Onstar phone

Have used mine extensively in Canada where there is no roaming charge with On*Star vs 69c/minute with Verizon.
Has worked well for me.

There is a large area of NM where it does not work. I used it in WI when we were camping and did not have cell service. However, I had 360 min of time left and if you do not buy more time each year they cancel your previously paid for minutes. So they STOLE 360 minutes of my time and my money. I will not renew when the time is up. They are nothing more than a more powerful cell phone. They do not hook up to satilites like one may think.

When I bought my Silverado, it came with 6 months of OnStar and my wife bought minutes for the phone part of it. The phone part worked great for me. Never had any issues with dropped calls. No one ever complained about being able to hear me and every thing sounded loud and clear in the truck. I did drop OnStar after the 6 months was up. I didn't use it often enough to justify paying for it. No complaints for me other than the price.

We have it on both of our vehicles and have had for several years. In about 2002 they went from analog to digital as almost all towers changed then and their coverage was reduced some what.
We have had life saving experiences with OnStar. While we were on vacation with our son and his family out side of Durango,Co. They had a medical emergency and headed to the hospital in Durango in the middle of the night. They got lost on a mountain road in the dark and called OnStar who told them to park and they would dispatch an ambulance and paramedics to them which they did and were able to get our daughter-in-law into surgery just in time to save her life. Another time I was driving to visit my granddaughter and had a stroke in route. I was able to push the button and Medics were dispatched in time to help me so I was lucky enough to not have any long term effects from the stroke.
It is expensive but we feel worth every penny.
ArizAl

OnStar IS Verizon in most of the US, Bell Mobility in Canada. They may fill in the gaps by roaming onto other CDMA networks.

OnStar Phone VS Verizon, in the US you are simply choosing to pay General Motors for Verizon voice service.

OnStar Phone thus cannot work where there is no cell service. However the phone in the car might work better than the phone in you hand, because its antenna is outside, not shielded by the metal shell of the vehicle.

If true that GM is switching carriers from Verizon to Sprint, expect bigger coverage gaps, depending on roaming arrangements.

aruba5er wrote:
There is a large area of NM where it does not work. I used it in WI when we were camping and did not have cell service. However, I had 360 min of time left and if you do not buy more time each year they cancel your previously paid for minutes. So they STOLE 360 minutes of my time and my money. I will not renew when the time is up. They are nothing more than a more powerful cell phone. They do not hook up to satilites like one may think.

OnStar can't roll over minutes if the cell company doesn't roll over. If you want roll over, contract with ATT. But even that plan has expiration at 12 months, limiting accumulation on roll over.

I use my OnStar occasionally when needing to make a call while driving. I purchase 100 minute blocks about every 12 months or so. I also get an email once a month from OnStar that provides a status report on the vehicle maintenance issues. Twice in the past 6 1/2 years I've had to call OnStar and have them unlock my truck when I locked the keys inside. I happy with the service.

tatest wrote:
OnStar IS Verizon in most of the US, Bell Mobility in Canada. They may fill in the gaps by roaming onto other CDMA networks.

OnStar Phone VS Verizon, in the US you are simply choosing to pay General Motors for Verizon voice service.

OnStar Phone thus cannot work where there is no cell service. However the phone in the car might work better than the phone in you hand, because its antenna is outside, not shielded by the metal shell of the vehicle.

If true that GM is switching carriers from Verizon to Sprint, expect bigger coverage gaps, depending on roaming arrangements.

My mistake, it isn't Sprint, but is AT&T that got the contract starting with the 2015 models. Seeing as how Verizon and AT&T technology is NOT compatible, I expect our OnStar system to go the same way as the older analog went, like the Dodo bird....

I wish there was a keypad. I find it hard to make a call--it doesn't hear my voice very well.

I wish there was a keypad. I find it hard to make a call--it doesn't hear my voice very well.