romad said:
So, when are you going to post the details?
Sorry, I've been busy with hurricanes

Here you go!
Yes, in fact the box said Solara right on it. Dave made the install look so easy I wish I'd done it myself, even though I know better than to try stuff like that.
XM Radio is great. I think the reception is a tiny bit more sensitive than what I had with my Delphi Sky-Fi, but since the sound doesn't have to feed through an FM modulator, it's cleary superior. There's still only the one bridge on my way home where it cuts out for a second or two.
I'm a bit annoyed that the Toyota version of the XM doesn't seem to show as much album text as the Sky-Fi, but I expect that's because it's an older implementation. I'm half hoping that they'll soon have a second generation system that supports the added features -- though I'm in no hurry to spend *another* $400+ so I hope it's not *too* soon.
The integration with existing audo screens is fairly seamless. The AM button becomes a toggle for AM-SAT1-SAT2-SAT3, and the voice integration
does work to directly access a particular mode ("sat one" etc)
The 3 banks of 6 presets are plenty for me, with one bank being devoted to Rock & Roll, one bank for News, Traffic and Info, and the last bank for comedy and misc. I'm real glad I had the install done before our hurricane francis evacuation. Listening to #71 Watercolors kept our tension down during the long drive, and even my wife's satanic cat was able to relax.
The
Auto Door Lock mod works as advertised. Again,
watching the installation, it looked pretty straight-forward. As I noted elsewhere, the only 'annoyance' I have with it is that once the doors lock, you need to remember to unlock them if you get out and open the hatch...so far this has proven to be the case even if the fob is in your pocket.
The
EV-Mode mod rocks for parking lots, and for driving through the neighborhood on the way home. It's also great when I hit a short patch of stop/go traffic. I've gone as far as 3 miles using strictly EV, but haven't had the guts to push it until I get down to two bars.
At first, I was annoyed that there was no feedback to indicate that EV mode was activated (I have trouble counting to 2 seconds) but now I know if I move the MFD to the consumption screen first, it will flip back to the energy screen when it turns on.