Comments on: OnStar to automatically slow stolen vehicles

Stolen Vehicle Slowdown will allow police to remotely slow a stolen vehicle in pursuit, while allowing enough control for safety.

[Joe Real]

Thieves can fight back.

If they found out that they are into one of these equipped cars, they would simply steer it towards destruction, and then jump safely off before the vehicle gets destroyed. The ability to let them steer the vehicle, would allow them to get back by let us say, steering the slow vehicle towards a busy intersection, middle of hi-speed freeway traffic, unto a river or off a cliff. Bad idea to give the carnappers some control.

Another comment is the price. I've read from MSNBC that the service has a monthly fee of about $17 and upwards. That is way too steep for so little benefits if your car is not that pricey. If the service fee can be largely deductible from your insurance or your cellular phone service, then that would be a good service deal.

[DraconumPB]

Um..

"Bad idea to give the carnappers some control."

I'm no car thief, but two things:

a) My first instinct if I was stealing a car that had OnStar would probably not be to destroy it. If I was concerned about them finding me or finding the car and using it as evidence, I don't think causing a huge accident in an intersection or sending it into a river will probably stop them from doing so. And while some thieves might not care about others at all, I'm sure a lot of them arn't doing what they do intending to injure people for no reason.

b) Removing steering and braking from a moving vehicle is a recipe for disaster. Since OnStar might know where the car is and that it's running, they don't know who or what is by the vehicle, in front of or behind it. It could be in a really bad place to stop at the time, and at least with steering, a potentially bad situation might be avoided. I could see people getting run over, or the car running into buildings or other vehicles..

[rcrusoe]

$17... too steep?

I don't know about you but it's worth $17 a month to me to know that OnStar will call the car if the airbags are deployed and send help if there is no answer, or if assistance is requested.

All the other features are just a bonus.

But maybe you don't think your family is worth it.

[Patrick_Chgo]

Similar to Police Stings

Ever watch those police reality shows? Some departments will put a bait car out on the street. The carnapper jumps in and drives off, then the PD cuts the engine off and locks the doors. Some of these guys try to get away by breaking the window, but most just sit there hands up.

The only real issue that I have is someone hacking into Onstar and messing with people.

[Argumentive]

There are so many reasons not to subscribe to OnStar, but yours are ridiculous and you seem to have missed a lot of the article.

1. The acceleration is stopped and the vehicle is forced to slow down. Yes you can steer and brake, but a police officer has to ask OnStar to initiate it; unless the PO is an idiot and decides to do it in the middle of a high-speed chase on a freeway, there is very little chance for "steering towards" destruction.

2. Let's say the vehicle is actually in a position to do some damage by going fast or towards a cliff. Unless the thief is suicidal, they stand seriously injuring themselves. Have you ever seen a motorcycle accident where the rider was thrown off? Fast speed and asphalt rarely mix as well as they do in the movies. If you're going towards a cliff, I doubt the terrain would be any better. Not enough speed to do that damage to a body? Then probably not enough speed to destruction.

3. As someone else pointed out, destroying the vehicle like the special effects wizard for bad action film would actually call attention to the thief. Vengeance for security device or arrest and 3-5 years in prison? Hmmm...

Bad idea to give carnappers control: true.
Too bad this is about OnStar taking away control.

[rhett121]

1984

Seems to set a spooky precedent but... hey, you idiots can make
your own path. I'd never buy a car with OnSpy, I mean Star.

[Joe Real]

That's just part of it.

There are many options, and the security option is $17 a month alone.

So I guess, we all just have to buy a super guzzler super safe bullet proof bomb proof amphibious humvee because it is safe for the family, right? We won't care about the world, just for our safety.

[brosenau63]

The On-Star system is or has become an over-priced door un-locking system. Over the 4th of July weekend, my 2007 Suburban was stolen. The On-star people tried to convice me that the vehicle was right in front of me...in the parking lot...but it wasn't. The thieves entered this locked and alarmed vehicle, disabled the On-star system and drove away. It was really that simple. I lost the vehcile and everything in it.

I called On-star and pleaded with them to leave the On-star system active so the police could use a GSM method of tracking the vehcile lcoation rather since the GPS portion of the system was dissabled. Essentially, On-star could STILL "talk" to the system using the Verizon cell phone number attached to the vehicle. With that in mind, the local police could use the GSM (local cell phone network) to locate the vehcile using triangulation from the cell phone towers. But On-star INSISTED that the On-star service would be turned off after 48 hours of it being stolen. This is just plain wrong!

So, I asked them...what product "safe & sound" was I paying for over the last year??? Silence...then a click! On-star - YOU SUCK! I'm out a $45,000.00 vehcile and you can't back up your claims!

Just for the purpose of saying so, I researched your web site to find out just exactly what you DO cover in the case of a stolen vehcile. Here's what it had to say:

18. WHAT IF YOUR CAR IS STOLEN? If your Car is stolen, we can try to locate it. Before we try to locate it, you'll need to provide satisfactory identification, and the police must be treating the Car as stolen. Generally, we will only provide location information about stolen Cars to the police; however, in cases of crises or emergencies, we may, in our own judgment, provide you with information about the general area of your Car without police involvement. We don't have to continue to try to locate your Car after 48 hours from the time you first report it stolen, and we can't guarantee that we'll find it. We also aren't required to try to find your Car for the purpose of locating someone.

Basically, there's no garantee, implied or otherwise. I susggest your change your advertising strategy - as it implies my vehicle WILL be found if it is stolen. Not the case here...

Readers, be ware. This is a good case to justify a VERY NOISY and LOUD alarm system with one of those BIG BARS that lock your steering wheel. Best of luck...or buy a hoopty instead. Have a nice day!

[RyleeROBERTS]

I am not to familiar with the onstar system but don't they have an antenna on the roof, or wires under the <a href=www.car-stuff.com/floormats.htm>floor mats</a> that can be easily cut and disable the system? I would think pro thieves would do this first---

[RyleeROBERTS]

I am not to familiar with the onstar system but don't they have an antenna on the roof, or wires under the <a href=http://www.car-stuff.com/floormats.htm>floor mats</a> that can be easily cut and disable the system? I would think pro thieves would do this first---

[houseladyms]

My experiences with Onstar has been awesome. My Avalanch doors malfunctioned and automatically locked when I stepped out to get my 2 year old child out of his carseat. I threw the keys in the diaper bag in the back seat, stepped out and shut the driver door, went to open the back door, everything locked up. My child, keys and cell phone were in the back seat. Onstar was called by someone else parked next to me that had Onstar. After a few security measures, my truck was unlocked! Most moms know that it takes 2 hands to remove a little one from a car seat. It was always easy to get my child, then the diaper bag with everything in it.
I again purchased a Caddalic SRX. Someone ran a stop sign and our headlights clipped. My car hit an embankment and flipped 3 times. Onstar called the ambulance and police and stayed on the phone with me until help arrived. My cell was nowhere to be found! I will never own a car w/o Onstar!!!