I work at a Toyota dealership. We don't install anything like this on any of our vehicles. Finance or Cash and we definitely don't agree with these. New Toyotas already come with built in telemetry form the factory. These GPS add ons are interfering with what is already there and that's what's messing with the connection with any OBD II Scan tools. Basically two different languages trying to talk over each other to gain dominance and this in turn is causing a constant draw on the battery which is probably why you're battery died so soon. We take these off with any cars that comes through our shop from a different dealership.
well that answers all his questions ! problem is hardly anyone will bother reading your comment.... it's sad that the factory does this but not surprising.... at all are they doing it just so they can have years of cars out on the market to meet California's mandates ? who knows, but this covert BS needs to stop !
Built in telemetry on new Toyota's, hey? I don't want that. How do I disable that. Neither Toyota, my insurance company or anyone else should be getting that info.
@Anthony do yes, many dealerships do. And/or they're installed before they ever leave the factory under contract with dealership/transpo when shipped to high risk areas. Basically all of Texas is high risk. Once you buy the vehicle, you do have the right to remove it. And depending on state, you may have to return it.
Funny. I "ordered" a 2021 Jeep Gladiator. Special order specced the way I wanted it. Was paying cash, put down a large deposit. When we sat down in finance to pay off the remainder they had tacked on about $3000 in additional "dealer options" that I had not agreed to on the initial contract to purchase. They tinted the windows, which I was going to do anyways, added paint/fabric protection (which is bullshit scam product), PPF door edge guards, and GPS tracking. When I questioned all of this their response was that every one of THEIR vehicles receives these items. I pointed out that this was not THEIR vehicle, my name was on the window sticker. This was not a dealer order or allotment. I did not agree to any of those items when I signed the original contract. Contract, legally binding contract. Then told them they were going to deduct that amount or I walk and sue them, drive to the next dealer and re-order the vehicle. I had taken pictures of all their documents to cover my arse. I suggest everyone do this, every document they make you sign take a picture of it after signing it. Sheisty dealers have been known to alter documents after the fact to screw people over. They did remove the charges, as they knew they were fugged at that point. When I was outside walking around the truck the general manager came out to talk to me. Said he was sorry for the miscommunication and confusion. I was like "that's all well and good, but where the f*** is that GPS tracker?". Oh, it's installed and would require a service appointment to remove. That was not going to happen. So I started digging under the dash, installed alarms for years I can spot aftermarket equipment easily. Yup, OBD piggyback. I ripped that crap out and tossed in on the ground right there. Here's your f***ing GPS tracker back. If I find another one, or anything else nefariously installed, you'll be receiving it along with a lawsuit.
gmc dealer in kalamazoo years ago tried to raise the price on me when i had went home to get my checkbook. i had the price in writing that they gave me one hour before. i told them i was going to contact the state attorney generals office and the local tv station. that did the trick.
From what i understand california is gonna make them standard on any new vehicle so they can track your mileage to charge you a road fee because they are forcing ev's and realized their gas tax revenue is dropping. Crazy
When I bought a car I asked for copies of all the paperwork I signed and they refused. So I took out my phone and started taking pictures of it all. They weren't happy.
Yeah, and the one prick " Mike " (says he works at a Toyota Dealership) probably knows all about it. He's probably one of the higher up managers trying to keep this a secret. Know why ? Cause they're getting a shit ton of money from the insurance companies like State Farm. So what dealership do you work for Mikey ?...do you get your parts from Central Atlantic ??
The thing is people assumed when they pull a car off the lot they own it. Until that last payment is paid it's not your vehicle. It's the bank. The banks require it before giving a loan. They want to know they can find the vehicle if you don't make a payment.
@@theshadowoftruth7561 it doesn't matter those things are installed when the cars come on to the lot. They don't necessarily have to remove them it probably would cost them more to remove it. Because they probably ordered these GPS trackers by the truckload.
They put these in all the cars at the Volkswagen dealership where I going to buy mine and then they tried to charge me 500 bucks for it when I went to sign the papers. They said they install it to track inventory and auto theft and just keep them in the car and you can activate it via a subscription. I told them I do not want it nor do I want to pay for it and they flat out refused to remove it. Long story short, I went to a different Volkswagen dealership and bought my vehicle there.
@@allanszast7579 I think its worse then we realize, my job has me in a enterprise rental its a 2023 limited ford expedition. I have been in this SUV for little over 2 months waiting on my company fleet car. SO during this enterprise has contacted me several times for service oil changes etc. Asking how they track it all assuming they had installed monitoring equipment guy said no the software on the car is designed to do this. Giving it is its own hotspot communicates that way.
@@allanszast7579If you pay attention to the video Anthony was advised by his lawyer not to name the dealer to avoid the possibility of legal action by them. That's good advice for anybody.
Same thing happened to me at a Toyota dealer. I bought a Corolla for my daughter and they tried to up sell me on an anti theft tracker “similar to low jack” for $500. I declined and they said it was already installed. I still declined so they said ok they would throw it in for free.
If a car dealership person is talking, they're lying. Class A misdemeanor. Figure out who is paying the bill on that SIM card. Talk to the DA's office.
There's a building inspector, who shows bad construction practices by contractors building brand new houses. He never mentions the builder's by name for liability. He conveniently walks past their sign. If you had a license plate holder with the Dealer's name on it you wouldn't to mentioned the dealers name, just walk past the back of the car with the dealers license plate frame on it. 😊
Back in '07 I bought an Acura TSX 6MT new under very similar circumstances: buying for cash with my car coming straight off the trailer. One of the salesmen asked me to sign the invoice with all the usual charges (tax, title, license, selected options, etc.) itemized as narrowly as possible to bulk up the list to almost a full page - evidently they didn't expect me to actually read it because when I did I discovered a $200 "Showroom Prep Fee". I mentioned it to the salesman and pointed out since it's never going into the showroom, a showroom prep fee was unwarranted. It was telling to me how quickly he caved that that was a "mistake" and then went back to his manager to get it removed - no resistance whatsoever. I have no doubt that every car they sold had a "showroom prep fee" on the initial invoice regardless of circumstance (and even then, why should whether or not the dealer puts the car in the showroom have any bearing on its price?). It's just a tax for people who can't or won't scrutinize the paperwork or object. Pretty messed up. The screwy thing is otherwise it was actually one of the least sleazy dealerships I've dealt with. Not a high bar, admittedly.
Daughter of a former Automotive instructor here. I'm proud of you for doing this type of video. If my dad were here he'd have a big smile on his face because one thing that was at the Hallmark of him being around and or working on any cars was integrity and the fact that you were honest about what you found and in turn passed on the knowledge of that finding to others means you would have been good as gold in my dad's book.
@@dlmyrs The original idea behind dealerships was to prevent the manufacturers from charging absurd prices for their cars as the sole source. Now we just have the dealerships doing that for them.
@@uberfine I think they meant most carriers. The US dumped 3g a few years ago. My current vehicle is no longer able to connect to the 3g cell network without purchasing a 4g module.
Thank you so much for this video, you inspired me to finally track down and locate the hidden GPS tracker installed NOT at the factory. A few years ago, I purchased a 2021 Mazda CX30. After a few months of driving this car in the carpool lane, I received 2 fastrak violation notices. Since I don't have a fastrak account or GPS tracker, there has to have been some other sort of GPS tracker in my car. 2 years ago, I tried to find it. But gave up and fastrak waived the fines. They told me If we get anymore violations, we will be responsible for it. So for 2 years my family and I stopped using the local carpool lanes with fastrak sensors above the highway. Then after 2 years I saw this video and it inspired me to go on the hunt. I started with the OBDIi port and found non factory wires tapped into a little grey box. They even ran a line to intercept the factory GPS signal from the roof. A line ran along the door wells on the left side of the car and up the center pillar of the body. Luckily all the lines except a ground and one factory wire someone cut. When I unplugged the grey box my car would not start. I disconnected all the lines without taking photos to what connected where. I was like oh Crap! Now what. Upon careful inspection, I did notice the one factory wire cut and could tell it was not supposed to be cut. I spliced those two ends together and the push button start worked again. I successfully removed the GPS tracker. If you suspect you have a tracker, take photos of every wire before disconnecting the wires and look for any wires that don't look factory installed. This is an invasion of privacy. But I do understand why some not all dealers install these things. Good luck tracking down the tracker in your car.
You know that feeling you get when you suspect your spouse is cheating on you once some evidence is found? Then you investigate and gather more evidence before confronting them, only to have them 1) Deny everything, until you show proof, then 2) Give you a watered down version inclusive of the evidence you presented, and when you confront them with more questions, you catch them in more lies and prove it again, by which time you realize 3) You can't trust anything that comes out of their mouth, as they are only trying to protect their own reputation and they do not care about what you think or feel AT ALL. That's the vibe I got from the dealership recap.
This is a fine example of how our privacy has become a commercial product. The danger is that we are becoming inured to these continuous invasions of our privacy. It is another step in the kleptocratic march to destroy our democratic norms.
The unfortunate part for the consumer is that this will never make it to trial. The dealership will settle, a NDA will be part of the settlement, and nobody will ever know who this dealership is, thus leaving the dealership intact. In short, these practices will continue because paying off the complainant is far less damaging than revealing the truth.
Many of the GPS is put on at the tote a note lots, for good reasons. Secondly many of the requests come from the banks lending the money, remember ultimately its their car. As for the preinstalled it happens as well because those are the general banks that dealership is accustomed to working with. I once walked into a dealership that my sales person had never seen over a 680 credit score. And then you have the dealerships that might have higher theft rates that keep these on the cars for lower insurance rates with the idea they can find/recover the car. I would also assume the GR would have the higher chance to be stolen much like SI's back in the day. Now that being said given my credit score, high down payment, proof of income, long employment and a decade + mortgage I have never had a GPS attached to my vehicle. But ive been to dealerships that did put GPS on vehicles, they checked the vehicle 2 times to verify they had removed the tracker as my bank did not want it. To the people removing them, make sure its not in the paperwork you agreed with the bank on.
@@hardtech1 My bank had nothing to do with buying my truck except giving me a one-time limit increase on my debit card. I find a tracker and it's mine. If I do find one, I'll probably put it under the tire at the very least
I worked as an autoshop detailer; cleaning cars, buffing, waxing.. that sort of thing. Some of the things those salesmen and managers said in the back.. you'd be shocked. You should absolutely NEVER trust their word for anything. I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning on letting a proxy know when you're not home to loot your home. Like I said.. you wouldn't believe what they'd say. Never going to work at a place like that ever again.
I hear you ..... When I was much, much younger one of the very first jobs I had straight out of college was I went to work for a foreign brand new car dealership company that had just made its way into the United States and was trying to get a foothold into the American car buying market. Yes, you are right the things they say behind the scenes and how they try and maximize sales of their inventory in general is sometimes outrageous.
Sometimes there is poetic justice! In 1994 I wanted to buy a new SUV (I lived in upstate New York at the time). I had narrowed it down to a Mitsubishi Montero and an Isuzu Trooper. I went to the Mitsubishi dealership and they had one that had essentially everything that I wanted. However, what they wanted to do was sell me a demo with 500-600 miles for list price. Effectively I would be subsidizing their use as a demo. When I objected I was told that it was their usual arrangement. Usual or not, I was not interested and left. My local Isuzu dealer didn’t have one remotely close to what I wanted and nothing showed up on their computer searches. So I started calling Isuzu shops in a 200 mile radius with the hope of finding a used one. Turned out that a dealer had a NEW one that was exactly what I wanted. They took the rebate at the time and the dealership owned the truck. When they did that it dropped out of the computer system. My local dealer made a swap and I became a happy Isuzu owner for the next 15 years. But, the poetic justice part: About a month into ownership, the Mitsubishi guy called and said that they could be a bit flexible with the pricing. He asked if I was still interested. I said no and that I had taken delivery on an Isuzu. He sounded so dejected and said “Oh…”. Made My Day!! Moral to the story: Watch ‘em!
Despite whatever a dealer may claim, there are NO legitimate reason to have those GPS trackers sneakily placed on a vehicle. The data from such a tracker, coupled with the nominative information that the dealer have about the owner of car and the car itself can be worth a LOT.
these people should be upset that dealers are installing a tracking device in cars for any reason at all. my own employer couldn't protect my data, i wouldn't trust any other company with my data.
Don't trust the government to protect your privacy! I'm a military veteran & was notified our VA health records were hacked. I worked for the US Census Bureau and our personnel records were hacked. There is no security in America thanx to politicians & other rampant criminals.
Right now almost 15k dealers can't use their computers. The company that sold the software to dealers to administrate and control a dealership has been hacked. The hackers are asking for millions of dollars. That company has said they're going to pay the ransom. But we'll see.
I work at a dealership and I know that our company does not install trackers ever, not even to prevent theft. Something to consider however is that the transport company who delivers the vehicles to the dealership has possession of the vehicles sometimes for days at a time before they arrive at the sales lot. The transport company easily has enough time with the vehicles to install these trackers and organized crime groups have moved heavily into auto theft in recent years. A possible scenario is that the transport drivers may get paid by shady individuals to bring the vehicles to them to install these devices. While the vehicle is getting the tracker installed, the key FOB can easily be cloned as well. After the car arrives at the dealership, all the criminals need to do is wait until they see the vehicle has left the dealership for a week or two and they know the car was sold. Then a late night visit and a thief hops in the car and starts it up using the cloned FOB and drives away. The transport company could also be involved after the theft as well. I doubt that the police are looking at cars on car carrier trucks when searching for stolen cars.
@@ericmatteson8888 We inspect our vehicles yes and in two instances thus far have found air tags hidden and once found an ODB style tracker similar to the one in your video. We can't be certain there was a conspiracy to steal these cars, but we removed the trackers obviously since nobody needs to be tracking our cars.
You can not get a straight answer from the dealership because the guy knows that they are caught doing something that they should not be doing. There are folks out in our world buying up real data that has no apparent use now but if you own a large enough pool of data eventual there will be someone comes a knockin that will want that data and who knows what they will use it for. One thing for sure it will involve money.
I'm wondering if a government agency, FBI, CIA is involved. Possibly you got on one of the subversive lists, like speaking up at school meeting, your posts, any groups you like or belong too, what business you’re in, or trips you take, one of your acquaintances or friends, , or even possibly your church. I don't anything past them anymore.
@@waltermckinney606 I thought it was understood they are primarily tracking the owner not the car, the car tracking is probably just another side benefit. And if you are really , really paranoid, note these new cars that you can bluetooth in and connect to your phone through the car entertainment system, now they have a video feed and a sound feed that you have no way of knowing whether it is totally on or off or where that is going, do do do do, do do do do....
