Onstar Upgrade to Digital
 

I am getting my onstar upgraded to digital soon and I was just wondering what to expect. Has anyone on here had there car upgraded? Do they still put the metal antenna on the back glass or do I get a new plastic one on the roof? Are there any new features after the digital upgrade? I was really worried that my car couldn't be upgraded (it's an 02) but the guy at the dealership said I got lucky and that was the oldest model year they make the digital kits for. I am really looking forward to getting it upgraded because I have already locked my keys in my car twice :rolleyes: Resulting in me having to wait for my dad to bring the extra key. So anyone have any info? I would greatly appreciate it :D

I'm not sure. I looked into upgrading my 04 to digital and subscribing. But when I saw the annual subscription rates, I reconsidered. You could a lot of the same services with a cell phone and a membership to AAA. I can understand your reasons though. Just a question of whether you feel it's worth the extra convenience. In the end, I decided against it. And peeled the metal antenna off my back window.

The plastic shark fin on the roof (or flat black thing on 00-04 Montes) is the XM antenna. They don't add an antenna to the back glass (I don't think) - that is only for analog Onstar. I'm not sure how the digital system receives data. I don't have Onstar on my 03 and my 05 was digital from the factory.

Thanks for the info. If I understood the dealer correctly I have to pay $218. It is just $18 for the upgrade but $200 for a year of onstar. That is a little on the expensive side but I would still like to have it. I guess I have what you would call OCD because the fact that I have these buttons on my rear view mirror that do nothing bothers me. Well thats not totally true.....this nice fake lady starts talking to me when I push it lol. But it never connects to the onstar service. I am hoping that they either take my antenna off or put a new one on because the one I have on there now is in really bad shape. It is rusting and about ready to snap in half. But I am famous for locking my keys in so I guess it is worth it for me.

I have also thought about converting my Dale Jr over to digital Onstar. I'm kind of like you, I like to have all of the features that my car has, working.

I was also wondering What they do with the onstar antenna. I'm pretty sure you get a new onstar antenna but I don't know if it looks kind of like your old one or if its different and even if its in the same location. I don't know if the roof antennas on the 05 and up Monte's are for both the Onstar and XM radio or not. I like them much better than my current setup.

Let us know the details once you get yours done.

Wayne

If the dealer does the update the antenna gets replaced with a different one, at least that was the deal with mine.

So is it still a stick on antenna on the back glass or is it somewhere else on the car?

Same ol' stick-on.

Gotcha

Too bad. Not crazy about the look of the old-school cell phone style antennas. That's why I took mine off in the first place. I was really hoping it would've been one of the newer shark-fin style. :(

i thought the antenna on the back glass was for the upgraded alarm.

Thanks for all the info guys. I don't mind the look of the stick on antenna so that isn't a big problem for me. I just want my service to work and an antenna that doesn't look like it is about ready to snap in half lol. I will definitely report back after I get it done and let you know how it went.

Please do report back. I want it on my MC. I have had ONSTAR on my Silverado for years, and the past year and half on the Escalade, I like the service.

So, it's $18 for the upgrade at the dealer? That sounds really cheap! I'm gonna try to find time to call the dealer this week, but our local dealer is not to great.

Can I do it myself?

Its $18 + $199 for a years service of Onstar for a total of around $217. Did you use it enough to justify the expense?

Wayne

So far I have nothing new to report. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but I have had a horrible time getting the dealerships to call me back. I have taken my car to two dealerships near where I live and it has been three months for one and a month for the other and I have not heard back from either of them. It is really starting to annoy me. I actually contacted GM directly and am waiting on them call me back. I really want to get my onstar upgraded but the fact the the dealerships won't call me back is discouraging.

I understand how the subscription works and costs, I have it on my Silverado and Escalade. I just need to know how much the upgrade costs. I'm gonna call the dealer today.

From what I understand, they won't just sell you the upgrade which what they told me was $15. You have to purchase the upgrade + a one year subscription to Onstar. That is how they make their money off of the upgrade.

