Weak FM radio reception in 2010 Prius?

I've read some people saying that the reception on their Gen III is not as good as on their Gen II.

But I don't know if that's why your Gen III reception is terrible.

Curious, does your Gen II whip antenna screw into your Gen III? If so, then maybe you can test if the problem is with your Gen III antenna.

 

I have the Prius 2010 since 1 week and I can confirm that the FM reception is not very good. I will tell my dealer to report it back to Toyota. It is not a show-stopper, but quite annoying.
On the same route I used to do with my older car, I would get normal quality signal and no static at all (at least that I can remember). With the Prius instead, the is very faint, but noticeable, static on the same route with the same radio station, in many different parts of the route.
It is my opinion, that the new antenna is too short and compromises on FM signal reception. AM reception is likely even worse, but who uses AM these days???

 

It's nothing scientific - but where I live (somewhat remote corner of the OC), we get good - not great reception. In the Lexus GX, and my CFC Nissan, it was never perfect. There are just stations you can't listen to always. So it's probably a good spot for testing...

The stock 2010 is not as good as either Nissan, or Lexus.

I have a new head unit that is worse than the stock one (not alot, but it is worse).

I have been told that in Europe, there is an amplified antenna (they have similar frequencies - so it makes sense ours should have the exact same antenna).

I haven't figured out if while setting up the new HU, I didn't plug in the power to the antenna - and haven't confirmed if the antenna in the US is even amplified....

 

I am also experiencing static on all of the FM stations, even where it should be crystal clear. I am frustrated, but I am hoping that there will be a solution at some point.

 

I got an FM antenna booster today - we'll see how it goes - probably won't get it in for a few days....

 

Has anyone tried swapping in a pre-2010 antenna? If the radio tuner is very good but the antenna signal is weak, a booster will simply amplify the inherent thermal noise in the line, which improves nothing.

 

I wrote a letter to Toyota's customer support in Germany to tell them about it (including a few other annoyances). Let's see if and when they will answer me about it.
I hope they fix it, because it is frustrating.
Everybody owning a Prius 2010 should write to Toyota about bad FM reception.

 

So I dropped in an antenna booster - and true to form, it does boost the signal - along with the noise and hiss... A $15 mod (and 5 minutes to install) that is truly worthless...

 

Has anybody tried using a longer antenna, maybe from a Prius II gen? or from another car (the screw should be all of the same size).

 

Yes! Yes! Please do!

If it works, it will be an especially easy fix for the rest of us.

 

I have noticed, while looking for a possible colleague's antenna to replace my Prius 2010 antenna, that actually antennas on new cars are pretty small - if not even smaller than the one on the Prius. But I think they are using differential (e.g. dual antenna) reception using the small antenna together with one embedded in the rear windshield or side window (especially in station wagons models). I doubt that the Prius has a differential antenna system - otherwise it would not sound too bad. I also noticed that the radio shifts often from stereo to mono, although the display shows continuously the "ST" indicator.
I am really "worried" now that the bad FM reception has nothing to do with the antenna itself, but rather simply a badly designed or too compromised (cost vs performance) antenna-receiver signal chain. Milo is actually a confirmation of this.
I will try whenever possible to use a longer antenna to see what happens and let you guys know.

 

What I don't understand is why the Euro antenna is different from ours (US/Canada) - both are tuned to similar bands - but the EU antenna is amplified via a separate power wire.

 

Humm..... I haven't noticed any problem at all with FM reception.
I have the little whip antennae thats about 6 inches long or so.

 

FM reception is poor on my 2010 and satellite radio reception cuts out way too often. I am not happy with the reception at all! Hopefully Toyota will come up with some improvement for it. The 3 month free XM radio service was an eye opener. I was going to subscribe but now that I have seen (heard) how often it cuts out, I will definitley not subscribe!

 

It seems people who are in a decent coverage area have no real issues - I'm out in a corner of Orange Co (CA), with rolling hills - and we do not get great coverage - in any car. Here it is easy to see the Prius is clearly worse than our other cars.

 

FM is allot like digital in the way its recieved, you either get it or you don't.

Only in the fringe areas will you really see the difference in sensitive reception.

 

I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago and FM reception is typically pretty good for most stations. I've noticed that our 2010 Prius's FM is spotty, cutting in and out where our Volvo FM has no problems (diversity system; glass and bumper mounted amplified antennas).

FWIW, the price of an '08 Prius whip is about $70! Ouch.