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I’m getting a new car for various reasons. The car I’m looking at has a couple things I know about but don’t trust online explanations or ratings. I trust you guys.

I’ve never used Apple Play or OnStar before. Do you have experience with them and how do you like them? Are they worth the cost?

My current car has wired CarPlay, I mostly only use it when I need to use a map app. The extra screen size and integrated audio directions are nice. If you use your phone to listen to music, it's also nice. My previous car that didn't have CarPlay, I used the Aux In and a phone mount and managed without it. Is it worth the cost? Depends on how much it would be extra.

OnStar is typically a monthly subscription. CarPlay typically isn't, but might be an option at time of purchase. If you have an Apple phone, you can use its GPS maps for navigating and bypass the monthly subscription for OnStar and its map updates. Playing music or other CarPlay friendly apps is nice too.

I wouldn’t buy another car without CarPlay again. I use my phone for music/podcasts/directions, and it is a million times better than just Bluetooth.

OnStar is a hard pass. You’ll usually get a trial period of it though, so you can decide yourself.

Shakey said:

I wouldn’t buy another car without CarPlay again. I use my phone for music/podcasts/directions, and it is a million times better than just Bluetooth.

OnStar is a hard pass. You’ll usually get a trial period of it though, so you can decide yourself.

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Pretty much my feelings on the matter, though for me it's Android Auto and not CarPlay. When I bought my newest car, they didn't list whether smart phone integration was one of the features, and it was one of the first things I asked when I got to the lot.

The old 2009 pickup I bought to tote around plastic fidget animals doesn't have it, of course. I so missed the easily visible on-screen navigation that I very quickly bought one of these for it
Amazon product

Dave said:

I’ve never used Apple Play or OnStar before. Do you have experience with them and how do you like them? Are they worth the cost?

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If a vehicle's entertainment system says it supports Apple Play Apple CarPlay, that means it can use your console screen as a limited extension of your phone's display in order to control the phone's music, maps, to answer calls, etc. It does NOT allow you to type, as the idea is to be as "hands-free" as possible in order to comply with many local laws about the use of phones while driving. The Android version of this is called "Android Auto." There are also other standards (MirrorLink, etc), but in the tradition of Coke/Pepsi, Democrat/Republican, and Green/Purple, CarPlay and AA are the two dominant ones. Auto manufacturers are free to pick and choose which tribe(s) they will/won't support in order to appeal to customers (or to save on licensing fees, I suppose). For instance, GM recently proclaimed they would stop supporting CP and go exclusively AA ...for reasons. No matter which system(s) your vehicle supports, it should still be able to pair up for phone calls, music, etc.--it just won't get the other enhanced control-your-phone features. CarPlay/Android Auto aren't subscription things, they're just "Does your vehicle support it?" things.

OnStar is GM's name for their in-vehicle cellular Internet connectivity system. Ford calls it "SYNC Connect" and other mfrs have different names, but basically it means that your vehicle has a built-in cell phone connection that you can use to make phone calls for support/roadside assistance, get in-vehicle WiFi, or connect to a mobile app that lets you start your car remotely to pre-heat/-cool or lock/unlock it. It also allows the vehicle mfr to run updates/diagnostics or gather telemetry data directly to/from the vehicle, if you're into that. Unsurprisingly, since doing this requires a cellular connection with a telecom provider, this kind of functionality almost always DOES require a paid subscription, usually after some kind of free introductory period that's there to make sure new-car buyers get all the perks while used-car buyers get all the jerks.

BOTH of these are features that have turned out to eventually have unexpected deprecation-related hiccups, such as when cell carriers ended 2G/EDGE coverage in the USA, causing entire generations of OnStar customers to be disconnected, or when software/hardware running a vehicle's head unit reaches end-of-life and only has USB-A 2.0 ports or is too old to support iPhone 19/Galaxy S28 or whatever. They're nice while they're supported, but I wouldn't build my entire reason for getting/rejecting a car around either of them. Your phone likely already has cellular Internet connectivity built into it (duh!), and decent, smallish Bluetooth speakers are not that expensive, so you could even add over 80% of the functionality of these systems to a 1956 DeSoto without much trouble.

--Patrick

My car has 5G cellular without onstar, but it requires a subscription to access. It's always on, though, because they use it to push software updates to the vehicle.

I can also touch-screen type on the android auto screen, but only when the car is not in motion. You can connect to the phone via usb or bluetooth.

It's a significant quality of life feature, and all other things being more or less equal, I'll choose the car with Android Auto over the one without.

Tinwhistler said:

all other things being more or less equal, I'll choose the car with Android Auto over the one without.

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Your choice really comes down to whether you use an Apple or Android device, and whether your vehicle supports both/either/neither. If it supports your chosen flavor--wonderful, use it until it no longer works. If it doesn't, then make do with the vehicle's basic and/or built-in functionality, augmented by whatever you can get over the standard "agnostic" connection (Bluetooth, AUX In, etc).

--Patrick

The car(s) I’m looking at supports both. I have an Apple and my wife has android. So we can both hook up to it and use our respective devices.

My car supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Those are just methods to extend your phone to your car's speakers (and mics and screen, if it has those). It's a good thing, and if any given car I am shopping for doesn't offer it, that's an immediate dealbreaker for me.

OnStar, however, is a boondoggle that you should not touch with a 10 foot pole. Don't activate it, don't engage its "free trial," don't do anything with it that you don't have to, unless you just want to pay between 30 and 200 dollars a month for the rest of your life for the assurance that someone at GM might call you to see if you're ok if they think you got in a wreck.

Also Chevy's remote app (for remote starting your car, etc) is a garbage fire. I never use it if I can help it. I remote start by tapping my key fob's lock button then holding down the "circular arrow" for 5+ seconds.

And god help you if you open the app in CarPlay/Android Auto while connected to the car. Slowest. Shit. Ever.

Happy birthday to me!
Just one week early.
A Hyundai Elantra from 2023!

Red? Again?

--Patrick

I’ll tell you what I told them. I look at only two things when buying a car: price per month and mpg. I don’t give two shits about anything else. If the car I found had been pink with purple polka dots I’d have bought it. Just happened to be red.

Well at least it has a built-in immobilizer so you're less likely to find it missing.

Hyundai said all models produced after Nov. 1, 2021 have immobilizers as standard equipment.

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--Patrick

Okay I’ve seen that now a few times. What the FUCK is an immobilizer? I could look it up but I assume it disables the car if I can’t find it.

Immobilizer? I hardly know 'er!

Dave said:

What the FUCK is an immobilizer? I could look it up but...

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It's mentioned in the linked article, buuut...it's a device that prevents the vehicle from starting if the "real" key is not present.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

It's mentioned in the linked article, buuut...it's a device that prevents the vehicle from starting if the "real" key is not present.

--Patrick

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OOOO thats the thing i had to get use to with my new CRV, if the fob is not on your person, the car just grins at you and wiggles its finger going "UH UH UH DIDNT BRING THE MAGIC BOX......" however because I dont have a key for it, I have this weird dichotomy in the morning of needing my house keys to lock/unlock doors, but then can put my keys in my pocket until i get home to unlock the house. also as someone who's smart phone is basically their magic link to the everything in their life, wireless android auto slaps! get in the car and the main console lights up with everything, and phone stuff is super easy to do from said large screen sitting up from my dash.