I haven't check the threads posted here, but what do you think are the pros/cons to the OnStar option for the Cobalt SS Supercharged? I just didn't want it because you have to subscribe to it after the first year.

 

Hmmm...I think it's a good service, but I don't really want to pay for something that I might never use. I've only been in car trouble with my '99 a few times, and it was usually something like the battery went dead. I mean for $695 just to have it? You are basically paying for the first year, not getting it for free or anything. I also wonder how much it would cost yearly. The only real use of it I see is if I have my car stolen. I haven't ever gotten a flat, so I'm not really concerned about that.

I've been weighing onstar as an option as well, I can't decide.

 

We got it in the SS, and i'm diggin the security of it

and will prolly continue with it after the first year


Not so much for myself, But it makes me feel better havin it for mah grrl drivin the car.

that way if she gets into trouble, shees always covered. Cell phones don't always work, then what. thats where onstar comes in

 

it helps drive you insurance rates down, and if you car is ever stolen you can catch whoever stole it.

 

I have it in both my vehicles and wont be with out again, its a good service. You can call onstar to unlock your doors(great for my wife), plus onstar automaticly calls EMS and Police and Fire if your airbags are deployed. Plus the cobalt has remote diagnostics not to mention they will help find gas station if your out of state and low on fuel ( Ihave used this) I also like the integrated phone / virtual advisor....I have it in my GTP and love it.

 

yeah onstar is real good. last time i went snowboarding we took the hummer H2
it has onstar and basically the operators were our navigation system the whole trip. they were like "in exactly 19.3 miles youll see a gas station, turn left here" they were pretty precise cus your hooked into satellite and all that cool stuff. it came in handy

 

Hmmm...I think you guys have convinced me to pay the $600 for onstar. I think it's great that they call the police, firedepartment, etc. if your airbags are deployed. It's nice to know that you'll probably get a better response time than a bystander would. Interesing. Did you say they will give you directions too if you get lost? That's crazy...like personal mapquest .

 

the thing that bothers me about OnStar is the people at the call center. They sound like less favorable people. The OnStar subscriber is giving them personal information (pin #'s etc) and if they ever leave onstar or get fired, it wouldn't be hard for them to call in and have someone unlock the car. Also car theives know under the hood where to disconnect onstar so as a theft tracking device it's useless to a marginally intelligent car theif.

 

CON: Ugly ass antenna sticking outta the roof.

 

CON: Easily disabled defeated by mildly experienced crooks
CON: No way to guarantee that your car is safe from Ex Onstar employees
CON: Expensive
CON: Not compatible with older cars.
PRO: Notification of emergency when airbags go off.
PRO: Remote unlocking of car doors.

 

Well here are the points used in favor of OnStar, in no particular order: (and why I, personally, am not interested)

Use it as a cellphone - Valid, sure, but I already pay for a "regular" cell phone. The handsfree capability while you're driving is neat, but I'd rather pull over & talk than pay more.

Use it for directions - Valid again, I guess, but I usually know where I'm going before I leave the house. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been lost in my life. I suppose if you're the type who more easily gets lots, or travels in unfamiliar areas often....

Use it to unlock your car - I've never locked my keys in my car in my life. No doubt the one time this happened, I'd be super-glad I had it. But it's still not worth $700 to me.

Track your car if it's stolen - No doubt this is a neat trick. Crime isn't very high around here, though.

Diagnostic checks on your car - Again, neat trick for sure, but I'm not sure how useful this is. If the problem is so debilitating that I can't even get the vehicle to a dealer, what's OnStar gonna tell me? "Yup, your car's f*cked..."

Safety - This, to me, is the only real valuable use. To have OnStar know when you get in an accident, and call for assistance if you're unconscious or can't - to me this is really valuable. Especially if it's a wife or girl or someone else you're worried about, as mentioned, and especially if you drive on less-travelled roads a lot, where it might be an hour before the next car comes. Still, it's $700, and I'm cheap.

 

Yeah i forgot about that the remote diaginostics.

if ur SES, or any indicator light comes on while driving, or even if "your car doesn't seem to be running right" Onstar can scan ur car and find out whats wrong while ur drivingdown the road


when u add up everything ur gettin, $17 a month is definatly worth it

 

Ugly ass antenna? Is it like a big one? Hmm.... Also, what kind of employee would track down your car, have it unlocked, disarm onStar, and steal it? I mean I'm sure there are a lot better cars running onStar than a Cobalt SS S/C to steal. That's a little far-fetched if you ask me.

 

how much do it cost a year?? 700 bucks a year is kinda pricey!

 

There are several different monthly packages with different costs and services, etc. The $700 is the cost of the option ($US, it's over $1000CAD).

To me, even if it's only $5/mth, I'm still not paying that $700 upfront cost for the package. Too much cash.

 

its more for the safety features
any car guy can unhook onstar, hell, even i can
and car thieves, forget it

 

Actually your common car thief is (perhaps not so surprisingly) usually not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Most do not unhook an OnStar system, either because they don't know what it is, or don't know how to.

It's not as simple as just unplugging the mirror. The GPS is inside the OnStar controller, which is inside the vehicle, sometimes in the dash, trunk, or under a trim piece somewhere. Your average thief is not smart enough to find it, or even think to look.

 

the antenna is like an inch long, with a slightly wider base, and it sticks out on the top rear center of your roof. i personally think it adds some character to the roof and to the car
its nothing like ur stereo antenna or ur radio antenna..its a lot more efficient
besides if ur gona do the car.. do it rightt!! lol max it out

 

Another benefit, well requirement, is that it is required if you want the side-curtain airbags which aren't a bad thing to have when you have a car with this power. At some point, someone on this site will have a nasty accident and the $1100 CAN option could easily save their life. What more of a benefit can you ask for? I would pay much more than that if I thought that it could save my life at some point. I suppose the only thing that bugs me is why they bundled it with the airbags? Do they use the On-Star system for deployment??

 

Onstar costs me 200$ a year...It is well worth it. Plus it drops your insurance , so actualy it works out to be less than that.

 

So pay the 500 up front cost and the 100 bucks a year or so for the service that I have.

www.vehiclelocate.net

 

Eh, is that linked to airbag deployment? If not,then you can pretty much not compare it to onstar. What you have is basically LoJack.

 

Lojack only works IF the police have a tranceiver in their squad cars (which many police municipalites don't) and IF you find out within a few hours of it being stolen and IF the police have someone that they can afford to devote to spend 2-3 hours to locate your car. Lojack is a joke. As far as I know there are triggers that can send reports out. If it can be triggered to call your cel phone to notify you if your alarm goes off, I wouldn't be surprised if the airbag deployment could be tied in to it. My neighbor had LoJack a few years ago. He did get his car back. Took 11 hours. The car was mostly stripped and was moved to 3 different locations to be dismantled. One place to pull the engine/trans, another place to pull all the body parts, and the final place to strip the interior. Kinda hard to find a moving target with a blindfold. Lojack sucks.

 

How about the Navigation features? What I'm trying to ask, folks with OnStar, is when and if you get lost, will you use it? If you're trying to find a great restaurant for a date, will you use it? (hopefully not in front of your date...) If you don't want to pay a $2.50 surcharge for an ATM withdrawal, will you use it?

 

If you get onStar you have to get side curtain airbags, but it doesn't work the other way around. You can get the side curtain airbags without onStar.