You’re spot on about the tracker for repo purposes. Years ago, my husband and I bought my then teenage daughter’s first car from a used car dealership. We paid cash outright for it. We kept having problems with the battery being drained and when we dug into the electrical system, we found a GPS tracker on the vehicle low-key hot wired to alway be on. If we hadn’t spotted the lit indicator light on the device it would have taken a long time for us to catch it because we didn’t know that was a thing. We notified the dealer as a courtesy because he was actually a decent guy, (save us a bundle on brake work by finding a dealer recall that replaced the entire break system, +$1000 repair that sealed the deal) and even he had trouble keeping the battery charged on the lot even though we found that the battery was good. After some extra digging we learned that the previous owner purchased the car from a local buy-here-pay-here dealership who alway put trackers on their financed vehicles.
Worked for one of those buy here pay here lots and can confirm. In my experience, typically they try to recover the GPS units after final payment as they usually went for $150 per unit. Entirely legal mind you. During purchase, the dealer will have the customer sign a "Disclosure agreement for GPS device" form. Strictly for vehicle monitoring in case of default of payments. I've had to travel to other states to help reposes cars, and am aware of other cars where the customer, with no intention of paying off the vehicle took it so far away, the cost to recovery would outweigh the cost lost after the down payment. It seems like a lot of people here take offense that the car they are paying for is being tracked and take it as a personal offense. As someone who's had access to the information relayed by GPS devices, trust me when I say that you, (the royal you) aren't important enough to want to monitor, it's just the car we care about.
The dealer has an OBLIGATION to see if there are any outstanding recalls on ANY vehicles he may sell. That is the law for a dealer, private sales are exempt from this requirement.
It is to sell your driving data to insurance companies, someone came forward and said that insurance companies were doing this and car dealerships would get a kickback $$$. Toyota would have nothing to do with this it's the dealerships and the insurance companies working together. He came forward and I guess there's a lawsuit going on
My guess is consent is buried somewhere in the fine print of your purchase, your use of some manufacturer app or vehicle service. I'd be very surprised if they just threw it on thousands or millions of vehicles without consent and crossed their fingers that nobody ever finds it. I seem to remember one of our consumer protection agencies cracking down on the practice of forced consent in somewhat recent years. If this device is what everyone thinks this is, I hope it turns out badly for those responsible.
I can't see how the numbers would work for that. It probably costs a minimum of $200 to install one, possibly up to $500 based on what others are saying in the comments. I can't see the insurance company paying that much for tracking data for a single person. But they have to get that much for every car sold and pay a monthly fee for the sim card subscription. There just isn't enough room to turn a profit.
Bottom line. They put a tracker on your, paid in full, car without your permission. Constitutional violation of your rights and should prove to be illegal. Get them!
It's not a constitutional violation, but it amounts to trespassing and vandalism, both of which are crimes. Unsanctioned access and tampering with property. I'd look into whether Texas has laws covering illegal surveillance, which if it does, this would also qualify.
It depends on what state you live in , and the type of vehicle. I just bought a new Jeep Grand Wagoneer for my wife/house, and it's completely paid off. The dealership notified use that it has a tracking device, and they asked if we wanted removed or to keep it. I told them to remove it. But we live in Florida, and I believe state law requires the saler to notify the buyers.
The device *IS* sending data back to the servers it is associated with, whether the dealer pays for access to it or not. The SIM card connects to the cellular data network, which connects to Phillip's back-end servers, which collects the data and that's made accessible to the dealer - if the dealer pays for access. (usually for a limited amount of time). But...that thing is continuously transmitting data to the servers. The server knows the location, VIN and operating condition of the car, at all times. Even if the dealer doesn't have the data, the service provider DOES and they DO sell your data.
Sounds like something China would love to have installed in its citizens cars, or maybe North Korea. People need to start t aking this kind of shit awhole lot more seriously.
@@seananon4893besides China, all that data can be subpoenaed by the US government (local, state, federal) for almost any reason. China is a long way away and them knowing where my car is may be creepy, it's also a nebulous threat.... the US government.... that's closer to home.
@@Tugela60 Wanna bet? If you have a VIN, the registered owner is only a few bytes away. How do you think the manufacturers send out all those recall notice cards?
I drive a German car and when I just got it I wanted to be sure that in case of car theft I will be protected - I went to the company that specialises on anti-theft and instaled complex from them, and the point is if you need anti-theft complex you instal it from specialists. Dealer just don't have any justifiable reason to instal it by themselves. It's just violation of your privacy. And because they hid it from you - even worth. I have a friend, that in 2019 got his car from dealership maintenance garage and found spare key taped under the rear bumper. He is journalist and he started investigate what the hell is going on. In three month he found out that more than sixty cars that came from same dealership was stolen and sold in parts blackmarket. I wonder if this is same case or not?
@@soniag4516 it’s not in USA. But the maintenance garage was investigated by police and they followed the chain from the garage to the car theft gang and destroyed their vehicle disassembly factory.
It's a old ,old idea I installed lots in Rvs for smart people !Called a isolater it leaves enough charge so it can be started after being parked and not started for awhile ! So u dont have a Braking bad no start Rv!
We bought a new 4Runner in the Phoenix area , paid cash, and the dealer tried to sell us the tracking service that we repeatedly declined. The dealer refused to remove the device (apparently they get installed on all incoming vehicles). I ended up having it removed by another dealer.
The problem with all of these dealers doing this is that once the car is sold, they don't have a claim to it. The bank actually owns the car, so I would question the bank.
It's crazy to me, I've worked for multiple dealerships and there were never GPS trackers offered or installed on any of the vehicles ever. This is just wild to me. Also, if the person you spoke to at the dealership lied to you, that's Class A misdemeanor, you need to have your lawyer talk to the DA's office and also track down who the SIM card is being billed to. If your lawyer is any good, you'll have a settlement from the dealer very soon. I doubt the dealership will do anything court-related with you because they don't want that heat or to lose their customers. They'll settle before you ever walk into a courtroom.
I’ve worked in new car sales for decades. This is everywhere now and isn’t going to change. Most dealers don’t even tell their employees the extent to which they do this. They try to keep salesmen in the dark because many of us are actually honest and truly care about people, and they know we’d have a serious moral dilemma with them doing this. I tell my customers what’s up and it’s got me fired before. There’s no shortage of sales jobs and I can sleep at night. Fuck them.
Saw your first video on this and went an checked my Tundra just to make sure. I didn't find a GPS tracker, but this is going to be something I check for from now on when buying a vehicle.
I just bought a 2024 Camry DR. I had to have a windshield put in it already because of a rock chip, then failed repair on it. When I got the car back, there was what I thought was the OBDII port hanging down. I had the windshield installer come back out and he said that he had to unplug this part to calibrate the camera on my windshield, and that it wasn't the OBDII port as I had thought.. Now that I see this video, I'm thinking that I also have this device installed on my car, which as far as I'm concerned, is a breech of privacy. Will be watching here to see what the lawyer says.
Found one of these in my 2023 4 Runner this morning. Unfortunate that dealers do this because it totally isn’t something I signed up for. Thanks for posting the original and the story.
@@per619 Who said they aren't getting paid for it? For all you know, the dealership gets paid by a data broker for every single one they put in a car because they can then turn around and sell that to insurance companies, possibly other buyers interested in the data. The data broker could even supply the hardware for free while the cost to install is probably less than $50 in labor. The fact that the dealership could also attach a service to it leveraging that same device and also charge the customer a premium for it is just gravy. The mobile network access is dirt cheap when purchased in bulk, it doesn't need to be high bandwidth, a device that checks in once per day and sends a couple KB data packet would more than do it, at the scale of tens or hundreds of thousands, a mobile provider like t-mobile would likely sell that sort of plan for just a few dollars per SIM per year, at $10 per year a few million cars is worth a pretty penny and won't impact their network. Mobile phone providers have been selling these kinds of mobile data access to manufacturers for years, any modern vehicle with GPS that can get OTA updates, or even just real-time traffic via navigation guaranteed has mobile connectivity and an active SIM, most manufacturers install it by default as it only costs them pennies but they services they can sell you or future owners are worth a fortune. Think about it this way... Under current state and federal laws, insurance companies doing this is tricky as it requires your consent, but if the insurance company is buying the data from a third party, they aren't infringing on any rights, they're just a customer themselves. Auto manufacturers could also be to blame here, they have wanted to do this very thing for years, selling the data directly to insurance companies, looking for a safe way to force that into a user agreement that any driver would be accepting by default, but, if they use a 3rd party provider where the manufacturer installs the dongle at the factory to every vehicle going to certain countries, they could get paid by the 3rd party to do so as well. If the insurance industry was smart, they'd get together and spin up their own privately owned 3rd party data brokerage company that was tasked with creating these deal partnerships with manufacturers and dealerships, paying them to install these devices and even allowing them to re-sell the device as a service to customers, while then collecting the data and selling that all back to the insurance companies, I mean they wouldn't even need to sell it directly to the insurance companies, they could sell it to a 3rd party underwriter who the insurance companies could contract, keeping them completely out of band as they would never have to touch the data, they just pay for a service. American corporations engage in this sort of sneaky side-stepping all the time. You know how you go to hotels in NYC or Vegas these days that have the mini-bar with the weight sensors on it which automatically charges you $8 for a water if you accidentally lift it? 99% of the time, you ask the hotel to remove it and they will say that they cannot because it isn't theirs, they use a 3rd party company that manages it and keeps it stocked. What they don't tell you is that the company they "outsource" it to, is actually owned by the same parent company that owns the hotel / hotel chain, and they also won't tell you that their cleaning room staff aren't actually employees of the hotel but instead are contractors who also work for that 3rd party, which is how those minibar systems get restocked. The only reason I found out the housekeeping being contractors part was because when I was told the systems are managed and restocked by a third party, I then asked why the hotel thought it was OK to allow a non-employees badged/keycard access to my guest room to restock that system, and then asked "who else who wasn't a hotel employee has total access to my room and therefore my personal property?", and he admitted that they outsourced their housekeeping to the same company, something which is very common. He would not admit that the hotel and 3rd party company were owned by the same parent company or affiliated in any way, but a simple google search proved that. This is the new America, corporations have the right to swindle as much out of you as possible, and when they don't, they'll just find a workaround.
@@per619they sell the data to 3rd party’s, for example insurance companies, if they see your driving hard or over the speed limit then you’ll randomly see yoyr insurance go up.
new cars get trackers installed. dealer inventory doesnt need customer approval before they even own something. people dont own things they are making payments on
@Group_Anonymous These are only used to track dealer inventory. They are like $60 for individual units and lower when you buy in bulk. Sometimes dealers remove them when the car is purchased, sometimes they don't if it's a busy day for sales or service departments. He can put that sim card into an unlocked cell phone or tablet and see if it's active, most likely it's not active anymore.
I used to work for AutoNation for years before I retired. I can tell you that some of these dealer "add-ons" have caused more trouble than good. One particular one was a rather low tech device that disabled the starter. They were installed on all of the cars, and there was an attempt made at the point of sale to get the customer to pay for the device. Those that did not purchase it would just have the device disabled. Over time resistance would build and one day your car wouldn't start. Occasionally the customers put two and two together and force the dealership to pay for the removal but most of the time the customer ended up paying.
I bought a used car from a dealer back in Dec 2019. I was going to be paying cash for the car, from an insurance settlement of my previous car which was totalled. The settlement was $8,200 and I was NOT going to finance any amount more on any car I bought. I spotted the car I wanted, it was listed at $6,995. I went to the dealer and asked for an out-the-door price. A few minutes later they came back with an OTD price of OVER $10K. I nearly fell on the floor laughing, They had a ton of bullshit addons and fees. I told them I had a payoff of $8,200 and if you can't sell me the car for THAT price, I'm done here.. They said they couldn't so I walked.. I'd barely gotten to my rental car and the salesmanager caught me and asked would I buy the car at $8,200 total? I said yes.. One of the bogus items on the car was this weird security thing. Since I wasn't paying the $495 for it, they could just remove it.. They refused, so the damn thing is still there, with me NOT paying the $49/mo service charge. What makes me mad is the fact that this bullshit device, I believe causes the car to start beeping the horn at odd times, and is VERY annoying when I stay in a motel and all the sudden, at 3am, the car starts beeping..
Go get ‘em! Civilly, of course they’ll settle out of court to save face but there should be criminal repercussions. I’d be interested in the stat attorney general’s take on the matter. I hope you’ve reached out to them as well.
This video popped up randomly. I'm glad it did because 1) I live in Houston and have friends with GR Corollas 2) I'm in the market for one 3) The Antigravity battery info is awesome! I need one for my R32 GTR.
Non car person here, very grateful for your explanation on the anti-gravity battery! I definitely didn't think you meant the battery was floating around like water droplets in space, but I was completely baffled by what it DID mean. I'll even accept the "silly non-car people" laughs... I'm sure if you heard some of my inner thoughts/questions when I was watching that last video, you'd be wondering how people like me don't break every single vehicle we come into contact with. It's a valid point ... I often wonder the same thing. 😅 Good luck with the resolution to this whole ordeal!
put the sim card in a phone, see what network it was registered to then contact the network and see if you can see how active (or not) it was and if there is an activation or deactivation date.
As an installer of these units I’ve done this just to see. It doesn’t show much. It’s a receive only SIM card with no data The sim is only there to more accurately triangulate the location if it’s in a sketchy location. Say in a metal building or garage where gps doesn’t work.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785it can’t be a receive only sim, every cell device needs to both transmit and receive even just to get connected to the cell network. Plus if it really only receives data what is the point? It wouldn’t help them with tracking the vehicle which is why they install it in the first place.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785 The SIM card is used to connect to the cellular network so that the unit can report its position. GPS coordinates are useless for tracking if there is no way for the tracking device to tell anyone its position.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785it's an M2M sim. It can only send/receive data similar to an iPad. It can't send/receive calls or texts. It still has an assigned number especially if the telco still has a legacy backend that still relies heavily on assigned phone numbers.
I worked for two of the largest dealerships in DFW. Being shady is the rule at a dealership, not the exception. Everyone lies with every breath they take.
@@aliannarodriguez1581 Yes. A third party company installs them at little to no cost to the dealer. The dealer tries to sell them with the vehicle for $499 or whatever along with the other crap they put on the sticker like under-body coating, window tint, locking lug nuts, fabric protection, or whatever other crap they think of. If they DO get the customer to pay anything towards it, they then pay that third party a small flat fee or a small percentage of the take. It's just another source of high mark-up crap they try to push so they can line their pockets. There is no other motive than that. They are not getting a better insurance rate because they can find cars stolen off their lot, or whatever other bullshit sales pitch points they tell you while trying to get you to pay.
