GM’s Onstar Helps Navigate the Maze

Just because you sometimes get lost driving around town doesn’t mean you have a serious brain malfunction.

By some estimates, motorists get lost 20% of the times they get behind a wheel. In a town like Los Angeles, nobody can keep more than 10,000 square miles of road grid in their head.

The typical California Highway Patrol officer is approached two to three times a day by motorists in need of directions, says CHP Officer Bill Preciado.

“If you say head north, they’ll say which way is that,” Preciado said. “We have to get real basic with them--if you are heading toward the ocean, that’s generally west.”

The auto industry, led by General Motors, is coming up with a range of products to help motorists with this as well as other problems, which are getting worse as cities around the nation continue to grow and become more congested.

The GM Onstar system was introduced more than a year ago and, with 25,000 users, is now the largest interactive communications system for cars. It’s got a range of features and isn’t cheap.

Onstar provides a motorist with a telephone link to a service center where advisors can offer directions, direct motorists to the nearest bank, make restaurant reservations, check your engine’s operating condition and even unlock your car door if you have left the keys inside.

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Onstar is a combination of a hands-free cell phone wired to your car’s computer system and a satellite-based navigation receiver that can determine your car’s precise location.

Unlike other navigation systems in new cars, this one doesn’t have a map display. Instead, you push a telephone button to contact the Onstar center where an advisor can bring up a computer map that shows your location, using the U.S. Global Positioning System.

With that, the Onstar rep can tell you how to get to your destination.

In addition to providing directions, Onstar monitors your car’s mechanical systems.

If you are in an accident and your air bag deploys, the Onstar center is notified by the system and a rep calls you to see whether you are injured. If you do not respond, they assume you are seriously hurt and notify the police.

If your car’s “check engine” light comes on, the Onstar center can extract one of the 266 error codes that trigger the light and advise you on the seriousness of the problem.

If you have lost your car in a parking lot, not uncommon in big malls or stadium lots, call Onstar and the service will honk your horn and flash your lights by remote until you find your car.

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I tested the Onstar system and subjected it to the most difficult questions I could come up with. In general, the Onstar reps did well, though some of their maps lacked the detail necessary for the most congested parts of the road system where I live.

I would give it an A-minus.

I was generally able to connect to the Onstar center within 40 seconds of calling, though a few times I was put on hold and waited a little more than one minute.

The Onstar system is sold with 24 models of new GM cars, including sport utilities, minivans and luxury cars. It is installed by the dealer at a cost of about $1,300 and the system costs $22.50 month for unlimited service. That does not include the cost of a cell phone contract with the local cellular phone provider.

Other car manufacturers have similar systems, though GM boasts of more features and offers the system on more models than its competitors.

* Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but will attempt to respond in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Do not telephone. Write to Your Wheels, 1875 I St. N.W. #1100, Washington, D.C. 20006 or e-mail to Ralph.Vartabedian@latimes.com.