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Disabling Onstar on 2013 CTS Coupe

4K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  vfaninva 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Getting ready to pull the cord and buy a 2013 CTS Coupe. Love the car but I'd like to disable/disconnect the Onstar. Done quite a bit of searching on the web about this and I 'believe' I have found the way to physically do this. However, there is quite a bit of conflicting information out there re: what will be affected. One thing that seems to have a consensus is that the Bluetooth will be disabled ans I am okay with that. The main discrepancy is with the Nav system. One school says that it will disable the voice/turn-by-turn function but the regular Nav system will function normally using keyed in entries. The other says that the entire Nav system is disabled. Does anyone have any insight into this? Thanks.
 
#3 ·
Actually, not happy about the tracking, privacy issues, constant data transmission and the potential for abuse. In fact, I've read a lot about lawsuits as well as sections of the Onstar Terms of Service that allows GM to do whatever they want with all data collected, including selling it to anyone they want including insurance companies, marketers, etc. I actually had a friend who bought a Chevy with Onstar and in the first 3 months, he began getting mail, phone, and email ads from businesses (or similar businesses) that he had no previous contact with but where he had been in their parking lot. There's a lot more. And the problem is, all that continues to be transmitted even if you don't have an active subscription. It's all very shady. I've found several videos on how to physically disconnect the VCIM box but different opinions on what actually happens when you do. So as you can tell, i want nothing to do with it :)
 
#4 ·
Interesting. I've had a CTS since June 2008, first a 2008 and now a 2011. In all that time I've never received a single solicitation from anyone like the ones your friend says he has received. I don't particularly care who knows where I'm driving (my car lacks the optional stealth mode), although I can understand that some drivers may be concerned about that for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, the basic On-Star "Protection" plan does provide several things that I find of value (and many of which I've had occasion to use): Diagnostics Report, Unlock/Lock Doors, Remote Horn & Lights, Dealer Maintenance Notification, On-Demand Diagnostics, Automatic Crash Response, Emergency Response, Crisis Assist, Roadside Assistance, and Remote Start/Stop. For an additional cost, the Security plan and Guidance plan provide more services, including vehicle recovery if the car is stolen and turn-by-turn guidance if you don't know where you're going. Not terribly important to me, but I'm sure valuable to many drivers. YMMV.
 
#7 ·
If you don't signup for OnStar it would seem the 'OnStar Terms of Service' wouldn't apply. In that case GM's rights to gather and use tracking data would presumably be in the vehicle purchase contract. I don't have an OnStar subscription or Nav so I think I saw a thread where you just disconnect the GPS antennae. In my particular no-OnStar/no-nav case, I am kind of curious about what location data - if any - may be acquired and who can access it for what purpose(s)?
 
#8 ·
if you don't have, or no longer have an On-Star account, how would they gain anything from your vehicle???...your car is not out there "pinging" for anyone to see (or we would have heard from all the hackers who found out how to do it ;) )...I've heard these worries about On-Star since they came out with it but I have no evidence of any contact with them, other than them contacting me during the "free trial" trying to get me to buy more services...

...as to your friend getting contact with companies he never previously did business with...many times, you get more hits to your credit from credit card companies etc. because you bought a new car (as I did a couple of months ago...lots of new offers) and not from having On-Star...

Good luck with your decision...

Bill
 
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