OnStar, Now Available As An Out Of The Box Experience

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Dying to have OnStar in our car, but don’t want to buy a GM car? No problem! At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, GM unveiled an add-OnStar that fits (nearly) any car.

It comes as a retail, boxed version of an OnStar-equipped rearview mirror, providing the joys of OnStar (crash response, turn-by-turn navigation, stolen vehicle location assistance, emergency and roadside services and hands-free calling) to the less fortunate who can’t call a GM product their own.

According to ZDNet, GM thinks this is “a bold move.” ZDNet predicts that the boxed mirror “will no doubt irritate rivals like Ford, Lincoln, Kia, Toyota, Lexus and Audi, which all have similar platforms deployed or in the works.”

The mirror will be available in the U.S. in spring 2011 for $299. Installation will run another hundred bucks. Service plans for non-GM vehicles will start at $18.95 per month, or $199 per year. GM thinks that the OnStar mirror will work on 99 percent of the top 20 selling non-GM vehicles made during the last 10 years.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Jimbowski Jimbowski on Jan 05, 2011

    Does it have auto-dimming function? Or just the 80's-style tab you hit to angle it down...

  • Pete Zaitcev Pete Zaitcev on Jan 05, 2011

    I'm honestly surprised that nobody cares about OnStar's open-door policy for any rogue LEO who thought you slept with his wife, or in fact anyone impersonating a LEO. I understand that the probability of it happening to any given customer is miniscule, but still.

    • See 2 previous
    • Geozinger Geozinger on Jan 06, 2011

      @Pete: The incident you're referring to was when the FBI demanded that OnStar use that capability for them. Not unlike what the government was doing with all of our ISPs and actively forcing them to spy on us. All any of this proves are two things: The federal government can (and will) do whatever it wants without our approval, and that privacy is dead. Regardless, I can't imagine some sheriff in Podunk somewhere calling OnStar and telling them they want to listen in to see if Suzie Jo is giving Billy Bob sexual favors. Especially without some sort of subpoena and verification of the accusation. @M 1: Yes, small-town justice indeed. I'll take my chances in the city...

  • Carlson Fan Carlson Fan on Jan 05, 2011

    I like having Onstar, even with a cell phone. I was on a snowmobile trip once in a remote area and I had 3 guys sitting in my truck calling their wives because non of their cell phones worked. But my Onstar did. Probelm is that it is too darn expensive for the one or two times I might use it in a year. Which is why I know longer have it active. They really need to look hard at their pricing.

  • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Jan 05, 2011

    Meh. I had it for a year on my Saab. Never used it, removed the control unit the day the free year was up. Had a really irritating LED on it that drove me to distration. I simply do not worry about accidents enough to keep it for that silliness. Anywhere that you have decent cell coverage, there are plenty of people around to call 911. Anywhere that a built in sos would be helpful, there is no cell signal.

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