Interesting article on OnStar.

Some statistics:

On a monthly basis (average for May - July 2005), OnStar responds to approximately:

400 stolen vehicle location assistance calls
900 air bag notification calls
140 Advanced Automatic Crash Notification calls
15,000 emergency calls
27,000 GM Goodwrench® remote diagnostic service requests
23,000 roadside assistance calls
43,000 remote door unlock requests
383,000 route assistance calls
9,500,000 OnStar Hands-Free Calling calls

Here's the rest of the article:

America News: 100,000 sign up for OnStar’s Vehicle Diagnostics in first month

Within a month of OnStar launching its monthly e-mail vehicle diagnostic service, enrolment has surpassed 100,000 customers. (10/24/2005)

OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics automatically performs hundreds of diagnostic checks on four key GM vehicle operating systems — the engine/transmission, anti-lock brakes, airbag and OnStar. The vehicle is automatically programmed to send the results via e-mail to the owner each month. The unique e-mail report also provides maintenance reminders based on the vehicle’s current odometer reading, remaining engine oil-life and other relevant vehicle ownership and OnStar subscription information.

“As we had expected, our subscribers have enthusiastically embraced OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics,” said Chet Huber, OnStar president. “Now, over 100,000 vehicles are sending their owners monthly e-mails to tell them how they are doing.”

He added that this is part of what OnStar brings to GM’s Total Value Promise, giving customers unique, important services and, in this case, at no additional price.

America News: GM’s OnStar to feature vehicle diagnostics service

OnStar has launched a new service exclusively for GM customers – OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics – that automatically performs hundreds of diagnostic checks on four key GM vehicle operating systems: the engine/transmission, anti-lock brake, airbag and OnStar. (9/14/2005)

The vehicle is automatically programmed to send the results via e-mail to the owner each month. The e-mail report also provides maintenance reminders based on the vehicle’s current odometer reading, remaining engine oil-life and other relevant vehicle ownership and OnStar subscription information.

This new monthly vehicle diagnostic service is offered as an opt-in service to eligible OnStar subscribers at no additional charge. OnStar subscribers can always request a GM Goodwrench® Remote Diagnostics check at any time during the month by pressing their blue OnStar button. OnStar advisors perform real-time remote diagnostics checks for subscribers about 27,000 times a month.

OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics is exclusively for GM customers and enhances GM’s commitment to its Total Value Promise. No other manufacturer offers these two valuable and comprehensive diagnostic services to its customers remotely to the vehicle or directly to the customer’s home computer.

The report also matches the vehicle’s current odometer reading to the GM Simplified Maintenance Schedule so that customers are informed about recommended maintenance services. OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics participants receive the added peace-of-mind in knowing the operational status of four key vehicle systems and the convenience of a regular maintenance report – all at no additional cost to their OnStar subscription.

Approximately 85% of surveyed OnStar subscribers say they value the added peace-of-mind and convenience vehicle diagnostic services provide and these subscribers consider vehicles with such a feature to be reliable, safe, high-quality and high-tech.

In the 2005 JD Power and Associates US Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, more than half of the 17,000 respondents were interested in remote vehicle diagnostics. Moreover, when asked to allocate a given amount of money toward the features they would like on their next new vehicle, remote vehicle diagnostics ranked 3rd among the 18 traditional and new features included in the question.

 

I want no part of the ability to have my vehicles monitored like that.

 

I would rather my car tell the dealership what is wrong than them take 3 hours figuring it out themselves.

 

Really? So when you swap to LTs and no cats and have to drive around with a CEL for a couple weeks waiting to get a tune and get rid of the code you want your GM dealer calling you up telling you to come in for warranty work because there's a problem with your emmisions system? Or similarly finking on your about other mods or changes in the performance of the car.

Or how about it ratting you out that you were driving 3x the posted speed limit on a highway? Or even better, how about it relaying to GM that your car was at a race track at racing speeds, thus negating your entire warranty.

A dealer can figure out anything onstar can tell it within seconds of being hooked up to their machines anyway. This link will in no way save hours of diagnostics

 

Well I for one wouldn't buy a new car only to ruin the warrenty by swapping LTs. If I want more power I will pay for it. If I want a race car I will buy a used one and build it how I want it, won't effect the warrenty because it doesn't have one.

I don't think that law enforcement has any access to Onstar except when the car is reported stolen by the owner. I think you are a little paranoid of big brother, as are many on this site. If you are that concerned about the government I will donate some tin foil for your new hat.

If a dealer has to order a part they can make sure they have it ready for you when you arrive with the new system, without it they look at your car and then order your part and when it comes in you have to come back. That is a plus.

 

This whole thing is just an excuse to convince people to get onstar. They could easily display the same information on the "message center."

 

I'm done with Onstar. They scare you into ordering it, and whack you for like $12 a month. They could charge $100 every time I hit the button and I would come out ahead.

Also, Hope that in that frontal crash that deploys the airbag that the battery is not destroyed or the antenna is not knocked off, or Onstar will not work. I'd love to see the stats of the flipped over in a ditch that Onstar could not help.

 

So you think a dealer will order a part without you actually showing up and committing to have your car serviced there and before they actually test anything? Isn't that nice. That's not really how it works. In case you've never actually had a car with a warranty, they go out of their way to trouble shoot something, no matter how obvious the solution is. For example:

I just had a door lock solenoid die in my GTO. It's a very common problem, there's even a TSB on it. The way it happened, and the way i described the problem should have been plenty of evidence that the solenoid had weakened until it finally coulnd't move the lock mechanism. I dropped my car off first thing in teh morning to have this fixed. theuy proceeded to spend the entire day pulling both door panels and swapping the pass. side solenoid into the driver's side to verify that was the problem. By the time they were done it was too late to get the part. Then they griped about me demanding a rental car because they didn't want to put it back together for me to drive home that night, but it was their own fault for not ordering the solenoid it obviously needed right off the bat.

And that's just one such story.

So if you think a CEL is going to inspire a dealer to order a part they can waste a day diagnosing, i think you're mistaken. Dealers cannot just throw parts at a broken car under warranty, if they don't follow the full diagnostic procedure, they don't get paid.

btw, i wasn't too worried about law enforcement, i was thinking more of the warranty voiding implications of triple digit speeds, going to the track, settting misfire codes bouncing off the rev limiter, engaging the abuse mode in torque management, etc, etc. If you think GM won't figure out a way to make your car fink on you, well, that's your problem.

I don't need any tin foil. Just wire cutters, shoudln't be too hard to disable onstar if i ever buy a vehicle off a lot that already has it installed. I'll never take it on purpose...

 

Same,

Common sense seems to evade the general public, im straight on having big brother taking a bath with me.

Yep, privacy who wants it