The antigravity battery statement had me rolling! I have one in my Supra and love it! But yeah, my non car friends always find it funny when I tell them about my "antigravity" battery LOL
I’m not gonna lie when I heard antigravity I rolled my eyes. Now that you’ve explained it, that’s actually a good idea for a product and I’m now looking to buy one
@@rodgersrcaviation2785 1) I don't buy fords 2) anything that goes farther than navigation I would disable. Also this is such a troll comment. The topic is about dealerships installing trackers in vehicles. So that the dealership has access to the Data
@@venomousninetails Not trying to to troll just making people aware. Gps tracking isn’t new. Manufacturers have had this ability since the early 2000s. Additionally I would like to ask are you the only one controlling your tracking data on the cell phone u tote everywhere. It’s being tracked even when u tell it not too
Man I'm sorry you got racist comments last video. Nobody likes people messing with their property. I watched the first video out of interest in tuning and privacy and this action by the dealer would mess with both. Do you think it could be the dealership equivalent of a card reader. An individual working at a dealership could sell that info to car thieves.
Yeah. Someone in the previous video said that a tech was doing exactly that - telling his buddies when an owner was gone from home, etc. If there's a way there is a criminal who will exploit it.
I bought a used car and they tried to slip that $500 "fee" in for Lojack. I told them I never asked for it, didn't want it, and to take it off. After seeing your first video, I went and checked my OBD2. Sure as shit, they installed one and left it there. To add to that, after I signed papers agreeing to buy the vehicle, they kept it another two weeks because the adaptive cruise wasn't working and they promised to repair it before delivering it to me. They had plenty of time to take it off, but left it installed. I'll be taking it off this evening. Not sure if there's anything illegal in what they did. They're a dealership in NC and I live in SC.
So I actually sent your first video to my contact at a Toyota dealership. He said it happens for two reasons. 1. Bad credit situations or a high cost vehicle. Some banks require it. Some vehicles get it automatically because they’re expensive and can be targeted for theft or no return test drives. 2. Warranty. They check for top speeds and if you were ever on a track. They can use that info against you. Tell you that “these new cars can tell us all that info”. Most people buy it and pay up. He also said if you were given/bought an extended warranty there is a higher chance they put one in. They might not want their customers to know they’re being watched…
I am spitting up my coffee on the commentary on Antigravity batteries. I have many of them in motorcycles and a very high dollar one in my Sprinter Van and I love them. Their Bluetooth monitor is awesome as well.
Their jump packs are shit. After a couple years of only being used to charge small devices I found mine to have swollen and cracked the case. If 15# makes that much difference in your car's performance go on a diet and take a good dump before you race.
I bought a used Nissan Frontier a couple of years ago from a "used" only dealer. They made me pay $548 for this in finance after we already inked the deal! I told them I didn't want it. They claimed I had no choice. I came home, removed it and threw it away. I wonder how many years they've been pulling this scam?! WTF Bro?!
As long as u don’t miss a payment they prob won’t ever know u removed it. But if they look and see it’s gone it may be an issue. Depends on how your contract was worded.
Additionally. Where there is one there is normally two. I’m an installer of these units. Normally a wired in one is installed for u to find. And an additional fully standalone(wireless). Unit is installed also. Will be a black box A little bigger than a pack of cigs. Hidden much much better than the first unit. You can hide them anywhere in the vehicle. They fall behind panels and under consoles so well they become impossible to find if u don’t know they there.
With the 500 buck plus fee they charged u. I’m almost certain both went in. The wired and wireless units only cost 100-125 dollars each. So 2 units is 250 max 100% mark up makes it 500. And it’s a 100 to install them both the math says u probably still being tracked man. Sorry for the news
I am a non-car person, and I approve of this video! Also didn't America instate a law, that states that any Private Person, or Company owned Vehicles, that it is illegal to have a GPS Tracker on the vehicle unless the Company or Private Person has Approved of the installation? If the car has it pre-installed, then it should be removed before handing it over to my knowledge.
Dealerships have been pulling this for YEARS. I bought a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado new from a dealer in February of 2008, and discovered a GPS tracking device on it shortly thereafter. I ripped that shit out as soon as I figured out what it was and threw it right in the trash.
Thank you for covering this, and sharing your experience. Car companies love selling data. That includes your phone data, not just 'driving' data. Be well, and again, thank you.
I worked at a dealer. The reason these are installed are for several reasons. Technically the dealer owns the car before you do so they can do what they want. But they get a discount or it may be required by the insurance company they have to install them. So as soon as they come off the truck they automatically get installed for anti theft and insurance reasons and is usually done when they inspect the car as required by the manufacturer before they are allowed to deliver it. When they sell the car they will try to sell you the GPS protection since it's already installed and make a profit off of it at a wide margin to pay for all the others. However if you don't buy it, it's just another cost and expense to remove it again. It actually costs more to remove it than the unit costs assuming the GPS manufacture allows it to be registered to another vehicle. So they leave it in and let the service for that unit expire without registering it to you unless you paid for it. The dealer does not want you to know this because it can now be defeated easily if criminals know this. It also shows that dealers try to sell this to customers to cover an expense they have to do business. The actual low cost of the hardware to the dealer would also shock you compared to what they charge you retail and the GPS manufactures also don't want you to know this. It's actually the result of GPS makers, insurance companies and dealerships working together in effort to maximize profits for each of them.
Wrong in this case. The car was never on the dealer's lot or in its inventory and the buyer was present the day it was delivered to the dealer. Whatever is going on here, the dealer needs to volunteer the truth about it right up front before the purchase is made. The fact that this is being hidden from the buyer and that the dealer is obviously lying when confronted about it are huge red flags that the dealer realizes buyers would NOT want to have this installed if given the choice. There is no good excuse for this and it needs to stop. NOW.
@@paulm749 The car was on the lot. They are required to do "predelivery inspections" to make sure wheels are bolted on, wash it, peel off the shipping martials, install loose items, inspect for damage, stuff like that before it is sold. The truck delivered it to the dealer and most likely the dealer ordered it and at this point it's not paid in full yet. Now perhaps knowing that the dealer had this car on the way it's possible that he agreed to buy it. But it's very rare that the customer has ordered it AND purchases it in full before it was delivered. The only time that usually happens is for fleet companies and such. But you can also have "courtesy" deliveries and that's when you buy the car outright and the factory ships the car to a dealer you request it sent to. In that case the dealer does not even order the car.
from memory he discovered it because it was draining his battery, one would call it sabotage as it had a negative effect on a vehicle he purchased new and paid cash
so i found one a couple years back in a car i bought for mom. it was simply down to the fact that I have big feet and the installation being exceptionally shit that i discovered it on day 3 of having the car. when i stopped boiling i went and disconnected the thing, and found that the thing had a battery backup. it wasn't until i had the thing in hand, removed a small cover and moved a small switch located behind it that the led finally stopped blinking. obviously called the dealer, speaking first to the sales chick, followed by a manager and they both fed me basically the same tale which was that it's cheaper and easier to just place them in all their vehicles as part of a NVI/PDI but the units aren't activated or transmitting until they are needed to be, for any of a few reasons they gave. i started to boil over again so i left it there, i had way exceeded the amount of shit i can handle in one day. plus i knew i wasn't going to get them to own upto anything. i went back through the paperwork as well, nothing about any monitoring or tracking. not even in the copy of the ticket for the pre-delivery inspection. oh and like yourself there was never any financing done, cash sale. i still have the thing and have tried looking up any and everything printed on in it and can't find anything. google image search tells me it's a gps tracker, and mostly lists links to alibaba type sites that have similar units up for sale. my sister had picked up the same make/model from the same dealer the year prior, checked hers - nothing. a neighbor several houses up had the same year/make/model and from the same dealer but purchased 4 or 5 months earlier, again - nothing. so weird shit going on all around. but a ton of similarities i noticed in your story to my own so thought I'd share.
I'm wondering if a government agency, FBI, CIA is involved. Possibly you got on one of the subversive lists, like speaking up at school meeting, your posts, any groups you like or belong too, what business you’re in, or trips you take, one of your acquaintances or friends, , or even possibly your church. I don't anything past them anymore.
Auto dealers nothing but sleasebag crooks from the beginning. Not happy making a fair profit, lie and steal from customers. Delivery , set up, detail, tax, inspection, showroom prep, say nothing about maintenance and repair scams.
I'm a computer/electronics guy here. I'd just like to throw a few things out there for people to think about. Those devices can probably be bought for a few dollars each, in bulk. Also, it would probably take an experienced installer about 60 seconds to install it. You "uninstalled" it in just a couple of minutes with one hand! Some other reasons why they might be installed: A data broker could sell the tracking info on to other companies, and to the government. The data would be tied to the owner of the car title, and when combined with other data points, say from Facebook, or Google, or your cell provider, it could tell which family member is actually driving the car - and often who is in the car(friends, family, etcetera...). And for the conspiracy minded: Why was it installed where it was? All a GPS tracker would need is power. But this was connected to the cars OBD port, right? All that telemetry data... But you said Toyota's already have telemetry data built in, right? But a device like this could be used to limit the amount of mileage the vehicle could be used for, right? A device like this could be used to make your vehicle inoperable if your social credit score falls below a given point. A foreign actor(say, China?) could take out a very large swath of private vehicles in the US, causing major havoc. A political party in the US could do the same thing to people in particular states, also causing major havoc. This isn't just a GPS tracker, this device would give the user of the device complete access to the cars computer system, and all that that entails. At least potentially.
@@siliconpenguin there's a philosophy term called Occam's razor, where generally the most simple explanation is the most likely. The GPS tracker connects to the OBD2 port for communication to the Powertrain Control Module, or PCM. From there, using standardized protocols and commands (keeping the explanation simple), it would obtain information such as vehicle wheel speed, throttle application, brake applications, etc. This is combined with the tracker's onboard accelerometer and gyroscope to record the driver's driving behavior. This data has been sent to data analytics agencies, which is known to be resold to parties such as insurance agencies. A common used case is adjusting the insurance rates based on perceived driving behavior, and denying claims due to "bad driving". This is the same thing as the OBD dongles you can use willingly, except this one is installed without your consent. Devices like this are only capable of reading broadcast data, not able to send commands. Furthermore, commands received by vehicle modules are fairly limited, especially with the vehicle in motion. Unless there's a horrible design oversight, devices can't just tell the car to floor the engine and swerve into traffic, or disable the brakes on the freeway. Furthermore, making a product with a secret backdoor is an extreme legal liability with very little benefits, especially with much easier and safer ways to immobilize repossessed vehicles. What about hardware faults? Sure, try shorting out the CAN bus network while driving. At best, the dash would light up like a Christmas tree, and everything on the network would default to limp-home mode, with basic vehicle functionality still working. At worst, you lose engine power and maybe power steering (cough cough Ford and GM), but the driver can still pull over and stop the vehicle. It might be the next stupid BS since the discovery of broken Ford taillights causing the truck to not start, but not a national havoc level concern.
@@siliconpenguin Lovely, I made a well developed argument, and automod deleted it. Another attempt. This is just identical to OBD2 dongles insurance companies would offer for "cheaper rates", but without your consent. There are no way dongles are able to send dangerous commands to a vehicle, especially while it's being driven. There are far safer ways to immobilize a repoed vehicle without having the CAN bus. And flooding the network with garbage, or shorting it out wouldn't cause the vehicle to crash.
No honestly they don't have a case at all it was determined that Banks as well as dealerships that deal with loans have a right to track their vehicles.
@@jonahkrompart it's not the bank that actually installs them they get installed on any car on the lot. It's faster and more economic for them not to pull the cheap made gps. When they buy and gross they probably pay maybe $10 per unit.
@@jonahkrompart Texas passed the law a while back and that they are able to put them on the cars. It was in the news but then some other BS happened and the News cycle changed. I remember seeing it on the news.
It started from the banks requiring the ability to track these vehicles that they are putting loans on. So car dealerships install it on any car when it comes on the lot. Most mechanics at a minimum make close to 30 an hour at a dealership. It just cost more to pull the cheap unit to pay somebody to do it then it is to leave it on. He didn't have to see the paperwork on it because he never went through the bank loan so it probably was not disclosed if it was it's probably in the fine print somewhere on the contract.
seeing the baby seats in the back reminds back in 2003 when I bought my 1st Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8. Driving a Rally car with kids in the back. My kids grew up on Evo's from 2003-2012 then I got out of the Rally Car game. Miss my Evo's to this day, not just the car itself, but the wonderful drives with the kids in the back and hearing the kids say "Dad do that again" haha. Priceless. Enjoy your GR and don't get too caught up on the petty stuff.
@@charlesyoung7436 Expect nothing to happen. The seller most likely has the device in the sales contract / purchase agreement wording buried somewhere that the customer agreed to, when they signed it. Especially if it was financed through the dealer....
My best guess is they are selling the information. Funny that a 50-year-old joke still holds true. How can you tell a car dealer is lying? His lips are moving.
When you finance the car, you are actually not the owner until you have paid off the loan and the lender has a security interest in the car such that you would not be able to remove the gps tracker/kill switch without that lender/owner's permission.
Make it part of the lawsuit. 😂 _"Your honor. My client is asking for $4.5 million in punitive damages and... uhm... to shove the tracker up the dealers back door."_
no no no no no. It is physical evidence. The key thing is to not handle the SIM device without using gloves and to preserve it in a plastic baggie so that any fingerprints don't get removed.
😂 The "anti-gravity" battery comments! That's funny stuff. I'm no car person and even I deduced it was the name of the brand when you talked about the jump start function... Lol oh btw your video popped up on my "new to you" tab. 👍
I don't have a GR but have a 2022 Corolla hatchback. Had it for a year and the dealer really was pushing for the Lojack. Told them I did not want it and if it was installed, to uninstall it! Multiple times!! I saw your video and decided to look at mine. Sure enough there was. I instantly pulled it out!!!! Unfreakin believable!!! I smell a class action law suit!! I will be following you to find out what happens. Thanks for sharing your video.
I factory ordered a last call challenger, watched them take it off the truck, peel the shipping plastic off, test drive it for 3 miles, then park it. Go to sign the final docs and hand them the check, oh, no theres a 2k fee for the SWAT tracker that we installed. Im like dude, im about to reach across this table, there is no tracker, nor did I agree to one, this was all discussed upfront with the manager...
They think they are smart and the general public "be STUPID" - so what did the lawyer say? If the car is paid for I'd tell them that you don't do business with shady a-holes.
Anthony, I appreciate you making these videos. Thank you! I would never have guessed that the bald-faced hubris to invade consumer's privacy had gotten this bad. There oughta be a law against that! I'm sticking to buying old cars for as long as I can!
We bought an armada and it had an "Elo" GPS tracker installed. They pitched it as an added feature. So I could track my vehicle. I left in on for a bit, but it does store a LOT of very accurate location based data. I took it out.
Very interesting... It's a Phi-LL-ips Connect - Arrow QG VI, not Philips the giant tech company and they specialise in fleet tracking. What's extra interesting is that it has GPIO and UART connectors (data in/out that is computer smart designed to talk to ecus/bcms by looks) which is not on most of their stuff and this seems a special unit not featured on their main page and took me a little digging to find info from FCC report filings on it..... I'm wondering if it is US dealer related or if people have found them elsewhere and what the GPIO and UART is being used for as it is lots cheaper and easier to not have all that and they could piggy back it on lots better spots than the OBD.... Wonder if its some Toyota diesel gate stuff where over the air they are changing tune/emissions or if it is something else where it is collecting more driver inputs for AI training or similar...... Either way this was a great video and find 👍 love to know what else you find about it.
