[bigb56]

Today I was listening to the radio with the engine off, while I waited in a parking lot for my wife. When I started the engine, the radio went to a very low muffled state. I changed from sattellite to FM, checked the audio settings, powered it off and on, cranked on the volume knob, nothing helped, it sounded like there were pillows over all the speakers. Finally I shut the engine off and re started it, then everything was fine.

Whats up with that??

 

[luck123]

Sounds like a ghost in the machine.

Seriously, I had a strange issue on my last vehicle, an 05 Subaru Outback Limited, where my centre console went dark...my radio, HVAC was dead....no lights no power. Happened 3 times during my 4.5 years of ownership.
Restarting the car fixed it. Of course, dealer could not duplicate, but I suspect somewhere there was some faulty wiring that under the right conditions caused the fault.

If it happens again, try video recording it while malfunctioning then restarting the engine while still recording so they can hear proper sound as reference point on the recording. Whether or not that helps the dealer diagnose the problem or not...who knows. But at least prove that you're not crazy.

 

[bigb56]

Update, it has done it several more times. I mentioned it to my service manager today and they are ordering me a brand new radio!

 

[Oil Boiler]

You post sounds as though your trouble happens on radio as well as sat, but there is a TSB on earlier models of the XM satellite receiver for trouble that will clear upon cycling the ignition key.

http://www.toyotapart.com/XM_SATELL...UNTIL_IGNITION_KEY_IS_CYCLED_T-SB-0271-09.pdf