Onstar

[antmnte]

The big brother satelite thing in the blog got me thinking about something that just happened to me and may be of
help to some of you guys.

Recently I got a letter from State Farm the insurance carrier we use here for our stuff (cars house)
It was asking how many miles we travel per year with our 09 Pontiac G8 it is listed as a second car on our
policy and we really don't use it all the time we have other cars. It seems though that the ins carrier decided
to inquire about the mileage from information it got from Onstar which the car is equipped with.I was pretty pissed about this and called them, they immediately before I asked them anything started asking me to verify mileage on the car,which I didn't, and told them they know how much air is in the tires they know the mileage. Onstar gives out (or sells) the info about the car to any having an intrest in it they admitted to me. State farm also took away my reduced rate because they were saying I would go over the mileage when the year came up .Well we'll see. I lost my trust in the system and wont renew after the year is up I didn't think they would use it this way.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Onstar

sue their asses off
I would pull that vcim right out of the car
and get a good lawyer

[antmnte]

Re: Onstar

I bet there is some clause in something I signed when I bought the car stating that they could do that.
Can it be pulled out of the car? I posted this so everyone knows what they are up to.

[min301]

Re: Onstar

This is old news to me...

[antmnte]

Re: Onstar

This is old news to me...

Min please elaborate I never heard this before .
Thanks.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Onstar

The sole purpose of Onstar was so GM and whomever they decided to sell info to could download info on your car and what you have been doing with it. GM did it as a result of Ford getting asses sued off when 106 people died because they can't drive an SUV when it has a blow out. Remember, the Onstar and standard equipment air pressure monitors showed up at the same time. Also, GM can download info to determine whether to void warranties.

The real genius of Onstar is the marketing getting people to pay $15 a month to have them unlock your doors. How do lock your keys in the car when the door won't lock with the keys in the ignition?

[DanStokes]

Re: Onstar

We like our Onstar for directions when we travel, which we do a LOT. We know we drive the HHR a million miles per year and so do they. Granted it's a bit big brother-like, but it is what it is. It's easy to disconnect - just stop paying. I think there's also a relay that can be pulled.

Dan

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Onstar

We never paid for Onstar, but the hard drive continues to upload info to it daily according to our service advisor.

[dieselgeek]

Re: Onstar

The company I worked at from 2000-2006 ran the call centers out of Detroit for the very first OnStar programs. After the first 4 years GM took the program "in house" (once we showed them how to train agents, and run a call center)


You wouldn't believe the awesomeness of some of the calls that come in. Can't share them publicly but - they are hilarious.

Also, you bet your butt that GM's been selling all the marketing info they can get out of that system. What kind of places you drive to / park at, how many miles you put on, collecting data about the types of roads you drive on... the Marketroids at GM squeeze the most out of that data too.

Rebeldryver pretty much has it right, except it's a lot less "big brother" and a lot more "how can we make money on all this data we can collect"

Our tax dollars at work!

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Onstar

most don't subscribe , just like satellite radio - another waste

[dieselgeek]

Re: Onstar

most don't subscribe , just like satellite radio - another waste

subscription no matter. The data gets collected and reported, all the subscription does is let you get directions (GPS is a better choice)