Posted: 11/29/2008 7:30:20 PM EDT
| Do people really subscribe to it? It seems as though when OnStar was new on the scene they marketed it more as a concierge service and now it's a "you better renew or else you're a horrible parent - what if you get in accident?" marketing ploy. |
| I liked it when I had a Tahoe a couple of years ago. I wish you could get it in vehicles other than GM. I probably had them unlock my doors 4 times. I had them patch me through to the E.R. once whe my wife got really sick on a camping trip. I thought the added security was worth the 15 bucks a month. |
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I love it.
I get directions and they guide me right to the place. I was exhausted on a long trip, I punched the button told them and they found the nearest mote, booked a room, and I slept the night. My cousin's Trailblazer was stolen, she called her emergency number and they turned the engine off. She had her car back in an hour with 2 Illegals trying to figure out how to start it arrested. |
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I've used it a couple of times-thankfully not in emergency situations-I like it and keep it active while I am leasing my G6. 2009 brings a new wrinkle to the stolen car tracking feature-they can now slow the vehicle down while co-ordinating with police in a chase situation.
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I thought I was pretty paranoid, but Paranoia runs deep here!
Im still driving an 97 S-10. Im sure most the guys here dont have nothing older then 03  So no onstar on mine. Dad just got a new Silverado. Has onstar. Seems pretty nice.
He was told the phone on it was a satalite phone. Then he said he found out it isnt, it works of cell towers?  Hes been able to call from every where we havent had cell service. except once way out in BFE his call was choppy.
but if i ever get a full time spot at my job, ill be set, and have a new(er) truck, and if it has onstar ill probably activate it. Cause if I have a 4wd, ill probably get stuck somewhere and need assistance
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. They also secretly install surveillance equipment in your home and place of employment. Always watching. Always listening. Do not tell all their secrets. Paranoia is just a heightened sense of awareness. |
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. This is true, and they do not need a warrant to do so. All conservations can be turned over to whom so ever they choose. And why do they not need a warrant you may ask? That would be because you authorized this when you signed up, or had the service placed in your vehicle. This technique has been used to arrest drug dealers who worked out of their car, but none of you sell drugs so this doesn't matter. For what it is worth, I believe onstar was asked by the police to do this, if I remember the transcript correctly. |
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We used our OnStar several times over the years. I had a blowout and they came and changed the tire for free. There was also a problem with the engine that they called to tell me about while I was driving. They unlocked the doors for me when my niece locked the keys in and then came to the rescue when my two nieces borrowed the car for Homecoming and got stalked down the interstate by two men in a truck. The police intercepted them, pulled over both vehicles, and the men in the truck were arrested for a) the driver for drunk driving and b) both for exposing themselves to minors. One was still naked from the waist down when the police got there.
I recently traded my GMC (I was upside down in equity, was having issues with the warranty, and had nothing but trouble with Carl Black's customer service) for a Hyundai Santa Fe. We got a fully loaded SUV (nav, wood trim, XM, DVD player, camera to show backing up, sunroof, etc..) for 280 less per month than the GMC was and they gave us 18,000 for a car with a book value of 7400.00. They completely got us out from under our negative equity. Carl Black on the other hand ... only wanted to pay us 7000.00 for the vehicle (we owed 16,000) and didn't want to lower the sticker price of anything to get our payments where we needed it. At Hyundai, we got 2.0% financing. At the GMC place ... the best we could get was 7.9 % and our credit is in the 780 range. Our Hyundai was put together in Alabama. That's good enough for me. It's an amazing car. I was a little worried about no longer having OnStar, but I think it'll be okay. The heated leather seats make me insanely happy, but I always feel like I need to pee when sitting on them. LOL |
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. This is true, and they do not need a warrant to do so. All conservations can be turned over to whom so ever they choose. And why do they not need a warrant you may ask? That would be because you authorized this when you signed up, or had the service placed in your vehicle. This technique has been used to arrest drug dealers who worked out of their car, but none of you sell drugs so this doesn't matter. For what it is worth, I believe onstar was asked by the police to do this, if I remember the transcript correctly. Got a link to back this up? I would love to see it, and then disconnect my onstar. |
Some of you here must go through a lot of tinfoil every month , and some of you are just plain nuts.