Hello. I’m an installer of these units so I understand how they work quite well. U sir have a very good eye. But. They haven’t figured out yet how to use these units to communicate with the ecm and bcms. One because of the multiple different protocols the manufactures are using for communication and normally when u install something that tries to talk back it turns the dashboard Christmas tree in because of language on the communication lines it’s unfamiliar with. They are connected via the obd2 port because that’s the quickest and easiest place to access 12v and ground. Be advised. We have newer versions now that are about the size of a pack of cigs and are standalone units. No wiring Way easier to hide. And as of now nobody is finding them because there’s no additional wiring to tell on itself with.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785How does a standalone unit without wiring get power? GPS and cell communication require significant power. Any built in battery wouldn’t last more than a few days or at best a week or two.
@@Sashazur so with today’s modern battery tech. The wireless units transmit for 3 yrs before service is needed. The units themselves don’t need very much power at all. They pull less than .01 of an amp
I found one in my car a couple of months ago completely by accident. I was installing a dash cam and I wanted it to have power only when the car is 'on', and my 12v power ports (which used to be called cigar lighters) are always on. I got a piggyback fuse holder (add a circuit) and took the kick panel off to expose the fuse box, and I saw an object in there that did not look right, held in place by two zip ties and wired into the fuse box (just had the positive lead wrapped around one fuse leg before the fuse was crammed back in). Not even up to the standard of the job I was about to do! I removed it and looked it up (Passtime Trax 6A) and it is indeed a gps tracker intended for dealers to use on customer cars. I bought my car outright, for cash as they say (even though there was no actual paper involved), so the dealer has no more interest in this car. I bet it was installed by the original dealer when it was new, not the used car dealer I bought it from.
Thanks for the follow up, it's very interesting to see how things were interpreted in the last video by some people and how shady the response was from the dealer. Will be subscribing to see how it plays out.
I found one in my 2023 Tacoma, took it off and threw it in my junk drawer in the garage. The dealer never told me it was there nor did they charge me for it
Dealer: _"This dude doesn't use his car very much. He just drives forward a foot, stops and backs up randomly."_ 🤔 [Assuming the GPS has a micro battery backup]
Not a car girl, so definitely not a car guy, LOL. Your previous video about finding the tracker was pushed to me yesterday by YT. It was in the top line of videos on my home page (as was this one). I'm guessing YT featured it because the day before I had watched some videos on OBD2 scanners. So, at least one reason why it went viral is courtesy of YT. But I am grateful to YT and you because I had no idea this kind of surveillance was going on - thanks!
Most probably used to switch on you engine service required indicator, the first place most people will go is there dealership, in the UK is costs $125 just to look at the O2 port.
That’s seems a little daft, it can be achieved without spending money on the module, the monitoring software and the installation time. The service interval can be set up in the vehicle’s ecu software and can be selected to be based on either fixed period (ie, mileage intervals or any defined period of time, such as every 12 months) or variable frequency which combines mileage, time period and type of usage based upon rpm, load and throttle input data. The latter will return shorter service intervals if the vehicle is thrashed (driven in a spirited manner😂) and if it gets a lot of in city driving where it spends a lot of time idling and doing short trips that don’t get the oil up to working temperature, compared to a vehicle that sees a lot of gentle highway driving and a majority of longer trips. The variable option is generally better from a maintenance and longevity standpoint. Either way, there’s absolutely no requirement to add a module such as this to “turn on the service indicator,” unless you’re suggesting that the dealership is intending to do it to gain income through performing unnecessary OBD scans. If that’s the case it’d be interesting to keep one of these units powered up for an extended period off the car, log it’s input traffic from the cell receiver and it’s output to a ghost OBD port. Mmmm, that might be an interesting wee project….🤔 I don’t disagree with you that OBD scans are massively overcharged in the UK, which is why I have my own OBD scanner, they’re not expensive but the simpler ones don’t necessarily give access to all available data. Even the fully featured pro-level ones aren’t too badly priced if you offer full scans to your neighbours for around £30 a go. I paid for mine that way and it only took about 3 years ten years ago.
I’m disgusted to hear people are making comments that are racist. This is huge car news. This guy is helping us and putting himself out there for the world to see. Thank him not say negative things
Look people... Racism is a belief that a certain race or races are inferior or deserve inferior treatment. That's what racism is, and it's horrible, and it should be stamped out with a vengeance. What's something that is NOT racism? Telling a lame joke like insinuating that a dealership might have put a GPS tracker on a car because an Asian bought it. Is it crude? Sure. Is it tasteless? Sure. But it is not racism. Nothing about it implies that the teller of the joke actually thinks Asians are inferior or deserve inferior treatment. Some of you social justice warriors have good and valid points, but some of you need to lighten the hell up.
This is very interesting. You should have your local TV stations do a report on this. Under the supervision of your attorney. I would guess myself, that the insurance companies are involved in this. many years ago, back in the 80's. An insurance company offered and paid their employees to outlaw radar detectors. they were paid 50.00 to do so. The insurance company would greatly raise your rate if caught speeding.
Thanks for clarifying about the battery. I AM a car guy, but am more likely to be messing around with a Studebaker than anything modern, and had never heard of a battery like that.
How evil? Maybe its just me but it seems the world is forfeiting their freedoms for a $1.98. On one hand you want to hold someone accountable, but I imagine someone is getting bank for stealing one's driving behavior without your consent. I would find out the SIM data to find out the "Who" and sue them and the company they work for maximum damage. You're fortunate that "no harm happened yet" but this is a scenario that can turn evil fast. The offenders know where you live and know when you drive your car so it would easy to steal your car. You said your car is paid for so you're more as risks for vehicle loss. Your lawyer knows bests but I would have the dealer replace the vehicle with a non-tracked one because they compromised your safety.
These idiots have been programmed by social media norms to give all their info mindlessly and in turn zero privacy is coming. I never have had a social media account because I am smarter than 98% of idiot Americans.
Nothing is going to come of this. I doubt you could find a single new car now that can't track you, especially since most if not all receive OTA updates....
Absolutely true they track your driving habits and let’s say you swerved to not hit an animal on the road they will raise your insurance plan. Onstar I think it’s called does the same thing. Avoid these because your rates will go up!!! 🆙
@@DonelleWeaver Happened to a friend. Hard brakes to avoid a deer followed by a $35 per month increase. Insurance company determined he was doing 49 in a 45 and therefore speeding as well.
It depends, if you really are a safe driver your rates can go down; like most swords, this one is double edged. For a vast majority of people, I'm sorry, they are aggressive expletives who can't follow a speed limit to save your lives, don't pay proper attention to the road and in come cases try to run other vehicles off the road and cut them off because they drive like they have a vendetta with everyone else on the road.
So what you are saying is that they have been invading your privacy for over a year. I wonder if any of the cell phone companies would tell you if that SIM has an active account and who is paying the bill?!?
Couple of things? How does every mobile phone since android 1 track gps without data or credit on your phone? How does it then still track gps once the simcard is removed, on say a preloaded google map drive? The gps follows as normal as you move, with no SIM card! Well? lol 😂
@@HrosseyI pointed this out in an earlier comment. It’s 2024. Onstar ford sync and all the other manufacturers already have active gps tracking and have since the earl 2000s
@@Hrossey They have GPS receiver chips in them. GPS works using signals transmitted by satellites. The GPS receiver in your phone uses those signals to determine your location, altitude, and speed by sophisticated triangulation calculations based on the time delay of the signals from multiple (4+) satellites. The mapping software can only read the location data from the GPS chip. The only transmitters with GPS are the satellites and the ground stations that control the satellites. (Very high resolution GPS does use ground-based fixed location transmitters, but you'll probably not using them for driving. They are intended for local ground surveying.) If you want to learn more about GPS, there are many videos available describing the details of how it works and how it has changed over the years. The details that go into ensuring the signals are accurate are amazingly complex. GPS tracking devices/software (Apple/Google maps) need a cellular network connection to transmit the location data and download updates. Since you pre-loaded the Google map, your phone doesn't need to access the map data via the cellular network. However, you won't be able to get updated traffic info (slowdowns, accidents, speed traps, etc.) if the phone can't connect to the cellular network. Also, the map app may still be logging your location data to upload anyway when you reconnect to the cellular network. It just needs to record 4 numbers (your latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) every second or so and temporarily store it in the phone's memory until it can be uploaded.
Thanks for posting these videos. I just bought a used GMC Sierra 2020 SLT and after watching your video I went out and found the exact same type of OBD II GPS tracker installed. I’ve taken it out and if they contact me about it, they can have it back but right now it’s sitting on my garage workbench unpowered.
![Chevy Ripped Me Off: Undercover Investigation [TRUTH REVEALED]](/img/n.gif)
I work at a Toyota dealership. We don't install anything like this on any of our vehicles. Finance or Cash and we definitely don't agree with these. New Toyotas already come with built in telemetry form the factory. These GPS add ons are interfering with what is already there and that's what's messing with the connection with any OBD II Scan tools. Basically two different languages trying to talk over each other to gain dominance and this in turn is causing a constant draw on the battery which is probably why you're battery died so soon. We take these off with any cars that comes through our shop from a different dealership.
well that answers all his questions ! problem is hardly anyone will bother reading your comment.... it's sad that the factory does this but not surprising.... at all
are they doing it just so they can have years of cars out on the market to meet California's mandates ? who knows, but this covert BS needs to stop !
Built in telemetry on new Toyota's, hey? I don't want that. How do I disable that. Neither Toyota, my insurance company or anyone else should be getting that info.
Apparently not????
@Anthony do yes, many dealerships do. And/or they're installed before they ever leave the factory under contract with dealership/transpo when shipped to high risk areas. Basically all of Texas is high risk.
Once you buy the vehicle, you do have the right to remove it. And depending on state, you may have to return it.
Downvote all clickbait
Funny. I "ordered" a 2021 Jeep Gladiator. Special order specced the way I wanted it. Was paying cash, put down a large deposit. When we sat down in finance to pay off the remainder they had tacked on about $3000 in additional "dealer options" that I had not agreed to on the initial contract to purchase. They tinted the windows, which I was going to do anyways, added paint/fabric protection (which is bullshit scam product), PPF door edge guards, and GPS tracking. When I questioned all of this their response was that every one of THEIR vehicles receives these items. I pointed out that this was not THEIR vehicle, my name was on the window sticker. This was not a dealer order or allotment. I did not agree to any of those items when I signed the original contract. Contract, legally binding contract. Then told them they were going to deduct that amount or I walk and sue them, drive to the next dealer and re-order the vehicle. I had taken pictures of all their documents to cover my arse. I suggest everyone do this, every document they make you sign take a picture of it after signing it. Sheisty dealers have been known to alter documents after the fact to screw people over. They did remove the charges, as they knew they were fugged at that point. When I was outside walking around the truck the general manager came out to talk to me. Said he was sorry for the miscommunication and confusion. I was like "that's all well and good, but where the f*** is that GPS tracker?". Oh, it's installed and would require a service appointment to remove. That was not going to happen. So I started digging under the dash, installed alarms for years I can spot aftermarket equipment easily. Yup, OBD piggyback. I ripped that crap out and tossed in on the ground right there. Here's your f***ing GPS tracker back. If I find another one, or anything else nefariously installed, you'll be receiving it along with a lawsuit.
gmc dealer in kalamazoo years ago tried to raise the price on me when i had went home to get my checkbook. i had the price in writing that they gave me one hour before. i told them i was going to contact the state attorney generals office and the local tv station. that did the trick.
From what i understand california is gonna make them standard on any new vehicle so they can track your mileage to charge you a road fee because they are forcing ev's and realized their gas tax revenue is dropping. Crazy
When I bought a car I asked for copies of all the paperwork I signed and they refused. So I took out my phone and started taking pictures of it all. They weren't happy.
@@sheepdog3828 .30 cpm!!!! Oh my god hes nuts!!!
@@jmistret419They will do it for a carbon tax on everyone
The fact that the dealer denied it and then changed their story after proving the device was there tells you everything you need to know.
Sue the stealership
Yeah, and the one prick " Mike " (says he works at a Toyota Dealership) probably knows all about it. He's probably one of the higher up managers trying to keep this a secret. Know why ? Cause they're getting a shit ton of money from the insurance companies like State Farm.
So what dealership do you work for Mikey ?...do you get your parts from Central Atlantic ??
SHARE THE DEALERSHIP NAME SO WE AVOID SHOPPING THERE
Did you buy a former fleet vehicle....like a rental car turn in?
Shady business needs to be sued out of existence.
If an ex puts a GPS tracker on your car without your permission, that's a felony. Should be the same for a dealer.
My guess is that it is with your permission, buried in the 90 pages of documents people never read before signing.
it is
The thing is people assumed when they pull a car off the lot they own it. Until that last payment is paid it's not your vehicle. It's the bank. The banks require it before giving a loan. They want to know they can find the vehicle if you don't make a payment.
@@Odayian420 He paid Cash for the vehicle.
@@theshadowoftruth7561 it doesn't matter those things are installed when the cars come on to the lot. They don't necessarily have to remove them it probably would cost them more to remove it. Because they probably ordered these GPS trackers by the truckload.
Bro you went viral because you solved a problem that everybody was curious about, good on you guys for noticing it, you helped a lot of people.
Not being lied to at a car dealership would have shocked me.
Came here to say the same thing lmao
Come on man... that never happens! 😃
lmaoooo 😅
They put these in all the cars at the Volkswagen dealership where I going to buy mine and then they tried to charge me 500 bucks for it when I went to sign the papers. They said they install it to track inventory and auto theft and just keep them in the car and you can activate it via a subscription. I told them I do not want it nor do I want to pay for it and they flat out refused to remove it. Long story short, I went to a different Volkswagen dealership and bought my vehicle there.
Way to stick to your guns.
@@allanszast7579 I think its worse then we realize, my job has me in a enterprise rental its a 2023 limited ford expedition. I have been in this SUV for little over 2 months waiting on my company fleet car. SO during this enterprise has contacted me several times for service oil changes etc. Asking how they track it all assuming they had installed monitoring equipment guy said no the software on the car is designed to do this. Giving it is its own hotspot communicates that way.
@@allanszast7579If you pay attention to the video Anthony was advised by his lawyer not to name the dealer to avoid the possibility of legal action by them. That's good advice for anybody.
Money talks, bs walks!
Same thing happened to me at a Toyota dealer. I bought a Corolla for my daughter and they tried to up sell me on an anti theft tracker “similar to low jack” for $500. I declined and they said it was already installed. I still declined so they said ok they would throw it in for free.
If a car dealership person is talking, they're lying. Class A misdemeanor. Figure out who is paying the bill on that SIM card. Talk to the DA's office.
how to tell if they're lying. their lips are moving
@@jdonbray the truth is not in them.
