Why do I need OnStar?
07-13-2011, 03:20 PM
#41
Racer
Here's a question I've been curious about when using bluetooth with my car. When you connect via bluetooth, is your phone still only transmitting/receiving at .6 watt or are you getting a more powerful transmitter by utilizing the Onstar antenna? I understand I'm not using Onstar when I bluetooth, but am I using the antenna? I've read that Onstar does use the existing cellular system but at a higher energy level (kind of like the old hard-installed 3-watt phones I guess). So, if I bluetooth my cell phone, am I using my Onstar antenna and getting a higher power transmitter/receiver or am I still using the cellphone antenna and bluetoothing sound only through my radio?
Thanks,
John
07-13-2011, 03:30 PM
#42
Team Owner
No, you only get the added power from Onstar when you run the call through Onstar. When using the bluetooth with your own cellphone, the signal is going out of your cellphone. One advantage of the bluetooth though is that the phone itself can be placed in a better spot for reception...like maybe on the dash. The phone could not be on the dash if it was next to your ear.
07-13-2011, 04:35 PM
#43
Instructor
Member Since: Apr 2010
Location: Louisville KY
Posts: 208
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't "need" it, but I activate it on all my GM vehicles.
When I first bught my GM truck, I had it 2 weeks when I was on a back road traveling up to NC. I came up on a motorcycle and a driver laying in the middle of the road. I hadn't passed a car in over an hour. I pulled off the side of the road and pushed the OnStar button, and within 5 minutes they had an ambulance on the way, with my exact location already programmed in to the ambulance driver. If I would have had to describe where I was, I would probably been F'ed.
The ambulance driver told me 10 minutes later and the motorcyclist would have been gone.
Maybe not a big deal to some people, but to me..I saved a life using it, and for a couple hundred bucks a year, it makes me feel good to have it.
When I first bught my GM truck, I had it 2 weeks when I was on a back road traveling up to NC. I came up on a motorcycle and a driver laying in the middle of the road. I hadn't passed a car in over an hour. I pulled off the side of the road and pushed the OnStar button, and within 5 minutes they had an ambulance on the way, with my exact location already programmed in to the ambulance driver. If I would have had to describe where I was, I would probably been F'ed.
The ambulance driver told me 10 minutes later and the motorcyclist would have been gone.
Maybe not a big deal to some people, but to me..I saved a life using it, and for a couple hundred bucks a year, it makes me feel good to have it.
07-13-2011, 05:30 PM
#44
Melting Slicks
Lots of posts, so this is likely deaf.
Positives:
1. Vehicle location if stolen (replaces LoJack & $600)
2. Auto location if wrecked
3. Auto EMS if wrecked
4. Monthly fluid and tire status
5. Lock-out protection
6. Better cell phone coverage -due to amplified antennae
7. Peace of mind
8. Someone to talk to
9. Discount for multi-vehicles
Negatives:
1. Annual cost
2. Cell phone feature may be redundant, depending on location
3. No wreck-assist if airbags do not deploy
4. Voice navigation (yaaahhh!), who would use that crap?
5. Can't understand what Missha is saying?
So the pros outweigh by far, if you can afford it, keep it and use it.
Positives:
1. Vehicle location if stolen (replaces LoJack & $600)
2. Auto location if wrecked
3. Auto EMS if wrecked
4. Monthly fluid and tire status
5. Lock-out protection
6. Better cell phone coverage -due to amplified antennae
7. Peace of mind
8. Someone to talk to
9. Discount for multi-vehicles
Negatives:
1. Annual cost
2. Cell phone feature may be redundant, depending on location
3. No wreck-assist if airbags do not deploy
4. Voice navigation (yaaahhh!), who would use that crap?
5. Can't understand what Missha is saying?
So the pros outweigh by far, if you can afford it, keep it and use it.
07-13-2011, 06:00 PM
#45
Most of us that buy new Vettes pay between 50K and 70K. We will happily go out and spend a ton of bucks on mods, but will bitch about paying $150.00 a year for OnStar. If you don't want it because you think you will not need it, fine, But please don't bitch about paying $150.00 a year.
