My monthly Onstar email arrived again, great to see. The above image is a snip from that report, you can see that I need to schedule a service appointment. My oil needs changed and tires should be inspected and rotated. OK, that’s great to know, in fact, it was a similar situation to my last Onstar Update. So, if any GM or Onstar folks happen to read this, here are some suggestions that might help your customers and your business:

• Since I’m a subscriber, you know who I am and how to contact me. Why not offer me service appointments at a geographically convenient location with multiple time options? I would welcome this helpful contact until/unless I asked you not to do so. This would bias me toward your service, provide convenience value for me, and make my vehicle last longer.
• How about sending reminder messages as engine oil life heads toward 0? (where it is now. Oh, and, why is it 4% in your report and 0% in my vehicle? Why lag in reporting?)
• What if you asked me about service opportunities when I used other Onstar services or asked questions?
• OK, since you have location information for me (yes, I know you know where I travel) how about using that to arrange a rendezvous with a loaner vehicle to enhance the convenience and increase the probability I would use your service.
• Since you’re collecting data, I’d hope Onstar is analyzing it and preparing to use it. Otherwise, really, what’s the point?

As we release network services for system administrators, I hope our users will provide us with this sort of feedback. My general impression of Onstar thus far is that it’s a good start, but it’s not nearly a fully realized networked vehicle service yet. However, I remain hopeful…..I’ll provide another update next month.

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