Monteman2,
why don't you just go to the dealership and have them order the upgrade kit. When it comes in, they will call you to get it installed.

Wayne

I have taken the car to two separate dealers. Both have gotten the VIN number and various other information off the car. They wrote down my phone number and address and promised to call within a couple of days. Three months later for one and a month later for the other I am still waiting..........I am really starting to be annoyed at this point. I emailed GM and got a response from a customer care representative who told me to call them directly which I did. However I did not get any answer so I left a message and guess what....no call back! Sorry for the rant but I am discouraged at this point.

Wow, you must have some crappy chevy dealers there. That doesn't happen around here. They must not be making enough money off the upgrade to make it worth their while and they obviously don't value as a customer. I don't know if you have the option to go somewhere else or not.

Wayne

Yea the dealers around here are crappy but thankfully I have an update. I got a call from GM the other day and the lady was very nice and called the dealer for me and told them they had better make me an appointment. She actually let me talk to them while she monitored the call. I took my car in after work for the third time and they asked me for my information and then they said I was never put into there system which tells me they had no intention of ever doing the update for me. I was then put into the system and I had to fill out some paper work which I never had to do the first two times which again tells me they had no intention of doing it the first two times. So now I am in the system and have a receipt. They said the part would be in this coming week and they would call. So I am farther than I was before. I will report back after it is done and let everyone know how it went. It just really pisses me off that they had no intention of doing it the first two times. They just blew me off because they make no money off of upgrading onstar systems.

Thanks for the update. Definetely keep us updated because I'm seriously thinking of getting mine done and want to know what all is involved.

Wayne

Ok so I finially got my car upgraded today. I got a call tuesday saying my part had come in and we scheduled me to come in this morning. I had my father take it to the dealer this morning because I was at work and it took them about an hour to complete the upgrade. My dad ended up being there for two hours because they also fixed the engine compartment fire recall. After completing the upgrade they give you a book with some info on warranty and a new onstar manual. They never told my dad anything about activating it and just gave the car back with the new books. When I got home from work I pushed the blue onstar button and was immediately connected to a live person and the first thing she said was "I see your control module has been replaced." "Am I talking to the owner or the dealer?" I told her I was the owner and she got my name, phone number, and address. Then asked if I was ever a subsriber and I told her I was totally new. She then placed me on hold while she activated my control module in my car. After she came back on she transferred me to the welcome center and they gave me a basic overview and asked if I would like to add hands free calling. I said yes and got 300 minutes for $12. So by the time I was done I got 3 free months of gps directions and a year of there safe and sound plan that I paid for at the dealer. My recipt from the dealer is for $213. The only feature that she said would't work is the remote diagnostics. I guess 2002 is too old for that. However it says in the original car manual that my car has it. So I am a little confused there. Anyways the people at onstar were super nice and very professional. I actually enjoyed talking to them. They called my car beautiful :) lol. Anyway sorry for the long rant but I think I covered everything. If any one has any questions at all just ask and I will answer as soon as I see it.

So did you get a fin placed on the top of your car, did they remove your antennae on the back window if you had one? Or none of the above?

Hey there. They replaced my old antenna with one that looks just like it. No fins or anything was added.

Thanks for the update. I will have to find out if my 2004 will have the remote diagnostics because that is one of the features I like. Does this mean they cannot unlock your doors if you accidently lock your keys in? Are your 300 minutes of phone time just based on the 300 minutes or do you have to use them by a certain time?

Wayne

I just called Onstar to inquire about the remote diagnostics and they said that it would be available for my vehicle. I mentioned what they told you about your car and she said its vehicle specific so I guess for your year, it wasn't available. She said that if it was available when it was under the analog system, it would be available under digital.

I told her that I had bought this car used and didn't know if it had remote diagnostics and if the original owners had even activated it. She told me that it showed that it had been activated at one time.

So, when I get some extra money, I will probably get mine updated.

Let us know if you even use this service. That is one of the things holding me back. Will I ever use enough of the services to warrant spending the money.

