Consumer Discretionary
79
out of 100. Number 8 of 512, counting from the worst.
If you dispute anything with GM — including whether the arbitration clause itself is valid — you cannot sue in court.
The connected-services terms generally require individual arbitration and include class-action and jury waivers.
Context and exceptions. Section 28.9(E) exempts qualifying small-claims cases and intellectual-property disputes. This finding concerns connected services, not every GM product or vehicle-sale contract.
Arbitration. Connected Vehicle Services User Terms, §28.9
GM reserves the ability to remotely access, install, update or change software used for connected services or vehicle systems without additional notice or consent.
Context and exceptions. Other provisions describe service cancellation and notice of paid-service price increases; remote updates are not a blanket right to impose any charge.
Changing terms. User Terms, Summary / Software
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words.
If you dispute anything with GM — including whether the arbitration clause itself is valid — you cannot sue in court. An arbitrator, not a judge or jury, decides everything, and there is no opt-out window offered anywhere in these terms.
ANY MATTER WE ARE UNABLE TO RESOLVE AND ALL DISPUTES OR CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING ITS FORMATION, ENFORCEABILITY, PERFORMANCE, OR BREACH (EACH, A 'CLAIM')... SHALL BE FINALLY SETTLED BY BINDING ARBITRATION ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (THE 'AAA')... THE ARBITRATOR, AND NOT ANY FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL COURT OR AGENCY, SHALL HAVE EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY TO RESOLVE ALL CLAIMS... THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY WAIVE THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL.
OnStar User Terms for Connected Vehicle Services, Section 28.9
Even if GM knew harm was coming, the most you can recover from them for any service problem is $100 total — and if you don't file your claim within one year, you lose it forever, a shorter window than most states' consumer-protection statutes of limitations.
YOU AGREE THAT GM'S AND THE WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER'S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY SHALL BE NO GREATER THAN $100.00. THESE LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY EVEN IF GM AND THE WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDERS KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THE DAMAGES. / You agree that You must file any arbitration request, claim, or cause of action arising out of or related to access to and/or use of the Services or otherwise relating to this Agreement within one (1) year after the events giving rise to such request, claim, or cause of action, or You shall be forever barred from filing such request, claim or cause of action.
OnStar User Terms for Connected Vehicle Services, Sections 27.7 and 28.10
GM can push software changes to your car remotely with no warning and no permission, and if the update wipes your saved destinations, contacts, or radio presets, that's on you — no liability, no fix owed.
You agree that GM may remotely access, deliver, install, update or change Software (such actions collectively referred to as 'Updates') without any further notice or consent... These Updates may affect or erase data that You have stored in your Vehicle (such as OnStar hands free calling name tags, saved navigation destinations, or pre-set radio stations). We are not responsible for any affected or erased data due to an Update.
OnStar User Terms for Connected Vehicle Services, Section 17
GM can rewrite the deal unilaterally — just posting new terms on a website counts as 'notice' — and simply continuing to use your car's connected services counts as agreeing. Separately, Section 8 lets GM terminate the whole agreement for any reason with just 30 days' written notice.
We may modify this Agreement by giving You notice or by asking You to read and accept a new version of this Agreement. We may give You notice by posting a new version of the Agreement on the Website. If You do not agree with any modification, then You may not use the Services. Your continued access or use of any of the Services after our notice indicates your acceptance to the modified Agreement.
OnStar User Terms for Connected Vehicle Services, Section 11
Your identifiers, device/network activity, and even your car's VIN can be handed to ad networks, dealers, and co-branded credit card banks — disclosures GM itself admits may count as 'sales' or 'sharing' of your personal info. Your opt-out right exists, but the default is sharing.
Identifiers and network activity information may be disclosed to companies with which GM enters into business or marketing arrangements, such as third-party advertising networks, GM dealers, and financial institutions that GM works with to offer co-branded credit cards... Identifiers, network activity information, and VIN may be disclosed to companies with which GM enters into business or marketing arrangements, such as information regarding engagement of satellite radio to SiriusXM.
This isn't hypothetical: the FTC found GM collected precise geolocation from millions of OnStar-equipped vehicles — as frequently as every three seconds — and sold driving-behavior data to LexisNexis and Verisk without informed consent, where insurers used it to raise rates or deny coverage. GM is now under a 20-year FTC consent order with a five-year ban on sharing covered driver data with consumer reporting agencies.
GM's OnStar service and its now-discontinued Smart Driver programme collected and sold data from millions of vehicles without clear consumer consent... GM is now required to establish a system allowing US consumers to access and request deletion of their data.
Documents read Oct 1, 2026. Primary source: OnStar 'User Terms for Connected Vehicle Services' (a.k.a. OnStar User Terms for Mobile and Additional Terms) at onstar.com/legal/user-terms — current US version; page displayed no explicit version/effective date, but the parallel official copy at contentdelivery.ext.gm.com carries a 20250314 path date, and sections matched. California Consumer Privacy Statement at gm.com/california-privacy-statement, 'Last Updated: June 17, 2026' (current). gm.com/privacy-statement rendered only its first 50 lines to the text fetcher (JS-rendered page); the de-identified-data quote came from those lines, and the retention quote came from search-result snippets of the official US Connected Services Privacy Statement hosted on onstar.com — noted as snippet-sourced. An older snippet from omnibus.gm.com/eula_default.pdf (application-services EULA) was located but NOT relied on since it is superseded. FTC Smart Driver facts: from GM's own Jan 16, 2025 news release (news.gm.com) and the FTC complaint as summarized by just-auto/radicalcompliance.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.