NineVettes

Excellent point. Perhaps the cost of it is amortized and built into the pricing of the car? Or perhaps it is like my Onstar on my '19 that I pay zero for yet they keep sending me monthly maintenance reports and warnings. It really freaked out when I had my Forgelines installed and it was like "Warning - Warning- Warning" for every tire that was (as far as they were concerned) totally devoid of air pressure. I am not paying for any of that stuff, and frankly it is annoying.

WoozyWagtail

I would think thats unlikely. Sure, they could try to amortize it in that way, but itd be much more complicated than that and I cant imagine any company taking that risk. I'm a CPA and at least from my point of view that would be a disaster. Maybe they expect to produce X units, and have an array showing how long the average unit is in service by some owner. They could get an estimate of that total cost and account for it, sure, but the cost is probably immense and even if they were able to build it into the cost of the car, if their guesswork and estimating turned out to be wrong they'd find themselves in trouble having to service a data link in all these cars they werent expecting to service. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know if that kind of proposal hit my desk I'd ask what they were smoking.

As far as your onstar report thats pretty interesting. Its possible they're just constantly logging data and in the event of something serious they'll send you an alert and eat the cost just because eating the cost in a few cases like yours is cheaper than the liability they risk incurring otherwise. I've heard anecdotes that onstar will often work without a subscription if it detects an airbag deploys.

Even with all that said, the data link they're talking about sounds more robust than just onstar monitoring. If it turns out GM is paying for it I will be stunned. I just figured maybe theres some technical aspect I'm missing that could explain how this will work for those who dont want to pay.

Naturally Vain

Whats funny is at the end of the day its just a car. Why do they feel the need to stuff all of this **** in it? Does it REALLY make it better?

NineVettes

Hmmm, what if the take rate with people who DO pay monthly for Onstar service has enough profit margin to easily subsidize the data links for everyone? I have no idea what the Onstar "take rate" is, but I am sure it has a lot of profit built into it.... If the new Group B system is dependent upon OTA, then somehow somewhere, GM must have figured out how all of this is being paid for.

Maybe???

SnipeUout

Want to take your vette on that back road in Mexico...

https://www.jammer-store.com/gp5000-...r-blocker.html

Eminitrader

Seal so are you buying or no?

Busa Dave

Something else to consider about cost as it likes like some are concerned about who is paying for this capability. It will save GM money. What are you saying are you out of your mind? Answer is GM will be able to monitor area of concern should they arise and be more proactive in issuing a TSB or getting started on an engineering fix sooner to eliminate Bigger problems that may develop if GM did not have this data.

Will also increase customer satisfaction by not have your car down for a repair while waiting on a fix to be identified. With this car it is inevitable that there will be some issues. The F35 was the first jet that has had in it's infrastructure the ability to communicate back to the maintainers issues that are happening real time rather than download data (limited data on older platforms like the F22) after the flight . The automotive world is in it's infancy now getting this implemented into new designs.

Bottom line is you had better get used to it because it is not going to change except to become more robust in it's capabilities….. That is the short of it......

50MileSmile

When I took delivery of my ‘18 Camaro SS 1LE, I told the dealer I didn’t want OnStar or any other over-the-air services enabled. He explained that Chevrolet didn’t allow vehicles to be delivered without enabling OnStar, so I took delivery and shut down OnStar and all the similar “features” I could find after the 30-day trial period.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail report (for the first time) from Chevrolet Connected Access telling me that I had braked too hard 4 times during a 4-mile trip to the monthly Cars and Coffee event. Somehow the system had re-enabled itself, the dealer re-enabled it during the last oil change or Chevrolet re-enabled it. I shut it down again, but the message is clear: You don’t have control over these systems unless you actively monitor them - and even then you’re at risk of not having the privacy you expect.

Reciprocal

This is not a restart of On-Star, or to market services through the cloud. The opportunity is the benefit to the population at large, of location tracking, speed limit enforcement, safety as in Europe 2020. Paying for infrastructure is as simple as adding to the road tax, gasoline tax, USF fee etc. The public does not support your freedoms to law break speed limits, or permit other illegal uses for transportation. The environmentalists don't support your freedom to drive/ride into protected areas. Well, here's how you protect that, and more. The C8 is already compliant. Why don't you put this question to Tadge if you don't believe?

HOTXFIL

Dealership service departments are still full of techs who can't get oil in the right hole and can't lift a 'Vette without cracking sill panels.

Can you imagine the impending disaster when these cars start developing electrical problems?!

Warp Factor

I used to get monthly emails from Onstar, regarding my driving skills, using stupid parameters for a high-performance car, like "high braking events" suggesting bad enough driving to lead to emergency braking.

I disabled this, but it may mean that they are just no longer reporting to me, while still recording data.

mschuyler

OK. So many of you have "concerns" about what the C8 will keep track of. You have enumerated your many concerns and criticized, vociferously, people who don't share them. The title of this thread is "Potential Deal Killer." The C8 is not going to change how it tracks you just because you have voiced your "concerns." It is what it is. You may be able to disconnect certain parts of this tracking, such as the OnStar component, by not signing up or even snipping some wires, but the fact is a lot of this tracking is not within your ability to disable.

So if this is truly a "deal killer," who here has stopped considering the C8 and will not buy it? And if that is, indeed, true, what are you going to drive that does not have this tracking capability? Or is all this a bunch of hot air and no one will refrain from buying a C8 at all?

Warp Factor

Legislatively, there may be some power to disable. I don't have much to hide, but I still believe in the sorts of privacy rights on which this country was founded.

mschuyler

Well, that's great, but it is a long-term issue that will take years to get through and even agree at what level this "protection" should take place. Meanwhile there is this C8 to buy or not buy. So the issue remains, are these concerns a deal killer or not?

bigsapper

Nice kill!

bigsapper

And how much you spent.

Reciprocal

I'm totally interested in mid engine DCT C8. It's beautiful! But there is no risk in seeing how it's going to turn out for others. The better examples always come nearer the end of the model cycle. It's the same old GM with a long history. Everybody knows you don't buy a first year model. And I want to know what the top speed will be. GM hasn't announced what it is because they haven't decided what it will be. Could depend on which tires they put on, or other factors, but it's certain that it will have one. With Global Cloud B it could be changed at any time. I owned a Cadillac that during a service visit was re-flashed to a vastly lower performance level as an EPA settlement for not meeting its compliance target. No one asked me if they could, not nice!

So I'm rooting for you but smart money knows there are a lot of shills and not much SNR in the first year.

VT-Rider

Guys, you do understand that the multitude of modules within the car talk to each other over a data bus, right? The high data rate is not the rate that data goes overboard to GM, NSA, or whoever. It is the rate that data can be transmitted between modules within the car, probably over fiber.

The rate that data can be transmitted overboard is dependent on location, available systems, environmental conditions, etc. Ever since On-Star, cars can be tracked. If you worry about big brother, he knows where you, or at least where your car, is. You’re cell phone fills in details...

TwoSmoke

Since the car probably can't be modded for performance at all, I hope that GM will grant owners permission to stick on the JC Whitney chrome goodies and install custom floor mats.

If the car doesn't allow owners to do that then I'm out.

MikeyTX

Or your computer. Can just imagine having to take either my Pixel 2 XL or my Chromebook in to Best Buy for every update.