Got a Pretty Good Onstar Discount Today

17175 Views 26 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Lgndryhr, Jun 8, 2011

Richard

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2011 (Edited)

My 2010 Malibu just turned one year old, so my one year of free Onstar ended. I called Onstar and they wanted $300 + tax for the Directions and Connections plan. They were just about to bill my credit card and I told the representative "I heard that Onstar Offers discounts". I found that out from this forum. Sure enough, she checked into it and I got 1 year of Directions and Connections for $240 + Tax. Just a simple question and I ended up saving about $70 with tax.

It bothered me a little bit that I had to ask for the discount. Why didn't they offer it to me in the first place?

In my opinion, if you have Navigation, it's worth it to spend the extra money for Directions and Connections. That's the feature I use most with Onstar. All the other features are great, but you really don't use them much unless there's an emergency situation. I even use the Directions and Connections to get phone numbers and addresses. It's a lot cheaper than calling 411. And you can even get phone #'s and addresses from your home phone.

So if you're renewing, ask for the discount. You will probably get it.

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Richard

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 16, 2011

Well, everyone has their own opinion. I do feel that Onstar is on the expensive side, but it's like an insurance policy. If you use a feature 1 time, it pays for itself. They offer free towing and basically all of the services AAA offers. And I like the Navigation Feature. I haven't used Mapquest or Google Maps since I got the Navigation Feature. It's always gotten me to my destination perfectly.

And as I said, with the cost of a 411 call being about $3.00, it pays for itself if you ask for just a few directory assistance calls per month. And you can use this feature from your home phone as well, so it's not just when you're in the car.

The cost of the service should be at least $100 less per year. And I'm lucky I got a 2010. I heard they cut the free Onstar down to 6 months for 2011. That's not right.

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Richard

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 17, 2011

Right, I forgot to mention the insurance discount as well. Just for having Onstar, I get up to 25% off on my comprehensive insurance (fire & theft). That's mainly due to the stolen vehicle tracking system that Onstar has. It's basically the same type of discount you get with LoJack. So with the additional insurance discount, Onstar just about pays for itself.

douglas92000 said:
State Farm Insurance has recently offered a discount to policy holders who allow their Onstar equipped vehicles to provide mileage data to State Farm. According to SF low mileage drivers can receive a 1% to 45% discount on their premiums. Believe this is a test program only available in Texas and California.

http://www.statefarm.com/insurance/auto_insurance/drive_save_safe_faq.asp

http://www.statefarm.com/insurance/auto_insurance/drive-save-safe-ca.asp

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Richard

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 25, 2011

Please remember - Navigation is just one of the many features you get with Onstar. There are many other great conveniences that you get.

Should it be more reasonable? Definitely. But with the costs I avoid such as AAA, Insurance Discount, Navigation Equipment, etc., it's not as expensive as it seems to be.

KenM10759 said:
From State Farms website:

"State Farm does not actively market new business in Massachusetts and Rhode Island at this time."

So there's no discount for me there. I currently get 20% discount on the comprehensive part of my insurance (National Grange Mutual), so another 5% would be perhaps $20. OnStar would like you to believe it "pays for itself", but it's not even close.

If someone steals this car, I would:

A) Be amazed. These are not a high-theft vehicle. At all.
B) Be happy, because I get a new one.

Buy OnStar because you like it and don't mind spending the money for it. I use "aftermarket" navigation because I like it, it's cheaper for me, and I feel that I have a world of information at my fingertips, and my information is as current or newer than what OnStar may be drawing upon. (I could cite examples of them sending me down roads that were gone or to businesses that were long-closed.)

I have an address to get to, I enter it. Takes less than a minute, something I didn't always get waiting for an OnStar Advisor to answer. If I miss a turn, it tells me and I can see a nice picture of how it's going to fix it for me, or I can make a rational judgment to follow it or just turn around.

I love that it's a free country and we have all these choices.

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Richard

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 7, 2011

Richard said:
My 2010 Malibu just turned one year old, so my one year of free Onstar ended. I called Onstar and they wanted $300 + tax for the Directions and Connections plan. They were just about to bill my credit card and I told the representative "I heard that Onstar Offers discounts". I found that out from this forum. Sure enough, she checked into it and I got 1 year of Directions and Connections for $240 + Tax. Just a simple question and I ended up saving about $70 with tax.

It bothered me a little bit that I had to ask for the discount. Why didn't they offer it to me in the first place?

In my opinion, if you have Navigation, it's worth it to spend the extra money for Directions and Connections. That's the feature I use most with Onstar. All the other features are great, but you really don't use them much unless there's an emergency situation. I even use the Directions and Connections to get phone numbers and addresses. It's a lot cheaper than calling 411. And you can even get phone #'s and addresses from your home phone.

So if you're renewing, ask for the discount. You will probably get it.

I just got my credit card bill for the renewal. The tax is ridiculous. They quoted me a price of $240. The total price with tax was $271. That's like a 15% tax. I didn't realize the tax was so high on Onstar Service. I knew it was with the handsfree calling minutes. I wonder why the tax is so high on this service.

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