My financee's grandmother bought a new 2008 Impala a few years ago that came with Onstar. We activated it for her but I don't think she ever used it. She didn't even use the free phone minutes hers came with. Since she didn't have a computer, we got the diagnostics report every month which was kind of neat. It told how much oil life she had and what her tire pressure was and what maintainence stuff was recommended. She didn't renew it after the year was up.

Wayne

I think I would have the remote diagnostics since it was available on my analog system according to the car owners manual. However when I got it activated if I understood the woman right she said I didn't have it :confused: I'm going to ask them about that tomorrow hopefully. That's a good question about the remote door unlock. I am going to have to push my button tomorrow and ask them because that is the main reason I wanted it. The 300 minutes expire after a year if you do not purchase additional minutes. However if you purchase additional minutes they roll over. So if you have 100 minutes left at the end of the year and you don't purchase more you loose them. However if you purchase lets say 300 more you would then have 400. Also after searching around I believe you can get unlimited minutes for ten bucks a month. I am going to ask them about this when I talk to them as well.

Thanks for the info. I am really wondering about this now. It would be nice to have the remote diagnostics. I am almost 100% sure my car had it on the analog system. I am definitely asking about it when I call. The only features I will probably mainly use is the hands free calling which I tried tonight and I absolutely love it. The voice commands work great. It understood what I said every time. The minutes are a little pricey from what I have seen online however I stumbled upon some people who say that onstar offers unlimited minutes for ten bucks a month. The lady i spoke to never offered that to me but I am asking when I call them because I may go that route. I would also probably use the remote door unlock feature. I have already locked the keys in twice since I have had it:rolleyes: I mainly got mine upgraded because it drove me crazy that my car had a feature that didn't work. I guess I am OCD lol. I got lucky because my car is a 2002 and that is the oldest years they make conversion kits for I believe. I think it is up to each person about activating it or not. You just have to decide if its worth the money or not in your opinion.

I'm like you in the regards that I don't like having a feature on my car that I can't use if I want to. I would like to also have it in case the car is stolen or I have an emergency where my cell phone won't work. The hands free phone use would be cool but I wouldn't get it if it was too expensive. Let us know what they tell you about remote diagnostics and the remote door unlock feature.

Wayne

Ok so I found out that my car does not have the remote diagnostics. Apparently it is only available on 2003 model year and newer. So I am one year too old. However, I do have the remote door unlock feature. I still think it is weird that remote diagnostics is mentioned in the cars owners manual.......but anyway. As for the hands free calling I found out that they offer monthly plans like a cell phone. It is only $17.80 after taxes and fees for unlimited minutes a month. I thought that was a good deal and subscribed to it because to buy minutes whenever you need them is insanely priced. Here are the prices directly from the onstar website

200 Minutes Exclusive - $69.99
100 Minutes - $39.99
300 Minutes - $114.99
500 Minutes - $174.99
1000 Minutes - $299.99

So as you can see the minutes are very pricey so the monthly $17.80 unlimited minutes isn't bad. They also offered another monthly plan I think it was like 600 minutes for like $10 or something like that. I am not totally sure. But the monthly plans are not available on there website. You have to press your blue onstar button to subscribe to the monthly plans.

Well, I just went to one of the local chevy dealers to try and start the process to get my car upgraded and activated. I gave them the VIN number and a little while later they came back and said my car is not upgradeable because when they put in my VIN number, my car was not listed as upgradeable.

I told them I didn't believe that because when I first bought the car I checked on the Onstar website and it said it was upgradeable and that I knew someone with a 2002 MC that had just had theirs done. The service manager tried to tell me that it didn't matter hold old the car was up to a point but what Onstar module was installed and that they had found that some 2006 cars were not upgradeable and some older ones were. I told them that that didn't make any sense.

Then they wanted me to make an appointment so that they could pull my module to see which one I had. I said I would do some checking on my own. They also tried to tell me if the car was upgradeable that it would cost $199 + 15+ possibly a 100 dollar activation fee. I told them I had never heard of a $100 activation fee on top of the other charges.

