Do these curious buttons look familiar? They should if you own a 2007 or later GM vehicle.

While learning the function of the hundreds of buttons in your vehicle is either impossible or ridiculous use of your time, these three buttons are arguably the most important in your vehicle. These are your Onstar buttons.

What is Onstar?

It is a program that GM developed to keep their customers safe by offering around the clock access to advisors – living breathing people and not a recording – that assist you with your vehicle. Perhaps the most important feature of Onstar is the Emergency Services button. By pushing the Emergency Services button you directly talk to a specialized emergency advisor that will call 911 for you and relate to emergency responders your exact location and specific needs. Another aspect of the emergency services is that Onstar helps with any natural disasters by providing you with the location of fuel, shelter and food and routes that stay out of Mother Nature’s way.

My personal favorite aspects of Onstar are the stolen vehicle assistance and remote door unlock. If your vehicle is stolen you just report it to Onstar and they will use satellites to tell authorities where your vehicle is located. A new added feature is that advisors can actually block the remote ignition use; sadly this technology puts a damper on the reality of Jason Bourne’s stolen car chases. Onstar also helps people like me, who about twice a year accidently lock their keys inside their car. Forget about calling a locksmith – instead you report this to Onstar and they will use satellites to quickly unlock your vehicle.

There is less life threatening uses for Onstar, which include roadside assistance and vehicle diagnostics. The vehicle diagnostics includes monthly emails that keep you updated on your vehicle’s different systems: engine and transmission, airbag, emissions and antilock braking. It also offers hands-free calling and turn-by-turn navigation.

Do people actually use Onstar?

It is a fair question to ask whether Onstar is just another expense/button that is never used. From our research at Art Gamblin Motors, we discovered that our customers are pushing their Onstar buttons. Art Gamblin Motors currently received a report that our customers’ used Onstar 602 times during the month of March. The most used services of Onstar were the 282 people using vehicle diagnostic emails. Falling closely behind was the 155 times people used Onstar Navigation and information on convenience services. Six people also used Onstar to unlock their vehicles without the hassle of calling a locksmith. Most importantly one person actually used Onstar’s emergency services, and using the emergency assistance button once makes Onstar worth it.

So people are finding Onstar useful and taking advantage of what Onstar has to offer them. So if you also want to get more familiar with the three most important buttons in your vehicle, simply push the blue Onstar button to speak to an advisor.