Government Motors
OnStar, a subsidiary of GM, will monitor you even if you cancel the service. This and the bailout, another reason not to buy GM.
13 Responses to “Government Motors”
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September 22nd, 2011 at 10:07 am
I always assumed they did it anyway, with or without your consent.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:43 am
Does Ford have a similar product, and can you buy vehicles without it installed?
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:47 am
The first generation of OnStar users, who paid for the option plus a subscription fee, got caught out in an earlier GM dissection. The satellite network was allowed to lapse, and they were all informed (note use of the “passive-aggressive tense” in this) that the service was just not available to them anymore, for love nor money. Trade her in on a new one.
Notwithstanding any other legal issue, if even one of these owners can be shown to be “traced,” the resulting lawsuit ought to shake heaven — near orbit anyway — and earth.
Yes, I own a last-year Eldo; why do you ask?
September 22nd, 2011 at 11:29 am
I must say I was one of those dorks who engaged in that “Ford Rules, Chevy Drools” tribalism.
I know I wasn’t right in doing it….but now it seems I wasn’t wrong either. 🙂
September 22nd, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Just another reason I keep my cell phone turned off except in the rare case where I need to contact somebody. I’d like to claim it’s the reason I drive an old car, without OnStar; but that’s financial.
September 22nd, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I traded a 2004 Avalanche (with OnStar) for a 2011 Ford Flex earlier this year, so I know a little about how the two systems compare.
OnStar uses a GPS module combined with a built-in wireless phone. The system uses the built-in phone to ‘call home’ (i.e. monthly diagnostics, crash notification, etc) and it’s also how the mothership can reach back down to your vehicle to do things like remote diagnostics and to unlock the doors. You could also purchase phone minutes from OnStar and use the built-in wireless phone. By the way, each vehicle has its own phone number, and if the user has activated the system you can call the number and it will ring in the vehicle. The first time it happened to me was a wrong number while driving through New Mexico. Talk about a surprise! (What is that ringing? Oh… it’s OnStar.)
Ford has the Sync system, but it’s not equivalent to OnStar. Unless you have a Navigation unit, the car does not have a GPS, nor does it have a built-in wireless phone. And even if you have a Nav unit, it doesn’t really integrate with Sync.
In a vehicle with Sync you have the ability to pair your phone with the system via Bluetooth. Once you’ve paired it with the system you can enable what Ford calls “911 Assist,” which lets the car use your phone to call 911 in the event of an airbag deployment (of if it senses a collision severe enough to engage the fuel cutoff). The other service is a remote diagnostic capability where the system uses the phone to upload information about the car’s systems, which can then be used to send you monthly reports on the Sync website.
Sync does not, to the best of my knowledge, offer any sort of lockout capability. Nor does it allow for remote diagnostics initiated from outside the vehicle like OnStar. But most Fords now come with keypads on the doors, so as long as you know your door code you can get in.
@comatus: Are you actually referring to the digital phone transition? If so, there were three classes of vehicles: 1) Early systems that could not be converted; 2) Digital-ready, which required the installation of a new OnStar module; and 3) Digital (i.e. no changes required). My 2004 Avalanche was right at the cutoff, and required an upgraded module. Earlier vehicles were out of luck. But note that this has nothing to do with satellites, but with the cell phone system, which moved to digital a few years ago.
September 22nd, 2011 at 1:07 pm
It is called disconnect the antenna….
September 22nd, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Nothing a pair of wire cutters can’t fix….
September 22nd, 2011 at 4:14 pm
I was a party to a small part of the networking design of OnStar’s prototype group, and a couple of my ideas were incorporated into the current iteration. I had a really bad feeling at the time that it would (and from my ideas, could) be used for more datamining than just upgrading the onboard ECM updating.
Stuff like this makes me glad I’ve got a ’69 Ford F100 as my standby vehicle.
September 22nd, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Just wait until the viruses start bricking cadillacs on the interstate at rush hour.
It’ll make the zombie apocalypse look like a picnic.
September 22nd, 2011 at 6:40 pm
I have a 10 GT Mustang with sync (I got over my revulsion with Micro$oft because I like the car). It has no phone of its own; it just acts as a borg implant via bluetooth. My phone rings, I hit the pickup button on the steering wheel, and it comes through the stereo. Otherwise it seems mostly to do with the stereo. No GPS, no phoning home. I don’t, however, know what they can get by downloading the thing’s mind. For anything sketchy I’ll drive the 94 thunderchicken.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Aubrey, you know what the last year was for the Eldorado, right?
Today’s revelation of federal “Stingray” cell phone trackers makes OnStar almost a moot point. We’re [almost] all driving Government Motors, now. Smile and wave.
I would like to point out that my 1963 Studebaker is untraceable by any means, and also does not stall when a B-52 flies over. You have to read your own map,though.
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 am
I had to look up the Eldorado. But I see the problem. 2002 was the last year, so if it had OnStar it would NOT be eligible for an upgrade (i.e. it was not digital “ready”).