Posted on 12/21/2007 2:27:48 PM PST by em2vn
When Adele Rothman bought her 16-year-old son a car in 2003, she made sure to pick one that had OnStar, the onboard communications and safety system. What the Scarsdale, N.Y., resident didn't know was that the OnStar system in the car was already doomed to die. The federal government decided in 2002 to let cellular carriers shut down analog cell phone networks, used by Rothman's Saab and about 500,000 other OnStar-equipped cars, after Feb. 18, 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
From the link, they went digital for all their OnStar installations from 2006. So if you have a GM car less than 2 years old, you should be OK - for now. If you have an older GM car, you should have bought Japanese or Korean.
Actually, the cars that are getting “cut off” are 2004 and earlier, not 06.
So, if your GM is more than 4 years old and uses OnStar, you will lose that service.
This is not news, they’ve been warning about this since 2006 at least.
That said, if I recall correctly, GM said that there were less than a couple of thousand OnStar subscribers with cars that old, and that some of them (not all) will be able to upgrade their transponders.
What makes this sad/funny is how heavily promoted that feature is. Jeez.
"but some cars made as late as 2005 can't use digital networks for OnStar, nor can they be upgraded. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071221/cellular_sunset.html?.v=2
My wife's 04 Trailblazer was upgraded 2 weeks ago.
And by the way - OnStar disagrees with you and agrees with me.
My statement: “they went digital for all their OnStar installations from 2006. So if you have a GM car less than 2 years old, you should be OK - for now.”
Your statement: “Actually, the cars that are getting “cut off” are 2004 and earlier”
When does GM say they went all digital? With the 2006 cars, of course. “Some 2004, most 2005, and all 2006 and newer model-year GM vehicles with OnStar are equipped with dual-mode (analog/digital) equipment that is compatible with both the analog and digital cellular networks.” http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/onstar_basics/faq_popup.jsp
So some 2005s WILL be cut off.
Sounds like you were lucky and got one of the few 2004s that could be upgraded. Just remember to check the maps and stay out of the big chunks of Texas and Alabama that had analog coverage, but not digital.
I type corrected, then.
But since the decision was in 2002, and everyone’s known of the impending analog cell net shutdown since then... this should have been a case of buyer beware. If you didn’t want this to happen, you shouldn’t have bought a GM.
Does the article indicate that is the case?
I have an ‘01 GMC Sierra 4WD extended cab. Zero problems.
You should have bought Japanese or Korean, OnScam or not. But rest assured, it will be worth crap soon enough for you to replace it with something made with quality soon enough.
GM constructs cars far better than you construct sentences.
It has digital OnStar?
I don’t know. Never used it.
If you have an older GM car, you should have bought Japanese or Korean.
I hear China has cars for sale too...
Knock yourself out...
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