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