SiriusXM Volume Scratchy

[leapingwhale]

He could not give me an ETA (I asked if we were looking at a day, a week, a month…he said no idea). He suggested I wait for the next software release and see if that fixes it. He also told me it is a high priority for engineering.

I was told essentially the same thing in July 2022 about my MC2 2013 MS except without the "high priority for engineering" BS. So I've waited 7 months for a fix and the problem has grown worse during that time. V11.1 2023.2.10 is, for me, the last straw. Before this version, the problem was confined to the FM tuner and Bluetooth calling. With this release, the problem has spread to Spotify and whatever the built in app Tesla uses when you ask it to play a song. Oh, and the timing of the turn signal sound is now erratic.

Anyway, I hope that I'm wrong, but I actually don't expect this problem with be fixed in 2023, if ever. My guess is the engineers have their hands full fixing problems on more recent hardware that affects many more owners. It's just too easy to tell people "don't worry, we're working on a fix" and run out the clock.

So here's radical plan #2: have Tesla remove the FM tuner.
Radical plan #1 was to downgrade to MCU1 but Telsa refused.

I don't know if that will work but I don't know what else to try and it does seem like most people with this problem have an XM or FM tuner. If I'm wrong about that, please reply to the thread and correct me.

 

[Jklunk]

I was told essentially the same thing in July 2022 about my MC2 2013 MS except without the "high priority for engineering" BS. So I've waited 7 months for a fix and the problem has grown worse during that time. V11.1 2023.2.10 is, for me, the last straw. Before this version, the problem was confined to the FM tuner and Bluetooth calling. With this release, the problem has spread to Spotify and whatever the built in app Tesla uses when you ask it to play a song. Oh, and the timing of the turn signal sound is now erratic.

Anyway, I hope that I'm wrong, but I actually don't expect this problem with be fixed in 2023, if ever. My guess is the engineers have their hands full fixing problems on more recent hardware that affects many more owners. It's just too easy to tell people "don't worry, we're working on a fix" and run out the clock.

So here's radical plan #2: have Tesla remove the FM tuner.
Radical plan #1 was to downgrade to MCU1 but Telsa refused.

I don't know if that will work but I don't know what else to try and it does seem like most people with this problem have an XM or FM tuner. If I'm wrong about that, please reply to the thread and correct me.

You are not wrong, however—when I took it to the SC a few weeks ago, I specifically asked if switching to MCU2 without the tuner would fix it and was told it would not. Scratchiness doesn’t happen, but skips/pauses would still happen with Bluetooth and streaming. I actually told the SC manager I wanted my MCU2 with tuner swapped out to MCU2 without at their expense, plus a $500 refund for the additional amount I paid for the tuner and was told they would not do that, and even if they switched me to non-tuner, it would not fix the problem. Would love for someone from Tesla to confirm this as I would gladly give up the tuner if it meant streaming/Bluetooth worked without an issue.

I agree, I think it’s a delay tactic and this will not get fixed. Only way to escalate this is to get vocal on the volume of complaints. Mine is still under the warranty period so I will wait and set up another mobile appointment in a month if it’s not fixed. Burt we need as many owners as possibles to complain if they are having the problem. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect a $2,000-$2,500 upgrade to WORK!

 

[leapingwhale]

[...] I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect a $2,000-$2,500 upgrade to WORK!

The service center employees are not persuaded by this argument as I have tried it many times. I appreciate the information and it sounds like I'll be going down in flames (again) at the service center. I have been told too many lies by the Tesla service center to accept that removing the tuner won't work. I'd give it a 50/50 chance of fixing the problem at best. But do I believe your guy knows for sure it won't work? No, I do not. Do I believe your guy has insight into engineering priorities? No, I do not. Please understand my beef is with Tesla, not with you.

A better way to tell if it might help is right here on the forum. Who is having this problem that does NOT have an XM or FM tuner?

I really want to take them to small claims court. I have all the documentation. Last summer I gave them a folder titled "Evidence of Defect" which included all the relevant info plus a thumb drive of the recordings I made. It wasn't until I did that they finally stopped lying to me and told me it was a known firmware defect and that it would be fixed in a future release with no ETA. To his credit, when I asked the guy if no ETA meant it could be a year or more, he said yes. By the way, some of their lies were hilarious. They told me, for example, that radio reception was known to be poor near the service center. It's not, but I drove to a different part of town to make my recordings. They told me the phone call quality was due to my iPhone 13 Pro, so I told them to connect their own phone and give me a call from the car. They also told me that comparing the quality of my Prius radio to my Tesla radio was an unfair comparison — to the Tesla!