I like my Onstar. I just renewed it,too. Anyone wanting to track my movements is going to be rather bored. Here's a log of my travels: work home work home . . . If someone wants to listen in to the cab of my truck, just turn on XM radio to channel 13. That's what you will hear. Jeez,you guys...
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Some of you here must go through a lot of tinfoil every month , and some of you are just plain nuts.
I like my Onstar. I just renewed it,too. Anyone wanting to track my movements is going to be rather bored. Here's a log of my travels: work home work home . . . If someone wants to listen in to the cab of my truck, just turn on XM radio to channel 13. That's what you will hear. Jeez,you guys... Of course it's ridiculous, but I haven't seen anything untruthful posted in this thread yet... 
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You do not need to pay for a subscription to recieve accident response services, OnStar has stated that they're morally obligated to assist you even if you arent a paying customer. Quoted:
Came free for a year on my 02 Impala. Never used it, didn't subscribe, still have the car, my family has been fine. And the Onstar in it is now dead. The '02-and-prior models only had analog cell phones, the network for which was turned off in Jan '08, so the Onstar light's still green but nobody's home. '03 until ~'05 had upgradable phones that your dealer would install a digital chip in if you agreed to renew your contract, '06 and beyond have digital. I ripped out the Onstar panel on my '02 Yukon and replaced it with the appropriate cubby, why keep it if its dead? 
Kharn |
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If I lock my keys in, I just upzip the window!
I've had my 97 Jeep Wrangler for over 10 years and will probably have it another 10+. Had to buy the wife a car in May after she was hit. Car was totaled. Got her a 05 Accord LX. I wouldn't buy a car with On-star. I'll never buy another new car either. |
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I don't like OnStar....We have a 2005 Tahoe with 22's and Nittos, 3 months ago we had to have a new set of rubber put on it, my Mom gets in the 'Hoe and starts home, OnStar comes on and says stop the car immediately or we will shut it off and call the Police. My mom suddenly became panicky and turned around to go back to the tire store. Turns out Discount tire tech forgot to reset the Onstar computer after removing and rotating the new rubber on the Tahoe. What happens if the fucking tire blows out, are they going to shut it down when your between Gallop and Grant NM in the middle of a rain storm.
From then on I said NO to Onstar and other GPS enabled bullshit, if I am handed a car with it on board I will find a way to remove it hacking apart the harness and splicing in a new link where it left off or reroute power around it disabling it or transplant an older engine management system that doesn't have it. Its cheaper to not buy into it. The ability to shut down someones car remotely from several hundred miles away is scary. I still my drive my 1998 F150 people say I need to upgrade to a newer car I say No thanks. |
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. This is true, and they do not need a warrant to do so. All conservations can be turned over to whom so ever they choose. And why do they not need a warrant you may ask? That would be because you authorized this when you signed up, or had the service placed in your vehicle. This technique has been used to arrest drug dealers who worked out of their car, but none of you sell drugs so this doesn't matter. For what it is worth, I believe onstar was asked by the police to do this, if I remember the transcript correctly. Got a link to back this up? I would love to see it, and then disconnect my onstar. No they can't...... The onstar service is the same a a cell phone( each onstar module has it's own # and station ID) They would have to call the car and you would have to answer Works just like a phone |
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. This is true, and they do not need a warrant to do so. All conservations can be turned over to whom so ever they choose. And why do they not need a warrant you may ask? That would be because you authorized this when you signed up, or had the service placed in your vehicle. This technique has been used to arrest drug dealers who worked out of their car, but none of you sell drugs so this doesn't matter. For what it is worth, I believe onstar was asked by the police to do this, if I remember the transcript correctly. Got a link to back this up? I would love to see it, and then disconnect my onstar. Think your way through this. Call them and ask them if they need to have a service technician enable the service in your '06 vehicle, OR can they do it remotely. Once enabled, it can definitely capture your voice. That's what it does. |
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where is the fucking tin hats for some of the people here. Everyone is NOT out to get you, get the fuck over it! Wake the fuck up! Everyone may not be out to get you, but there ARE microphones, a computer and a radio transmitter/receiver in your onstar car that can be controlled from remote. |
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They can listen into your conversations even after you cancel your service. This is true, and they do not need a warrant to do so. All conservations can be turned over to whom so ever they choose. And why do they not need a warrant you may ask? That would be because you authorized this when you signed up, or had the service placed in your vehicle. This technique has been used to arrest drug dealers who worked out of their car, but none of you sell drugs so this doesn't matter. For what it is worth, I believe onstar was asked by the police to do this, if I remember the transcript correctly. Got a link to back this up? I would love to see it, and then disconnect my onstar. No they can't...... The onstar service is the same a a cell phone( each onstar module has it's own # and station ID) They would have to call the car and you would have to answer Works just like a phone  
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| As someone who used to work FOR/AT OnStar as an Emergency Services Advisor, yes, I COULD have your disabled/unsuscribed system activated and listen in on what was going on in the vehicle/track its movements. All it took was proper request from a Law Enforcement Agency. Mostly used to track a stolen but unsubscribed vehicle, but not always. YMMV, BUT, having worked there in the emergency services section, and seeing what could and could not be done, there is no way in HELL I would have OnStar. YMMV |
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I thought I was pretty paranoid, but Paranoia runs deep here! Im still driving an 97 S-10. Im sure most the guys here dont have nothing older then 03  So no onstar on mine. Dad just got a new Silverado. Has onstar. Seems pretty nice.
