GREEDY GM and MYGMC / MYCHEVY APP

ddanis60 · July 16, 2019

From what i know (unless it has since been updated) you have to subscribe to a 14.99 per month plan to get "remote access". Now you may be able to haggle and get it down to 9.99, but that is not advertised anywhere. Either way, I won't be paying for that once my free 5 years expire next summer. I'd be happy to pay a reasonable 1 time fee to activate it as long as I own the vehicle. But no way I'm doing a monthly subscription. Onstar is just another scam to separate us from more of our money.

I agree with you. I came from a 14 with the basic key fob app avail for free for 5 years. Was pretty annoyed to find even the basic part of the app not avail unless you pay on the 19. That said, the 9.99 is a package, just not advertised.

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econometrics · July 16, 2019

2 minutes ago, ddanis60 said:

No. Only if in park. A common way to avoid the vehicle shutting off while idling is to pop the trans into neutral and keep your parking brake on. I wouldn’t do this, but it works.

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Or you can just leave the fob in the truck, I guess.

ddanis60 · July 16, 2019

Or you can just leave the fob in the truck, I guess.

The new trucks time out and shut off after 10 or 15 minutes if in park, even with the fob in the truck.

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Philipgonzales3 · July 16, 2019

@jlong1984 for some reason can't quote your post, but yeah my truck has remote start. Do you have a key fob that looks like this?

If so press the lock button once and then hold down the bottom left (circle with an arrow) button down for 5 seconds.

MacLaren · July 16, 2019

So, GM just added 20,000 points to my account. That brings me up to 21,000 points.

I wander what that would buy?

jlong1984 · July 16, 2019

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6 hours ago, Philipgonzales3 said:

@jlong1984 for some reason can't quote your post, but yeah my truck has remote start. Do you have a key fob that looks like this?

If so press the lock button once and then hold down the bottom left (circle with an arrow) button down for 5 seconds.

Yes, I have remote start. I thought you were talking about being able to press the start button in the truck without having the fob present. My bad.

Mandalorian · July 17, 2019

On 6/30/2019 at 6:28 PM, mbaee said:

That may be true, but there are some features that used to be standard are missing. My 2019 LT crew cab is worlds better than my 2009 LS crew cab, but my 2009 came with the back seat arm rest/cup holder. My 2019 LT (higher trim level) does not. My kids have no place for their drinks in the back seats except for the door pockets which are not easy for a 4th/5th grader to reach.

Also, like others have said, why is it that the only 2019 trucks that don't come with LED tail lights are the bottom of the line work truck and the bread and butter LT? It's a money grab to make the most purchased trucks cheaper to make or persuade buyers into more expensive trims.

GM is going back to their pre-bailout levels of cheapness/complacency with these trucks. Case in point, adaptive cruise was not even available as an option in the 2019s, a standard feature on a $18k Toyota Corolla. Even on the SUVs, it's a $950 option and insanely hard to find on dealer lots. They could do something innovative like put a rear climate ZONE in the crew cabs, that would be a huge selling feature and offset many of the interior complaints, but no. The app should absolutely be free. It costs them nothing and will only generate good will from customers. They are way too focused on short term profit versus long term customer retention. "Brand loyalty" is a dying concept with younger generations and they can't rely on it in the future to sell average products at a premium price.

Maybe cutting sedan production will be beneficial as they won't have to suck the truck profit margins dry to subsidize their loss-leader rental cars.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Mandalorian

Philipgonzales3 · July 17, 2019

21 minutes ago, Mandalorian said:

GM is going back to their pre-bailout levels of cheapness/complacency with these trucks. Case in point, adaptive cruise was not even available as an option in the 2019s, a standard feature on a $18k Toyota Corolla. Even on the SUVs, it's a $950 option and insanely hard to find on dealer lots. They could do something innovative like put a rear climate ZONE in the crew cabs, that would be a huge selling feature and offset many of the interior complaints, but no. The app should absolutely be free. It costs them nothing and will only generate good will from customers. They are way too focused on short term profit versus long term customer retention. "Brand loyalty" is a dying concept with younger generations and they can't rely on it in the future to sell average products at a premium price.

Maybe cutting sedan production will be beneficial as they won't have to suck the truck profit margins dry to subsidize their loss-leader rental cars.

I do not like the fact that I must pay for the app as this Truck is my first GM vehicle ever. I will not be paying for on-star, I will just use the key fob as that is truly free. Not a huge deal to me. Now although I don't like it, I can understand why they charge for it. If you think this costs GM nothing you must have never heard the phrase, "nothing in life is free".

I'm no expert on...well...anything really but when you use the app it does not magically connect to your vehicle through air waves and unlock your vehicle. The signal travels from your app to the onstar network and then from their network to your vehicles onstar receiver. Do you think the infrastructure for this network is free? Not to mention the time developing the app, the hardware that is in the cars, the over 400+ patents onstar had in like 2009 (not sure what the number is now). Wouldn't you rather have a choice in paying for this if you use it vs being forced to pay for it?

To me it makes sense that using this service has a cost. I wish the cost was much lower, but for me it's an easy decision to not opt in for the service. My key fob works just fine. Which again is absolutely free. (well like I said nothing is free, in this case you already paid for the key fob, might as well use it.).

MacLaren · July 17, 2019

I'm late to the party gents. So, please excuse my ignorance. But, is it even possible to lock the keys up in a 2019 Silverado?

My wife's vehicle is a 2011 Toyota Highlander, and it is impossible to lock up the keys in her Highlander. It just won't let you lock the doors if the key fob is in the car.

I'm very suprised GM doesn't have that technology especially considering Toyota has had it at least since 2011.