I called Onstar and they said my car was upgradeable and to go to another chevy dealership. They implied that the one I went to was lying. Needless to say, I doubt I go back to that dealership for anything. I didn't tell the service manager and he doesn't know, but I work with his wife and decided I didn't want to get into a pissing contest with him.

Wayne

Taz, what services are you talking about for your cell phone?

Well, I went to another chevy dealer and had not much luck there. They said it was upgradeable but that it was going to cost way more than the $213 that I was told by them around a year and a half ago and what others have had it done for. They were going to charge me the $199 for the Onstar subscription plus the cost of the upgrade parts plus 2 1/2 hours of labor.

They said Chevrolet quit doing it for free about two years ago. So, now its pretty obvious that no one wants to do the upgrade. I told them that I would call GM and see what they told me and the service manager said that GM would just call the dealership to get the information and that I would get the same info that I was getting then.

So, I don't know what the next step is. I may be out of luck because I won't pay all of the charges that the second dealership is wanting to charge. I guess I don't need it that bad.

Wayne

Well, I called Chevrolet CS to see if the info the last dealership told me was true. They told me that dealerships are independently owned and can pretty much charge what they want. She called the dealership and they said that the total cost to upgrade would cost $410, $200 for the module and $210 for labor. This also did not include the cost of the one year subscription to Onstar. Needless to say, I won't be going there to get it done. The CS lady suggested I go somewhere else and see what they say. I'm not feeling very confident that I will have better luck elsewhere.

I'll try calling a few other places and see what they tell me.

Wayne

What!?!?! :eek: That is insane! Sounds to me like first dealer just blew you off because they had no intention of doing it. But the other dealer saying you would have to owe $410 is insane. I took my car to two dealers and both quoted me $214. $14 for upgrade and $200 for a year of onstar. I had an awful time getting them to do it but at least they honored the price. I would keep calling all the dealers close to you and see what they say. I don't know how many are near you or how far you would be willing to travel to get it done though. I wish you luck finding one that will do it for you for the $214.

Well, I ended up calling Onstar just to see what they said about the cost of the module and they told me its a $15 part and that the total upgrade cost is only supposed to be around $215. She told me that if I can't find a dealer that will do it for that price, call them and they will get involved. I guess the second dealer was just trying to rip me off. I feel like reporting them to the BBB and AG's office. Surely they can't charge that much over the price of the part.

There are two other chevy dealers fairly close by and one Pontiac dealer so I will see what they tell me. I thought about going back to the first dealer and telling them Onstar told me my car is upgradeable and to just order the parts. This dealer is only about two miles down the road from where I live. I can't believe this is such an issue.

Wayne

Well, I emailed the General Manager at the dealership that tried to charge me over $600 for the upgrade telling him that I was not happy with what I had been told and what Onstar had told me. I also told him that I was thinking about filing a complaint with the BBB and AG's office over them trying to charge me $200 for a $15 part. The Service Manager tried to tell me that the $15 is a handling fee and that it would cost $200 from GM. Whatever, I don't believe it.

I got a call from the Service manager saying that they will do the upgrade for the $215 as a goodwill gesture from GM. So they are ordering the part and it should be here Thursday and then I will schedule to get the work from there. Anyway, I got results so that was what I was after.

Wayne

I am glad to hear it all worked out for you! :thumbsup: It seems like the dealers are just not interested in doing the onstar upgrades. On a different note I have been having problems with my car since the upgrade. I believe it is a failing BCM but it seems strange that the problems started occurring right after the upgrade. I have a thread about my problems if you want to read it......https://montecarloforum.com/forum/ge...82/#post338318

I wish you the best of luck with getting yours upgraded. It really is a nice feature!

I got the call today that the upgrade kit is in. I have an appointment tomorrow to get it installed. Hopefully all goes well.

Wayne

I was checking out the module in the trunk just for the heck of it and discovered all of the wires were disconnected to the module. I wonder what that means? I plugged them all back in to see if I get a CEL or something. The light on the mirror is a steady green so supposedly the system is ok. I never noticed there was supposed to be a light on the mirror until I plugged everything back in.

Wayne