It began in February when my 2016 Silverado faced a battery issue that unexpectedly triggered a series of tech service problems. After the dealership addressed the battery short and I retrieved my truck post-repairs, I started receiving monthly diagnostic reports from OnStar via email. These reports consistently indicated a starting system problem requiring immediate service. Puzzled, I returned to the dealership, but they found nothing amiss. I then contacted OnStar directly through my truck, ran another diagnostic, and again, no codes were detected. Despite assurances from tech support that the issue would be resolved, the following month brought the same email, listing the same phantom problems. This cycle repeated throughout the spring and summer.
Exasperated, I contacted tech support in August, threatening to cancel my service if the issue wasn’t resolved. Two days later, I received confirmation that the problem was fixed and that my diagnostic emails would be error-free going forward. However, on October 1st, my son, on a trip 200 miles away, called at 7 am. He described a truck that was “missing” and a dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. I advised him to contact OnStar for a diagnostic report. Instead, I received an email from OnStar thanking me for enrolling in diagnostic services – a service I had been using for years. It became clear that OnStar’s solution to the persistent false reports was to simply deactivate my diagnostic service without notification, all while continuing to charge me the same rate.
This experience feels like a significant deception. I am planning to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau to explore options for addressing this exploitation of unsuspecting customers. It raises serious questions about when OnStar actually performs accurate car diagnostics and the reliability of their service.
