Honda uses OnStar in a few vehicles... not just a GM product. I did see an article early today that indicated several other manufacturers were backing out of the OnStar deal. No names mentioned, but it may become clearer by end of today.

I personally would never want a vehicle with OnStar. Any company that sells such personal information to the highest bidder is not for me.

 

The Acura RL has On Star. I had On Star free for a year with my GM and NEVER touched the blue button once. In fact I forgot it was even there.

 

So does the Acura MDX. This is nothing more than a peace-of-mind feature that costs money on a monthly basis. A cell phone serves the same purpose, at least as far as emergencies are concerned.

 

I had a free year and used it in the first week. My check engine light came on and I remembered the dealer saying that On-Star could help with that so I hit the button. They read the code and told me just to stop by a dealer to clear the light in the next week or so. Turns out it was the GM version of the "Gas Cap" message. Then when I needed to get to a hospital fast (i.e. an emergency), they said "You don't have the service level for directions." All that for $300 a year, no thanks.

 

It is probably multiple factors, such as the fact that OnStar requires factory installed equipment. It can't be added as an accessory to the vehicle. That being the case companies other than GM may not want to pay GM the cash for every car produced if it is only going to be used in 10 to 20% of them (and this figure is probably really high). GM is the owner of OnStar, they have allowed other companies to buy the service from them, but still it is like advertising for the enemy.

Also, as was mentioned, so many people have cell phones now that the only time OnStar becomes truly useful is in the event that you can not make an emergency call for yourself and no one else is around. Add to all this the expense that a customer will see for this service ($16.95 a month) which is really high for a service you won't use much given it doesn't give you directions which is probably about the most useful feature for a lot of people. So $199 a year for features you probably get with AAA with a low cost from your cell phone, but for the air bag deployment.

I guess there is the vehicle recovery feature but I would guess OnStar is a pretty big flag to thieves where Lojack at least doesn't have a big flag that says "hey Lojack on board!". I guess you can say there are unique features, but are the unique features worth the added price to every vehicle plus the service fee?

 

Actually, I have had more than one person tell me that even if you don't pay for on star, you can always press the "red cross" button (and may even work if air bags deploy). Another feather for those who aren't good with keys, is that they can unlock your doors for you.

I heard another story from a police officer in the small town I live in. They apparently can call OnStar to help them track down people or to follow them from a distance.

Basically, even those of us who don't have OnStar have systems in our autos that can track us and our activities.

Big Brother is watching

 

oh really,

What systems do you have in your Ridge that big brother can use to track your where-abouts?

 

Got nav?

 

yes but I have never read or heard where a naviagation system or any GPS system could be individually tracked. In fact the Cadillac Escalade is the number one stolen vehicle in America and comes standard with one year of On star with directions and conncections. It would make me wonder if its so easy to track these devices why dont they ?

Ever thought of how many Nav systems are in operation on a given freeway at rush hour ?

I guess its possible but if they really wanted to follow you that bad they would just slap a low jack device somewhere on your truck when you were not looking.

 

VW was going to have OnStar. In fact the new Jetta I bought has the button for it. The dealer said VW pulled out of it and left the button. I guess it was to late to redo the steering wheel.
As for using your Nav for reverse lookup of a car. Its been done by a rental company in New Jersey. They dept track of all their cars through the GPS Nav and also your speeding habits. I am sure you all saw the story of their customers sueing them because they got speeding tickets from the rental agency.
Sure hope they go out of business.

 

Actually, I have had more than one person tell me that even if you don't pay for on star, you can always press the "red cross" button (and may even work if air bags deploy).

There was a story a few years ago somewhere (I don't remember because I'd already decided they weren't worth it) about OnStar NOT having to provide Emergency Services like cell phones do (any cell phone will call 911 and a few other numbers activated or not) . You can always press either of the buttons and after agreeing to buy the service, they will help you.