GMC Remote access, yay or nay?

[econometrics]

I cashed out some GM points from the purchase of my truck and kept the subscription for like 9 months, then went month-to-month paying $16.99 (post tax) or whatever for about 6 months. 

 

Once COVID hit, and I was working from home all the time, I canceled it. I liked the remote start functions on the truck a lot during winter and summer (cooling down the truck 10 min before getting out of the mall was really nice!). But now both my home office and new work office are within starting range of the key fob, so I never used the app. 

 

That was about all I used it for... other than locking the truck sometimes whenever I couldn't remember if I locked it or not, ha! 

[2016 Sierra Owner]

I had it and used it on my 16. It came with 5 years of service for free though. After my 1 month on the 20 expired I have actually deleted the app off my phone. I only really used it a work during the winter anyway.

 

[Therickyp]

On 11/11/2020 at 4:33 PM, omegafiler said:

Agreed. It's ridiculous that they only give you a 30-day trial, which is the shortest I've seen from any manufacture. Heck, I won't pay for it out of principle alone. The full connected services should be included for 3-5 years, if not longer. The safety and security plan could be useful on a long trip, but that's still too much. 

 

Sending a message to GM/OnStar aside, I think most folks will still find it overpriced unless they rely on it every day. But as usual, only you can decide if the features are "worth it."

You can get it for free for 3 months if you put your card on file when you do the welcome call. I also told them I could only pay $100 a year and they agreed to it. I remote start my truck every day. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Therickyp

[ero2]

The only thing that’s kind of cool that I miss, now that it’s cancelled, is that I could lock, unlock, remote start, etc regardless of range, and I don’t have to open the garage door to hear if I held the button long enough for it to start.  So some have had luck in negotiating the pricing by calling in?

 

It’s cool for sure, just struggle with it being 15 a month.

[omegafiler]

17 hours ago, Therickyp said:

You can get it for free for 3 months if you put your card on file when you do the welcome call. I also told them I could only pay $100 a year and they agreed to it. I remote start my truck every day. 

Yeah, I saw that extra few months offer, which I didn't bother with. Although I'm curious just how little they'd accept for an extended contract. I was wondering if they'd even proactively offer something more reasonable after I let it expire. 

[slj2008]

i used it a few times for free , then GM wanted money ?  Key Fob have no range , had better range on my 2015 . Even with NEW Battery's . GM need's to inprove the Fob Range , or lower the price on there plan ??

[aseibel]

On 11/10/2020 at 4:16 PM, ero2 said:

Is It worth the $120 a year to you?

I thought having the remote access app was a pretty cool feature. I got it free for 5 years, which expired this past June.

 

Turns out in the past 5 months, there hasn't been a single time I wish I still had it.

I'd rather pay $1 per use and probably wouldn't even cover the cost of 1 month of their new plan over a whole year.

 

If they offered something much cheaper, I'd probly buy it just for the rare chance of getting locked out or something, but, nope, sorry. Onstar is not getting any of my money.

[Jason Pepin]

19 hours ago, ero2 said:

So some have had luck in negotiating the pricing by calling in?

Definitely. I called pretending not to know the standard price and when they offered it for $15 per month, I explained that it just wasn't worth that to me. I told them that $5 per month was more reasonable and I'd be wiling to pay for a full year at a discount. I got put on hold and the rep came back with an offer for $99 for a year. I said that still wasn't good enough and they countered with $90 for the year ($7.50 per month). I ended up accepting that.

[omegafiler]

1 hour ago, Jason Pepin said:

Definitely. I called pretending not to know the standard price and when they offered it for $15 per month, I explained that it just wasn't worth that to me. I told them that $5 per month was more reasonable and I'd be wiling to pay for a full year at a discount. I got put on hold and the rep came back with an offer for $99 for a year. I said that still wasn't good enough and they countered with $90 for the year ($7.50 per month). I ended up accepting that.

Sounds like the same thing SiruisXM have done for years. Hah. Usually for them it was the 3rd push-back before they finally got to their ~$5/mo offer. Eventually I stopped even accepting that as with music royalty fee and taxes, it wasn't worth it. Especially now that we've got Android Auto and Carplay. 

 

I'm still not really driving all that much to justify paying for the Onstar services. I'll probably just add them "as needed," such as taking a long road trip. Then just pay for a month of the top package, add in hotspot, etc. 

[RWTJR]

Nay, and it's all because of the price. I think the features are cool but they just don't meet the cost vs benefit for me.

 

I find the pricing scheme to be short sighted just like SiriusXM. The difference is, you can get SiriusXM to reduce the price by negotiating. Although I think Sirius would be better off and have a ton more subscribers if they just made it 5 bucks a month WITHOUT having to call and negotiate every 6 months to a year. That said, because I can/do negotiate Sirius down to $5 a month, I have it in all 3 of my vehicles (and have for years).

 

Why am I going on about Sirius in a thread about Onstar services? Because I view Onstar the same way. If the Onstar packages/features were more reasonably priced I would also have them in all 3 vehicles. However, they seem to have chosen a less volume, higher price scheme vs a high volume, lower price scheme.

 

It's not about the money per se, as it is the value. Even in the free introductory period I never used any Onstar features on any of my vehicles but if were inexpensive enough I'd buy it just for insurance and convenience. Under those circumstances Onstar would still be making some money off me while I probably still wouldn't use the services except in an emergency. Instead they choose to not get any of my money.

 

JMHO

No expertise implied or expressed

[LD]

I just declined onstar's sales pitch on my 2020, In all honesty I love the truck ( and the past truck ) both GM's. They really drop the ball on stuff like this.  They lost a lot of credit with me when they cut the remote access off two years early on my last truck.. If they can do that crap I wouldn't be surprised if they cut off our warranty's .

I am a believer that onstar's time has past, we already all have the same services with our smart phones..why pay double?

I used the remote start app 1 time during trial so its definitely not worth $15.00 a month for me

HOLLYWOOD

[slj2008]

2019LD Silverado - remote start - new battery - still work like S--t . truck is park 60ft away , problems starting ?  Does any one know  if there a software update ???  My 2015 had better range .  Both KEY Fob's have New Battery's .

[Bob2C]

2019LD Silverado - remote start - new battery - still work like S--t . truck is park 60ft away , problems starting ?  Does any one know  if there a software update ???  My 2015 had better range .  Both KEY Fob's have New Battery's .

I am not sure about pickups but I can assume they have the same module. I replaced the amplifier on my Tahoe and the range is great. I was having issues and also key not present showing. Others in the suv world have had same issues and replaced. The part was 15 bucks from rockauto and 20 min of my time. They make 2 different ones with different frequencies.






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[slj2008]

Thank You - Were is it mounted ??  Thanks

[Bob2C]

Thank You - Were is it mounted ??  Thanks

I’m not sure on the pickups but I’m guessing the back window possibly. Mine was located on the passenger rear window.


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