Thanks folks. Looks like a visit to my Chevy dealer might be in order.
Thanks again!
I’m going to suggest that you first try it yourself. In all cases I’ve encountered, Bluetooth pairing has been rather simple - and it’s one of those skills that are increasingly useful.
With the right (i.e. wrong) attitude, you can make almost any task feel like it requires an expert. In truth, few do.
Did you look for the word “Bluetooth” in the index of your car’s manual? Both my vehicles have a separate chapter devoted to this feature and it’s a simple process basically consisting of activating the system (there should be a button on your steering wheel), and letting it walk you through the steps. At some point you’ll need to go into the Bluetooth settings on your phone to make sure the Bluetooth is on and “search for devices” at the same time that the car is searching. They’ll find each other and then you’re set. You might want to familiarize yourself with the phone settings first so you can have it ready when the car asks for it.
As far as I know OnStar lets you talk to an emergency operator, but that’s it. It’s not like you can just push the OnStar button and tell it to call your Mom.
A word of warning about synching your phone to your car – if you’re outside your car but close to it, the car just might “steal” your phone call. There were a few times during the summer when my husband was sitting outside on our walkway, not far from the driveway where his car was parked. He tried to call me (at my office) from his cell phone but couldn’t hear anything. He tried several times, always with the same result. Meanwhile, I kept answering his calls and wondering why he didn’t say anything. After about three tries, he finally figured out that he was too close to the car. When he went into the house and called, he could finally hear me. On another occasion, I was in my car nearing home when I was suddenly tuned in to a call between my husband and a friend. My husband had synched his phone with my car as well as his own, and when my car got close enough to home, it stole the call he was on. Maybe there’s a way to prevent this “theft of signal” but I don’t know what it would be.
The car has to be running for that to happen, doesn’t it? Anyway, my new phone (galaxy S5) puts up a touchscreen button when it’s doing the call through bluetooth to take the audio back from the car. My old phone didn’t.
My car doesn’t have to be running. The power only has to be on. When I crashed the last one, which is the same make, model, and year as my current one, the engine was quite definitely off. I got inside and turned the power on (basically the Accessory position on a car that uses keys) so that I could talk to my insurance company. Later I was outside of the car and tried to use the phone, and the car ‘stole’ it. (I don’t have a smart phone.)
Sure you can.
So it’s actually a real car phone. Or is a phone car?
Wow, that’s pretty cool.
Well, sort of. The entire OnStar system is basically built around the gubbins of a CDMA mobile phone. Weirdly, making phone calls seems to have been one of the last functions they added to it.
No, it does not.
True story:
I started a conference call for work on my Smart phone right at the end of the work day. I had earbuds in and had clipped the phone to my person somehow. I packed up my laptop, walked out of the office, got in the car and started it. As soon as I started the car, the bluetooth automatically switched the audio from my earbuds to the car speakers. When I got home, the call was still going on (and of course my report happened while I was driving :o), so I shut off the car and started to walk in the house, but the Bluetooth did not automatically switch it back. I could hear the conference call on my speakers in my car, while it was off and locked and I was standing on the porch 10 feet away with the keys in my hand. I finally found the button on my phone and switched back to earbuds, the call ended, the flowers grew, the sun shone, the wind blew, and all was well again.
TINSTAAFL
Unmmm you are buying prepaid minutes from Onstar to use that feature.
Why would I do that if I have a cellphone with u limited minutes in my pocket and Bluetooth built into the car?
I don’t know. Why would you? I certainly didn’t ask you to.