You got to think surely this is breaking some law?
@@francistaylor1822 Absolutely. But will the DA prosecute?
@@trentvlakIt's Houston, a DA let a sch00l s#00ter walk
“We don’t install trackers.”
>shows the tracker removal video<
“Well, we do, but let me tell you why …”
Dealers will deny every thing, unless you have proof otherwise. Ignore the haters, keep us updated on the situation.
Yes! Tag me when part 3 drops 👀
There's a building inspector, who shows bad construction practices by contractors building brand new houses.
He never mentions the builder's by name for liability. He conveniently walks past their sign. If you had a license plate holder with the Dealer's name on it you wouldn't to mentioned the dealers name, just walk past the back of the car with the dealers license plate frame on it.
😊
Nice to see someone else that follows Cy Porter. He's a very clever bloke. He's also got a good collection of caps and shirts by his local builders.
Cy is a quiet lion. 😆
That's actually a really good idea.
Cy rocks.
“He conveniently walks past their sign” nice
Not sure what’s worse. Things like this or additional dealer mark ups that make me despise dealerships more.
That is why I have referred to them as STEALERSHIPS for many years now.
Back in '07 I bought an Acura TSX 6MT new under very similar circumstances: buying for cash with my car coming straight off the trailer. One of the salesmen asked me to sign the invoice with all the usual charges (tax, title, license, selected options, etc.) itemized as narrowly as possible to bulk up the list to almost a full page - evidently they didn't expect me to actually read it because when I did I discovered a $200 "Showroom Prep Fee".
I mentioned it to the salesman and pointed out since it's never going into the showroom, a showroom prep fee was unwarranted. It was telling to me how quickly he caved that that was a "mistake" and then went back to his manager to get it removed - no resistance whatsoever. I have no doubt that every car they sold had a "showroom prep fee" on the initial invoice regardless of circumstance (and even then, why should whether or not the dealer puts the car in the showroom have any bearing on its price?). It's just a tax for people who can't or won't scrutinize the paperwork or object. Pretty messed up.
The screwy thing is otherwise it was actually one of the least sleazy dealerships I've dealt with. Not a high bar, admittedly.
@@andrewromig9753 This is why car dealers, even new car dealers, have a rep as lie-rs.
Car Dealer markups? Go buy a Harley. Car Dealerships don’t come close.
@@geedubb-q1u Harley’s? Lol. Nah that’s ok. I’m not an accountant LARPing as an outlaw
Daughter of a former Automotive instructor here. I'm proud of you for doing this type of video. If my dad were here he'd have a big smile on his face because one thing that was at the Hallmark of him being around and or working on any cars was integrity and the fact that you were honest about what you found and in turn passed on the knowledge of that finding to others means you would have been good as gold in my dad's book.
They aren't called STEALERSHIPS for nothing.
And it’s why Tesla sells almost exclusively direct. Some state laws require dealerships in the state to sell cars. I see a grift…
@@dlmyrs The original idea behind dealerships was to prevent the manufacturers from charging absurd prices for their cars as the sole source. Now we just have the dealerships doing that for them.
I'm so disappointed that it's not really an anti gravity battery.
@@dlmyrs They are the most tracked vehicles on the market as well.
@@markwarren3535 It's the power source coupler for his flux capacitor.
So glad you have retained a lawyer. He's given you good advice. It puts you in a better place should it go to court.
Imagine everyone putting the active SIM card into burner phones and traveling the world. Those roaming charges. 😂
Nice idea but it is probably slow 3G and only works in North America. The car dealer doesn’t want to spend more than a dime necessary.
probably state sponsored..
@JasonBourne-hu1ox what is a kost carrier?
@@uberfine I think they meant most carriers. The US dumped 3g a few years ago. My current vehicle is no longer able to connect to the 3g cell network without purchasing a 4g module.
@@ballentphoto Lucky you, Toyota won't even sell me a 4G upgrade module for mine, at any price. All telematics are gone now.
Thank you so much for this video, you inspired me to finally track down and locate the hidden GPS tracker installed NOT at the factory. A few years ago, I purchased a 2021 Mazda CX30. After a few months of driving this car in the carpool lane, I received 2 fastrak violation notices. Since I don't have a fastrak account or GPS tracker, there has to have been some other sort of GPS tracker in my car. 2 years ago, I tried to find it. But gave up and fastrak waived the fines. They told me If we get anymore violations, we will be responsible for it. So for 2 years my family and I stopped using the local carpool lanes with fastrak sensors above the highway. Then after 2 years I saw this video and it inspired me to go on the hunt. I started with the OBDIi port and found non factory wires tapped into a little grey box. They even ran a line to intercept the factory GPS signal from the roof. A line ran along the door wells on the left side of the car and up the center pillar of the body. Luckily all the lines except a ground and one factory wire someone cut. When I unplugged the grey box my car would not start. I disconnected all the lines without taking photos to what connected where. I was like oh Crap! Now what. Upon careful inspection, I did notice the one factory wire cut and could tell it was not supposed to be cut. I spliced those two ends together and the push button start worked again. I successfully removed the GPS tracker. If you suspect you have a tracker, take photos of every wire before disconnecting the wires and look for any wires that don't look factory installed. This is an invasion of privacy. But I do understand why some not all dealers install these things. Good luck tracking down the tracker in your car.
You know that feeling you get when you suspect your spouse is cheating on you once some evidence is found? Then you investigate and gather more evidence before confronting them, only to have them 1) Deny everything, until you show proof, then 2) Give you a watered down version inclusive of the evidence you presented, and when you confront them with more questions, you catch them in more lies and prove it again, by which time you realize 3) You can't trust anything that comes out of their mouth, as they are only trying to protect their own reputation and they do not care about what you think or feel AT ALL.
That's the vibe I got from the dealership recap.
Agreed. I had a similar feeling.
Were you, or are you, married to my former caught in the act adulterer?😊
This is a fine example of how our privacy has become a commercial product. The danger is that we are becoming inured to these continuous invasions of our privacy. It is another step in the kleptocratic march to destroy our democratic norms.
Who hurt you?
So true, a independent shop installed one on my 2008tl ,if I hadn't rebuilt it myself, I would have never realized it, a sad state of affairs
The unfortunate part for the consumer is that this will never make it to trial. The dealership will settle, a NDA will be part of the settlement, and nobody will ever know who this dealership is, thus leaving the dealership intact. In short, these practices will continue because paying off the complainant is far less damaging than revealing the truth.
Honestly this is what I see happening too. We probably won't even see a third video because they ended up settling.
They would have to at LEAST give me the car for me to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Many of the GPS is put on at the tote a note lots, for good reasons. Secondly many of the requests come from the banks lending the money, remember ultimately its their car. As for the preinstalled it happens as well because those are the general banks that dealership is accustomed to working with. I once walked into a dealership that my sales person had never seen over a 680 credit score.
And then you have the dealerships that might have higher theft rates that keep these on the cars for lower insurance rates with the idea they can find/recover the car. I would also assume the GR would have the higher chance to be stolen much like SI's back in the day.
Now that being said given my credit score, high down payment, proof of income, long employment and a decade + mortgage I have never had a GPS attached to my vehicle. But ive been to dealerships that did put GPS on vehicles, they checked the vehicle 2 times to verify they had removed the tracker as my bank did not want it.
To the people removing them, make sure its not in the paperwork you agreed with the bank on.
@@hardtech1 My bank had nothing to do with buying my truck except giving me a one-time limit increase on my debit card. I find a tracker and it's mine. If I do find one, I'll probably put it under the tire at the very least
It's hard to bring the dealership to consequences, but it's worth doing
I worked as an autoshop detailer; cleaning cars, buffing, waxing.. that sort of thing. Some of the things those salesmen and managers said in the back.. you'd be shocked. You should absolutely NEVER trust their word for anything. I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning on letting a proxy know when you're not home to loot your home. Like I said.. you wouldn't believe what they'd say. Never going to work at a place like that ever again.
I hear you .....
When I was much, much younger one of the very first jobs I had straight out of college was I went to work for a foreign brand new car dealership company that had just made its way into the United States and was trying to get a foothold into the American car buying market. Yes, you are right the things they say behind the scenes and how they try and maximize sales of their inventory in general is sometimes outrageous.
Bravo! You are a person with ethics.
Sometimes there is poetic justice! In 1994 I wanted to buy a new SUV (I lived in upstate New York at the time). I had narrowed it down to a Mitsubishi Montero and an Isuzu Trooper. I went to the Mitsubishi dealership and they had one that had essentially everything that I wanted. However, what they wanted to do was sell me a demo with 500-600 miles for list price. Effectively I would be subsidizing their use as a demo. When I objected I was told that it was their usual arrangement. Usual or not, I was not interested and left. My local Isuzu dealer didn’t have one remotely close to what I wanted and nothing showed up on their computer searches. So I started calling Isuzu shops in a 200 mile radius with the hope of finding a used one. Turned out that a dealer had a NEW one that was exactly what I wanted. They took the rebate at the time and the dealership owned the truck. When they did that it dropped out of the computer system. My local dealer made a swap and I became a happy Isuzu owner for the next 15 years.
But, the poetic justice part:
About a month into ownership, the Mitsubishi guy called and said that they could be a bit flexible with the pricing. He asked if I was still interested. I said no and that I had taken delivery on an Isuzu. He sounded so dejected and said “Oh…”.
Made My Day!!
Moral to the story: Watch ‘em!
Dude your videos helped me find a parasitic drain on my truck, same thing; hidden GPS by the dealer.
Despite whatever a dealer may claim, there are NO legitimate reason to have those GPS trackers sneakily placed on a vehicle.
The data from such a tracker, coupled with the nominative information that the dealer have about the owner of car and the car itself can be worth a LOT.
BS. YES there are legitimate reasons, Lowlifes don't pay their car loans.
these people should be upset that dealers are installing a tracking device in cars for any reason at all. my own employer couldn't protect my data, i wouldn't trust any other company with my data.
Don't trust the government to protect your privacy! I'm a military veteran & was notified our VA health records were hacked. I worked for the US Census Bureau and our personnel records were hacked. There is no security in America thanx to politicians & other rampant criminals.
In my case, they probably installed it in someone else's car, which then became my car, without the dealer who sold it to me used knowing about it.
Right now almost 15k dealers can't use their computers. The company that sold the software to dealers to administrate and control a dealership has been hacked. The hackers are asking for millions of dollars. That company has said they're going to pay the ransom. But we'll see.
I work at a dealership and I know that our company does not install trackers ever, not even to prevent theft. Something to consider however is that the transport company who delivers the vehicles to the dealership has possession of the vehicles sometimes for days at a time before they arrive at the sales lot. The transport company easily has enough time with the vehicles to install these trackers and organized crime groups have moved heavily into auto theft in recent years. A possible scenario is that the transport drivers may get paid by shady individuals to bring the vehicles to them to install these devices. While the vehicle is getting the tracker installed, the key FOB can easily be cloned as well. After the car arrives at the dealership, all the criminals need to do is wait until they see the vehicle has left the dealership for a week or two and they know the car was sold. Then a late night visit and a thief hops in the car and starts it up using the cloned FOB and drives away. The transport company could also be involved after the theft as well. I doubt that the police are looking at cars on car carrier trucks when searching for stolen cars.
dealerships dont perform inspections on delivery?
@@ericmatteson8888 We inspect our vehicles yes and in two instances thus far have found air tags hidden and once found an ODB style tracker similar to the one in your video. We can't be certain there was a conspiracy to steal these cars, but we removed the trackers obviously since nobody needs to be tracking our cars.
Go back and read what @trentvlak says about people who work for dealerships.
Organized crime? You mean our government. They're the biggest organized crime group in the world.
come back and steal it for overseas travel maybe?
Thank you for the follow up. This is unsettling that at first, it was denied. It's obvious you know cars, so from now on we're watching you!
You can not get a straight answer from the dealership because the guy knows that they are caught doing something that they should not be doing. There are folks out in our world buying up real data that has no apparent use now but if you own a large enough pool of data eventual there will be someone comes a knockin that will want that data and who knows what they will use it for. One thing for sure it will involve money.
For sure. That dealer is skimming all that data and making $$$$
Everything in every business is always about making as much money as possible from doing as little as possible.
I'm wondering if a government agency, FBI, CIA is involved. Possibly you got on one of the subversive lists, like speaking up at school meeting, your posts, any groups you like or belong too, what business you’re in, or trips you take, one of your acquaintances or friends, , or even possibly your church. I don't anything past them anymore.
Maybe the tracking the owner not necessarily the car???
@@waltermckinney606 I thought it was understood they are primarily tracking the owner not the car, the car tracking is probably just another side benefit. And if you are really , really paranoid, note these new cars that you can bluetooth in and connect to your phone through the car entertainment system, now they have a video feed and a sound feed that you have no way of knowing whether it is totally on or off or where that is going, do do do do, do do do do....
You’re spot on about the tracker for repo purposes. Years ago, my husband and I bought my then teenage daughter’s first car from a used car dealership. We paid cash outright for it. We kept having problems with the battery being drained and when we dug into the electrical system, we found a GPS tracker on the vehicle low-key hot wired to alway be on. If we hadn’t spotted the lit indicator light on the device it would have taken a long time for us to catch it because we didn’t know that was a thing. We notified the dealer as a courtesy because he was actually a decent guy, (save us a bundle on brake work by finding a dealer recall that replaced the entire break system, +$1000 repair that sealed the deal) and even he had trouble keeping the battery charged on the lot even though we found that the battery was good. After some extra digging we learned that the previous owner purchased the car from a local buy-here-pay-here dealership who alway put trackers on their financed vehicles.
Worked for one of those buy here pay here lots and can confirm. In my experience, typically they try to recover the GPS units after final payment as they usually went for $150 per unit. Entirely legal mind you. During purchase, the dealer will have the customer sign a "Disclosure agreement for GPS device" form. Strictly for vehicle monitoring in case of default of payments. I've had to travel to other states to help reposes cars, and am aware of other cars where the customer, with no intention of paying off the vehicle took it so far away, the cost to recovery would outweigh the cost lost after the down payment.
It seems like a lot of people here take offense that the car they are paying for is being tracked and take it as a personal offense. As someone who's had access to the information relayed by GPS devices, trust me when I say that you, (the royal you) aren't important enough to want to monitor, it's just the car we care about.
The dealer has an OBLIGATION to see if there are any outstanding recalls on ANY vehicles he may sell. That is the law for a dealer, private sales are exempt from this requirement.
@@An9310_ It's that 1) they didn't tell the customer about it and 2) it's causing problems with the car.
It is to sell your driving data to insurance companies, someone came forward and said that insurance companies were doing this and car dealerships would get a kickback $$$. Toyota would have nothing to do with this it's the dealerships and the insurance companies working together. He came forward and I guess there's a lawsuit going on
Correct. He should sue them for a lot of damages. Set the case precedence.
