Onstar Question

uchi · November 17, 2010

i was debating subscribing just for the phone feature but itll cost me as much for a basic phone plan as i do for my loaded smartphone plan every month so im gonna hold out, but one thing im wondering about, the littlered emergency button. if theres ever a situation where i need to use it, bad car accident somewhere or what have you, will onstar help and dispatch the police or an ambulance or will they tell me i have to subscribe?

jphaase · November 17, 2010

I believe they will still help you in an accident or emergency without the subscription. Not 100% sure, just what I have read elsewhere.

revrnd · November 17, 2010

i was debating subscribing just for the phone feature but itll cost me as much for a basic phone plan as i do for my loaded smartphone plan every month so im gonna hold out, but one thing im wondering about, the littlered emergency button. if theres ever a situation where i need to use it, bad car accident somewhere or what have you, will onstar help and dispatch the police or an ambulance or will they tell me i have to subscribe?

I'm thinking of the same thing. I don't need the nav' stuff, but the phone plan is a lot cheaper for Canucks travelling & calling in the US.

music · November 17, 2010

Pretty sure the answer is "yes", but I think you have to push the button twice and they will bill you afterwards (the same as fire depts do). A cell phone must allow a 911 call, subscriber or not, and they can't charge for it.

I'm still an ONSTAR subscriber myself. I like the idea, so I provide my annual "support". I don't pay full price, but don't recall what I paid last time? If everyone waited for an accident, ONSTAR would "be no more"... so I've been giving my donation. I guess the main emergency benefit is that a subscriber's vehicle automatically notifies Onstar at the time of crash, but a non-subscribed vehicle won't. It's kinda nice to get the monthly updates on the truck too, with all the diagnostic info. Probably not worth the $$, but not terrible, and even less when I think of it the same as I do our local fire dept. I give them money too, but hope to never use it. One thing ONSTAR should do, however, is to cover multiple family vehicles in the same household for about the same cost as one car. I only have one, so I have no idea how they cost that out.

wfleeger · November 17, 2010

Pretty sure the answer is "yes", but I think you have to push the button twice and they will bill you afterwards (the same as fire depts do). A cell phone must allow a 911 call, subscriber or not, and they can't charge for it.

I'm still an ONSTAR subscriber myself. I like the idea, so I provide my annual "support". I don't pay full price, but don't recall what I paid last time? If everyone waited for an accident, ONSTAR would "be no more"... so I've been giving my donation. I guess the main emergency benefit is that a subscriber's vehicle automatically notifies Onstar at the time of crash, but a non-subscribed vehicle won't. It's kinda nice to get the monthly updates on the truck too, with all the diagnostic info. Probably not worth the $, but not terrible, and even less when I think of it the same as I do our local fire dept. I give them money too, but hope to never use it. One thing ONSTAR should do, however, is to cover multiple family vehicles in the same household for about the same cost as one car. I only have one, so I have no idea how they cost that out.

Have it on my truck and the wife's Malibu. No group or family rate, same price for each. I continue with it just for the peace of mind. Of course, this is the first year that we have ever had OnStar equipped vehicles. Just like "music" said, hope to never use it but glad I got it.

simon.hed · November 17, 2010

I'm still an ONSTAR subscriber myself. I like the idea, so I provide my annual "support". I don't pay full price, but don't recall what I paid last time? If everyone waited for an accident, ONSTAR would "be no more"... so I've been giving my donation. I guess the main emergency benefit is that a subscriber's vehicle automatically notifies Onstar at the time of crash, but a non-subscribed vehicle won't. It's kinda nice to get the monthly updates on the truck too, with all the diagnostic info. Probably not worth the $$, but not terrible, and even less when I think of it the same as I do our local fire dept. I give them money too, but hope to never use it. One thing ONSTAR should do, however, is to cover multiple family vehicles in the same household for about the same cost as one car. I only have one, so I have no idea how they cost that out.

This, exactly.

uchi · November 17, 2010

See I only really wanted it for the phone but its way too much money for the little bit of phone use you get. Maybe after my wedding in June ill consider the basic package. But really I have a gps and for years people have gotten by without onstar

Trav_13 · November 17, 2010

I just recently renewed mine the other day...I pay them annually, and use it as a piece of mind just like the other folks said.....my truck only sees about 10K a year so its not like I would use the service everyday, however I also like the concept and the emails. Well worth it in my opinion!

uchi · November 18, 2010

did you get a discount paying for the full year?

anyone know if this can be written off as a business expense?

music · November 18, 2010

Annual discount: yes. Business expense? No idea. I think I paid ~$150 this year, but maybe there's a better price?

uchi · November 18, 2010

thats a damn good price, its like $30 cdn a month

Annual discount: yes. Business expense? No idea. I think I paid ~$150 this year, but maybe there's a better price?

CWGrizzwold · November 18, 2010

I am a loyal Onstar subscriber too. I have the upgraded Directions & Connections plan on my 2010 Avalanche and love having the ability to send directions to it from Google maps and Mapquest. The D&C came with it free for a year with the Destinations and Connections option package, but I had OnStar in my 2007 prior.

A note for other subscribers...as with other subscription services like XM, OnStar, etc. if you waffle on your renewal they will usually sweeten the deal for you on an annual renewal. They did that for me and knocked $3 off a month I think which was a nice gesture.

I use the OnStar phone at least once a week and never have had any problems with it. The minutes packages that they offer are indeed competitive, but when I burn through my initial amount I won't add more as I finally have Bluetooth and that works like a champ with my smartphone.

Being a techie I like getting the monthly status update emails too. I can't wait until they allow the OnStar and myGM apps to work on 2010s!

cookeze · November 19, 2010

OnStar will drop your monthly rate to $12.95 just for the asking.......

uchi · November 19, 2010

see thats reasonable right there. i know the nice people at sirius radio will do the same. when i cancelled my membership when i bought the truck they offered me discounts on my monthly package offered me 6 free months, i basically told them unless they were willing to give me a better sirius radio thing i wasnt staying with them. in my explorer id run it through a cassette adapter but the truck doesnt have that nor does it have an aux input and the fm tuner is just complete junk with these things so its not worth keeping.