I've heard that Acura is dropping OnStar for the 2007 model year. Is that true?

 

Appears to be true as it's not listed as a feature on HondaNews. Refer to the sticky on official prices/trims; that thread has a direct link to the announced 2007 RL features.

 

Thanks. Perhaps Acura will develop its own telematic service one day.

 

I wouldn't be surprised. When I owned my 2003 TL-S I received a questionnaire from Acura with a lot of leading questions about the perception of OnStar and would I be more or less likely to keep it if it were a more upmarket Acura branded product. I think AcuraLink may have been one of the prospective names they tossed out as possibilities. I wouldn't be shocked if AcuraLink becomes an OnStar like service, once a critical mass of Acura models have it.

 

Is the curent OnStar for '06 RL paid by Acura for the first year? How do I activate?

 

You hit the Blue OnStar button twice and say 'Talk to an advisor.'

 

The last thread on Onstar showed that numerous people have cancelled their subscription. How many people have renewed and what have you used it for?

 

I don't own an RL I sell them.

I don't think the OnStar re-subscriber rates are too high which is why it was dropped from the TLs.

 

As someone has previously stated, OnStar is basically good only for calling if an airbag is deployed or helping find your car if it's stolen.

Most of us don't want to pay $XX a month for the former, and don't want our cars found if the latter occurs. And if you get chest pains, just push the steering wheel BT button and say "Call 911". (And you can't lock your keyfob in the RL.)

IMO, the idea of someone buying minutes from OnStar in place of a cellphone is ludicrous, especially with the excellent BT systems in our RL's. Everyone has a cellphone, and if they don't it's cheaper and more useful to get one than to pay for a phone usable only in your car!

I personally wonder how OnStar is keeping its head above water.
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OnStar may be worth it if...

You have a car without navigation (still the majority of cars)
Can lock your keys in the car (still the majority of cars)

 

But the Onstar navigation is even more expensive than the "safe and sound" package that we have in the RL.
Locking the keys in the car was always solved with the spare key in the hidden magnetic box under the bumper or wheel well.

 

What kind of Acura salesperson would let an RL customer leave without activating and explaining Onstar??? It baffles me.

 

I don't know what happened in this case but it's normal for RL owners to tune out "car salesmen"!

 

Nope, not the case. My salesman did not tell me OnStar was coverd for 1 yr by Acura nor did he activate for me. He did activate my XM, after I requetsed it.

 

Half-assed salesmen like the one miner dealt with give Acura a bad name and impede the progress of Acura into the "major leagues" of luxury brands.

 

Most people who contribute to this forum know more about the car than most salesmen. But, then again, the salesmen know more about selling shoes and "super-sizing it" than most people on this forum do.
Miner, was your salesman experienced and incompetant or just incompetant?
My salesman had taken a course on the RL and was very good at operational knowledge. I suspect that if you were in the market for an RL then the dealership would make sure that you spoke with someone who had taken the Acura instruction course.

 

There is NO course to take. All that Acura gives is a self study 20 question quiz over the internet. It is the job of the salesman to make sure that the customer is familiar with ALL features and controls at the time of delivery. It is the responsibility of the salesman to learn on his own the product that he represents. It should also be on the shoulders of the consumer to seek knowledgeable salespeople. If you dont you just perpetuate laziness.

 

Maybe there was some ambiguity from my salesman. He stated that it was an Acura course. Probably what he meant is that it was an Acura course for Southern California salespeople organised by the Southern California Acura Dealers Association.
If you leave it to the salesperson to learn all about the car, the dealership would have to let each salesperson drive it for a month or so. Look at this forum, there are people who have owned an RL for months, perhaps years, who are suprised as all get-up that the trunk has a handle on the inside or that the windows quit the auto up/down feature if there is an impediment to its intent.

 

Actually the salesman was handed off tome by my original contact who i had bought cars from before. He is now the used car manager so hemust have felt the need to give me to the 'new' car team. My second salesman seemed to know quite a bit about the car but did not share all info with me. It was a Saturday and I am sure he was preoccupied with scoring more sales instead of spending the afternoon with me. I did my research quite well prior to negotiating a price.

 

I don't know that my OnStar was activated, either. The salesman told me I could, at my convenience, push the blue button and OnStar would "set me up".

Frankly, I don't want OnStar setting me up for anything, so the blue button won't be pushed.
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I plan on cancelling prior to end of 'free year'.

Can anyone recommend a HFL BT phone offered by Cingular that will wrok well with the RL?

 

We have two Cingular RAZR's and they work beautifully with the RL's BT. The RAZR doesn't display battery strength in the MID like some phones, but that's not a biggie with me. The main thing is that the RAZR pairs up well and has wonderful sound quality on both ends.

(BTW, keep in mind the free year of OnStar isn't for phone use ... you get only 30 minutes of that. After those 30 minutes, OnStar charges something like 17 cents a minute. )

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I renewed mine and will in the future. Onstar will often work in non-coverage areas when my other cell phones will not. That's important to me because I live in a non-coverage area and additionally, find myself working in or driving through non-coverage areas all the time. I also tend to drive at night quite a bit. So, it's nice to know that I can get in the car and dial out when the power is out...as in Katrina...or have another option should I hit a deer or have an emergency.

Overall, I consider Onstar to be reasonably priced insurance. It's like my Colt. I don't use it...ever...but it's there...and I'm not giving it up either.

Fred

 

OnStar minutes can be cheap if you are with Verizon. You can add OnStar as an additional phone to your account and pay Verizon rates (information on the OnStar website).

When I activated OnStar (dealership didn't activate), I was surprised how poor the audio quality was; could hardly understand the OnStar operator while driving. BlueTooth connection much clearer.

That said, if I were with Verizon I might add OnStar as an extra phone for a back-up for those times when I forget my cel phone.

Bob

 

I've been all through the OnStar website and can't locate where I add the OnStar phone to my Verizon Calling Plan. Can you guide me to it?

 

why do you plan on cancelling the free subscription to onstar? Actually I haven't activated mine yet only because I keep forgetting during business hours. Is there a negative to having a free subscription to Onstar?

 

Well, you'll think I'm a Big Brother conspiracy geek, but there was a story a year or two ago where it was revealed OnStar can listen in on your car's occupants without your knowing it, by activating the microphone remotely. They can also know where you are at any time, and even record your movements or conversations. That's how they know where you are so they can give you directions or call the ambulance if you have a wreck.

I personally don't like the idea of that. No, I don't have anything to hide, but it's just creepy and a potential violation of my privacy. I have no use for OnStar.
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That's interesting Mike_TX, I have a Razr phone (Verizon) and both the signal strength and the battery strength are displayed in my MID. Could it be the Cingular software? Has there been an update?

 

It's probably the firmware of the phone itself, unrelated to Cingular. I have an unlocked, unbranded RAZR, and it shows signal strength in the MID but not battery strength.

 

Actually I heard about the fact that they could turn the mic on without you knowing. I would love it if they did that and they got busted cause I think that I might end up owning the company. But I know what you mean about the fact that they know where you are at any given moment. I have nothing to hide either but if this is not potentially big brother is watching you I don't know what is. Frankly I don't think I will activate it either. Thanks for your feedback.

 

I recall hearing that the FBI had used a warrant to get On-Star to listen in full-time on a suspected mobster, and when he had an actual accident since the line was already in-use the air-bag deployment call never went out. As I heard it he sued on star for not being, well "on" when he needed them.