About that B Pillar OnStar hissing deal..

[Hy Octane]

The On Star has been acting up alot since I took delivery.. Last A6 4.2 had no issues, but this one has all sorts of tricks.. It dosent seem to recognize the voice commands as well, reception seems to drop out more ( living in the same area ) and periodically, when you want to make a call and push the button, nothing happens. Yesterday, this last trick appeared when I tried to make a call.. repeated attempts at pushing the phone button and the Onstar button had no effect. Just dead. Greeen light was on... I tried shutting down the car and restarting. no difference. My son got in the car and after a few minutes he asked what that hissing noise coming from the B- Pillar was? IIt sounded like I was on hold with onstar.. so I tried hitting all the buttons and this time, when I pushed the emergency button, the automated voice came on and said "Onstar call ended..". It appears that the Onstar has a bug where it will activate on its own but not connect to anything.. just like a dead key.. I have noticed that my minutes have been disappearing lately and I havent used them. Onstar replaced them free due to a glitch but now I think I may have found the culprit.. Basically, I think that this version of the system they put in our cars has a few flaws where the one in my 2003 4.2 was problem free.. In the year I spent on the A6 boards at AW there were hardly any mentions of any OnStar grief.. but here there have been numerous ones.. Anyway, just a little insight into the hissing B Pillar and how to stop it. Now, back to regular programming.. :mech:

[BigCountry]

Interesting...

on a side note, what do you think of On Star in general. The thing is, I just found out some interesting information from a fairly truthful source, that made me look at it differently.

Apparently, On Star has the ability and the right to tap into your car at any point in time, just to listen in. In essance, everything that goes on in your car is monitored, virtually eliminating any sort of privacy you may have had... in your own car. I couldn't drive from day to day with the thought in my mind that someone may be listening to every word i say, personal or business. I believe this is all true, i so can't see myself being pulled into the service any time soon, and however usefull it is, i think i'll make do without.

cheers,

[nene]

That is great troubleshooting Hy-O!
I did notice a hissing sound coming from the speaker in the passenger side B-pillar, lower part of it. It only happened about 2 times, but then it stopped, to never come back.
Totally agree with the description of the problem.

Now it's gone, and I have no plans to ever use On-Star.
I wonder if you don't have any minutes, if they will charge you or anything, in case this glitch occurs? I hope not, or I'll make sure to bring the 'fight' to their doorstep! (shameless plug for the bourne movie series)

[LIRS6]

I've had limited experience with the On-Star, but so far have had the infamous battery changed once and have lost telephone reception due to what I can only assume was excessive tree coverage overhead when driving on a narrow road (which seems odd to me).

[JAXRS6]

Originally posted by BigCountry
Apparently, On Star has the ability and the right to tap into your car at any point in time, just to listen in. In essance, everything that goes on in your car is monitored, virtually eliminating any sort of privacy you may have had... in your own car.

I've seen this rumor a dozen times, but never with any evidence that it is true. I've asked OnStar about it twice, and they insist that the only time they track us is when we call them or the air bags deploy.

Am I supposed to believe OnStar has so many employees with nothing to do that they sit around and monitor us? I don't think so. Or that they have equipment capable of monitoring and recording the hundreds of thousands of vehicles in their system? Even if they did, what purpose would it serve? Methinks people who believe that -- with no supporting evidence -- have seen too many futuristic science fiction movies.

I will concede one possibility: If the FBI has some reason to believe a driver is a terrorist or big-time drug dealer, then maybe a court order could lead to monitoring. But OnStar denies that even this is allowed, and until I see something besides rumor that shows otherwise, my inclination is to believe them.

Honestly, tho, I could change my mind. Just give me evidence, not rumor.

[Audihead]

Jax you have a PM.

:s4addict: -Audihead

[auditurbo]

Other than paranoia, but a friend lost his Hummer that was 3 weeks old and 3 minutes after the car was stolen, the On-Star was disabled...So much for tracking.

I like the idea of On-Star, but I'll probably get a LoJack as added safety on my next purchase.

They figured out that someone in the Hummer dealership gave the theives a key to his Hummer.

[BigCountry]

JAX,

you have a good point, and i usually try not to spread rumors without evidence. My reasons for these thoughts come from an article i just read about a man who's car was stolen in the D.C. area. Apparently he reported it immediately, and the On-Star employee activated the car's On-Star system for monitoring. They listened to everything the theifs said, including where they were going, etc. and simply met them there, and arrested them.

Obviously the possibility that someone would use feature this at random is highly unlikely, however, the fact that it is possible is just very disconcerning to me. Kind of like having a mic in my house, its not on, but its there... and i'd want it out.

Ah well, i would really like to know for a fact that this is possible though, and i'm not just being paranoid. :D

We'll see,
cheers,

[Hy Octane]

On Star's policy for car theft is that YOU must first report the car stolen to local police who then contact On star to request tracking. You cant call them yourself to report it.. if you do they cant track it ( which is weird cuz when I call them for services during trips they are able to see my 'dot' on the screen and know exactly where I am).. So, I guess while they are able to 'track' your stolen car, they cant tell you where it is until the police get involved. I know they can call your car in the event of an airbag deployment and ask if you need assistance.. this would suggest that it is possible for them to activate the phone system without your participation, but I am unsure if this is done by your car phoning OnStar after deployment or them being able to just listen in at will.. Question is, will they ever admit it if they do? Interesting..