Well, one at time here. I got an "engine light" on my 2012 Volt. I pushed the OnStar button and they said it was an emissions issue, no big deal, get in the next week or two. I kind of assumed they meant I could probably wait a bit longer, since I drive less than most (13000 miles since Oct 2011). At any rate, running the engine some on a trip slightly out of range turned the light back off, and I forgot about it. Later on, it came back on, and running the engine a bit (had to do fuel maintenance, so it was a long run that didn't help my mileage any) and that didn't fix it.
So, I call up the stealership, in this case Pinkerton Chevy in Salem, VA, and make an appointment - the earliest they can give me is the next week, Monday AM.
I show up, but their Volt guy didn't. I need an inspection sticker, and frankly, the only reason I drove all the way up to Salem (way out of battery range) was to get that light turned off, as my local guy won't pass a car if it has so much as a bug on the windshield, much less an error light. Needless to say, I was more than a little disappointed at that point. They offered to at least put an inspection sticker on it, for free (nice of them), if I'd wait for that, and reschedule for the engine light deal.
Well, I have a CCW and in fact had a gun (Taurus .38 ultralight Ti, crimson trace for the gun guys out there) in the umbrella tray, so I pointedly removed the gun (in a holster) and shoved it into my back pocket, with the grip hanging out, mentioning that I didn't want to be liable if it fell into the wrong hands. This got me a look of utter shock and fear from the service manager, and a wink from the biker-looking dude (mechanic?) standing next to him. I proceed to their waiting room, as their sales guys all find a way to avoid me asking for a loaner while they recharge my Volt as promised. With the gun visibly hanging out my back pocket, I proceed to watch an excellent but very violent movie (Captain America, the Winder Soldier, highly recommended for a good portrayal of how slick evil can be and how easy it is to fool good people, if you can get past the biff-pow stuff or enjoy that anyway). This made some of the other folks waiting quite nervous. The other old-farts like myself just pulled out their own gadgets and played on them themselves.
Needless to say, my car was ready very very quickly, but of course, no charge in either $ or watt-hours. Kinda funny in a way. I have no idea if this trick would work for solar_dave or not - here people tend to freak out easily over guns in large cities. It's interesting that the other old-farts didn't think a thing about it - they have more practice judging character?
So, I go get in the car out in the lot, and call OnStar, since they long-since stole my initial minutes on the carphone, to buy some more, and get directions to a friend's house I rarely get to visit. I discover that minutes are still nearly a dollar each (ugh) and still don't roll over very long, so I buy the minimum number, about 30 bucks worth. The OnStar rep, not as polite as what I usually get, reminded me my 3 year free trial runs out in November, and wants to use my credit card to renew - 1 year for $300 or 29.95/month (automatically charges your card each month). Well, that's three times the cost of a GPS, and I use directions and connections perhaps one minute a year...kinda expensive on a per minute basis eh? The only service this appears to offer is that they will actually look to see if there's say, a good restaurant nearby - GPS does everything else.
So, I told the rep this is utterly ridiculous (I actually asked if they were kidding on those prices) and nope, they mean it. So I told them to opt me out of renewal, and bitched that I should NOT HAVE TO DO THAT AT ALL - it should be opt-in. They promised to cancel my CC info, and indeed, I got an email today saying yes, the free trial is running out and they'll be charging my card at the higher monthly rate. Shades of Sirius! So I replied to the email with information on how to contact my attorney, which of course, bounced, since they don't listen to their customers or make it easy to actually get ahold of them.
Not to worry, they'll meet my lawyer if they charge my card. This isn't a charge-back issue, it's a matter of principle.
So today, I'm the proud new owner of a Garmin Nuvi 52 from Amazon, for about $100. It seems to work great, it even seems to stick to the windshield well.
I just took a test run with it, and it was within a few feet of my actual location - just as good as OnStar. I've not checked out the directions to places I don't know how to get to yet, but I will and report on how that works out. Frankly, no service I've used gets it right around here, they send you all over hell, might look OK on their map, but their maps don't necessarily show the tight switchbacks with a cliff on both sides on a difficult unpaved route vs a good way to get somewhere alive.
At least the Garmin got all the street names right, and around here, that's a real challenge even for those who live here. Many roads change names 4-5 times along their length - named after the farm you're going by and such. There are roads you can drive in a circle 25 miles in circumference, and if you don't turn off, just go around forever, as well as roads that change name and number as you drive across the top of a T. No kidding, this is a place to get lost, but the Garmin showed it knew it all, even where the creeks and rivers are and where they're near a road you're on. Kewl. So, for something under 1/4th the price of OnStar for one year and one vehicle, I got a Garmin, which BTW comes with charging cords etc and a mount - don't fall for the extra junk on Amazon if you don't need it - which works on BOTH my vehicles - also my 2007 Honda truck that came without such frippery.
And oh, after driving to my friend's shop and home (all on gasoline by this point) and then home to my place (another 55 miles), the engine light went out and has stayed out since. Probably some insect crawled into an O2 sensor and died or something, though it ran perfectly light on, or not.
Sadly, my mileage since Jan 1, 2012 till now went from 242+ mpg to 235 as a result, and my lifetime (first few months were all gasoline to break it in so I could put in good oil) from 141 mpg to 139, half of which I got back already. I'm still at 250+ for this year since Jan 1 2014, so I guess I can't bitch too loudly.
I found out something else I think I've mentioned, but I should again. The Volt will burn almost anything flammable at all. But it DOES get vastly better mileage on better gas, best is 93 octane with no ethanol, which has exceeded 41 mpg on just gas (and that was on a super highway and going quite fast, not hypermiling like I usually do). If you get the cheapest ethanol regular it goes down to 26 mpg - hypermiling. That variable cam timing really does work! Obviously, this is more than the difference in price would indicate - you're better off with the better stuff even at a much higher price for it.