Pulled from another forum:
"So the local Saturn Dealer got in their first Astra allocation, and I was admmittedly curious about the car. I used to work for Saturn back in the mid-90's as a roadside assistence driver, and I admit I've got a soft spot for them. So my wife and I meet the dealer, give him a blood sample, prove I'm not a criminal, and then we get the keys to go look at the car.
I sit in it, get my seat adjusted, go to adjust the mirrors..... then I reach up to the rearview and see that dreaded Blue OnStar Button. I think OnStar is great for 99% of the populace, but I should have the right *not* to have it in my car.
Game over, hand back the keys and walk out. Why? I cannot get an Astra w/o OnStar. Paranoid.... perhaps. Let me go further.
The Saturn GM drove up in a new Skyy to one of our Autocross events, held at Mid-State Airport in Central PA last year. The roads up the mountain are curvy. Half way up, OnStar lights up and according to him, blaring over the speakers Mr. Saturn Manager, we show you were taking evasive manuvers, are you ok?
That same day, there were two Cobalt SS Coupes at the Auto-X, and both of them in the slaloms and they were called by OnStar reps asking if they were in an accident.
Hogwash? I found this far fetched too, but three weeks later I am "instructing" at BeaveRun, when coming out of turn 7 in a Cadillac CTS - while at speed "BRINNGG" "Mr. *#$# Are you OK? Your car is reporting that you were taking an evasive manuver and may have been in an accident!" Later that day, the same Cobalt from the earlier Auto-cross got a call while decelerating into the hairpin at Turn 9 - and the rep went so far as to ask her why she was doing 120 and decelerating!
Now for people who don't drive aggressively, this is a non issue. As a normal (non-CL) driver, if you are driving evasively you are clearly trying to avoid imminent death and not for the joy of driving. To me, there is just too much of a slippery slope with OnStar, data collection of how the car is being used, and possible implications of warranty repair - even if I am using the car in a non-competitive manor.
For the record, I use EZ-Pass, and I don't wear an aluminum foil cap. But, shouldn't I as a car buyer have the right to not invite GM into my personal car domain? I understand that as a corporation they do have a right to protect themselves for warranty abuse, but what other information are they collecting?
I'm going to go dress my computer in aluminum now just to ward off the cookies that VMG is baking in my processor."
"So the local Saturn Dealer got in their first Astra allocation, and I was admmittedly curious about the car. I used to work for Saturn back in the mid-90's as a roadside assistence driver, and I admit I've got a soft spot for them. So my wife and I meet the dealer, give him a blood sample, prove I'm not a criminal, and then we get the keys to go look at the car.
I sit in it, get my seat adjusted, go to adjust the mirrors..... then I reach up to the rearview and see that dreaded Blue OnStar Button. I think OnStar is great for 99% of the populace, but I should have the right *not* to have it in my car.
Game over, hand back the keys and walk out. Why? I cannot get an Astra w/o OnStar. Paranoid.... perhaps. Let me go further.
The Saturn GM drove up in a new Skyy to one of our Autocross events, held at Mid-State Airport in Central PA last year. The roads up the mountain are curvy. Half way up, OnStar lights up and according to him, blaring over the speakers Mr. Saturn Manager, we show you were taking evasive manuvers, are you ok?
That same day, there were two Cobalt SS Coupes at the Auto-X, and both of them in the slaloms and they were called by OnStar reps asking if they were in an accident.
Hogwash? I found this far fetched too, but three weeks later I am "instructing" at BeaveRun, when coming out of turn 7 in a Cadillac CTS - while at speed "BRINNGG" "Mr. *#$# Are you OK? Your car is reporting that you were taking an evasive manuver and may have been in an accident!" Later that day, the same Cobalt from the earlier Auto-cross got a call while decelerating into the hairpin at Turn 9 - and the rep went so far as to ask her why she was doing 120 and decelerating!
Now for people who don't drive aggressively, this is a non issue. As a normal (non-CL) driver, if you are driving evasively you are clearly trying to avoid imminent death and not for the joy of driving. To me, there is just too much of a slippery slope with OnStar, data collection of how the car is being used, and possible implications of warranty repair - even if I am using the car in a non-competitive manor.
For the record, I use EZ-Pass, and I don't wear an aluminum foil cap. But, shouldn't I as a car buyer have the right to not invite GM into my personal car domain? I understand that as a corporation they do have a right to protect themselves for warranty abuse, but what other information are they collecting?
I'm going to go dress my computer in aluminum now just to ward off the cookies that VMG is baking in my processor."