07-13-2011, 07:16 PM
#46
Racer
Member Since: Jul 2000
Location: Geneva, IL USA
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey did anyone else catch that story on NPR last week of a lady who worked for the Department of Homeland Security who was being hasseled by same because she ratted them out? They said the government had a way of "enabling" her on-star connection to listen to her conversatons without her knowledge. She has some book out now, forgot the name.
Mark
Mark
07-13-2011, 07:22 PM
#47
Race Director
I get it for my wife's confidence really. She knows she just has to push the emergency button if she feels threatened. Whatever makes her happy and I don't want to think how would have been with onstar if I needed it and I didn't have it.
If Onstar is notified due to an accident you will most likely NOT be able to reach/find your cell phone. Out west you have a lot of areas where a cell phone is a good paperweight and that is it also. OnStar has slightly better range. Drive down I70 in Utah and see how your cell phone works, or doesn't work. OnStar does work as I "tested" it.
If Onstar is notified due to an accident you will most likely NOT be able to reach/find your cell phone. Out west you have a lot of areas where a cell phone is a good paperweight and that is it also. OnStar has slightly better range. Drive down I70 in Utah and see how your cell phone works, or doesn't work. OnStar does work as I "tested" it.
07-13-2011, 07:42 PM
#48
Race Director
Most of us that buy new Vettes pay between 50K and 70K. We will happily go out and spend a ton of bucks on mods, but will bitch about paying $150.00 a year for OnStar. If you don't want it because you think you will not need it, fine, But please don't bitch about paying $150.00 a year.
...and it is a good safety feature in a crash.
07-13-2011, 07:43 PM
#49
Team Owner
Member Since: Aug 2007
Location: I live my life by 2 rules. 1) Never share everything you know. 2)
Posts: 136,148
Received 2,401 Likes
on
1,366 Posts
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '16-'17-'18
OT, sorry but sounds like the the OP has all the info he needed anyway.
Here's a question I've been curious about when using bluetooth with my car. When you connect via bluetooth, is your phone still only transmitting/receiving at .6 watt or are you getting a more powerful transmitter by utilizing the Onstar antenna? I understand I'm not using Onstar when I bluetooth, but am I using the antenna? I've read that Onstar does use the existing cellular system but at a higher energy level (kind of like the old hard-installed 3-watt phones I guess). So, if I bluetooth my cell phone, am I using my Onstar antenna and getting a higher power transmitter/receiver or am I still using the cellphone antenna and bluetoothing sound only through my radio?
Thanks,
John
Here's a question I've been curious about when using bluetooth with my car. When you connect via bluetooth, is your phone still only transmitting/receiving at .6 watt or are you getting a more powerful transmitter by utilizing the Onstar antenna? I understand I'm not using Onstar when I bluetooth, but am I using the antenna? I've read that Onstar does use the existing cellular system but at a higher energy level (kind of like the old hard-installed 3-watt phones I guess). So, if I bluetooth my cell phone, am I using my Onstar antenna and getting a higher power transmitter/receiver or am I still using the cellphone antenna and bluetoothing sound only through my radio?
Thanks,
John
No. Bluetooth is simply another low power full-duplex transmitter/receiver with a typical range of a 5 - 10 meters. So yes, you are only "bluetoothing" between your earpiece and whatever device you're talking to.
07-13-2011, 07:49 PM
#50
Melting Slicks
I use it and love it.........cost is $4.95 per month for 100+ minutes. Cheapest Sprint deal is $29.95 for 200 minutes! I also do not have blue tooth & Calif has a hands free law.
Easy choice for me and no bitch or complaint of any kind. Course, I am not a whiner either...
Easy choice for me and no bitch or complaint of any kind. Course, I am not a whiner either...
07-13-2011, 09:03 PM
#51
Burning Brakes
I keep OnStar active for about 8 months out of the year on the C6 and then suspend the service while it is in the garage for the winter. I get the Lojack discount on my insurance for having OnStar. I keep it on my wife 08 CTS4 year round because she likes the hands-free phone. It really paid for itself this past 4th of July Holiday weekend in the CTS. We were heading to Atlantic City with friends for 4 days from Massachusetts and pulled off at a rest area on the Garden State Parkway. When I went to leave the automatic transmission would not go into any gear so we were stuck.
