diitto

Hi... Forgive me as I get the idea this question has been discussed a million times... I've read quite a few posts but I'm still somewhat confused... I just picked up my new 2012 Corvette Grand Sport 6 days ago... It comes with 6 months of OnStar. The dealership folks who got my car ready handed me a piece of paper at one point during the car pick up process that had some instructions for how to get your account opened... They also said the words "your account is activated"... But I have yet to ever push the blue OnStar button because I'm not sure I even want to mess with it... I've heard some good things and even more bad things... Then the salesman who actually sold me the car but was out of town when I picked up the car told me yesterday that "they were supposed to have had me push the button and talk to the OnStar folks before I left the dealership that day. He told me to "do it soon"... What's all that mean???

I've already set up my hands free iPhone and am able to call folks so I don't need their ability to make calls... And regarding the Nav system does the Nav system need OnStar in order to really provide directions??? Or will it work on its own without OnStar???

And then I've heard they play hard ball with getting you onto a paid account and so forth...

Bottom line is can some folks answer what I'm sure is a question you've answered before but forgive me for asking it again...

Is OnStar worth it or not???

thanks.... bob...

Chemdawg99

Some people feel that OnStar is "watching and recording" all that they do in their car. Given the fact that most Corvette owners are freedom-loving conservatives (or libertarians) you will hear a good number of negative opinions about OnStar.

I have active OnStar accounts on my Corvette and my wife's Avalanche and I love the turn-by-turn navigation and the peace of mind that OnStar offers. The diagnostics checks and other features that OnStar offers are worth it IMHO

At the end of the day, I just don't want something in my car that isn't functioning. Especially when the benefits (some of which I hope I'll never need) outweigh the cost (again, IMHO)

YMMV.

And yes, you can use the Navigator without using OnStar turn-by-turn. The two things are independent of each other.

That said, if you don't have the latest map DVD, I wouldn't trust the nav to take you where you want to go if a new road or traffic pattern is part of your route. Turn by turn hasn't let me down yet. Of course, neither beats having a good sense of where you want to go. IMHO, both options are mere tools

Vette_DD

If you have OnStar and have a wreck and the airbags deploy, an OnStar operator will come online and ask you if you need help. If you need help, that would be handy to have, especially since it's not costing you anything.

BigJoe

I've had OnStar in the the last 4-5 cars I've owned but never activated it. This time my State Farm agent told me I could get a discount if I have it working so I'm thinking about getting up the courage to push the blue button... No discount was ever offered before so maybe this is a new thing?

petes ZO6

Not worth what they charge for the service. Use the 6 months free for sure. But unless they come up with a $5 month plan save your money. If you have a cell and live in a area that is not desolate, Onstar is a waste.

VETTEPLAY

I read a big writeup on it somewhere and it was made quite clear that Onstar was collecting personal data from users that was deemed confidential to a point and not collectable. In short, an invasion of privacy. I also read an article that a couple congressmen were a bit irate about Onstars invasion of privacy and intended to introduce a bill to curtail it. I never heard the outcome of all that. And yes Onstar "can" monitor your conversations inside your vehicle "if" they wanted to and certainly if law enforcement directed them to via court order. Not that a law abiding citizen has to be paranoid of that happening its just the fact that they "could" monitor you. Like chemdawg said lots of vette people value their personal privacy and tend to shy away from Onstar. I can see it has some benefits but in the end its not for me. Already have a GPS and a high dollar anti-theft device, including lojack, on my car so I have to pass on Onstar.

red2012

i just found this out myself a month ago and my liberty mutual agent told me my discount was (drum beat) $3.65 a year.

petes ZO6

That pays for less then a week of Onstar..

CBRXX

In MA, a recovery system like Lojack/Onstar is an extra 15% discount on your Comprehensive coverage only. That is on top of the 20% for the factory alarm alone. I forget, but off the top of my head, I think my comp is only $125 or so for the year.

diitto

Does OnStar require a credit card even to set up this 6 month free account?? If they do, that says a lot right there... Do they request a Credit Card even for 6 months free, which means they are going to automatically sign you up beyond 6 months and I've read some places that say they've had to almost go to war to stop the billing even after they try to cancel the service..... Experience??? thanks... bob...

Vette5.5

Let me tell you a funny story about On-Star for my new daily driver(the Vette doesn't have it), a couple years ago, as you may soon be going through this. The dealer mentioned pushing the blue button, putting in my home phone number during delivery several times, but never did. The dealer kept calling me, again with several more reminders. Then reminders started coming over my stereo system. That did it, so figured out how to disconnect the thing, and did. Not so sure on the big brother deal, but since my Vette didn't come with On-Star, figure it a good thing. I road track my car several times a year, hitting speeds of 150. Somehow, don't think this would be good information, for anyone else to know about.

red2012

no; only if you get the connections part with it(cell phone). when i picked up my 12 coupe in dec the dealer sat in the car with me to activate the free onstar and while your doing this onstar asks you if you would like to also get the connections part for a promotional rate of 300mins for $9. i said to the onstar rep i can't because i forgot my wallet with my cc home. she said no problem if you do decide call us back and we will give you the minutes. in the meantime we will just give you the directions part of onstar and that was it. i did call the next day to get the minutes and only then they took my cc but onstar was already active by then.

red2012

BTW the cell phone reception using onstar is very good . crystal clear voice and never a dropped call.

Wyndridge3

Look at their plans. If you have Nav, their upgraded "turn by turn" is a waste of money IMO. I kept the basic plan for the security of vehicle tracking in case of theft and emergency calls. I didn't bother buying their cellphone minutes.

hawkgfr

My 2012 spoke to me today....scared the sheet outta me...



I will never push the blue button unless it is about 75% cheaper...

MikeyTX

Mine is disconnected. The auto dialer calls I was getting just got out of hand. My s/o wasn't too impressed by the heavy breathing call we got while on vacation this past year. The phone number assigned to the car may be un-listed but random dialer's don't care.

petes ZO6

boraxman

Onstar...No thanks, After my 6 months I dumped it and never looked back.

MikeyTX

My s/o was soooooo pissed. Her first reaction was "what the heck is that about." I had to explain that some fool with too much time on their hands had dialed a number at random. Well, Verizon has just so many numbers to issue sooooooooo ..................... Guess I shouldn't have had her ask the caller what he wanted ..............

cclive

And as has been proven repeatedly, if the system has the capability to be abused, at some point it will be. I am fortunate not to have Onstar in my car, but if I did have it, I would figure out a way to disconnect it. (Probably just unplug the antenna.)