GM vehicle owners: Are you being urged by OnStar to purchase an "upgrade"?

[Spoons]

I recently received a message from OnStar. Note that I am in Canada, if that makes any difference:

Dear [Mr. Spoons],

Canadian wireless service providers have informed OnStar®1 that the 2G wireless network in your area - the network we use to provide service in your 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe will be decommissioned in late December 2015.

As a result, in order to continue enjoying the peace of mind you’ve come to count on from OnStar, your vehicle’s hardware will need to be upgraded by December 1, 2015. The hardware upgrade will be provided at no additional charge, though you will need to purchase a one-year, pre-paid, non-refundable OnStar service plan of your choice…

I’m a little disturbed by this. I thought I bought a truck that would work and was mine until I decided to get rid of it. I didn’t realize that it was like a computer that needed upgrading every few years; and at a cost besides.

Can anybody tell me what might happen if I don’t upgrade to this new hardware, and don’t subscribe to a “non-refundable” service plan?

For that matter, what does OnStar do that my cellphone cannot?

And my last question: will this interfere with my satellite radio in the truck?

[Senegoid]

@Spoons

I’m a little disturbed by this. I thought I bought a truck that would work and was mine until I decided to get rid of it. I didn’t realize that it was like a computer that needed upgrading every few years; and at a cost besides.

Heck, I can remember when computers worked that way too (like you thought your truck should work). Now, hardly a week goes by where this application or that application or one web site or another gets “upgraded” and won’t work on my machine any more. Whole bunches of web sites the barely work on my machine any more, and some (like the new Google Maps) don’t work at all.

My machine, operating system, and browser are so old that I don’t think I can upgrade any of them unless I upgrade them all and if I do that, then probably a lot of older apps that I use all the time won’t work and I’ll have to upgrade all of them too.

[Cyros]

@Spoons

I’m a little disturbed by this. I thought I bought a truck that would work and was mine until I decided to get rid of it. I didn’t realize that it was like a computer that needed upgrading every few years; and at a cost besides.

Can anybody tell me what might happen if I don’t upgrade to this new hardware, and don’t subscribe to a “non-refundable” service plan?

For that matter, what does OnStar do that my cellphone cannot?

And my last question: will this interfere with my satellite radio in the truck?

It appears that Canadian mobile service providers are decommissioning the 2G networks that Onstar was originally designed to make use of. Not really Onstar’s fault. If you had purchased and were using a cell phone that made use of the 2G CDMA standard you would need to upgrade to a new phone as well. Your truck will still work. Only the Onstar service would be affected.

Do you use Onstar now? If so and you don’t upgrade the device and subscribe to the service then you won’t be able to use it anymore (although if you do use it then you are already subscribing and they are giving the upgrade for free in that case which leads me to believe that perhaps you don’t currently use the service).

If you don’t currently use the service then you can ignore the notice as you will be unaffected.

Onstar can provide navigation services, basic service checks on several areas of your car, detecting crashes and automatically sending emergency services to your location, etc.

Onstar is not connected to your satellite radio in any way.

[Spoons]

Thanks, Cyros. Looks like my choice is to continue with OnStar or not, so I will evaluate how I use it, and decide accordingly.

Their email sounds rather urgent: “Immediate action is needed!” and suchlike. Good to know that the situation isn’t quite so dire. Thanks again!

[Dag_Otto]

@Spoons

Thanks, Cyros. Looks like my choice is to continue with OnStar or not, so I will evaluate how I use it, and decide accordingly.

Their email sounds rather urgent: “Immediate action is needed!” and suchlike. Good to know that the situation isn’t quite so dire. Thanks again!

Perhaps the offer for the “free” upgrade is time limited? That is, if you decide to upgrade in a few years there will be a charge for the upgrade in addition to the cost of a year of service. If you actually use the service, you might as well upgrade now. If you don’t use it, then why bother?

[Cyros]

@Spoons

Thanks, Cyros. Looks like my choice is to continue with OnStar or not, so I will evaluate how I use it, and decide accordingly.

Their email sounds rather urgent: “Immediate action is needed!” and suchlike. Good to know that the situation isn’t quite so dire. Thanks again!

No worries! Personally I don’t understand the point of Onstar. The two big features of calls (which is a different number than your regular cell phone) and navigation are covered fairly well with a cell phone and a GPS unit. The GPS is a one time cost and most people have a cell phone so why pay an additional monthly fee?

Of course, I might be biased as my Vibe doesn’t have the necessary equipment to fully utilize the system so I couldn’t get monthly diagnostics, directions sent to my radio’s display, and some of the other good stuff (I think because the car was built on the Matrix body and so didn’t have some of the standard GM goodies).

I signed up for the month free trial, tried to use the directions once and the operator could not find the Big Stop that is 5 minutes outside of Grand Falls, NB. I think that was the only time I ever used the service in the month that I had it.