NHAT4 · July 17, 2019

1 minute ago, MacLaren said:

I'm late to the party gents. So, please excuse my ignorance. But, is it even possible to lock the keys up in a 2019 Silverado?

My wife's vehicle is a 2011 Toyota Highlander, and it is impossible to lock up the keys in her Highlander. It just won't let you lock the doors if the key fob is in the car.

I'm very suprised GM doesn't have that technology especially considering Toyota has had it at least since 2011.

Its more about the remote start on the key fob... like from inside the building to start the AC , or get it started while still in the airport terminal in the winter... Every now and then I use the unlock feature...

MacLaren · July 17, 2019

27 minutes ago, NHAT4 said:

Its more about the remote start on the key fob... like from inside the building to start the AC , or get it started while still in the airport terminal in the winter... Every now and then I use the unlock feature...

Gotcha. Thanx

Mandalorian · July 17, 2019

1 hour ago, Philipgonzales3 said:

I do not like the fact that I must pay for the app as this Truck is my first GM vehicle ever. I will not be paying for on-star, I will just use the key fob as that is truly free. Not a huge deal to me. Now although I don't like it, I can understand why they charge for it. If you think this costs GM nothing you must have never heard the phrase, "nothing in life is free".

I'm no expert on...well...anything really but when you use the app it does not magically connect to your vehicle through air waves and unlock your vehicle. The signal travels from your app to the onstar network and then from their network to your vehicles onstar receiver. Do you think the infrastructure for this network is free? Not to mention the time developing the app, the hardware that is in the cars, the over 400+ patents onstar had in like 2009 (not sure what the number is now). Wouldn't you rather have a choice in paying for this if you use it vs being forced to pay for it?

To me it makes sense that using this service has a cost. I wish the cost was much lower, but for me it's an easy decision to not opt in for the service. My key fob works just fine. Which again is absolutely free. (well like I said nothing is free, in this case you already paid for the key fob, might as well use it.).

Fair point, but on a $50k+ vehicle it should come standard. It's a competitive advantage that they could market the hell out of. Today's trucks are all so capable across the board people are now shopping them based more and more on features.

aseibel · July 17, 2019

2 hours ago, Philipgonzales3 said:

I do not like the fact that I must pay for the app as this Truck is my first GM vehicle ever. I will not be paying for on-star, I will just use the key fob as that is truly free. Not a huge deal to me. Now although I don't like it, I can understand why they charge for it. If you think this costs GM nothing you must have never heard the phrase, "nothing in life is free".

I'm no expert on...well...anything really but when you use the app it does not magically connect to your vehicle through air waves and unlock your vehicle. The signal travels from your app to the onstar network and then from their network to your vehicles onstar receiver. Do you think the infrastructure for this network is free? Not to mention the time developing the app, the hardware that is in the cars, the over 400+ patents onstar had in like 2009 (not sure what the number is now). Wouldn't you rather have a choice in paying for this if you use it vs being forced to pay for it?

GM/Onstar built that network to sell their safety and crash response functions. They did all this before everyone had smartphones. Now that very few people are willing to pay for the safety features of onstar, they are trying to create a new market to charge us for. I think the remote app would be a nice feature to sell as a one time purchase. I'd probably be willing to pay the equivalent of 1 year of what they want for a subscription in order to keep it as long as I have the truck.

But for the number of times I use it, Their subscription would equate to something like $10 or more per use. That is insane, and I will just wait til I'm within range of my fob to start the truck.

Here's one question- does anybody out there have two+ GM vehicles, one that works with the app, and one that doesn't? I'm curious because my wifes GMC Terrain is also connected to my app. Wondering if they both continue to work if I was to pay for one of them? Or how does that happen when one of the basic plans expire?

Edited July 17, 2019 by aseibel

Philipgonzales3 · July 17, 2019

13 minutes ago, aseibel said:

GM/Onstar built that network to sell their safety and crash response functions. They did all this before everyone had smartphones. Now that very few people are willing to pay for the safety features of onstar, they are trying to create a new market to charge us for. I think the remote app would be a nice feature to sell as a one time purchase. I'd probably be willing to pay the equivalent of 1 year of what they want for a subscription in order to keep it as long as I have the truck.

But for the number of times I use it, Their subscription would equate to something like $10 or more per use. That is insane, and I will just wait til I'm within range of my fob to start the truck.

Here's one question- does anybody out there have two+ GM vehicles, one that works with the app, and one that doesn't? I'm curious because my wifes GMC Terrain is also connected to my app. Wondering if they both continue to work if I was to pay for one of them? Or how does that happen when one of the basic plans expire?

While it is true that they built the network for safety and crash response functions, that does not mean that their is not a cost associated with maintaining and upgrading that network at a regular interval. Just think how many times you upgrade your cellphone to support the newest features out there. I imagine they must have to refresh their compute and storage devices at a regular intervals to be compliant with whatever privacy standards are out there.

I definitely get your point though. I would only pay up to around $3 a month for the key fob service. Any more than that and I'd be also be paying a good $20 each use. Just doesn't make sense. I would hope they would reduce the monthly price in an attempt to get more people to sign up but I wont hold my breath.

I tried to find an article that went more into detail on the infrastructure but this is the closest thing I found.

https://www.networkworld.com/article/3183090/12m-connected-cars-gives-general-motors-a-massive-iot-fleet.html

stujameson · July 17, 2019

On 7/16/2019 at 1:42 PM, MacLaren said:

So, GM just added 20,000 points to my account. That brings me up to 21,000 points.

I wander what that would buy?

Do you have to earn points? I take your post to mean they just out of the blue gave you 20,000 points.