[xlr]

I dont know if this was new for 05 or 06 but the onstar in my 06 is light years better than my 04 or 05 Corvette. Now when you say a phone number you can just say it all at once as ifyou are talking to a person and its perfect at picking it up. The old version was one number at a time and wrong 50% of the time.

 

[upstate]

Yes that is the generation 6 Onstar. You can also link your verision phone to it and share one bundle of minutes from verizon which is far cheaper than from Onstar. People with an 04 or newer XLR can update to this system if they committ to 3 years of service.

 

[aviator]

05 Escalade

My 05 Escalade must have the new OnStar because it operates as you describe. However I did not know about the Verison shared minutes program. Will investigate. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Aviator,

I didn't use the phone but maybe twice in a year, but it was running out and thought it would be a good idea to have it in case of an emergency, so I bought a $125 package of minutes. Sounded like the noise you get on a HAM radio and kept dropping calls, so after about 6 calls I asked for a refund or credit toward the rest of the package and they refused. I cancelled OnStar. I guess it was the principal of the thing, so now I have no nose on my face.
Bob

My 05 Escalade must have the new OnStar because it operates as you describe. However I did not know about the Verison shared minutes program. Will investigate. Thanks.

 

[jamsto]

We got the letter about the shared minutes program. I called them and they offered a pretty good deal on a package of our two cell phones and the new XLR. The problem that i ran into was that my 04 XLR is analog, not digital. What they offered was that if I subscribed to 3 yrs of Onstar ($1200) they would sell it to me $1100 and include an upgrade to the equipment in my car. I don't think that I want to commit to three years of Onstar service because I probably won't keep the car that long. Also, if you switch to that plan, you lose the minutes that you purchased for the phone (if you did so), and they are not transferrable to another car.

 

[upstate]

If I wanted to do it the Cady dealer would do the upgrade for free with a three year onstar commitment.

 

[XLRcited]

Yes that is the generation 6 Onstar. You can also link your verision phone to it and share one bundle of minutes from verizon which is far cheaper than from Onstar. People with an 04 or newer XLR can update to this system if they committ to 3 years of service.

The 2004/05 XLR Onstar also can use verizon minutes.

 

[upstate]

Just found out if you pay for a three year commitment for the upgrade and you trade your car you can transfer the credit to the new car! This makes it more plauseable. To bad you can't transfer your purchased minutes from your old system There is no reason you can't other than they say so. In my remote diagnostics they report how many un used minutes I have each month so they can read that.
Straight from GM cut and paste:
At this time digital upgrades are only available with the purchase of a non-refundable, 3-year OnStar subscription plan. However, if you purchase or lease a new OnStar-equipped GM vehicle before the end of the 3-year subscription,
you may transfer any remaining whole months of OnStar service to that new vehicle. At the time of your new vehicle purchase or lease, you will need to request the transfer of your OnStar service and must meet all OnStar requirements for service with your new vehicle.