He was told the phone on it was a satalite phone. Then he said he found out it isnt, it works of cell towers? Hes been able to call from every where we havent had cell service. except once way out in BFE his call was choppy.
but if i ever get a full time spot at my job, ill be set, and have a new(er) truck, and if it has onstar ill probably activate it. Cause if I have a 4wd, ill probably get stuck somewhere and need assistance It uses the old AMPS (analog) cell phone system, and is provider agnostic... Also, the allowed gain & wattage for vehicle-based phones is much higher than for handheld units... Thus, Onstar gets much better cell reception than anything else commonly seen today - on par with an IN-CAR phone (the old console-mounted variety) |
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where is the fucking tin hats for some of the people here. Everyone is NOT out to get you, get the fuck over it! Wake the fuck up! Everyone may not be out to get you, but there ARE microphones, a computer and a radio transmitter/receiver in your onstar car that can be controlled from remote. Which means absolutely jack-shit to most of the non-paranoid folks here.... Although I don't have OnStar because my car is a 97, I could care less about the possibility that *some one* can listen to my car.... They aren't going to hear anything besides what's on the radio, anyway... And if *some one* really wanted to spy on me like that, they could just as easily plant a cellular bug (the legal requirements are the same).... Although I would never subscribe to OnStar, I would be quite glad to have the equipment simply because of the tracking feature, just in case my car got stolen (it's happened to me once before).... |
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What was the federal raqueetering case where they were listening in on the car without the owners permission. A lawsuit was filed but I forgot what happened. In Baton Rouge a kid went missing in his parents car with OnStar. The parents went to OnStar and asked them to track the vehicle. OnStar said no. Few weeks later they found the kid murdered still in the vehicle. OnStar said it was because it could only be re-activiated for tracking from inside the vehicle by starting a new subscription (they didn't have subscription).http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/news/onstar-death.html . Parents claim it was because they weren't a paying customer they wouldn't track the vehicle. All new Chevy trucks come with OnStar whether you want it or not. I have a 2007 (the new style) and it was totally fucked when I got it. 2007 was the first year they installed the new bump sensors. They always had ones where if you airbag deployed it would go off. The first day out in my new truck in the woods it went off 3 times. Each time OnStar called and harassed me...this after when I bought the vehicle I had to sign a deal saying I understood OnStar would not work in my area because they didn't have a cell phone network provider. The third time I was outside the truck (I bumped it while loading a trailer hitched to the truck). I didn't answer so they called the sherrifs department. It took a long fucking time but I finally got GM to approve the dealer to remove my antennae and put a cover plate in it's place. You can't physically remove the OnStar system from the new vehicles because it's an integral part of the computer. Totally fucking fubar. If you read the online Onstar agreement it also has a list of people they can share your info with about your driving habits. One of these is insurance companies. Tho they say they have yet to, GM said in the future they planned to offer this "service" so people would get discounts for good driving behavior. Here's the agreement. http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/terms_conditions.jsp We collect information about you and your Car several different ways: from what you, your Car dealer and Car maker provide to us when you register for any OnStar service or buy or lease your Car; from your use of the Services; from OnStar web pages you visit; from calls or emails between us; from our wireless service providers and your satellite radio providers; and from your Car itself when your OnStar Equipment is active. THE INFORMATION WE MAY GET ABOUT YOU INCLUDES THINGS SUCH AS YOUR ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, EMAIL ADDRESS, LANGUAGE PREFERENCE, AND WHETHER YOU ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING. THE INFORMATION WE MAY GET FROM YOUR CAR INCLUDES THINGS SUCH AS DATA ABOUT ITS OPERATION (such as diagnostic trouble codes, oil life remaining and odometer reading); ABOUT YOUR USE OF OnStar SERVICES; ABOUT WHERE YOUR CAR IS JUST BEFORE AND DURING REQUESTS FOR LOCATION INFORMATION OR OnStar SERVICES