On-Star Questions

bobr14

Hello,

Thinking of purchasing a new 2009 Buick LaCrosse.

Re the On-Star system.

Seems awfully pricey (after the first year)

Also seems like a regular in dash GPS for a few hundred $ makes a lot more sense, as it would give
visuals re roads, etc. rather than apparently just text or voice prompts.

Am I missing something with this On-Star business ?

However, there doesn't seem to be any place on the new LaCrosse for an in-dash GPS even if one should want one.
Dealer says try it, you'll love it, but of no real help.

Any thoughts on would be most appreciated ?

Thanks,
B.

kabe586

Lucky day, second one I have a little on. I was doubtful about the Onstar as well on my LaCrosse, but I just renewed for another year for a couple of reasons.

First, I did get a discount on my insurance for having Lo-Jack, I think it was like $60 a year off. That helped offset the price a little.

Second, as for the GPS there are pluses and minuses of it. I do miss having the nice full map/screen to scroll through. My wife has a dash mount GPS. On the other hand if you are driving by yourself, it is nice to be able to call an OnStar rep and have them program in a destination while you are driving. Playing with a dash mount while driving is not a fun idea for me. Also I have found it has come in handy on road trips when I want a place to eat. I can look for a restaurant and the representative has been great with finding a location going along the route I am going already. For the extra $100 a year, I think it is worth it for now.

My personal feeling on this is I am going to stick with the OnStar directions package until Garmin comes out with a dash mount GPS with a free lifetime traffic subscription. I would hate to drop a few hundred dollars on a GPS now and still need to pay every year for a traffic subscription. A company called Navigon has done promotions a couple times this past year with free lifetime traffic, but their GPS's are pretty crappy at this point. Once they become more competitive Garmin will probably need to offer lifetime traffic as well, IMHO that is the time to switch out to a dash mount.

imidazol97

>For the extra $100 a year,

Did they lower their price. Lowest I ever saw was $17 mo.

kabe586

I meant $100 extra a year for Onstar with Turn by Turn vs Onstar without Turn by Turn. You are correct, it is $200/year vs $300/year. To me it's kind of like buying an extra insurance policy.

lacrossesoaked

Water is dripping from the cabin light of my 2005 Buick LaCrosse.

this is the cabin light located in the middle of the front seats between the driver and passenger seats. Lots of rain today and the car was parked for about 45 minutes nose pointed downhill during the downpour. Then when I started to drive it, I noticed the dripping. Just 8 good sized drips and then it stopped. When I got home, I opened/closed the sunroof; checked the drain channel , pretty much dry, no debris so I doubt if that is where the water got it. HOWEVER, located directly about the cabin light in question is where the OnStar antenna is mounted atop the car. I dried all the water off around the antenna base then applied some medium to light downward pressure----water bubbled out from under the base. I am thinking that this is where the water is getting in---a faulty seal or something? Anyone else had this problem? This is the second water leak we have had with this vehicle and this one is probably not going to be covered by warranty. I am not happy. Thanks for your help.

dispencer2

I've had On Star on my Cadillac for years and never once used it so I finally cancelled. My free year on my 09 Cobalt will be up in September and I'll cancel. You HAVE to call to cancel OnStar -I suppose so that the people can sell you on the great value of it. On Star can open your car if you leave your keys in and can tell where your car is. That's really great. You have a bunch of strangers in a call center somewhere who can open your car and tell someone where it is. No thanks. I should have realized this from the onset. The only person that this feature would benefit legally would be the repo man. I have one more long trip before September and will see if I can use the hour's worth of phone minutes that I paid for a year ago. Then it is cancellation time. OnStar pushes all the safety features of this money waster such as notification of the police if an air bag goes off or tracing your car if it is stolen. This is what I have a cell phone for and insurance. The big problem is strangers being able to open my car. .

darkwingduck32

I've had my 05 lacrosse now for six months and noticed this same problem whenever it rained....never knew what it was but after reading your post will check thanks!!

gmcustsvc

darkwingduck32,

I apologize for the problems you are experiencing with your vehicle. Please keep us posted when the issue has been taken care of.

Thank you,
Caron, GM Customer Service

lacrossesoaked

darkwingduck: happy to be of help. dunno if you have seen my solution to the problem. if not, check the following link on the forum:
lacrossesoaked, "Water leak from cabin interior roof light" #1, 8 Nov 2008 9:50 am
those plastic lenses will come out fairly easily. If you find yourself trying to force something, you are going about it the wrong way.

Kirstie_H

If you focused on telematics (Sync, OnStar, etc) or ignored it completely in your 2011 car-shopping experience, email pr@edmunds.com by Monday, October 17, 2011 and include your daytime contact information.

wmathews

Concerning the onstar antenna leak; to remove the cabin light, do you first remove the clear lenses or do you grasp the entire housing and pull it down. I want to be sure before I try this. Apparently these antennas were not installed very well if so many leak.

lacrossesoaked

Remove lenses first.