I know that there have been several threads on the subject of the poor reception of the Prius radios, but I have yet to see a solution to the problem. Perhaps I have missed something somewhere? I have a 2011 gen 3 with the JBL package. For the first 18 months or so the radio reception was acceptable, altho the satellite trial sub was not necessary as that was simply not listenable. I can live without it. However, NPR is something I listen to a lot, and that is now impossible to hear, along with several other stations that we used to listen to. We have not moved, and have not changed anything on the vehicle, and it is annoying. Has anyone got a useful suggestion to solve this problem rather than idle speculation?
You mean you don't want to speculate about it? I'd check the connections on either end of the antenna, the bolts mounting the parts of the radio to the car and the connections on the back of the radio, everything would be cleaned and lubed with dielectric(well, not the chassis bolts), then if not satisfied, I'd check for blown speakers, which should already be obvious, surprised you didn't make the dealer fix it in '11, missing Diane Rehm's show for two hours every weekday morning on NHPR would have me at my dealers daily, polity insisting that a remedy be found.
The radio in our 2011 works fine. The satellite trial was interesting, we found a few channel that we might have stayed on. But it works best when the vehicle is parked. Once you start moving, out. With analog signals if they drop out when you get it back again it is live. But Satellite signal is digital so it tries to buffer before it starts again. We found the buffering far more annoying than the signal drop-outs. We could barely drive a mile without signal drop-outs. I called the satellite service and asked them about it. They refused to admit their signal drops out.
Well, you might try unscrewing the stubby antenna on the rear portion of the roof and checking the threads for rust or corrosion. The rubber fitting around the threaded end of the antenna is "keyed" to lock into the base, so you might have to carefully overcome this. If the threads are clean then I would put a little dielectric grease on the threads and screw it back on tightly. The same grease you would use on spark plug boots and is available in a small squeeze package at the front counter of your favorite auto parts store. If this doesn't fix it, perhaps the problem is at the other end of the antenna wire, deep in the dashboard where I have not ventured yet.
