But a couple of months ago, I was shocked at the one they ran where
> someone calls saying they locked their keys in the car. The OnStarT
> operator asks for their ID number. They say they don't have it with
> them. So - get this - the operator says "Oh - that's OK. Just give me
> your home telephone number and I can unlock it", and they do. I'm
> thinking "Oh great, so all thieves need is the home phone number of the
> owner to get an easy breakin with no damage to have to fix!
Actually this is a public service that is part of the campaign to get stupid thieves off the road, because once the owner figures out it's stolen they can call onstar and onstar can tell the police exactly where the thief and car is. Apparently triangulation is part of the onstar hardware.
Mmm-hmm. Best radio ad campaign I've ever heard. Period.
Not good enough to make me put my wife into a GM product, or any of the other brands that Onstar is in, but I wouldn't think twice about paying extra to get the system if it was available in a Chrysler.
Bill, the phone calls are edited. I'd hazard that they ask more than one verification question before just willy-nilly unlocking somebody's car.
Ah, yes - that must be the answer. Very similar to anti-theft software for laptop computers - anytime the computer is online (thru dialup), it silently checks in with the software company's server. If you've not reported it stolen, nothing happens. If you report it stolen, then they flag your computer's ID in the server, and the next time the computer calls in, the server traces the source of the connection and the software company notifies the police station that is closest to the connection and gives them the address to pick up a stolen laptop and a thief.
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
Yeah - obviously they were edited for time, but the remaining sound bytes in that commercial gave the impression that it was as simple as giving them your home phone number, but you're probalby right - there's probably other things they have on record like some secure websites do for forgotten passwords - have a question on file that you made up and only you know the answer to (what's your cat's name, what's you're mother's maiden name, stuff like that).
I can't help but wonder if they haven't lost at least a couple of sales due to people having the same reaction that I did, maybe even subconsciously, and thinking the system was flawed - a subliminal negative perception thing nixing the sale.
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
I didn't know if it was triangulation from the satellites or cell network or if they simply had an onboard GPS that reports the vehicle position to the OnStar center. I assumed the latter, but don't know for sure. I would suspect that GPS would be much more accurate than triangulation from the transmitters.
I dunno, quality-wise the current crop of GM cars and trucks are making the Chryslers look pretty bad. My 94 K1500 has been much more reliable than my 1996 Grand Voyager.
This would only let thieves into the car, where they can rip off the stereo, laptop in the trunk, etc. and bugger off before the owner returns. They would still need other means to steal the vehicle. This would let them break into the vehicle, not steal it.
They use GPS. The police recovered a stolen GM Onstar equipped vehicle here a few months ago thanks to GPS.
You know, these things are a matter of perception and opinion. The current generation of GM light-duty SUVs -- the TrailBlazer, (whatizitknow?) Envoy, etc., all seem to have problems with burned out taillights. I'll bet a good
20% of the ones I see in traffic have at least one burned out taillight, which I'd consider unacceptable for a less-than-two-year-old truck.. From all reports I've seen, these are supposed to be pretty good quality trucks, but you'd have a hard time convincing me. If they skimped somehow on the quality of the damn lightbulbs, I'd be willing to bet there's been a lot of other compromises, too. Same thing for the DRLs on the first generation of full-size GM pickups that received them: too frequently burnt out, at least on one side. But again, that's my perception, and it's not based in any actual study, just my observations.
As far as the '96 Caravan vs Chevy 4X4 pickup is concerned: I don't know what you mean by 'reliable'. The pickup has a much stronger, much more durable driveline than the minivan, I'm sure. It's designed for a different purpose. I can see where you may have had difficulties with the minivan transmission, say, but not with the pickup. So that could contribute to your perception of quality.
People driving foreign makes seem to perceive their vehicles to be of high quality. From what I can tell, there's very little basis in fact for this. 'Toyota makes a very reliable car' in my opinion fits into the same category as 'all good dogs go to heaven' or 'everything happens for a reason'. Platitudes such as these make us feel good, but we've got no real basis in the data for saying them.
Possible they got a bad batch of bulbs. I haven't seen one yet with a dark tail light. My pickup still has the original tail light bulbs and headlights. Did have to replace a license plate light bulb and clearance light bulb this week when I had the truck inspected. These are the first bulbs replaced in nearly 10 years.
I meant number of times per mile that the vehicle has something that needs to be repaired. The truck had one significant problem shortly after I got it (pushrod was defective and failed at 5,200 miles), but hasn't had anything more serious than a couple of oil leaks in the 10 years since then. Well, I did have to replace the muffler and tail pipe.
The minivan has been in the shop for something significant at least once a year (clockspring, wiper switch, water pump, belt tensioner, at least two recalls for fuel system problems, etc.). Nothing major with the drivetrain as yet, but about once a year I put $300-500 in repairs in it. I don't think the Chevy has required $600 in the 10 years I've owned it (counting repairs only here, not routine maintenance).
My experience with Honda was poor, but others seem to have fairly good experiences. I personally believe that the Japanese have an edge in quality, but I don't think it is nearly as large as organizations like CR like to portray.
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