Has anyone received a notice regarding upgrading your on star from analog to digital, is this necessary and what is the cost?

02/18/08 is the dropdead date for analog cell phone service. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/analogcellphone.html
The upgrade cost $15 and an obligation for one years service with OnStar. See your dealer.

Thanks for the quick response on this holiday, Merry Christmas and Happy 2008.

Time is running out, lots of people lined up to get them.
There are two subscription levels, you have to pay at the time of the upgrade.
$199, or $399, plus the $15 fee.

They are supposed to start shutting them off next week!
(analog systems)
So yes, it is necessary.

Yes, and your car's phone number will change after the upgrade.

Has anyone received a notice regarding upgrading your on star from analog to digital, is this necessary and what is the cost?

I was free for me as long as i agreed to a 2 year OnStar contract. It will be necessary if you want to continue using the services, as it will all be digital soon.

Any analog customers out there lose service yet?
Just wondering if they are actually shutting them off or if they are "floating" for a while.

According to the FCC, the drop dead date is midnight Feburary 18, 2008 for analog cell phone service.

I have a couple of questions about this upgrade. If completed does this mean that i will still have to upgrade my navigation software?? And someone mentioned in a previous post that my car phone number will change with the upgrade,,whats that mean??

Nav system is unaffected.

The VCIM (onstar module) has a phone number in it. People can call your number and you can answer in the vehicle.
When you get a new VCIM you get a new phone number, no way around it.
Some people rely on that number and get really upset when it changes.
We had one customer that had his OnStar number on his business cards.

Ic thanks for the info...Let me ask you this. What do I need to present to the shop techs at cadillac about upgrading the navigation software??? I was at the dealer and stopped to ask and everyone looked at me like i was crazy.

There is a service bulletin you can point them towards.

TSB #05-08-126-001B

I have a 2005 STS. Sometime in February or March, the voice recognition stopped working as well as the outgoing bluetooth voice (meaning I could hear the caller, but they could not hear me). My dealer upgraded my navigation software, so now I have the new menus, but still no voice recognition or outgoing bluetooth. I have NOT had the Onstar upgrade installed yet. The dealer thinks that by not having the upgrade, that the analog microphone from Onstar no longer works with my upgraded navigation software. So they want to do the upgrade. I don't use Onstar, so don't want to pay for the upgrade, but if the upgrade is what is causing my voice recognition to not work, I'll go for it.

Does anybody know for sure if the lack of the Onstar upgrade is what is causing the voice recognition to work?

PS - If I scream very loudly, the VR will occasionally recognize a word, so the wires apparently are all connected. Same with outgoing bluetooth - if I scream, the caller can occasionally make out a word.

I will not guess the dealer's motivation but I will state they are wrong. I do not use OnStar yet everything else works (well, it works as well as it ever did). My software was upgraded in March or April.

That is an interesting question, I'll try to think of who to pass that question along to.

ewill3rd - My dealer has pretty much given up on trying to fix this problem. I have a car with a $64k sticker that has no voice recognition, no bluetooth, it is under warranty, and they don't know how to fix it. Three months already, and multiple trips. Is there a way I can escalate this problem? The only thing they are suggesting is that I pay for an Onstar upgrade that I don't need, on the hopes that it might fix the problem. And the previous posting was from someone with the same 2005 STS4, who has the software upgrade, does not have the Onstar upgrade, yet his VCIM and bluetooth are working.

I might have to dig through my contacts for a Liason phone number, I think I might be able to get in touch with someone and ask about this.
Not sure what kind of answer I'll get.

What has your dealer tried?
Do you have the documentation? Read through and give me the gist of each attempt at repair.
The last 8 of the VIN I might need to get details and a real resolution.
I don't see in your information where you are located either.

ewill3rd, thanks for offering to look into this. My 2005 STS VIN is 1G6DC67A450200111. Here's what has been done:

1. I took the car to University Motors in Morgantown WV because a) no voice commands were recognized, and b) when I used bluetooth, the people I called could not hear me.

2. The dealer found a bulletin that listed these as problems related to a problem in the Navigation software, and recommended the system software upgrade. They upgraded the software, which gave me improved menus. When I picked up the car, a message continually flashed on my screen saying there as a Read Error on the Navigation DVD. That left me with a non-functioning navigation system and no VR at all - without the DVD, the button on the steering wheel wouldn't even work.

3. We argued for a month about the DVD - them insisting it was my problem because it was scratched - me insisting that it worked when I dropped it off. They finally procured a new DVD. Once the new DVD was loaded, the car was essentially back to exacty where it was when I first took it in with a problem - it attempts, but does not understand any commands. No bluetooth, either. I can make outgoing calls, but they can't here me speak.

3.a - They verified that the navigation system software upgrade was done correctly - they ran diagnostics and it showed the updated version was correctly installed.

4. The microphone is not completely dead. If I scream really loud, it will sometimes understand a word. Same with bluetooth - if I scream, the other party can pick up a word here and there. If I speak at a normal volume, the VR system frequently does not even know I said anything.

5. The only thing they have offered to do at this point is replace the mirror/microphone/Onstar assembly. They will not guarantee that it will solve the problem and they are telling me that I must do this through the Onstar upgrade path, and that I have to pay the upgrade cost ($200-300 if I recall correctly). I don't use Onstar, but if this would solve the problem, I'd do it.

6. They believe tha Onstar dropping the analog service early this year somehow caused my analog microphone to stop working. This is why they think the upgrade will solve the problem. Another person posted above that he has the exact same car as me and his VR still works. He has the navigation software upgrade but does NOT have the new Onstar mirror/microphone bundle.

7. The car is still under warranty. I did not buy it from this dealership and they would prefer to not have to deal with the problem. I think it just needs a new microphone.


Thanks for your help.

The warranty history looks very strange.
I can see how they did the stuff you described but it looks like they ordered a radio and sent it back and it looks like they did replace the OnStar module with another analog one.
That is very odd, but they may have just used the labor operation to justify the time to do something else back there. I do that sometimes. Without the actual RO story it is hard to tell what they really did from the warranty history.

There is no reason they should not just order a replacement mirror unless someone at GM is telling them that. You might ask the advisor if they have tried calling TAC or look at your Repair orders and see if you find a TAC case number in the story. I have only seen one microphone go bad and the only way to get it on that car is in the mirror. On most of the STS's you get a new mirror with an upgrade, but if you don't want the service they shouldn't be trying to force you to get it to fix the car. I am sure the original mirror is still available through GMSPO.

If that doesn't help you just let me know and I'll see if I can give you more information.

They did order a radio, then send it back. They told me they were going to replace the entire unit, but for whatever reason they decided not to.

I just got another automated "how was your service" email from the dealership. I answered it as "dissatisfied" and mentioned that they have not fixed the problem and are not following up on it. I expect a phone call or email from a service manager.

What surprises me is their unwillingness to just start swapping parts to see which part fixes the problem. When my navigatio DVD was bad, all it would have taken was to borrow a DVD from another dealership to see if it fixed the problem. Instead, it took a month of arguing to get a replacement. And it seems logical to me that swapping the mirror and/or the radio would at least identify if that's where the problem is. Maybe they tried that with the radio, then sent it back - don't know.

I'll ask them to try replacing the mirror - will let you know. Thanks again for your help.

PS - I lived in Alexandria from 1962-1970. Went to Fort Hunt High School, then to Virginia Tech.

How busy are they? They might have another one they could swap off from a car to see if it changes.
I have done that before to verify it before I ordered a part.

I don't think they have any STS's on the lot. But I'll push them on replacing the mirror to see if it solves the problem.