if we press the forward button. In our previous car, as I would expect, pressing the forward button goes to our next favorite channel, not increasing the channel # by 1. That's why we have these favorites programmed. It is very distracting and a bit dangerous to search for that touchscreen button while driving. Is this a limitation of the current firmware release or is there a way to get the quick-access buttons on the steering wheel to change between our pre-programmed 6 favorites?

Have had the car for 3 months, and have not found a way to do it. I agree that it should be there.

 

[cheers3893]

Have had the car for 3 months, and have not found a way to do it. I agree that it should be there.

I emailed ownership (I assume that's the right way to do it) asking them for this feature. Seems fairly simple to me.

 

[mknox]

When we change channels with the forward/back buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, it changes the channel by 1 each direction. For example, if we are on Sirius/XM channel 10, it goes to 11 if we press the forward button. In our previous car, as I would expect, pressing the forward button goes to our next favorite channel, not increasing the channel # by 1. That's why we have these favorites programmed.

I flipped my old car's XM subscription over to my Model S and programmed some favorites too. I was reasonably sure that the steering wheel buttons moved me from favorite to favorite, not 1-2-3, but now I'll have to go back and check! One think I did notice and don't care for is the significant delay when using the steering wheel button to switch channels. My old car was instantaneous.

 

[kendallpb]

BTW the forward/back buttons for the radio do similar--they skip forward/back to the next station, not to the next favorite. So while it's not what y'all want, it is consistent with the radio. This makes me think either Tesla's unlikely to change it, or they might add a preference to select how to use it. I'm a fan of preferences (but they can overwhelm an interface if there're too many).

 

[Robert.Boston]

BTW the forward/back buttons for the radio do similar--they skip forward/back to the next station, not to the next favorite. So while it's not what y'all want, it is consistent with the radio. This makes me think either Tesla's unlikely to change it, or they might add a preference to select how to use it. I'm a fan of preferences (but they can overwhelm an interface if there're too many).

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. The forward/back should move among the presets, not to the next physically available station.

 

[Sandster]

Anyone aware of a workaround for this non-intuitive control in version 11? It is a huge hassle to have to constantly go back to your favorites to pick your next channel rather than just skipping through the favorites as most cars do.

 

[DBV1]

Just got my car on Sunday. I didn't see an answer to this on the message boards yet.

We have Sirius/XM on it and programmed our favorite 6 channels. Those buttons work fine on the touch-screen if we want to switch between those favorite 6 channels. When we change channels with the forward/back buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, it changes the channel by 1 each direction. For example, if we are on Sirius/XM channel 10, it goes to 11 if we press the forward button. In our previous car, as I would expect, pressing the forward button goes to our next favorite channel, not increasing the channel # by 1. That's why we have these favorites programmed. It is very distracting and a bit dangerous to search for that touchscreen button while driving. Is this a limitation of the current firmware release or is there a way to get the quick-access buttons on the steering wheel to change between our pre-programmed 6 favorites?

Complete agree with you. What is the point of favorites if you can’t scroll thru them with steering wheel button. I also think it dangerous trying to touch screen to do this while driving. If Tesla is such a software/tech company how can they overlook such little things that increase owner satisfaction and safety? But, not all of their focus seems like FSD that is no different than any car manufacture that has autonomous driving. Or focus on games, Netflix, etc, which could care lease about.

 

[leonwu]

I love this thread is 8 years old and we are still dealing with a functionality limitation that is standard in any other car.

But to top it off, some of the SiriusXM channels are now mislabeled