I’ve written about Stellantis brands doing this twice already in 2025, and this time, it’s Subaru sending pop-up ads for SiriusXM to owners’ infotainment screens.
The Autopian ran a story on the egregious push notifications on Monday, and it only took a short search to find more examples. It happened right around Thanksgiving, as the promotion urged drivers to “Enjoy SiriusXM FREE thru 12/1.” That day has come and gone, but not before it angered droves of Subaru owners.
“I have got this Sirius XM ad a few times over the last couple of years,” the caption on the embedded Reddit thread reads. “This last time was the final straw as I almost wrecked because of it. My entire infotainment screen changed which caused me to take my eyes off the road and since I was going 55mph in winter I swerved a bit and slid and almost went off into a ditch. Something that would not have happened had this ad not popped up.
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At least one 2024 Crosstrek owner reported that the pop-up took over their screen even though they were using Apple CarPlay. To force-close an application that’s in use, solely for the sake of in-car advertising, is especially egregious.
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Reddit posts dating back as far as 2023 show owners complaining about in-car notifications.
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Source: Subaru Owners Are Ticked About In-Car Pop-Up Ads for SiriusXM
Robin Edgar
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