Wrong, Toyota already collects & sells driving data to insurance companies through their Toyota app. This is literally a GPS tracker, that's all
More than that's all what is their intention
My guess is consent is buried somewhere in the fine print of your purchase, your use of some manufacturer app or vehicle service. I'd be very surprised if they just threw it on thousands or millions of vehicles without consent and crossed their fingers that nobody ever finds it.
I seem to remember one of our consumer protection agencies cracking down on the practice of forced consent in somewhat recent years. If this device is what everyone thinks this is, I hope it turns out badly for those responsible.
I can't see how the numbers would work for that. It probably costs a minimum of $200 to install one, possibly up to $500 based on what others are saying in the comments. I can't see the insurance company paying that much for tracking data for a single person. But they have to get that much for every car sold and pay a monthly fee for the sim card subscription. There just isn't enough room to turn a profit.
Bottom line. They put a tracker on your, paid in full, car without your permission. Constitutional violation of your rights and should prove to be illegal. Get them!
Lol , only the government can violate a person's constitutional rights.
It's not a constitutional violation, but it amounts to trespassing and vandalism, both of which are crimes. Unsanctioned access and tampering with property. I'd look into whether Texas has laws covering illegal surveillance, which if it does, this would also qualify.
@@eirinym its also an invasion of privacy
@@WrenchS13you don’t have privacy. None of us do. The data brokers know more about you than you do.
@@eirinym "It's not a constitutional violation": If it isn't (yet), it should be!
It depends on what state you live in , and the type of vehicle.
I just bought a new Jeep Grand Wagoneer for my wife/house, and it's completely paid off. The dealership notified use that it has a tracking device, and they asked if we wanted removed or to keep it. I told them to remove it.
But we live in Florida, and I believe state law requires the saler to notify the buyers.
The device *IS* sending data back to the servers it is associated with, whether the dealer pays for access to it or not. The SIM card connects to the cellular data network, which connects to Phillip's back-end servers, which collects the data and that's made accessible to the dealer - if the dealer pays for access. (usually for a limited amount of time). But...that thing is continuously transmitting data to the servers. The server knows the location, VIN and operating condition of the car, at all times. Even if the dealer doesn't have the data, the service provider DOES and they DO sell your data.
Sounds like something China would love to have installed in its citizens cars, or maybe North Korea. People need to start t aking this kind of shit awhole lot more seriously.
@@seananon4893besides China, all that data can be subpoenaed by the US government (local, state, federal) for almost any reason. China is a long way away and them knowing where my car is may be creepy, it's also a nebulous threat.... the US government.... that's closer to home.
The server does not know who the vehicle belongs to.
You guys are just paranoid.
@@Tugela60 Wanna bet? If you have a VIN, the registered owner is only a few bytes away. How do you think the manufacturers send out all those recall notice cards?
@@NinerFourWhiskey You do know that airtime costs money right?
I drive a German car and when I just got it I wanted to be sure that in case of car theft I will be protected - I went to the company that specialises on anti-theft and instaled complex from them, and the point is if you need anti-theft complex you instal it from specialists. Dealer just don't have any justifiable reason to instal it by themselves. It's just violation of your privacy. And because they hid it from you - even worth. I have a friend, that in 2019 got his car from dealership maintenance garage and found spare key taped under the rear bumper. He is journalist and he started investigate what the hell is going on. In three month he found out that more than sixty cars that came from same dealership was stolen and sold in parts blackmarket. I wonder if this is same case or not?
Did he repirt the dealership to DA's office or Attorney General's?
@@soniag4516 it’s not in USA. But the maintenance garage was investigated by police and they followed the chain from the garage to the car theft gang and destroyed their vehicle disassembly factory.
I'm dying over the Antigravity Battery thing...
Thanks for the update!
😂
Me tooooooo
Yes, I am a lay person who likes to know things. Did know there was such a thing as an AG Battery. He is one smart fellow!
It's a old ,old idea I installed lots in Rvs for smart people !Called a isolater it leaves enough charge so it can be started after being parked and not started for awhile ! So u dont have a Braking bad no start Rv!
Imagine if he also added there's black hole wax on his car... skipping the Poorboys part
We bought a new 4Runner in the Phoenix area , paid cash, and the dealer tried to sell us the tracking service that we repeatedly declined. The dealer refused to remove the device (apparently they get installed on all incoming vehicles). I ended up having it removed by another dealer.
Outrageous.😡
The problem with all of these dealers doing this is that once the car is sold, they don't have a claim to it. The bank actually owns the car, so I would question the bank.
It's crazy to me, I've worked for multiple dealerships and there were never GPS trackers offered or installed on any of the vehicles ever. This is just wild to me. Also, if the person you spoke to at the dealership lied to you, that's Class A misdemeanor, you need to have your lawyer talk to the DA's office and also track down who the SIM card is being billed to. If your lawyer is any good, you'll have a settlement from the dealer very soon. I doubt the dealership will do anything court-related with you because they don't want that heat or to lose their customers. They'll settle before you ever walk into a courtroom.
I’ve worked in new car sales for decades. This is everywhere now and isn’t going to change. Most dealers don’t even tell their employees the extent to which they do this. They try to keep salesmen in the dark because many of us are actually honest and truly care about people, and they know we’d have a serious moral dilemma with them doing this. I tell my customers what’s up and it’s got me fired before. There’s no shortage of sales jobs and I can sleep at night. Fuck them.
Saw your first video on this and went an checked my Tundra just to make sure. I didn't find a GPS tracker, but this is going to be something I check for from now on when buying a vehicle.
Smart move contacting an attorney sounds like the state Attorney General’s office may need to get involved.
I see that you’re not familiar with AG Paxton.
looll the most corrupt AG in the country will probably ask for a bribe from Toyota to make this all go away.
An AG will never rule over a corporation in favor of a 'person'.
It doesn't align with the financial interests of 'the state'.
@@Poppi2006 I see you're not familiar with Paxton either..
If he has a smart lawyer he'll get other Toyota owners to join in and file a class action lawsuit.
I just bought a 2024 Camry DR. I had to have a windshield put in it already because of a rock chip, then failed repair on it. When I got the car back, there was what I thought was the OBDII port hanging down. I had the windshield installer come back out and he said that he had to unplug this part to calibrate the camera on my windshield, and that it wasn't the OBDII port as I had thought.. Now that I see this video, I'm thinking that I also have this device installed on my car, which as far as I'm concerned, is a breech of privacy. Will be watching here to see what the lawyer says.
Think, government, and communist. Then add in GPS tracker auto disable, and climate change. Things will start to come together for you.
Go get that shit out
Found one of these in my 2023 4 Runner this morning.
Unfortunate that dealers do this because it totally isn’t something I signed up for.
Thanks for posting the original and the story.
Dammit. I guess I better check my 23 Rav 4….
Why would they do this when they aren't getting paid for it??
@@per619 Who said they aren't getting paid for it? For all you know, the dealership gets paid by a data broker for every single one they put in a car because they can then turn around and sell that to insurance companies, possibly other buyers interested in the data. The data broker could even supply the hardware for free while the cost to install is probably less than $50 in labor. The fact that the dealership could also attach a service to it leveraging that same device and also charge the customer a premium for it is just gravy. The mobile network access is dirt cheap when purchased in bulk, it doesn't need to be high bandwidth, a device that checks in once per day and sends a couple KB data packet would more than do it, at the scale of tens or hundreds of thousands, a mobile provider like t-mobile would likely sell that sort of plan for just a few dollars per SIM per year, at $10 per year a few million cars is worth a pretty penny and won't impact their network. Mobile phone providers have been selling these kinds of mobile data access to manufacturers for years, any modern vehicle with GPS that can get OTA updates, or even just real-time traffic via navigation guaranteed has mobile connectivity and an active SIM, most manufacturers install it by default as it only costs them pennies but they services they can sell you or future owners are worth a fortune.
Think about it this way... Under current state and federal laws, insurance companies doing this is tricky as it requires your consent, but if the insurance company is buying the data from a third party, they aren't infringing on any rights, they're just a customer themselves. Auto manufacturers could also be to blame here, they have wanted to do this very thing for years, selling the data directly to insurance companies, looking for a safe way to force that into a user agreement that any driver would be accepting by default, but, if they use a 3rd party provider where the manufacturer installs the dongle at the factory to every vehicle going to certain countries, they could get paid by the 3rd party to do so as well.
If the insurance industry was smart, they'd get together and spin up their own privately owned 3rd party data brokerage company that was tasked with creating these deal partnerships with manufacturers and dealerships, paying them to install these devices and even allowing them to re-sell the device as a service to customers, while then collecting the data and selling that all back to the insurance companies, I mean they wouldn't even need to sell it directly to the insurance companies, they could sell it to a 3rd party underwriter who the insurance companies could contract, keeping them completely out of band as they would never have to touch the data, they just pay for a service. American corporations engage in this sort of sneaky side-stepping all the time.
You know how you go to hotels in NYC or Vegas these days that have the mini-bar with the weight sensors on it which automatically charges you $8 for a water if you accidentally lift it? 99% of the time, you ask the hotel to remove it and they will say that they cannot because it isn't theirs, they use a 3rd party company that manages it and keeps it stocked. What they don't tell you is that the company they "outsource" it to, is actually owned by the same parent company that owns the hotel / hotel chain, and they also won't tell you that their cleaning room staff aren't actually employees of the hotel but instead are contractors who also work for that 3rd party, which is how those minibar systems get restocked. The only reason I found out the housekeeping being contractors part was because when I was told the systems are managed and restocked by a third party, I then asked why the hotel thought it was OK to allow a non-employees badged/keycard access to my guest room to restock that system, and then asked "who else who wasn't a hotel employee has total access to my room and therefore my personal property?", and he admitted that they outsourced their housekeeping to the same company, something which is very common. He would not admit that the hotel and 3rd party company were owned by the same parent company or affiliated in any way, but a simple google search proved that.
This is the new America, corporations have the right to swindle as much out of you as possible, and when they don't, they'll just find a workaround.
@@per619they sell the data to 3rd party’s, for example insurance companies, if they see your driving hard or over the speed limit then you’ll randomly see yoyr insurance go up.
The fact that anyone in the comments is saying this is no big deal is exactly what's wrong with this country. 🤦♂️
Thank god there’s still a normal human being out there. These whack jobs can have all the gps trackers they want, NOT ME ✋🏼
Bottom line gps tracker installed without your knowledge or permission??????😮
new cars get trackers installed. dealer inventory doesnt need customer approval before they even own something. people dont own things they are making payments on
These can disable and track your vehicle when you stop making the payments. It makes it easier for the repossession agent to recover it.
It is not that it was installed that would be illegal, it is if it was to be used nefariously.
@@Group_Anonymousnah, cars already have those systems in place from the factory, these trackers are being used for other purposes
@Group_Anonymous These are only used to track dealer inventory. They are like $60 for individual units and lower when you buy in bulk. Sometimes dealers remove them when the car is purchased, sometimes they don't if it's a busy day for sales or service departments.
He can put that sim card into an unlocked cell phone or tablet and see if it's active, most likely it's not active anymore.
I used to work for AutoNation for years before I retired. I can tell you that some of these dealer "add-ons" have caused more trouble than good. One particular one was a rather low tech device that disabled the starter. They were installed on all of the cars, and there was an attempt made at the point of sale to get the customer to pay for the device. Those that did not purchase it would just have the device disabled. Over time resistance would build and one day your car wouldn't start. Occasionally the customers put two and two together and force the dealership to pay for the removal but most of the time the customer ended up paying.
I bought a used car from a dealer back in Dec 2019. I was going to be paying cash for the car, from an insurance settlement of my previous car which was totalled. The settlement was $8,200 and I was NOT going to finance any amount more on any car I bought.
I spotted the car I wanted, it was listed at $6,995. I went to the dealer and asked for an out-the-door price. A few minutes later they came back with an OTD price of OVER $10K. I nearly fell on the floor laughing, They had a ton of bullshit addons and fees. I told them I had a payoff of $8,200 and if you can't sell me the car for THAT price, I'm done here.. They said they couldn't so I walked.. I'd barely gotten to my rental car and the salesmanager caught me and asked would I buy the car at $8,200 total? I said yes.. One of the bogus items on the car was this weird security thing. Since I wasn't paying the $495 for it, they could just remove it.. They refused, so the damn thing is still there, with me NOT paying the $49/mo
service charge. What makes me mad is the fact that this bullshit device, I believe
causes the car to start beeping the horn at odd times, and is VERY annoying when I stay in a motel and all the sudden, at 3am, the car starts beeping..
Go get ‘em! Civilly, of course they’ll settle out of court to save face but there should be criminal repercussions. I’d be interested in the stat attorney general’s take on the matter. I hope you’ve reached out to them as well.
Another of Bill Gates money-makers to finance DEPOPULATION.
This video popped up randomly. I'm glad it did because 1) I live in Houston and have friends with GR Corollas 2) I'm in the market for one 3) The Antigravity battery info is awesome! I need one for my R32 GTR.
These are in other makes of vehicles as well. Found one in my 2017 GMC.
Non car person here, very grateful for your explanation on the anti-gravity battery! I definitely didn't think you meant the battery was floating around like water droplets in space, but I was completely baffled by what it DID mean. I'll even accept the "silly non-car people" laughs... I'm sure if you heard some of my inner thoughts/questions when I was watching that last video, you'd be wondering how people like me don't break every single vehicle we come into contact with. It's a valid point ... I often wonder the same thing. 😅
Good luck with the resolution to this whole ordeal!
Me too! , Glenn Beck video said antigravity transportation will change everything. My car is 24 years old. Dread buying a new used one!
That is a brand I have never heard of until now. What state is that ?
put the sim card in a phone, see what network it was registered to then contact the network and see if you can see how active (or not) it was and if there is an activation or deactivation date.
As an installer of these units I’ve done this just to see. It doesn’t show much. It’s a receive only SIM card with no data The sim is only there to more accurately triangulate the location if it’s in a sketchy location. Say in a metal building or garage where gps doesn’t work.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785it can’t be a receive only sim, every cell device needs to both transmit and receive even just to get connected to the cell network. Plus if it really only receives data what is the point? It wouldn’t help them with tracking the vehicle which is why they install it in the first place.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785 The SIM card is used to connect to the cellular network so that the unit can report its position. GPS coordinates are useless for tracking if there is no way for the tracking device to tell anyone its position.
If it can't send the car's location, what use is it as a tracker? Are the movements of the car stored locally for a dealer to read later?
@@rodgersrcaviation2785it's an M2M sim. It can only send/receive data similar to an iPad. It can't send/receive calls or texts. It still has an assigned number especially if the telco still has a legacy backend that still relies heavily on assigned phone numbers.
I worked for two of the largest dealerships in DFW. Being shady is the rule at a dealership, not the exception. Everyone lies with every breath they take.
And if they aint lying they are dreaming up new ones.
