Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

XM Radio Favorites - Tesla broke it - says it's "as designed". Hasn't used a radio in 40 years?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

SabrToothSqrl

Active Member
Dec 5, 2014
4,568
4,141
PA
Am I the only one, who, when attempting to navigate favorites in XM, instead of going Fav1(ch1), Fav2(ch9), Fav3 chWhatever), it goes 1,2,3,4,5, etc?

Been that way for MONTHS now. I just want it to work 1. How it did 6 months ago, and 2. Correctly.

Service says:

"
Spoke with customer to understand details of concern. Confirmed customer concern was steering wheel control not toggling favorites in order of left to right as displayed on center screen in vehicle. Confirmed latest firmware 2022.24.8 is currently installed in this vehicle. Researched service article information to confirm proper operation of XM favorites and toggling. Confirmed that the way the vehicle toggles favorites is normal at this time based on current firmware.
"The order in which Favorites are toggled is controlled by an algorithm that is based on how recent and how frequent the use."
Based on all research completed by technicians and looking into customer's previous concerns we have confirmed proper operation of the vehicle at this time with current firmware. Please note that this may change in the future, as our vehicles are subject to OTA software updates at any time that may change functional operation, however at this time there is no further correction that can be taken by the service center for this concern as hardware and firmware are operating correctly based off of visual inspection and all information available."


WOW, that's a lot of words for "F You, we know better than you, we are Tesla, don't you dare tell us how radio favorites work".

I had already drafted the binding arbitration email in the waiting area, knowing they couldn't fix it, and here they come at me with "working as designed... by a 3 year old".

All hail the mighty glory of Tesla and their mighty hubris. How dare I, someone who paid $85,000 for their THIRD (5 between wife and I) Tesla, know how to operate. *gasp* RADIO FAVORITES? Ohh mighty Elon, I am not worthy.

TWO HOURS they "worked on my car" drafting that articulate response.

Drove home, and, given my IT background, did the thing I guess I should have tried, but didn't want to.

Deleted all my favorites. Damn I wish I took a pic first. I'm sure I'll find them again.

Starting from zero.

Added 4 random stations that were not in numerical order.

Findings: IT WORKS. Well, works is a strong word. As far as I can tell, I can't reorder favorites, which my high school 1987 Chevy Celebrity Wagon could.

BUT: I can now use the buttons on the wheel to maneuver between actual favorites. Instead of pressing next 8x to get from Ch1 to Ch9.

so, thanks Tesla for teaching me self reliance. Because the only person in this world who can get anything done... is me.

Service still sucks - they knew they couldn't fix it, and built this as a wall for a nice little 'screw you'. God I wish Rivian had a bigger charging network.

I will say the actual mechanic guy - he was cool.
And I told him I wasn't mad at him, he didn't break it, but I was at the end of my rope with the run around on this thing.

Maybe there is a place for a dealer model in the new world. - At least they couldn't look me in the eye with a strait face and tell me how 'radio favorites are controlled by an algorithm'. lol.
 
Last edited:
UPDATE: After taking the time to re-setup all my favorites, it once again stopped working correctly, after it was parked for a few hours.

So, if you like to setup your UN-organizable favorites every time you drive your car, BUY A TESLA!

Time to email the [email protected] however that email, I just found, I sent 8/8/22. and it bounced.

That's the email in the vehicle purchase agreement for arbitration.

so. How do you start arbitration?! the service center won't tell me. The email in the contract doesn't work. It says I can also go small claims court. I've never done that, it sounds like a good learning experience, so maybe I'll go that route.

The service center treats this like a joke. It worked fine for year. EVERY radio in the WORLD except for this car.

Why even have a favorites tab?
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxibenson
Does anyone else have XM? can someone verify theirs works properly?
I only have XM when I can get it for free, which happens a couple of times per year for 90 days (the audio quality is so poor, it is not worth paying for IMO). But I do recall, it behaved in the manor you described. But the media interface has many issues, so I don't think it specific to XM. "Recents and Favorites" mixed together is just a mess.
 
I have lifetime, managed to get it for 'only' $400 back in 2009.

FM Favorites appear to work correctly:

XM Favorites: The Plot Thinnens:

This used to work. Why did they ruin it? (and yes I know EVERYTHING about v11 is awful, but why did this have to break?).

The worst part is the 'this is how it's supposed to work'. No. It's Not.
 
Why even have a favorites tab?
I suspect it's a generational difference. Whoever changed the algorithm thinks the favorites should be in order of predicted gratification, instead of a tool to navigate quickly to your actual choice in the moment. Sort of like how I watch a couple of woodworking videos and YouTube decides I'd like to see Every Woodworking Video in the World.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brkaus
I suspect it's a generational difference. Whoever changed the algorithm thinks the favorites should be in order of predicted gratification, instead of a tool to navigate quickly to your actual choice in the moment. Sort of like how I watch a couple of woodworking videos and YouTube decides I'd like to see Every Woodworking Video in the World.
I don't believe that to be the case. FM Favorites work correctly.
 
Page 46:


1663461192668.png
1663461192668.png

If you are listening to local or satellite
radio and you have defined more than one
radio preset
, press to play the next preset
in the radio band that is currently playing.
If you have not defined more than one
preset, press to go to the next available
frequency.

This is 100% exactly how radio presets "favorites" have worked since 1940s.

Unclear why tesla mixes favorites and presets. but clearly states how it should work, and that Tesla Customer service is gaslighting me. Infuriating. I wish I thought to have them prove it to me in the manual.

If they can't at least acknowlege it's wrong by this week, I file with the attorney general. I've been more than patient for over 6 months waiting for a fix to something they broke. The gaslighting just REALLY pushed me over the edge.
 
On a longer drive I was able to observe:

1. cleared and setup new XM favorites - worked correctly for approx 25 minutes. (then didn't)
2. did the same - lasted 51 minutes.

The plot thickens. Tesla virtual service says fixed in "future update". well. I don't live in the future. my radio doesn't work today. to the arbitration page, as it's been 6 months now with no fix.
 
Thanks Sabr. Just picked up our 2022 X and I can tell you this is maddening. There should actually be a single favorites list that encompasses AM, FM SXM that I can scroll through. That's how my Yukon and every other car I own works. I have the same issue in that I cannot get the 6 favorites that I use in SXM to stay in order or on at all using the yolk controls. Have to use the touch screen. Painful.
 
Thanks Sabr. Just picked up our 2022 X and I can tell you this is maddening. There should actually be a single favorites list that encompasses AM, FM SXM that I can scroll through. That's how my Yukon and every other car I own works. I have the same issue in that I cannot get the 6 favorites that I use in SXM to stay in order or on at all using the yolk controls. Have to use the touch screen. Painful.
Completely agree. They need favorites, presets, whatever they want to call it, where they are fixed and we can scroll through. It is downright dangerous it is not that way. Sirius never shows up in favorites and the favorites or recents displayed are never in order of most recent used. Some of mine are even from songs played last Dec. How is this hard to fix. Every single car except Tesla has this?

And why can’t they add it to the driver console on the refresh X/S. Absolutely insane favorites, album art is not displayed on the drivers console.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SabrToothSqrl