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Pre-2014 General Motors Models Will Not Be Compatible With OnStar In Mexico

When General Motors’s telematics unit OnStar launched in Mexico earlier this week, it stated that certain 2014 model year Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles will be compatible with the service. Since then, we’ve received several emails from GM Authority readers asking whether their Mexican-market 2011, 2012 and 2013 model year GM vehicles will be backwards-compatible with the OnStar service.

Well, we’ve recently confirmed with General Motors that models older than those of the 2014 model year will not be compatible with OnStar in the country.

The GM Authority Take

That’s truly a shame, as OnStar is such a valuable service to those who really see value in it.

We suspect that the incompatibility is related to GM’s utilization of Telefónica’s 4G LTE technology in its Mexican-market vehicles, which is not compatible with the CDMA wireless technology (employed by Verizon’s 3G/2G wireless network) found in pre-2014 GM vehicles. So, assuming that the compatibility is limited by technology, perhaps what GM/OnStar should do is offer retrofit kits to owners of GM vehicles older than the 2014 model year, possibly for a fee, which would make their model compatible.

Not only would such a solution satisfy customer demand, but it would also expand OnStar’s subscriber base in Mexico. Because let’s face it — it will be exceptionally difficult for it to turn a profit in the country when its potential subscriber base is limited only to owners of 2014 model year vehicles.

Overall, the incompatibility of older vehicles with OnStar in Mexico is similar to that of the RemoteLink app situation in the United States and Canada, where some models aren’t compatible with the very useful mobile application.

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Comments

  1. Not really surprising, Mexico most likely uses its own telecom frequencies/system that you have to design for. It’s not like old models made for US/Canada would just magically work over there the second they turned the system on.

    Reply
  2. Who in their right mind would drive a car/visit Mexico. The State Department has issued a warning not to visit that country. Juarez has more murders than Detroit, and Detroit is number 2 in murders (only because Flint got to number 1). I don’t think it will hurt anything.

    Reply
    1. How about those who live in Mexico? I have a feeling this article was for them.

      And it ain’t all that bad. We have a winter house there. Beautiful place. Safe too. You must be talking about Mexico City (like NYC).

      Reply
  3. Alex,
    Could this have anything to do with GM’s decision in 2014 to switch from Verizon (CDMA) and instead use AT&T (GSM)?

    Reply
    1. @LorbeerTLC technically, it probably does have something to do with it — but not because of CDMA or GSM. Rather, it’s likely that OnStar is/will be using Telefónica’s 4G LTE network in Mexico as well as in other markets where the carrier operates (Latin America and parts of Europe):

      http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/06/three-facts-you-may-not-have-known-about-onstars-new-cellular-partner-in-mexico/

      As such, I have a feeling that the incompatibility is due to CDMA (in pre-2014 MY vehicles) vs. 4G LTE (2014 and newer).

      Reply
  4. “So, assuming that the compatibility is limited by technology, perhaps what GM/OnStar should do is offer retrofit kits to owners of GM vehicles older than the 2014 model year, possibly for a fee, which would make their model compatible.”

    A retrofit of this kind would be very expensive.

    The AMPS to CDMA upgrades back in the last decade were possible because CDMA/AMPS was a dual-mode commonality… Verizon’s network was built to handle both, so upgrading AMPS OnStar modules to CDMA was rather straightforward. OnStar generations (at the time) were designed anticipating that upgrade.

    Adding a GSM/UMTS/LTE module to a CDMA OnStar setup not supporting it previously, would require a custom OnStar module, just for OnStar 9.5 units. It wouldn’t work with Gen 8 and probably not even Gen 9.0. It would be a mess.

    Demand is also being misjudged here. Most don’t take their cars to Mexico. Few would sign up for OnStar just for their trip to Mexico. Those that already use OnStar are already paying (presumably happy) customers, and won’t pay more for a service they’re already comfortable not having (OnStar Mexico).

    I understand the frustration with RemoteLink; server-side processing could have solved that. There’s evidence at one point GM started work on something there, and pulled the plug for some reason.

    This one, however, would cost $500+ easily to retrofit. Few would take GM up on that option, driving the cost up even further.

    Reply

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