Why is it so "impossible" to upgrade analog OnStar?

You must have a really nice cell phone provider. I am with Bell (In Canada) and they gave me a credit to start up my account, but only because I signed up for a 3 year contract. In a year, when my Razr is out of date (it actually kind of is already), Bell only offers discounts on upgrades, not free phones. Who are you with?

Reply to
80 Knight
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I really do believe it is a safety and security feature that I'm losing in Jan 2008. If you get in a head-on crash and the air bag deploys on a remote rural road, you may not be conscious to dial a cell phone. On the other hand OnStar would automatically call for help. There are a number of news stories recently speculating on whether a system like OnStar would have helped James Kim lost in the Oregon Wildnerness (probably not, but searchers detected a cell phone ping and even erected a temporary cell tower near the location). Another news story in the past couple days described how a carjacker was tracked down and caught using OnStar. If you are in danger and you don't know your location (or don't really have time to describe it to the 911 operator) the OnStar system can pinpoint where you are and send for help with the push of one button. If your car is carjacked with your baby in the back seat, OnStar will help the cops find it fast. Or even if it is stolen and you've got valuables inside worth more than what the insurance company will pay, it's worthwhile to use OnStar to recover the stolen vehicle and put the bad guys in jail. The examples are endless. So yes, it is all about safety and security.

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message news:26ce3$45794a19$452894fb$ snipped-for-privacy@ALLTEL.NET...

Reply to
cufliflox

If it makes you feel more secure in those thoughts, then I'd agree it's a security feature - your personal sense of security. But, there are still so many areas around the country - especially in those remote rural areas, where cell signals are weak to non-existant, so I just could not place a lot of value in the added security that it *might* be helpful if I was involved in an accident that had all of the specific requirements such as above. I guess it comes down to my belief that you can create specifics enough to justify anything you want but really - it's all about what you want. So, given that you really like OnStar and want to believe it is a true safety and security value for you (which is fine), then I believe you'll just have to embrace the notion of keeping up with the technology. Sucks in a way maybe, but that's just the way it is. Maybe with enough uproar from analog users GM will come out with some reduced price, one-time offer to swap out units for you guys.

So - for all that the news folk's (who love to speculate and build things up) hype, if the cell phone didn't help Kim, how would OnStar? It's the same technology.

I'm sure there was. OnStar can indeed work and provide some usefulness. I don't deny what OnStar can do - but this is a convenience in my opinion.

Yes, and a bigger gun can be helpful as well. Really - there is a lot of "if you are... OnStar *may* be able..." stuff in scenarios like this. It's easy to create scenarios where anything from a bigger gun to OnStar to magic disappearing powder could be helpful. But - those are not safety features in a car. Safety features fall into a different category of responsibility for the manufacturer. OnStar offers a lot of features, but most of them are conveniences and the others are largely what-if scenarios contrived to make OnStar appear more necessary in your life than it really is.

See above.

By the time you've got the insurance company involved, your car and your valuables do not exist in any recognizable form.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Cingular. They offer a selection from seven "free", a bunch of $9.99 on up to about $200. IIRC, there would have been a $79 charge for the Razr, but a Motorola Bluetooth phone was a freebie. ,

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Very interesting. When do you get these phones? As in, how long must you be with them to get the freebie? Like I said, with me and Bell, when I first signed up for a 3 year contract, they gave me a credit to get my Razr, and the credit would have been enough to buy a cheaper phone (the Razr was over $300 CDN), but after being with Bell for say, 2 and a half years, they will only give me a certain percent off the regular purchase price should I decide to upgrade.

Reply to
80 Knight

I remember one time I was driving north on the 57 freeway in Brea, CA when a truck changed lanes into a compact car's path, and the lady swerved out of control, failing to properly counter-steer the skid, and spun around several times hitting the center divider. It was right in front of me. I wanted to report the location of the accident right away but there were no freeway exits for a few miles and I didn't remember the last exit or landmark. Then I realized I have OnStar and I just pushed the button and told the operator, who summoned help to the scene based on my GPS position. Who knows if the quick response and precise location could have helped someone who is bleeding to death, in cardiac arrest, etc. Maybe this was the time when I realized OnStar is not just a toy but it can really save lives just like seatbelts and air bags.

Reply to
cufliflox

and I remember a case in Louisiana, where OnStar helped find a stolen vehicle.... sent coordinates to PD, and there it was, safe and sound

Reply to
Mark Hoffman

My cell phone can do the same thing. It has a GPS tracker built into it. I call 911, and they know exactly where I am. Yes, OnStar can be helpful, but it all depends on what is going on. How many people have the OnStar system in there vehicle, but don't use it?

Reply to
80 Knight

It does have value to it, just not the value the folks at the OnStar pricing office seem to have for it. Never renewed the service after the first free year. Basic was $200, the extended price is $400. More than I'm willing to pay for what I'd get. Half that, I'd do it.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Exactly my point. To some, OnStar is a great service to have. To others, it's nothing new.

Reply to
80 Knight

Don't forget that this is the core feature of OnStar which GM has advertised relentlessly, at least on the radio!

Reply to
John Horner

Yes I confirmed it is analog only... I connected to OnStar and the rep confirmed this. A lot of analog-only subscribers will be in for a surprise one year from now.

Reply to
cufliflox

Yep, it is crazy how long GM kept installing analog only hardwired sets into vehicles. They were doing this many, many years after the cellular companies had stopped offering analog only handsets or any hardwired sets.

I've read all of the arguments about the inevitability of technology obsolescence that some have posted here and it doesn't add up. GM was well aware that analog cell phone systems were being phased out and chose to wait longer than any other cell phone hardware company in the business to adapt.

