Owners of General Motors vehicles may be familiar with the additional feature to such cars known as OnStar. Introduced in 1996, OnStar is a service one subscribes to if they desire proficient safety and information. The move to add this feature has boosted GM sales ever since but now they are expanding.
As of this summer, GM has allowed the feature to be a part of almost any car through a device called OnStar FMV (which stands for For My Vehicle). The technology of OnStar was hardwired into a rearview mirror that can be attached to most cars through any company. One of the exceptions is the Jeep Wrangler.
The device does not have all of OnStar’s services installed in it, but it does carry most of them. One can tell a regular rearview mirror from an OnStar FMV device because the latter is a little thicker than a normal mirror and has buttons along the front for the difference services it provides.
The downside to this nifty addition to your car is its price. Currently, OnStar FMV sells for almost three hundred dollars, and that’s without subscribing to the OnStar service of the Safe & Sound plan, which is an additional $199 a year. When it comes down to it though, who can put a price on safety? The plan offers a motion detector that notices when the car has crashed and put you in contact with the company through a phone on the mirror. It will also use GPS to locate your car and send an ambulance on the scene right away. There is also a panic button in case of other emergencies.
The only OnStar feature not included in the FMV’s service plan is the original technology’s ability to slow down the car’s speed in case it is reported stolen and thus not allowing the thief to engage in a high speed car chase. Hopefully the owner of an OnStar FMV will never have need of said feature.
The OnStar FMV also has a Directions & Connections plan, which is essentially like having a GPS or the Google Maps app on your smart phone. What this feature offers is a live person on the other end of the line to give you directions with the push of a button.
Overall, it seems GM made a smart business move in expanding their product to other companies, as those who can afford it can’t afford not to have it.