We did not even know where we were and could not find anyone in McDonalds that spoke english well enough to give us their address. Onstar called us a wrecker because the Parkway is a restricted roadway and AAA did not tow. She stayed on the line for 45 minutes and arranged for a limo to take us the 30 miles to the Newark Airport where she found us a rental car. There were no local rental places open and even the agencies at the airport would only rent to people flying in. She convinced Budget to rent to us and I paid over $500 for the 4 days that we needed a car. She also gave me the nearest Cadillac dealer's phone number so that I could call after the holiday. Cadillac was good to us also by giving us an Enterprise loaner 2011 DTS so that we could get home and return the Budget rental. The down side to this story is that it has been a week and the car is still not fixed. They had to order a drive shaft and bearings and said that it took 12 hours to do the repairs. It has been 5 days and it is still on their lift in Totowa, NJ. 4 hours away from home.
I don't know what we would have done without OnStar making all if the calls for us. I did not know the area at all.
We did not even know where we were and could not find anyone in McDonalds that spoke english well enough to give us their address. Onstar called us a wrecker because the Parkway is a restricted roadway and AAA did not tow. She stayed on the line for 45 minutes and arranged for a limo to take us the 30 miles to the Newark Airport where she found us a rental car. There were no local rental places open and even the agencies at the airport would only rent to people flying in. She convinced Budget to rent to us and I paid over $500 for the 4 days that we needed a car. She also gave me the nearest Cadillac dealer's phone number so that I could call after the holiday. Cadillac was good to us also by giving us an Enterprise loaner 2011 DTS so that we could get home and return the Budget rental. The down side to this story is that it has been a week and the car is still not fixed. They had to order a drive shaft and bearings and said that it took 12 hours to do the repairs. It has been 5 days and it is still on their lift in Totowa, NJ. 4 hours away from home.
I don't know what we would have done without OnStar making all if the calls for us. I did not know the area at all.
Last edited by FredC7; 07-13-2011 at 09:05 PM.
07-13-2011, 09:34 PM
#52
Le Mans Master
I do not have OnStar, but I can see a few reasons that it would be good to have.
A bad crash......you are not conscious.
A regular crash.....and your phone is lost in the car, or distroyed.
Of course, unless you are out in the boonies somewhere, hopefully someone will see you, and will call 911 in either of these cases. But....there's always a But.
Larry
A bad crash......you are not conscious.
A regular crash.....and your phone is lost in the car, or distroyed.
Of course, unless you are out in the boonies somewhere, hopefully someone will see you, and will call 911 in either of these cases. But....there's always a But.
Larry
07-13-2011, 09:36 PM
#53
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Posts: 40,084
Received 8,926 Likes
on
5,332 Posts
Lots of posts, so this is likely deaf.
Positives:
1. Vehicle location if stolen (replaces LoJack & $600)
2. Auto location if wrecked
3. Auto EMS if wrecked
4. Monthly fluid and tire status
5. Lock-out protection
6. Better cell phone coverage -due to amplified antennae
7. Peace of mind
8. Someone to talk to
9. Discount for multi-vehicles
Negatives:
1. Annual cost
2. Cell phone feature may be redundant, depending on location
3. No wreck-assist if airbags do not deploy
4. Voice navigation (yaaahhh!), who would use that crap?
5. Can't understand what Missha is saying?
So the pros outweigh by far, if you can afford it, keep it and use it.
Positives:
1. Vehicle location if stolen (replaces LoJack & $600)
2. Auto location if wrecked
3. Auto EMS if wrecked
4. Monthly fluid and tire status
5. Lock-out protection
6. Better cell phone coverage -due to amplified antennae
7. Peace of mind
8. Someone to talk to
9. Discount for multi-vehicles
Negatives:
1. Annual cost
2. Cell phone feature may be redundant, depending on location
3. No wreck-assist if airbags do not deploy
4. Voice navigation (yaaahhh!), who would use that crap?
5. Can't understand what Missha is saying?
So the pros outweigh by far, if you can afford it, keep it and use it.
I have used the diagnostic service on my Tahoe. When I got some service messages they were able to read the codes and tell me what they were.
Bill