John

Reply to
John Horner

So true John.

All GM would have to do to keep 2001-2002 OnStar owners happy is to find a way to remove just the cell phone dialing components of the analog unit, and replace it with a digital circuit/wiring/antenna in the replacement design. Give us an option to upgrade for a couple hundred bucks.

Why can't they do that for us? I have not heard a single logical answer to this question. Hello, anyone out there from GM listening? If so, forward this entire thread to your senior management please.

Reply to
cufliflox

Oh for .... sake...

You people want some cheese with your never ending whine?

Reply to
HeatWave

It would not surprise me to see something hit the market that does this before the cutoff of the analog systems. Maybe not from GM, maybe from the aftermarket.

I'd be willing to bet that even if this is not being considered at this point, it has at least, already been considered.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

I think it probably has already been considered and they nixed it.

We have a Chevy Impala '01 with analog only OnStar. For the past 2 years we have been informed that we will lose service in 2008, but analog only providers would be contacted for more information as the time nears. More information - that I won't have service. Well, they could have told me that 2 years ago. Why didn't they? They made it sound like there would be something done. Could it be they didn't want people to drop them

2 years ago?

A posibility being that wireless companies will still keep the analog running and we would continue to have service. I even spoke to an On-Star representative who stated that this was a very good possibility.

The letter we recieved notes that this was an FCC mandate that required the copmanies to go digital. I remember reading an article that stated the government wanted the analog network for themselves.

You konw there are those pockets where only analog will still be available. As well as the wireless companies still having analog around as they convert everything over to digital. There is a phase out process that the companies have yet to state.

As stated above, the letter states FCC mandate that the wireless companies are not required to support analog. Doesn't say that they won't. Yet Onstar (owned by GM) has decided to not provide service to those vehicles with analog only as of 2008. This was a GM choice. And I think the reason being was at the end of their notice stating "and we want you to know that there are many 2006 and 2007 GM models available with the digital network". So they want me to buy another $30,000 or more car.

Also, they are not giving me a year renewal, but monthly - which if I remember correctly costs more.

We purchased the Impala for the safety of the car, good mileage and because of OnStar. Onstar was the deciding point between the Impala and a few other manufacturers. My husband uses for commuting 100 miles round trip, 5 days a week. We have it for the air-bag deployment and anti-theft only. When we were looking to purchase a house here 6 years ago, we saw an accident. Man had a heart attack and he crashed off the road into some trees. No-one saw it and he was there for hours. Died because of it. If he had OnStar, his airbags would have deployed and he would have had help and still be alive. We purchased with this in mind and that when it was time for our son to start driving we would have OnStar available. Well now we won't. We have this piece of crap in the car coming from the ceiling into the mirror. You can see the wires if you look closely at how it comes down to the mirror. And we no longer have it for our piece of mind for our son who is a new driver. I know, I know - what did people do years ago. But years ago there weren't as many cars on the road. And all cars were pretty much the same size. People weren't driving around in Hummers and Avalanches while others in a compact car. We didn't have all the illegals driving around without licenses and insurance. Of course you always had people driving around without a license and insurance, but not at such a rate as today.

Technology doesn't change that much in 5 years. It was already there and the BIG companies continued to use the old cheaper methods.

GM knew this was going to happen, yet even after the FCC mandated they continued to install analog only.

Yes, companies aren't responsible for outdated technology, but they should be when in such a short time frame. You were able to relpace 8 Tracks with a cassette player in your car. Or you were still able to use your 8 track deck because you had the tapes to play still. So its not like you had equipment in the car they you weren't able to use. Our Impala still has a cassette player. Granted you don't see many cassettes being offered in the stores anymore, but I do have a good amount at home that doesn't render the casette player useless. Same with VHS tapes. You don't see many around any longer, but you have enough at home that doesn't render the equipment useless. Unlike OnStar.

GM made OnStar directly into the car (or so it seems) so that it could not be replaced. I now have something in the car I cannot use.

GM should replace or give a nice discount to those analog customers to have OnStar replaced with digital equipment. I can't see OnStar being hooked up to every single part in the car. It has to be hooked to the computer chip somehow and obtain readings from there. Just like your technician in the dealership reads the chip, so can Onstar. We had an issue with the car 2X, and contacted on-Star while driving, and they read us a code that they diagosed. Same code the dealership obtained when reading the computer chip. So like someone mentioned in the thread, I think just the cellular portion needs to be changed.

Do we have any wireless techs out there who might know anything?

I wonder if there is going to be a class action suit?

Reply to
PAAS

Excellent post! I'd suggest printing this out and sending it to GM management. They could design an upgrade kit if they wanted to. They might have assumed that 2001 customers don't really care. If we speak up maybe they will listen.

Reply to
cufliflox II

No, they won't listen, they want you to buy a new car. To auto maker executives, a 2001 is very old and you should buy a new one to keep the economy going. After 6 model years, you are not worth helping.

My local dealer is the same way. Any time I had any sort of problem, even minor, they suggested trading it in for a new car. Do you think the CEO of GM will suggest a way to keep it longer? What do you think keeps his company going, new car sales or retrofits for older models?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Good point Edwin. However the executive should also consider loyalty to the brand. This might be the last time I buy from GM. Before this I had a Silverado truck, and before that a C/K truck. I also have a 2006 GM Pontiac GTO. I have been very loyal to GM products, but when they screw me with the OnStar system I will go to some other automaker where the safety features don't expire.

Reply to
cufliflox II

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