This OnStar Critic is Silenced

[V8GMT360 Guy]

Interesting. So I'm a bit curious, now.... anyone know where turn-by-turn would be displayed on a 2008 Sierra SLT that is already equipped with an in-dash NAV system?

I'm thinking mainly about times where the NAV insists on taking you down closed roads and through traffic jams that OnStar could predict and avoid.

[Bvonscott]

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

The service is poorly marketed and poorly priced. It competes against cellphones and other systems that offer much of the same features for fractions of the cost.

GM needs to take OnStar to the next level... It will be interesting to see if they ever do.

What is the next level you ask?
1) Make it free as a E911 service... depending on where you live E911 on your cell is free... it should be free on Onstar too. How they avoided this legal requirement is a complete mystery to everyone it the telecom industry.
2) Make the system optionally integrated with your blue tooth cell phone... if you have a cell phone that you are paying for already... have the system use that service. No one wants to pay for two cell phones.
3) Use the system to download free upgrades to your in dash nav system
4) With free wifi Use the system to "chat" with other cars... use this to direct drivers around congestion or uber cool... someday as an accident avoidance system (like jets use)
5) Make the system so that you can purchase features a'la cart... or pay as you go... or pay per use. the current pricing model is whacked.
6) Get the lawyers out of the mix.. Turning features on and then having lawyers turn them off is just in your face bad
7) Get the call center out of the mix... No one wants to talk to a call center anyway.

Oh and I was talking with a senior executive at the cell provider that mostly supports OnStar... They are presently converting all of their systems (and phones) to HSPA...Should be done by late 2010 maybe early 2011. The OnStar CDMA network will be phased out starting in 2014.

I wonder if GM will offer an upgrade kit for all of their customers this time?

1. The emergency services in Onstar are never really turned off. That is a little known secret. Yes, if you get in an accident or hit the emergency button, Onstar is required by law to provide emergency services even after the subscription ends.

2. I dont get what your getting at here? The cars have bluetooth for your phone already. So when you use bluetooth, your not using the Onstar phone.

3. Good idea.

4. Good idea.

5. Should be $100 a year for everything, yes.

6. Features on/off? Lawyers?

7. The call center adds speed, think if in an emergency and your yelling at some computer voice that doesnt recognize what your saying how bad that would be. Maybe some new features could be call center-less.

[carbarrister]

"The reality is that most OnStar customers do not renew the service after the first free year (something like 80% say no thanks)... "

You are wrong. About 65 - 70% renew.
Remember, OnStar is in business to make money - which they do - not to give service away.
I am sure OnStar and Qualcomm are on top of network changes for CDMA compatibility. Lets hope the FCC doesn't screw it up like they did with the analog wind down.

[TAMark]

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

The service is poorly marketed and poorly priced.

1) Make it free as a E911 service... depending on where you live E911 on your cell is free... it should be free on Onstar too. How they avoided this legal requirement is a complete mystery to everyone it the telecom industry.

Poorly marketed? Onstar has radio ads on all the time where they play actual emergency calls. I find those highly effective.

Free E911 service. Oh please! What do you think all those multiple service charges on your cell phone bill are for? There is no free lunch.

[dindak]

I like OnStar but I wish you could just buy the things you want. I would pay $5 or $8 / mo for Turn-by-turn, but I don't want the rest of the OnStar system.

[DavidF]

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

7) Get the call center out of the mix... No one wants to talk to a call center anyway.

The OnStar CDMA network will be phased out starting in 2014.

I wonder if GM will offer an upgrade kit for all of their customers this time?

To me, the huge advantage of On-Star is the human interface. The call center allows me to give 'fuzzy' directions, such as "Chinese Food nearby" much more quickly than a GPS allows. Plus, as the original poster mentioned, you can get current road condition updates.

However, I just spent over $600 getting a GPS and a dash mount ( http://www.jhp.com.au/g8partsdirect/gpstrim.htm ) for my G8 to replace turn by turn, why?