Anyway, there is no doubt in my mind that I would win in small claims court, but the truth of the matter is I probably won't take the time to figure out that process. I'm very close to replacing my MS with another Toyota hybrid. I'm just wondering how many thousands of dollars this problem will cost me when I sell the car.

 

[Jklunk]

The service center employees are not persuaded by this argument as I have tried it many times. I appreciate the information and it sounds like I'll be going down in flames (again) at the service center. I have been told too many lies by the Tesla service center to accept that removing the tuner won't work. I'd give it a 50/50 chance of fixing the problem at best. But do I believe your guy knows for sure it won't work? No, I do not. Do I believe your guy has insight into engineering priorities? No, I do not. Please understand my beef is with Tesla, not with you.

A better way to tell if it might help is right here on the forum. Who is having this problem that does NOT have an XM or FM tuner?

I really want to take them to small claims court. I have all the documentation. Last summer I gave them a folder titled "Evidence of Defect" which included all the relevant info plus a thumb drive of the recordings I made. It wasn't until I did that they finally stopped lying to me and told me it was a known firmware defect and that it would be fixed in a future release with no ETA. To his credit, when I asked the guy if no ETA meant it could be a year or more, he said yes. By the way, some of their lies were hilarious. They told me, for example, that radio reception was known to be poor near the service center. It's not, but I drove to a different part of town to make my recordings. They told me the phone call quality was due to my iPhone 13 Pro, so I told them to connect their own phone and give me a call from the car. They also told me that comparing the quality of my Prius radio to my Tesla radio was an unfair comparison — to the Tesla!

Anyway, there is no doubt in my mind that I would win in small claims court, but the truth of the matter is I probably won't take the time to figure out that process. I'm very close to replacing my MS with another Toyota hybrid. I'm just wondering how many thousands of dollars this problem will cost me when I sell the car.

I did not take it toward me at all—I completely understand, and agree. You are 100% correct that the tech(s) have no knowledge whatsoever with the engineering priorities or whether MCU2 w/o tuner would fix it. My tech basically told me it won’t, but he also was very clear that he would not be surprised if they never fixed this. So he does/says what he can, but has no control/input into the actual fix.

I have a 2015 MS with MCU2 SXM/FM tuner (installed May 2021) and a 2016 MX with MCU2 without SXM/FM tuner (installed September 2021). Scratchiness occurs on MS SXM/FM, pauses/skips occurs on MS Bluetooth/streaming. Pauses/skips occur on MX Bluetooth/streaming. So I have both and experience it on both. It has definitely gotten worse on the MS the last 2-3 updates, and just started occurring on the MX with the most recent update. Wish I could roll back.

 

[DerbyDave]

I would fully expect that the new 2021+ with the AMD Ryzen processor replacing the Intel Atom processor in the MCU does not have this issue. I believe the "older" processors do not have the capability, or the audio is not given the priority it needs.

 

[lowtek]

Not sure if it's been said but XM's audio quality is the absolute worst and you really won't enjoy what your sound system has to offer, would be better to just stream unless you're in one of the very few areas where there isn't cell coverage.

 

[PlugItInJunior]

I was told essentially the same thing in July 2022 about my MC2 2013 MS except without the "high priority for engineering" BS. So I've waited 7 months for a fix and the problem has grown worse during that time. V11.1 2023.2.10 is, for me, the last straw. Before this version, the problem was confined to the FM tuner and Bluetooth calling. With this release, the problem has spread to Spotify and whatever the built in app Tesla uses when you ask it to play a song. Oh, and the timing of the turn signal sound is now erratic.

Anyway, I hope that I'm wrong, but I actually don't expect this problem with be fixed in 2023, if ever. My guess is the engineers have their hands full fixing problems on more recent hardware that affects many more owners. It's just too easy to tell people "don't worry, we're working on a fix" and run out the clock.

So here's radical plan #2: have Tesla remove the FM tuner.
Radical plan #1 was to downgrade to MCU1 but Telsa refused.

I don't know if that will work but I don't know what else to try and it does seem like most people with this problem have an XM or FM tuner. If I'm wrong about that, please reply to the thread and correct me.

I’ve got same issue after the 2023.2.10 software upgrade. XM and FM scratchy, Apple Music streaming is fine except a glitch/pause sporadically, and weird timing on blinker sounds. Have a service appt Feb22, will see what they say. Anyone know how to rollback software version?

