Is there a DOWNSIDE to ONSTAR??

[luvthatduke]

I think he might be talking about the "black boxes" that are in all new cars. It records speed, seatbelt use etc the previous few minutes before a crash. The car "black boxes" are just like the "black boxes" used in aircraft.

Actually, the conversation I had with him started off about
the black box inclusion - we were talking about that and I
talked about the truckers in my family and their experiences with it.
He was very clear about it being GPS, not the black box.
Do I know for sure if he's correct? Nope...
I just offered it up for whatever it's worth .

 

[drakethib]

Well worth the money imho.

The 16 bucks a month or whatever is money well spent.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Horn and lights alert doesn't work if car has been idle for over 48 hours

This is not true. We have had the car sit for a week and the alarm has gone off.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I see no downside, Dawn, I think it is great. I do not have it though.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Just want to point out there is a big privacy difference between OnStar and the black boxes found in most cars nowadays. With the black box, somebody would have to physically access the black box to get the data out of it about your driving habits. OnStar users can have their information tracked remotely without the owner's knowledge. Also, OnStar has a GPS associated with it, so it has a lot more information than typical black boxes. And yes, any car with OnStar - whether or not you subscribe to the service - can not only be tracked, but can have the microphone turned on and your conversations monitored.

These probably aren't good reasons for most people to avoid OnStar. But if you are especially paranoid, or just a privacy nut, it is something to think about.

We have 2 cars that are equipped with OnStar and have been very pleased with the service. Once while driving through the mountains we lost cell phone service in the middle of an important call. OnStar came in very handy for us then.
I think that the employees that work for OnStar have better things to do than listen in on me singing along with the radio or talking to my kids about whatever.
When I bumped into some idiot that stopped suddenly in traffic last year, my insurance company had to ask me if I was wearing my seatbelt and how fast the car was moving, etc. OnStar did not provide that info. I had to.

 

[DawnCt1]

Well, I tried the ONSTAR yesterday and it was pretty neat. I don't think I will link my cell phone to the OnStar but I did buy 100 extra minutes for $15. That seems worth it just in case I don't have cell service. I got my first email. I have 97% of my oil life left. . I also love the NAV. system. The dealer couldn't get it to work but when I got home I reset the clock and for some reason it is just fine. The car is great. I am enjoying it. Of course DH asked me if I didn't know how to get home from the mall, (I had the nav on) and did I really "need that thing" for a short trip. I have blue tooth and I need to study my manual a bit more. How does the blue tooth connect through the stereo? Can I connect an mp3 player too and does the DVD really play movies?

 

[hydster]

I LOVED when we had On-Star! It was the ONLY thing I hated about trading in my Tahoe to get my Armada. I used the OnStar unlock function more than I should even admit too. The hands free dialing was really nice as well and the plan that we bought was 100 min that we could use over the year which was nice as well.

When we were camping we needed a cell phone to contact another couple that was due to find us but we were unable to be where we said we were going to be. We hiked up on top of part of the hill thinking if we were higher we could get a signal but we couldn't. Finally the "duh" factor kicked in and we tried the OnStar and were able to get out right away to our friends and tell them where we were.

The horn and lights will work after 48 hours as we set ours off in the airport parking lot after being on vacation for 11 days.

As for them being able to "track" me...since I"m not a drug dealer and have no issues with the law I could have cared less if they knew I was going to Walgreens 2 blocks from my house. I had no idea I was THAT interesting to someone

I hope you enjoy it! I know I do really miss it with my Armada but I don't miss the problems I had with my Tahoe!

 

[ntburns22]

I love love love my onstar. The emergency services are great! We had a car go off a country road infront of us. I had no clue where we really were. I first grabbed my cell and it had no reception so I hit the onstar button. They were great figuring out where we were since I didn't have a clue. I will never own another car without it.

 

[njzieglers]

Well, I tried the ONSTAR yesterday and it was pretty neat. I don't think I will link my cell phone to the OnStar but I did buy 100 extra minutes for $15. That seems worth it just in case I don't have cell service. I got my first email. I have 97% of my oil life left. . I also love the NAV. system. The dealer couldn't get it to work but when I got home I reset the clock and for some reason it is just fine. The car is great. I am enjoying it. Of course DH asked me if I didn't know how to get home from the mall, (I had the nav on) and did I really "need that thing" for a short trip. I have blue tooth and I need to study my manual a bit more. How does the blue tooth connect through the stereo? Can I connect an mp3 player too and does the DVD really play movies?

Congrats on your new car, I hope you got the white diamond, which is my favorite color. The DVD will play a movie, but only if the car is in park. The blue tooth feature actually makes the vehicle a blue tooth device, I just followed the manual and it worked. You get "buttons" that appear on the nav system screen, like dialpad, answer, on-hook, off-hook etc. Good luck.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Congrats on your new car, I hope you got the white diamond, which is my favorite color. The DVD will play a movie, but only if the car is in park. The blue tooth feature actually makes the vehicle a blue tooth device, I just followed the manual and it worked. You get "buttons" that appear on the nav system screen, like dialpad, answer, on-hook, off-hook etc. Good luck.

There is an override so the DVD movie will play when driving, not that I would recommend it.

 

[DawnCt1]

Congrats on your new car, I hope you got the white diamond, which is my favorite color. The DVD will play a movie, but only if the car is in park. The blue tooth feature actually makes the vehicle a blue tooth device, I just followed the manual and it worked. You get "buttons" that appear on the nav system screen, like dialpad, answer, on-hook, off-hook etc. Good luck.

I did get the white diamond. Its the only color I wanted. I love it. The directions are in the nav book? I HATE reading the directions but I guess I will. Regarding the DVD, the nav doesn't work if the DVD is out of the slot, right? I was wondering if it loads like a computer or plays from the dvd.

 

[njzieglers]

I did get the white diamond. Its the only color I wanted. I love it. The directions are in the nav book? I HATE reading the directions but I guess I will. Regarding the DVD, the nav doesn't work if the DVD is out of the slot, right? I was wondering if it loads like a computer or plays from the dvd.

The nav doesn't work without the disc in the slot, but you can go from one to another quickly, it doesn't take as long as a computer booting up.

 

[summerrluvv]

I love my Onstar! I have only used it to talk on the hands free phone, but it's so much better than holding a phone up to your ear (which is against the law here anyway). I bought the 100 minute package back in April and I'm almost out of minutes now. The only thing I don't like is sometimes she doesn't understand me when I say call, she gets it confused with dial. I get mad at her a lot and start calling her an idiot. Then of course she tells me she didn't understand me