A) GPS allows you to see the general area, not just the intended route. (turn by turn only shows the direction of the turn and the street name)
B) GPS allows you to use it when not route finding to again, see the general area. It's like an ability to look a mile or two down the road even if you have no specific destination in mind.
C) Turn by turn, in it's attempt to be user friendly, is annoying. The voice comes over the radio with full instructions every time, you can't just use the voice commands that you learned after one or two times of using it, you have to listen to all the prompts. Probably the biggest reason I won't continue to pay for it.
D) Turn by turn is overpriced for what you get. Having said that, I've had On-star non-stop in all my vehicles since December 1998, and I continue to pay for the safe and sound package after the first year. I think of it as a type of insurance, well worth the money.
E) Not a big deal, but when I bought the car, the sales rep and on-star insisted that I try out Turn by Turn by giving my home address from the dealership. Well, I live in a fairly new addition in the country (built 2006) so its not on google, yahoo, etc but I gave them address anyway. The turn by turn tried to send me miles away from my house. Also, even if you get to a destination successfully, the system won't cancel on it's own, you have to tell it you're there. Most GPS systems cancel nav automatically once you get there.

Hopefully there will be a replacement/upgrade in 2014, but by then my 2009 G8 will nearing replacement (or replaced) so I wouldn't be too upset if it lost it's On-star.

[nsap]

Originally Posted by DavidF

Also, even if you get to a destination successfully, the system won't cancel on it's own, you have to tell it you're there. Most GPS systems cancel nav automatically once you get there.

That's incorrect. Every time I have used it as soon as I arrive it says "You have arrived at your destination, route guidance will now end" and it cancels without me doing anything.

[DavidF]

Originally Posted by nsap

That's incorrect. Every time I have used it as soon as I arrive it says "You have arrived at your destination, route guidance will now end" and it cancels without me doing anything.

Well, I've only used it about four or five times, but I guess I wasn't passing the exact spot or something. For example, the address is for the front of the building and I parked out back or whatever. Also, when I exited the vehicle and came back in the next day, it still wanted to guide me to the previous day's route, until I canceled.

On a different subject, but related. I live in Oklahoma. I've found with any routing (On-Star, Garmin), when I've traveled to Dallas, the directions were incredibly accurate, but in Oklahoma, just mostly so (up to a half mile off in places). Clearly, big markets get better, more frequent, map updates than small markets. With a traditional GPS you get to see the "area" which is helpful if the navigation is slightly off, plus you get to see the entire route if you want to detour for a coffee break, etc.

I like that on-star was in the dash between the guages in my G8, I liked that on-star gave clear instructions that were easily heard over the speakers (even if annoying at times, wish I could mute and still enjoy the radio), I liked that I could ask a human to enter the address, I just didn't like the lack of situational awareness that a traditional gps gives you plus on-star seems high for what you get.

[igotzzoom]

It basically comes down to whether or not you want to pay for the service up-front with the purchase price of the car (as with an in-dash system) or pay for it with a prolonged service agreement. If you look at the cost over 5-7 years, it's kind of a wash. Certainly, there are some peace-of-mind advantages with OnStar, but I think GM committed themselves too rigidly to a technology model that's being rapidly out-paced by emerging technologies, especially in terms of cost/benefit.

GM was also a relative late-comer to the Bluetooth game, as well. I'd be curious to see what the renewal rate is for OnStar beyond the 6-12 month trial period.

[goatgary]

Have Turn by Turn in my Malibu. I was sleptical at first but I have come to like it better than the Nav I had in my STS. Simple and quick.

[69Firebird400]

My CTS came with the full package of OnStar for a year, including Turn-by-Turn. I have in-dash nav with my CTS too. With the CTS (not sure about other GM vehicles), OnStar can either upload the destination to the regular color nav screen or to the DIC (not both).

