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Marketers know no bounds. I was just reminiscing yesterday about how nice it was to not get targeted ads all the time (10-year-old me watched as many Life Alert commercials on the Game Show Network as any senior citizen). Nowadays, you can’t escape them—not even in your car. 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.
“This is unacceptable. It needs to be stopped. I out out [sic] a direct request to Subaru to stop all ‘in movement’ advertising immediately.”
I’m inclined to agree that changes on the screen while driving are unnecessarily distracting. Plenty of cars won’t let you navigate the settings menus when in motion for that same reason. Whether or not it would cause you to veer off the road isn’t entirely the point; it’s the fact that, when screens are larger than ever, they command your attention when they shouldn’t.
The following Subaru owner complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reiterate that point:
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.
The Drive reached out to Subaru for comment on the marketing tactics. A company spokesperson responded, “We will discuss those messages in an upcoming meeting and will always consider customer feedback. This is the first we’ve heard of any issue. Those messages occur only twice a year, around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, to alert customers that all channels are available to them for about two weeks.”
Reddit posts dating back as far as 2023 show owners complaining about in-car notifications.
I said it before in my story about Stellantis’ infotainment ads, and I’ll say it again: This will likely get worse. Car companies and their partners have this type of access, and if you think they won’t use it to potentially make more money, you might be a tad optimistic. If an automaker will make a film about how much of your data they collect, then they certainly won’t be above flashing an exclusive discount for special customers when it’s time to juice end-of-year sales numbers.
Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com
From running point on new car launch coverage to editing long-form features and reviews, Caleb does some of everything at The Drive. And he really, really loves trucks.