Any insight on WHY these dealers would install their own GPS?
@@aliannarodriguez1581 Yes. A third party company installs them at little to no cost to the dealer. The dealer tries to sell them with the vehicle for $499 or whatever along with the other crap they put on the sticker like under-body coating, window tint, locking lug nuts, fabric protection, or whatever other crap they think of. If they DO get the customer to pay anything towards it, they then pay that third party a small flat fee or a small percentage of the take. It's just another source of high mark-up crap they try to push so they can line their pockets.
There is no other motive than that. They are not getting a better insurance rate because they can find cars stolen off their lot, or whatever other bullshit sales pitch points they tell you while trying to get you to pay.
The antigravity battery statement had me rolling! I have one in my Supra and love it! But yeah, my non car friends always find it funny when I tell them about my "antigravity" battery LOL
Me too. In my '93 MkIV.
I have them on 2 of my motorcycles and they are great
I’m not gonna lie when I heard antigravity I rolled my eyes. Now that you’ve explained it, that’s actually a good idea for a product and I’m now looking to buy one
I would never trust a gps tracker from the dealer, or any remote disabling device. I have to be the only one with access to it.
What if I told you most new cars come with a factory installed system that the manufacturers can see. Think on star. Ford sync and so on.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785 1) I don't buy fords 2) anything that goes farther than navigation I would disable.
Also this is such a troll comment. The topic is about dealerships installing trackers in vehicles. So that the dealership has access to the Data
@@venomousninetails Not trying to to troll just making people aware. Gps tracking isn’t new. Manufacturers have had this ability since the early 2000s. Additionally I would like to ask are you the only one controlling your tracking data on the cell phone u tote everywhere. It’s being tracked even when u tell it not too
@@rodgersrcaviation2785 Perfect reason to not buy a new cloud connected car
Not everyone is paranoid.
We live in a digital world. Get used to it.
Man I'm sorry you got racist comments last video. Nobody likes people messing with their property. I watched the first video out of interest in tuning and privacy and this action by the dealer would mess with both. Do you think it could be the dealership equivalent of a card reader. An individual working at a dealership could sell that info to car thieves.
Yeah. Someone in the previous video said that a tech was doing exactly that - telling his buddies when an owner was gone from home, etc.
If there's a way there is a criminal who will exploit it.
He probably likes egg roles more than his car.
@@lawndogmoon2*egg roll, more proof that racist people are idiots
Where are all these racist comments people were talking about? I have not seen one. Are you crazy?
Stop it lowlife bigot!
I bought a used car and they tried to slip that $500 "fee" in for Lojack. I told them I never asked for it, didn't want it, and to take it off. After seeing your first video, I went and checked my OBD2. Sure as shit, they installed one and left it there. To add to that, after I signed papers agreeing to buy the vehicle, they kept it another two weeks because the adaptive cruise wasn't working and they promised to repair it before delivering it to me. They had plenty of time to take it off, but left it installed. I'll be taking it off this evening. Not sure if there's anything illegal in what they did. They're a dealership in NC and I live in SC.
So I actually sent your first video to my contact at a Toyota dealership. He said it happens for two reasons. 1. Bad credit situations or a high cost vehicle. Some banks require it. Some vehicles get it automatically because they’re expensive and can be targeted for theft or no return test drives. 2. Warranty. They check for top speeds and if you were ever on a track. They can use that info against you. Tell you that “these new cars can tell us all that info”. Most people buy it and pay up. He also said if you were given/bought an extended warranty there is a higher chance they put one in. They might not want their customers to know they’re being watched…
15000 dealerships just had their software hacked. Think on that for a second. This is some serious BS.
I am spitting up my coffee on the commentary on Antigravity batteries. I have many of them in motorcycles and a very high dollar one in my Sprinter Van and I love them. Their Bluetooth monitor is awesome as well.
Their jump packs are shit. After a couple years of only being used to charge small devices I found mine to have swollen and cracked the case. If 15# makes that much difference in your car's performance go on a diet and take a good dump before you race.
Definitely spiked my interest in them. I thought he saw Agm on a battery and said anti gravity. Didn’t even know they exhausted lol
I bought a used Nissan Frontier a couple of years ago from a "used" only dealer. They made me pay $548 for this in finance after we already inked the deal! I told them I didn't want it. They claimed I had no choice. I came home, removed it and threw it away. I wonder how many years they've been pulling this scam?! WTF Bro?!
thats when you tell them see ya, not buying it form you.
@@leftyo9589yep
As long as u don’t miss a payment they prob won’t ever know u removed it. But if they look and see it’s gone it may be an issue. Depends on how your contract was worded.
Additionally. Where there is one there is normally two. I’m an installer of these units. Normally a wired in one is installed for u to find. And an additional fully standalone(wireless). Unit is installed also. Will be a black box A little bigger than a pack of cigs. Hidden much much better than the first unit. You can hide them anywhere in the vehicle. They fall behind panels and under consoles so well they become impossible to find if u don’t know they there.
With the 500 buck plus fee they charged u. I’m almost certain both went in. The wired and wireless units only cost 100-125 dollars each. So 2 units is 250 max 100% mark up makes it 500. And it’s a 100 to install them both the math says u probably still being tracked man. Sorry for the news
I am a non-car person, and I approve of this video!
Also didn't America instate a law, that states that any Private Person, or Company owned Vehicles, that it is illegal to have a GPS Tracker on the vehicle unless the Company or Private Person has Approved of the installation?
If the car has it pre-installed, then it should be removed before handing it over to my knowledge.
Dealerships have been pulling this for YEARS. I bought a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado new from a dealer in February of 2008, and discovered a GPS tracking device on it shortly thereafter. I ripped that shit out as soon as I figured out what it was and threw it right in the trash.
Should've got a small power source and FedEx to Russia.
@@kennethboyer2338 my first thoughts were “wonder if there is a way the SIM card to used run up a bunch of fees for whoever installed it?”
@@kennethboyer2338 North Korea would disagree with you.
Thank you for covering this, and sharing your experience.
Car companies love selling data.
That includes your phone data, not just 'driving' data.
Be well, and again, thank you.
Yea, and communist governments love to have absolute control over its people.
I worked at a dealer. The reason these are installed are for several reasons. Technically the dealer owns the car before you do so they can do what they want. But they get a discount or it may be required by the insurance company they have to install them. So as soon as they come off the truck they automatically get installed for anti theft and insurance reasons and is usually done when they inspect the car as required by the manufacturer before they are allowed to deliver it. When they sell the car they will try to sell you the GPS protection since it's already installed and make a profit off of it at a wide margin to pay for all the others. However if you don't buy it, it's just another cost and expense to remove it again. It actually costs more to remove it than the unit costs assuming the GPS manufacture allows it to be registered to another vehicle. So they leave it in and let the service for that unit expire without registering it to you unless you paid for it. The dealer does not want you to know this because it can now be defeated easily if criminals know this. It also shows that dealers try to sell this to customers to cover an expense they have to do business. The actual low cost of the hardware to the dealer would also shock you compared to what they charge you retail and the GPS manufactures also don't want you to know this. It's actually the result of GPS makers, insurance companies and dealerships working together in effort to maximize profits for each of them.
Technically the bank that floors their inventory owns the car...not the dealer.
Wrong in this case. The car was never on the dealer's lot or in its inventory and the buyer was present the day it was delivered to the dealer. Whatever is going on here, the dealer needs to volunteer the truth about it right up front before the purchase is made. The fact that this is being hidden from the buyer and that the dealer is obviously lying when confronted about it are huge red flags that the dealer realizes buyers would NOT want to have this installed if given the choice. There is no good excuse for this and it needs to stop. NOW.
@@paulm749 The car was on the lot. They are required to do "predelivery inspections" to make sure wheels are bolted on, wash it, peel off the shipping martials, install loose items, inspect for damage, stuff like that before it is sold. The truck delivered it to the dealer and most likely the dealer ordered it and at this point it's not paid in full yet. Now perhaps knowing that the dealer had this car on the way it's possible that he agreed to buy it. But it's very rare that the customer has ordered it AND purchases it in full before it was delivered. The only time that usually happens is for fleet companies and such. But you can also have "courtesy" deliveries and that's when you buy the car outright and the factory ships the car to a dealer you request it sent to. In that case the dealer does not even order the car.
@@davestevens4193 That's assuming the dealership uses a bank for that. Most do. But many don't and actually own the inventory.
I call bullshit.
Glad to see u standing up on principle. Hope the readers in here learn something.
from memory he discovered it because it was draining his battery, one would call it sabotage as it had a negative effect on a vehicle he purchased new and paid cash
so i found one a couple years back in a car i bought for mom. it was simply down to the fact that I have big feet and the installation being exceptionally shit that i discovered it on day 3 of having the car. when i stopped boiling i went and disconnected the thing, and found that the thing had a battery backup. it wasn't until i had the thing in hand, removed a small cover and moved a small switch located behind it that the led finally stopped blinking.
obviously called the dealer, speaking first to the sales chick, followed by a manager and they both fed me basically the same tale which was that it's cheaper and easier to just place them in all their vehicles as part of a NVI/PDI but the units aren't activated or transmitting until they are needed to be, for any of a few reasons they gave. i started to boil over again so i left it there, i had way exceeded the amount of shit i can handle in one day. plus i knew i wasn't going to get them to own upto anything. i went back through the paperwork as well, nothing about any monitoring or tracking. not even in the copy of the ticket for the pre-delivery inspection. oh and like yourself there was never any financing done, cash sale. i still have the thing and have tried looking up any and everything printed on in it and can't find anything. google image search tells me it's a gps tracker, and mostly lists links to alibaba type sites that have similar units up for sale.
my sister had picked up the same make/model from the same dealer the year prior, checked hers - nothing. a neighbor several houses up had the same year/make/model and from the same dealer but purchased 4 or 5 months earlier, again - nothing. so weird shit going on all around. but a ton of similarities i noticed in your story to my own so thought I'd share.
You on a watch list somewhere?
Possibly installed becoming you paid cash.
I'm wondering if a government agency, FBI, CIA is involved. Possibly you got on one of the subversive lists, like speaking up at school meeting, your posts, any groups you like or belong too, what business you’re in, or trips you take, one of your acquaintances or friends, , or even possibly your church. I don't anything past them anymore.
Take it out, glue a magnet to it, and leave it underneath any random railroad freight car. Let them track -that-.
Apparently you were so mad you forgot where the return key on your keyboard was! 😮
Welcome to 1984 sheeple
Exactly!
Auto dealers nothing but sleasebag crooks from the beginning. Not happy making a fair profit, lie and steal from customers. Delivery , set up, detail, tax, inspection, showroom prep, say nothing about maintenance and repair scams.
Along with fahrenheit 451 no?😊
Still bummed that it is no longer 1884 sheepie?
Orwellian Consumerism.
I'm a computer/electronics guy here. I'd just like to throw a few things out there for people to think about. Those devices can probably be bought for a few dollars each, in bulk. Also, it would probably take an experienced installer about 60 seconds to install it. You "uninstalled" it in just a couple of minutes with one hand! Some other reasons why they might be installed: A data broker could sell the tracking info on to other companies, and to the government. The data would be tied to the owner of the car title, and when combined with other data points, say from Facebook, or Google, or your cell provider, it could tell which family member is actually driving the car - and often who is in the car(friends, family, etcetera...). And for the conspiracy minded: Why was it installed where it was? All a GPS tracker would need is power. But this was connected to the cars OBD port, right? All that telemetry data... But you said Toyota's already have telemetry data built in, right? But a device like this could be used to limit the amount of mileage the vehicle could be used for, right? A device like this could be used to make your vehicle inoperable if your social credit score falls below a given point. A foreign actor(say, China?) could take out a very large swath of private vehicles in the US, causing major havoc. A political party in the US could do the same thing to people in particular states, also causing major havoc. This isn't just a GPS tracker, this device would give the user of the device complete access to the cars computer system, and all that that entails. At least potentially.
Lol ok.. don't need China. Your very own government hates you.
You know just enough about vehicle electronics to be very wrong about specific important details.
@@patx35 And what details are you saying that I'm "very wrong" about? And please be "specific".
@@siliconpenguin there's a philosophy term called Occam's razor, where generally the most simple explanation is the most likely. The GPS tracker connects to the OBD2 port for communication to the Powertrain Control Module, or PCM. From there, using standardized protocols and commands (keeping the explanation simple), it would obtain information such as vehicle wheel speed, throttle application, brake applications, etc. This is combined with the tracker's onboard accelerometer and gyroscope to record the driver's driving behavior. This data has been sent to data analytics agencies, which is known to be resold to parties such as insurance agencies. A common used case is adjusting the insurance rates based on perceived driving behavior, and denying claims due to "bad driving". This is the same thing as the OBD dongles you can use willingly, except this one is installed without your consent.
Devices like this are only capable of reading broadcast data, not able to send commands. Furthermore, commands received by vehicle modules are fairly limited, especially with the vehicle in motion. Unless there's a horrible design oversight, devices can't just tell the car to floor the engine and swerve into traffic, or disable the brakes on the freeway. Furthermore, making a product with a secret backdoor is an extreme legal liability with very little benefits, especially with much easier and safer ways to immobilize repossessed vehicles. What about hardware faults? Sure, try shorting out the CAN bus network while driving. At best, the dash would light up like a Christmas tree, and everything on the network would default to limp-home mode, with basic vehicle functionality still working. At worst, you lose engine power and maybe power steering (cough cough Ford and GM), but the driver can still pull over and stop the vehicle. It might be the next stupid BS since the discovery of broken Ford taillights causing the truck to not start, but not a national havoc level concern.
@@siliconpenguin Lovely, I made a well developed argument, and automod deleted it. Another attempt.
This is just identical to OBD2 dongles insurance companies would offer for "cheaper rates", but without your consent. There are no way dongles are able to send dangerous commands to a vehicle, especially while it's being driven. There are far safer ways to immobilize a repoed vehicle without having the CAN bus. And flooding the network with garbage, or shorting it out wouldn't cause the vehicle to crash.
Imma go ahead and guess this will be covered by Steve Letho in the coming days also
Hope so.
Letho's videos about car dealers selling data is exactly why this caught my attention...lol.
Thanks for the update! Not a car guy, but am a tech guy. This kind of surveillance BS really annoys me...
Become pro-active, teach others
My buddy bought his daughter a brand new Hyundai and her car battery immediately kept dying long story short she had a tracker on hers.
I doubt a cell phone could drain a car battery 😂
I'm following this saga like a Corolla I'm tracking with the hidden GPS.
Sounds like your Lawyer might be making bank on a class action lawsuit if he can find other people in the same boat as you.
No honestly they don't have a case at all it was determined that Banks as well as dealerships that deal with loans have a right to track their vehicles.
@@Odayian420he paid cash for the car, no bank involved. Try again buster
@@jonahkrompart it's not the bank that actually installs them they get installed on any car on the lot. It's faster and more economic for them not to pull the cheap made gps. When they buy and gross they probably pay maybe $10 per unit.