Either one has its advantages and disadvantages. Loaded to the nav screen, input is simple and can be done while the vehicle is moving. You can also follow along on a color map to see how far you have to go. On the downside, you are at the mercy of the maps that the car is carrying on board - OnStar is only giving a destination when they do it through the nav screen. The ease of destination entry (even if it's not in the POI or street address listing, OnStar can send the numerical GPS coordinates to the car to get you there) and the fact that you can enter destinations while moving are the big pluses for this method.

On the DIC method, which I've only used once, you have the same benefit of easy destination entry, but you can't view your entire route on the map - only how far until the next turn. On the upside, I would imagine that - as Nick said above - current road conditions and more frequently updated maps would be a benefit.

By the way, after my free year was up, I only renewed the basic $200 package. Having a factory nav system and thinking back to the five times I used OnStar for destination entry didn't seem worth the extra $100 for the Directions & Connections service. I have a late 2008 CTS with BlueTooth, so I don't really need the handsfree phone, though I have 100 minutes with it on standby in case my iPhone doesn't get service somewhere (I know, hard to imagine that happening).

[scotth3886]

I’ve had OnStar in my last six or seven GM cars and I use it. Turn by Turn just became available about the same time as I got the 2007 Saturn Aura, a little over three years ago, and it took them about 30-60 days to smooth out some glitches, but since then it has worked fine.

I’m a commercial realtor and I use it to help me find properties that I can’t otherwise find. It has never once tried to send me into a lake or off into the forest. It, frankly, has never failed. Some of the Detroit based Onstar operators have had problems with SoCal Spanish street names.

I have also used this on cross country road trips while going through semi-familiar cities at night on the freeway in heavy rain. It keeps me in the correct lane, aimed the right way so I don’t have to strain to see road signs. At 65 my night vision may not be what it once was. I can exit, go eat, go piss, fart, etc., and when I get back on the road the directions continue where I left off. In fact it will even get me back on the freeway.

The G8 GT works even better because of the directions are also posted in the DIC instead of radio screen like the Saturn.

I have my Onstar phones as part of my Verizon Family plan so it’s only $10 per phone and it’s included in my monthly allocation of minutes. The voice dialing works amazingly well and it sounds much better than the Bluetooth on my two Blackberries. It’s also been very handy when I’ve had clients with me and we needed to have a impromptu conference call with my mortgage broker. If I need to have a private call I use the bluetooth earpiece with my blackberry.

The only issue I’ve had is forgetting that the caller is on the OnStar phone instead of my Blackberry, then getting out of the car walking away with the caller stuck in the car.

This is certainly the best of the GM underdog features.

[emg77]

We had a free year of turn by turn directions included with our Traverse, and I was never really that impressed. I don't like that you have to call back in to re-route, and 1 time they didn't have an address in their system and just said they would try to get us close. I can see how people would like it, and it is easy to use, but I'd choose my $100 Garmin Nuvi 200 over it, especially since I could buy a second one for my wife's car for less than the cost of renewing the service for a year.

I think if I drove more, and the phone minutes cost less (or if I had Verizon cell service so I could add the car onto the plan), I might renew On-star, but I haven't renewed it on any of my cars so far. I only drive about 10,000 miles a year, so the renewal fees just don't seem worth it.

I do really wish they had bluetooth to take advantage of the microphone and speakers through your existing cell phone (I understand they are adding this on some new cars).

My biggest reason for not renewing is the cost of something that I might use 1 or 2 times a month for directions and have been lucky to never have to use for emergency services.

[ARCANGEL]

May question is this..I have had onstar and thought it was a great service turn by turn as well. Now my question is this... Why doesn't GM license this to other auto makers they can have a huge cash flow coming in from the leasing of this service at a premium.

[Quickening]

My sister uses in her CTS all the time. They now ask her "Do you need directions today?" haha cause they know its coming.

Its so easy, and the directions right there in the DIC is convenient. The progression bar is also nice.