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Now, if I can just get the thing to shut up...
Yesterday after work, my wife and I picked up our new car, a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. Its predecessor was 13 years old, also bought new, so shopping for a replacement gave us a bit of "culture shock." Even though we chose the lowest-priced trim line, with no "options" besides air conditioning (not really an "option" in the Southeast US) and automatic transmission, we have more amenities than before, most notably the OnStar navigation / emergency notification system. We get it free for six months, then we get to decide whether to pay for a subscription.
The dealer walked us through setting up our OnStar account, which involved talking with a representative while sitting in the car, using the car's microphone. Then we went back into the office to finish the paperwork.
When we came out, I got into the new car and my wife got into her car for the trip home. OnStar's navigation assumed I was going home (apparently because this was its first trip), and started giving directions both audibly and on a display screen. This worked out OK at first. Then we made a short detour to a grocery store, OnStar started to nag me about going off route, and I wasn't about to try to figure out which buttons to push while driving! After we got our groceries, we got back on route, OnStar shut up, and thereafter gave directions that agreed with our normal route home.
The first thing I looked up in the manual after we got home was how to turn the navigation off and on. Since we normally walk to work, I may not get to try the car again until Saturday.
We live in a small town, and after 25+ years here we're pretty familiar with it and the parts of the nearby "big cities" that we visit regularly. When we go on a long road trip, we usually choose "creative" routes for variety and scenery. So we've never bought a GPS, and we probably won't use the OnStar navigation enough to make it worth paying for it. But for a few months it will be an interesting toy.
My wife's car is even older than the Sonic's predecessor, so we'll probably be replacing it soon, too. We'll use our experience with the Sonic to help us decide what to look for.
Yesterday after work, my wife and I picked up our new car, a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. Its predecessor was 13 years old, also bought new, so shopping for a replacement gave us a bit of "culture shock." Even though we chose the lowest-priced trim line, with no "options" besides air conditioning (not really an "option" in the Southeast US) and automatic transmission, we have more amenities than before, most notably the OnStar navigation / emergency notification system. We get it free for six months, then we get to decide whether to pay for a subscription.
The dealer walked us through setting up our OnStar account, which involved talking with a representative while sitting in the car, using the car's microphone. Then we went back into the office to finish the paperwork.
When we came out, I got into the new car and my wife got into her car for the trip home. OnStar's navigation assumed I was going home (apparently because this was its first trip), and started giving directions both audibly and on a display screen. This worked out OK at first. Then we made a short detour to a grocery store, OnStar started to nag me about going off route, and I wasn't about to try to figure out which buttons to push while driving! After we got our groceries, we got back on route, OnStar shut up, and thereafter gave directions that agreed with our normal route home.
The first thing I looked up in the manual after we got home was how to turn the navigation off and on. Since we normally walk to work, I may not get to try the car again until Saturday.
We live in a small town, and after 25+ years here we're pretty familiar with it and the parts of the nearby "big cities" that we visit regularly. When we go on a long road trip, we usually choose "creative" routes for variety and scenery. So we've never bought a GPS, and we probably won't use the OnStar navigation enough to make it worth paying for it. But for a few months it will be an interesting toy.
My wife's car is even older than the Sonic's predecessor, so we'll probably be replacing it soon, too. We'll use our experience with the Sonic to help us decide what to look for.