Heard a new On Star commercial today.

This one has a woman calling On-Star in a panick because her check-engine light came on...

It's pathetic.  
Scott

$che-ching$
She pays for the call.  It's not like tying up the 911 line.

i don't like onstar.  I will never have it.  They can track your car and listen to your conversations.  Tin foil hat strapped on!

Yep, sounds pretty tin foil beenie stuff to me.  Probably give me speeding tickets in the mail or tell the authorities where I have been and at what time.  

Forget the tinfoil, this woman is such a weenie that she called for the stinkin light!  Most cars tell you in the owners manual that it's some stupid thing.  

It's the trend in society that bugs me.  "Oh my gosh!  Panick and press the button and "the voice" on the other end will protect and save me!"

If you use On Star because your idiot light comes on or because you locked yourself out of the car, or some other stupid reason, they should take your drivers' license away.

Scott

[LOL] Just another in the long line of products consciously marketed to complete idiots who are scared of their own shadow.
They can get away with it because nobody cares to know why the car is making the funny noise, or wants to know what kind of secrets await them under the hood.
Stupid...

[b]On-star:[/b] Mr Scottman we noticed by our sophisticated GPS tracking system that you are in a known drug area, we are sending the police so sit tight.
Remember, when you get out of prison we will be here to serve you in the future,
[b]Thank you On-star[/b]  

Onstar: Thank you for calling OnStar, this is Bruce, how may I help you?"

Woman: Someone is trying to break into my car to steal it, hes waving a knife around and banging at my window

OnStar: Are you in the car now ma'am?

Woman: (crying) Yes

OnStar: Ok, I just notified the police, they will be there in a few minutes, you are safe now.

OnStar: Hello?

OnStar: Ma'am?

OnStar: Hello?

Shiny side OUT on the tinfoil boys.

[;)]

I went on a trip this weekend with some friends.  They have the On-Star system.  I was pretty skeptical, so I asked some questions about it.  

According to my friend, it is a flat-rate service.  400.00 per year, unlimited use.

You press a button and the 'operator' asks you how they can help.  We needed directions to a restaraunt(several restaraunts, several different times).  They spent 10 minutes looking for one of the restaraunts (because we told the operator the wrong street, and wrong name of the place) the operator told us the street it was on, how far away we were and which turns to make.  Very, very patient considering that everything we told the operator about the place was ... wrong.

After witnessing several calls, for assistance with directions in a strange town, I liked the idea and the system.

They even asked if we wanted them to make reservations for us once they located a restarant?  Interesting.

It beats the hell out of dialing 411.

A cellphone is going to cost you 50 bucks a month, easily.  On-Star is around 12-35.00/month depending on the 'level' of service you want.

Not bad for a service that can be used as a cellphone, directory assistant, in-route travel guide, locator service and emergency use (call 911 and send ambulance automatically if air bag deploys) they will unlock your doors, and even track the stolen vehicle (not sure, but I think he said they could disable it as well?)

Interesting service for less than a cellphone.  If my wife was traveling the roads, as my buddie's wife does, I would sleep easier knowing she had the service on board.

TRG

Stick around Scott... yer gonna LOVE the NEXT act!!!  [:D]






Oh, and, GET OUT OF THE CITIES!! [devil]!!

The feature that notifies Police and Fire when your airbag deploys is a good feature though.

Sure came in handy for my mom three weeks ago when she got slammed by a stop sign runner.

I'm just too much of a tight wad to activate the service...I probably would if I spent a lot of time out of town on the road.

I wonder if the emergency services work without a service contract?

Authorities can & have listened in on cars equipped with OnStar:

[url]http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5109435.html[/url]

Downsides:
It's basically a cellphone and doesn't have 100% coverage in the US.  I believe that it's around 65%, so you'll have some areas where cell doesn't work and some where they don't have contracts in place.

Tin hats are in order because your soon to be ex's lawyer can get details of places you go, when and how long you stay.

Yes, they can listen to private conversations inside your own car without your knowledge!

The sole worthwhile feature for me is emergency notification upon air bag deployment.

Future EPA plans are for the On Star to report to them when your emissions exceed allowed levels.  They would also like to disable the vehicle if it is not repaired in a given length of time.

Gee, is it 1984 already??

Perhaps they can't [b]lock[/b] them yet, but if they can unlock them, it's surely a short trip to locking them - ala Minority Report.

That's sort of the way I see it.  I would never have "optioned" it on a vehicle, but it came at no extra charge & with a year's free service on my wife's Envoy (the "family vehicle").  I even bought some minutes for her to use the "cellphone" option with it (basic service doesn't come with any cell-time - the minutes are prepaid).  We've both tried it a few times - other than pushing the initial button on the rear-view mirror, it is completely hands-free and very convenient, IMO.  Our "free" year is about up & if she wants to continue the service, I won't feel bad about it at all.

I feel so archaic, here all this time I've been using this little known thingy known as a M-A-P.

If we had opened a map, we might have spilled our drinks.  [;)]

TRG