@@jonahkrompart Texas passed the law a while back and that they are able to put them on the cars. It was in the news but then some other BS happened and the News cycle changed. I remember seeing it on the news.
It started from the banks requiring the ability to track these vehicles that they are putting loans on. So car dealerships install it on any car when it comes on the lot. Most mechanics at a minimum make close to 30 an hour at a dealership. It just cost more to pull the cheap unit to pay somebody to do it then it is to leave it on. He didn't have to see the paperwork on it because he never went through the bank loan so it probably was not disclosed if it was it's probably in the fine print somewhere on the contract.
seeing the baby seats in the back reminds back in 2003 when I bought my 1st Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8. Driving a Rally car with kids in the back. My kids grew up on Evo's from 2003-2012 then I got out of the Rally Car game. Miss my Evo's to this day, not just the car itself, but the wonderful drives with the kids in the back and hearing the kids say "Dad do that again" haha. Priceless. Enjoy your GR and don't get too caught up on the petty stuff.
I'm hooked. I wanna know what happens now.
Me too
Nothing.
Expect a cash settlement with a non disclosure agreement. This means *crickets*.
@@charlesyoung7436 Expect nothing to happen. The seller most likely has the device in the sales contract / purchase agreement wording buried somewhere that the customer agreed to, when they signed it. Especially if it was financed through the dealer....
Even if only "one person" at the dealership has access to the GPS data, that's one MORE person than I'd like tracking my every move, thanks!
My best guess is they are selling the information. Funny that a 50-year-old joke still holds true. How can you tell a car dealer is lying? His lips are moving.
Meghan Trainor even made a song about it. 😂
You’re being naive.. They are cooperating with law enforcement of course..
When you finance the car, you are actually not the owner until you have paid off the loan and the lender has a security interest in the car such that you would not be able to remove the gps tracker/kill switch without that lender/owner's permission.
He said he paid for the car, no loan. @@Group_Anonymous
@@Group_Anonymoushe paid in full.
The thought that people actually believe your battery is Anti gravity is not surprising ! Common sense is blatantly not common.
Common Sense today is a Super Power. 🦸♂️
Give it back to the dealer where the sun don't shine lol.
Make it part of the lawsuit. 😂
_"Your honor. My client is asking for $4.5 million in punitive damages and... uhm... to shove the tracker up the dealers back door."_
Don't give it to the dealer, they'll just fit it in a different car.
no no no no no. It is physical evidence. The key thing is to not handle the SIM device without using gloves and to preserve it in a plastic baggie so that any fingerprints don't get removed.
Sue the manufacturer of the device for damaging your battery and car. Your lawyer can help you with that.
😂 The "anti-gravity" battery comments! That's funny stuff. I'm no car person and even I deduced it was the name of the brand when you talked about the jump start function... Lol
oh btw your video popped up on my "new to you" tab. 👍
I don't have a GR but have a 2022 Corolla hatchback. Had it for a year and the dealer really was pushing for the Lojack. Told them I did not want it and if it was installed, to uninstall it! Multiple times!! I saw your video and decided to look at mine. Sure enough there was. I instantly pulled it out!!!! Unfreakin believable!!! I smell a class action law suit!! I will be following you to find out what happens. Thanks for sharing your video.
I factory ordered a last call challenger, watched them take it off the truck, peel the shipping plastic off, test drive it for 3 miles, then park it. Go to sign the final docs and hand them the check, oh, no theres a 2k fee for the SWAT tracker that we installed. Im like dude, im about to reach across this table, there is no tracker, nor did I agree to one, this was all discussed upfront with the manager...
They think they are smart and the general public "be STUPID" - so what did the lawyer say? If the car is paid for I'd tell them that you don't do business with shady a-holes.
@JasonBourne-hu1oxHOW do they do it?
Anthony, I appreciate you making these videos. Thank you! I would never have guessed that the bald-faced hubris to invade consumer's privacy had gotten this bad. There oughta be a law against that! I'm sticking to buying old cars for as long as I can!
Well I'm now curious to see how all this turns out.
thanks to your video... i found the reason why my lightly used car battery was getting weak. found a GPS dongle similar to yours
We bought an armada and it had an "Elo" GPS tracker installed. They pitched it as an added feature. So I could track my vehicle. I left in on for a bit, but it does store a LOT of very accurate location based data. I took it out.
This is crazy for me because we found that EXACT tracker in our 2022 Hyundai Veloster N. we've since removed ours as well.
Very interesting... It's a Phi-LL-ips Connect - Arrow QG VI, not Philips the giant tech company and they specialise in fleet tracking. What's extra interesting is that it has GPIO and UART connectors (data in/out that is computer smart designed to talk to ecus/bcms by looks) which is not on most of their stuff and this seems a special unit not featured on their main page and took me a little digging to find info from FCC report filings on it..... I'm wondering if it is US dealer related or if people have found them elsewhere and what the GPIO and UART is being used for as it is lots cheaper and easier to not have all that and they could piggy back it on lots better spots than the OBD.... Wonder if its some Toyota diesel gate stuff where over the air they are changing tune/emissions or if it is something else where it is collecting more driver inputs for AI training or similar...... Either way this was a great video and find 👍 love to know what else you find about it.
Many good data recovery specialists or Pen testers can dump and read the hex off of those modules via the UART and GPIO.
Hello. I’m an installer of these units so I understand how they work quite well. U sir have a very good eye. But. They haven’t figured out yet how to use these units to communicate with the ecm and bcms. One because of the multiple different protocols the manufactures are using for communication and normally when u install something that tries to talk back it turns the dashboard Christmas tree in because of language on the communication lines it’s unfamiliar with. They are connected via the obd2 port because that’s the quickest and easiest place to access 12v and ground. Be advised. We have newer versions now that are about the size of a pack of cigs and are standalone units. No wiring Way easier to hide. And as of now nobody is finding them because there’s no additional wiring to tell on itself with.
@@rodgersrcaviation2785How does a standalone unit without wiring get power? GPS and cell communication require significant power. Any built in battery wouldn’t last more than a few days or at best a week or two.
@@Sashazur so with today’s modern battery tech. The wireless units transmit for 3 yrs before service is needed. The units themselves don’t need very much power at all. They pull less than .01 of an amp
Wtf?! Got me checking my car too rn!!
did you find one? i am gonna check mine... kia
I found one in my car a couple of months ago completely by accident.
I was installing a dash cam and I wanted it to have power only when the car is 'on', and my 12v power ports (which used to be called cigar lighters) are always on. I got a piggyback fuse holder (add a circuit) and took the kick panel off to expose the fuse box, and I saw an object in there that did not look right, held in place by two zip ties and wired into the fuse box (just had the positive lead wrapped around one fuse leg before the fuse was crammed back in). Not even up to the standard of the job I was about to do!
I removed it and looked it up (Passtime Trax 6A) and it is indeed a gps tracker intended for dealers to use on customer cars. I bought my car outright, for cash as they say (even though there was no actual paper involved), so the dealer has no more interest in this car. I bet it was installed by the original dealer when it was new, not the used car dealer I bought it from.
Thanks for these videos. My sister sent me this and I just found on my '23 4 Runner
Thanks for the follow up, it's very interesting to see how things were interpreted in the last video by some people and how shady the response was from the dealer. Will be subscribing to see how it plays out.
I found one in my 2023 Tacoma, took it off and threw it in my junk drawer in the garage. The dealer never told me it was there nor did they charge me for it
Dealer: _"This dude doesn't use his car very much. He just drives forward a foot, stops and backs up randomly."_ 🤔
[Assuming the GPS has a micro battery backup]
They are making money on selling your Data to credit report companies
Not a car girl, so definitely not a car guy, LOL. Your previous video about finding the tracker was pushed to me yesterday by YT. It was in the top line of videos on my home page (as was this one). I'm guessing YT featured it because the day before I had watched some videos on OBD2 scanners. So, at least one reason why it went viral is courtesy of YT. But I am grateful to YT and you because I had no idea this kind of surveillance was going on - thanks!
Me too! I am going to take a big burly car guy with me when I buy my next car.
The update I've been waiting for!
Same here
Most probably used to switch on you engine service required indicator, the first place most people will go is there dealership, in the UK is costs $125 just to look at the O2 port.
That’s seems a little daft, it can be achieved without spending money on the module, the monitoring software and the installation time.
The service interval can be set up in the vehicle’s ecu software and can be selected to be based on either fixed period (ie, mileage intervals or any defined period of time, such as every 12 months) or variable frequency which combines mileage, time period and type of usage based upon rpm, load and throttle input data.
The latter will return shorter service intervals if the vehicle is thrashed (driven in a spirited manner😂) and if it gets a lot of in city driving where it spends a lot of time idling and doing short trips that don’t get the oil up to working temperature, compared to a vehicle that sees a lot of gentle highway driving and a majority of longer trips.
The variable option is generally better from a maintenance and longevity standpoint.
Either way, there’s absolutely no requirement to add a module such as this to “turn on the service indicator,” unless you’re suggesting that the dealership is intending to do it to gain income through performing unnecessary OBD scans.
If that’s the case it’d be interesting to keep one of these units powered up for an extended period off the car, log it’s input traffic from the cell receiver and it’s output to a ghost OBD port.
Mmmm, that might be an interesting wee project….🤔
I don’t disagree with you that OBD scans are massively overcharged in the UK, which is why I have my own OBD scanner, they’re not expensive but the simpler ones don’t necessarily give access to all available data.
Even the fully featured pro-level ones aren’t too badly priced if you offer full scans to your neighbours for around £30 a go. I paid for mine that way and it only took about 3 years ten years ago.
I’m disgusted to hear people are making comments that are racist. This is huge car news. This guy is helping us and putting himself out there for the world to see. Thank him not say negative things
Those kinds of comments are unwarranted regardless of what kind of video he makes. Completely unacceptable.
STFU Karen, worry about the info.
I didn't see any racist comments yet, hopefully they have been reported and removed. People are unbelievable.
Its all about criminal s GREED, nothing more
Look people... Racism is a belief that a certain race or races are inferior or deserve inferior treatment. That's what racism is, and it's horrible, and it should be stamped out with a vengeance.
What's something that is NOT racism? Telling a lame joke like insinuating that a dealership might have put a GPS tracker on a car because an Asian bought it. Is it crude? Sure. Is it tasteless? Sure. But it is not racism. Nothing about it implies that the teller of the joke actually thinks Asians are inferior or deserve inferior treatment. Some of you social justice warriors have good and valid points, but some of you need to lighten the hell up.
This is very interesting. You should have your local TV stations do a report on this. Under the supervision of your attorney. I would guess myself, that the insurance companies are involved in this. many years ago, back in the 80's. An insurance company offered and paid their employees to outlaw radar detectors. they were paid 50.00 to do so. The insurance company would greatly raise your rate if caught speeding.
Thanks for clarifying about the battery. I AM a car guy, but am more likely to be messing around with a Studebaker than anything modern, and had never heard of a battery like that.
How evil? Maybe its just me but it seems the world is forfeiting their freedoms for a $1.98. On one hand you want to hold someone accountable, but I imagine someone is getting bank for stealing one's driving behavior without your consent. I would find out the SIM data to find out the "Who" and sue them and the company they work for maximum damage. You're fortunate that "no harm happened yet" but this is a scenario that can turn evil fast. The offenders know where you live and know when you drive your car so it would easy to steal your car. You said your car is paid for so you're more as risks for vehicle loss. Your lawyer knows bests but I would have the dealer replace the vehicle with a non-tracked one because they compromised your safety.
These idiots have been programmed by social media norms to give all their info mindlessly and in turn zero privacy is coming. I never have had a social media account because I am smarter than 98% of idiot Americans.
Nothing is going to come of this. I doubt you could find a single new car now that can't track you, especially since most if not all receive OTA updates....
Yeah the lawyers are the ones making bank.
Regarding insurance tracking driving habits, never download an insurance app to your phone unless you want to be tracked and targeted for higher rates
I like,good thinking
Absolutely true they track your driving habits and let’s say you swerved to not hit an animal on the road they will raise your insurance plan. Onstar I think it’s called does the same thing. Avoid these because your rates will go up!!! 🆙
@@DonelleWeaver Happened to a friend. Hard brakes to avoid a deer followed by a $35 per month increase. Insurance company determined he was doing 49 in a 45 and therefore speeding as well.
It depends, if you really are a safe driver your rates can go down; like most swords, this one is double edged. For a vast majority of people, I'm sorry, they are aggressive expletives who can't follow a speed limit to save your lives, don't pay proper attention to the road and in come cases try to run other vehicles off the road and cut them off because they drive like they have a vendetta with everyone else on the road.
So what you are saying is that they have been invading your privacy for over a year. I wonder if any of the cell phone companies would tell you if that SIM has an active account and who is paying the bill?!?
Put the SIM card in an old cell phone. You might be able to get information as to who the carrier might be and other info on the card.
Couple of things? How does every mobile phone since android 1 track gps without data or credit on your phone? How does it then still track gps once the simcard is removed, on say a preloaded google map drive? The gps follows as normal as you move, with no SIM card!
Well?
lol 😂
@@HrosseyI pointed this out in an earlier comment. It’s 2024. Onstar ford sync and all the other manufacturers already have active gps tracking and have since the earl 2000s
@@Hrossey They have GPS receiver chips in them. GPS works using signals transmitted by satellites. The GPS receiver in your phone uses those signals to determine your location, altitude, and speed by sophisticated triangulation calculations based on the time delay of the signals from multiple (4+) satellites. The mapping software can only read the location data from the GPS chip. The only transmitters with GPS are the satellites and the ground stations that control the satellites. (Very high resolution GPS does use ground-based fixed location transmitters, but you'll probably not using them for driving. They are intended for local ground surveying.) If you want to learn more about GPS, there are many videos available describing the details of how it works and how it has changed over the years. The details that go into ensuring the signals are accurate are amazingly complex.
GPS tracking devices/software (Apple/Google maps) need a cellular network connection to transmit the location data and download updates. Since you pre-loaded the Google map, your phone doesn't need to access the map data via the cellular network. However, you won't be able to get updated traffic info (slowdowns, accidents, speed traps, etc.) if the phone can't connect to the cellular network. Also, the map app may still be logging your location data to upload anyway when you reconnect to the cellular network. It just needs to record 4 numbers (your latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) every second or so and temporarily store it in the phone's memory until it can be uploaded.
If the SIM is from one of the three major carries, you'll be able to tell which one.
Thanks for posting these videos. I just bought a used GMC Sierra 2020 SLT and after watching your video I went out and found the exact same type of OBD II GPS tracker installed. I’ve taken it out and if they contact me about it, they can have it back but right now it’s sitting on my garage workbench unpowered.
Test that Sim card in an unlocked device or even a hotspot to see if the data is working on it and then you’ll have a free data lol