 

[leapingwhale]

I would fully expect that the new 2021+ with the AMD Ryzen processor replacing the Intel Atom processor in the MCU does not have this issue. I believe the "older" processors do not have the capability, or the audio is not given the priority it needs.

Thanks for that info. I wasn't aware there was a CPU design change and it does seem like a reasonable theory that the old processor is out of bandwidth especially since the problem worsens over time.

There is one side benefit of the problem being so bad now. They now have stopped telling me the behavior is normal and expected. All I had to do was turn on the FM radio for the service advisor and she readily agreed it was unacceptable. Unfortunately, that was the last area or agreement. I told her I wanted to return the FM tuner and she told me there was nothing they could do and that I had waited too long to raise the complaint which is crazy because I think this is the 3rd or 4th time I have taken it in for MCU problems since the upgrade. So I asked to see the service records and she said she didn't have them. I obviously should have brought them with me but I didn't, so I offered to go home and get them. She told me if I left with the car they would cancel my service appointment. I told her that was fine and that I'd go fetch my records for her. At this point she disappeared for about 15 minutes talking to someone away from the customer area.

When she came back she told me that if it wasn't fixed with the next firmware upgrade that they would change out the hardware. Of course i don't have that in writing and I'm sure they will deny it the next time I am in. I do however have this one breadcrumb on info in the chat history that also claims the problem will be resolved with the "next" firmware update. That is a change to what they have told me before and also matches what Jklunk said.

In the early days of Tesla the service was outstanding. It's a real shame that they have dropped to this level. Anytime someone asks me about buying a Tesla I always advise them against because the service is so awful.

 

[crackers8199]

I would fully expect that the new 2021+ with the AMD Ryzen processor replacing the Intel Atom processor in the MCU does not have this issue. I believe the "older" processors do not have the capability, or the audio is not given the priority it needs.

this isn't the case, the Ryzen has the issue too. I rented a 2023 last weekend, and the scratchy audio was there on FM radio (no SXM installed of course).

 

[JW500]

My 2020 Model S has this scratchy audio problem but only since a recent update in the last week or two. I observe the following:
1) Either with Radio or SiriusXM the scratchiness is always present when changing volume.
2) With those two sources, the scratchiness comes and goes while driving. It is barely noticeable when parked or stopped at a light, but increases when the car is accelerating.
3) The scratchiness is not present at all when streaming music from smart phone or when using Tesla's built in Tune-In app to listen to podcasts (I have not checked Music on Tune-in.)
Mobile service scheduled for this week unless Tesla changes that.

 

[DerbyDave]

That is exactly what I observe since early 2021 in my 2020 Tesla.

 

[JW500]

That is exactly what I observe since early 2021 in my 2020 Tesla.

Except this problem only appeared in the last few weeks so some software update must have triggered it. I already have a pending arbitration against Tesla before the American Arbitration Association regarding other ways they broke SiriusXM so I can add this issue if it is not resolved shortly.

 

[DerbyDave]

Some software updates have really improved it, but it is always present. The last update I got made it really bad again. I still have individual SXM channels that I cannot access, like CBC 3. I used to be able to access this channel, and SiriusXM still shows it as an active channel. SXM refresh does not fix it. Just continuing of very poor implementation, If it were a game, Musk would have fixed it by now. I get SXM free for life. Glad I am not paying for it.

 

[crackers8199]

If it were a game, Musk would have fixed it by now.

or if it were something wrong with the random fart noises the car can make...

this is the infuriating part about all of this.

 

[crackers8199]

this has gotten particularly bad lately, ever since the last update.

 

[crackers8199]

2) With those two sources, the scratchiness comes and goes while driving. It is barely noticeable when parked or stopped at a light, but increases when the car is accelerating.
3) The scratchiness is not present at all when streaming music from smart phone or when using Tesla's built in Tune-In app to listen to podcasts (I have not checked Music on Tune-in.)

i've also noticed these two points. it seems to only happen at lower speeds while accelerating or decelerating, but not while stopped at a light or driving at freeway speeds.

i can also confirm that i don't notice it at all when streaming (any source) or listening to something via bluetooth on my phone, but it's definitely there and extremely annoying on both SXM and FM.

 

[seclinton]

Just got a SW update. Will report back......

 

[seclinton]

not fixed.

 

[crackers8199]

not fixed.

of course it's not. it doesn't have anything to do with fart noises.

 

[DerbyDave]

Tesla has definitely perfected the fart accessory. Nowhere have I seen any better implementation.