THAT INVOLVE A WIRELESS CONNECTION TO YOUR CAR; AND (DEPENDING ON YOUR OnStar Equipment) DATA ABOUT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING YOUR CAR (for example, the direction from which your car was hit and which air bags have deployed). If you enroll in the OnStar Vehicle Diagnostic service, we will collect information from your Car on a periodic basis. You agree that we can, subject to applicable law, use any of this information to: (a) provide OnStar services to you, your Car, or managers of fleets of Cars (including sharing that information with roadside assistance providers, emergency service providers, or others, as needed); (b) communicate with you about your account; (c) check or maintain your OnStar Equipment; (d) provide information to the maker of your Car about the Car's performance, about aggregate product usage, and to enable the maker of your Car to comply with law; (e) help you or managers of fleets of Cars (if your Car is part of a fleet) to maintain the Car; (f) provide information to your rental car company for the purpose of providing OnStar services requested by you and to enable them to bill you for those OnStar services; (g) evaluate and improve our service; (h) enforce this agreement with you or others; (i) prevent fraud or misuse of OnStar service; (j) comply with legal requirements, including valid court orders showing probable cause in criminal investigations; (k) protect the rights, property, or safety of you or others; (l) offer you new or additional products or services; (m) confirm your eligibility in car insurance discount programs you've applied for; (n) perform market research; or (o) provide you with information about the maintenance needs of your Car by emailing you your OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics report. |
| I'm sure you all have seen the commercial where the guy hits a tree and onstar sends the cops because they sensed the airbag deployment. Say you're shitfaced or something, hit a tree on the side of the road and the airbag deploys. Now in a normal situation, you could just drive on home, but now your going to get busted for a DUI because big brother onstar called the po po on you. |
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I like mine... and since I don't drive drunk, I'm not worried about getting a DUI from an accident.
On the other hand, if I'm KTFO in a ditch somewhere on a lonely stretch of road, bleeding out, I'd sure like the car to call me in some assistance. Whatever peace of mind is worth to you, I suppose... |
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I love the OnStar phone because it is a satellite link that works beyond the range of the cell networks so I am never out of range. OnStar uses satellite references for its GPS functions, but that is it. For its communications functions it is strictly based on cellular networks. The Onstar onboard cellphone is allowed to user a more powerful radio for its communications, 3watts as opposed to the 6 milliwatts that handheld units typically are restricted to. There are some portable phones that use 3 watt radios, but they are somewhat rare and expensive, not to mention bulky, and much heavier than a typical modern cell phone. My opinion on the service in general, seems kind of pointless. This is not 1999, even low end cheapo cell phones can do just about any of the non automotive specific things that Onstar is good for. They just about all do GPS navigation (or can if you install the software), there are plenty of different services available for concierge type stuff, getting tickets to games and the like. As a matter of fact in 2003-2004 I used an ancient Acer Travelmate tethered to a Samsung/T-Mobile cell phone and regularly would use the laptop for GPS mapping of the cell sites I was working on, then when it was time to get some sleep, I clicked a button and it showed me the nearest hotel, and another click and it would make and confirm a reservation and give me turn by turn directions. |
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Ever have an innocent conversation with someone that, if heard by an outside party, might sounds like something that it wasn't?
"FBI used OnStar for surveillance" |
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I'm sure you all have seen the commercial where the guy hits a tree and onstar sends the cops because they sensed the airbag deployment. Say you're shitfaced or something, hit a tree on the side of the road and the airbag deploys. Now in a normal situation, you could just drive on home, but now your going to get busted for a DUI because big brother onstar called the po po on you. WTF? If you're shitfaced and driving, then I have no sympathy for you if you hit a tree and die. Those who drive drunk should get busted for DUI. |