Ga. man left stranded after he says dealer’s GPS device prevented his car from starting
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- Опубліковано 13 бер 2022
- Starter interrupt devices are used by dealerships to guarantee payments for auto loans. CBS46 Better Call Harry Investigation found Georgia doesn’t regulate this like other states.
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They wouldn’t pay till it hit the news 🤬. Shame on those people. I sure won’t buy there
sounds like sanipac
This the same thing happened to me 😒
Would you have bought there anyway. No point of saying you won't shop at a place you wouldn't shop at anyway.
Every one of the dealerships in Georgia use them.
Buy there if you want, or don't want.
If you buy a car from a lot, you have one.
Looks like a sketchy dealership anyways, i certainly wouldnt have financed with them to begin with, this is the kind of shady dealership that repo’s you car one day late on a payment, then charges thousands of dollars on top of what you owe to get it back.
I hope this man contacts the state attorney general. This should be criminal if the man paid off his car
Companies paid more in lobbying.
Georgia AG doesn't work for it's citizens.
1 hr min
This was 2 years ago
Great report ! Those devices should be disclosed both verbally and in writing.
They are...
How do you know they did? @@jaykoerner
The notice is buried in a mountain of paperwork and forgotten by the time it's paid off.
A better option is the notice and an expiration should be attached to the car's title. After it expires, any mechanic should be allowed to remove it.
And removed at the end of the term.
@@jaykoerner No, they actually aren't. Numerous people have called the dealerships on that nonsense and pointed out that they are NOT disclosed in the paperwork anywhere.
Carhop installs these. I'm a tow truck driver. Iv towed cars for this exact reason. Carhop sucks for this! Shut down a guy's car over $30 behind. I called them and bitched them out and made them turn his car back on. Didn't charge him anything and dropped his car back down.
You're a very understanding person with a big heart. Good on you.
@@meluk6991 thanks. It sucks when companies like carhop take advantage of people in tough spots. If it was a couple months behind that's when the repo order is usually issued but over $30....
Thank you
FACT, LIKE I BEEN SAYING, READ ALL OF MY COMMENTS, IT IS ALREADY ILLEGAL. IF ANYONE IS WITH THAT CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THEN HOW THE HELL IS IT NOT, KIDNAPPING? LET ALONE THIEF, DEALERSHIPS BETTER BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THAT CRAP, THEY COULD BE IN PRISON IN A BLINK OF AN EYE!!!!
what's a carhop?..
Profit is far more important than integrity. It takes a television reporter to make things right... how disappointing.
Kudos and a great job, Harry Samler!!
People keep voting pro-corporate, this is what you get.
They should face prosecution for this
If there's no law that says they must remove it then I'm sure there's also no law that says their home can't be flipped upside down by high powered construction vehicles.
People can’t never do the right thing without someone watching over them
Including the proper use of grammar.
As a Georgia native and Atlanta resident I can tell you the state of Georgia has some of the worst laws in the Country for protecting consumers when purchasing used vehicles. In the state of Georgia it is truly buyer beware. You don’t have much consumer protection when purchasing used vehicles in the state of Georgia. There is a used car lot every mile or two in the City. Used car dealers know all they have to do is put the car on the lot, once you drive away in it the problems are now yours. In GA Buyer beware is what my attorney once told me.
He didn't have to buy from that car lot and he also signed the contract stating the module will be installed. You sure missed a lot in your statement.
@@kcook8119 he also paid off his car 2 years earlier, so it should’ve been removed by the company. Farouk’s comment applies to this situation.
@@kcook8119 installed for a car that was paid off in cash...how dense are you?
@@kcook8119
Republican states no law protecting customers does some politicians also own used car dealership 😁😆
Georgia isnt Republican anymore... not since Brandon.
As a roadside service tech I run into this *ALL* the time. DAILY.
Zipcar, Flexcar, shade tree dealers with their badly installed trackers that drain the batteries and LastPass/Passtime disablers.
Anyone who drives a car from these companies or sellers: don't park in a weak cellular area. The device ups its power usage trying to get a signal to send its location, sucking a car dry in hours.
What happened here was a software update that polled all devices that still had power. Since the account on this one was closed the software 'disabled' it - and the car it was attached to. Sending an activation ping (you can find the LastPass software on Google Play and the iCrap store) would have done nothing because there was no account associated with the device.
WOW !! Thanks for the info
Thanks for the explaination!❗
Makes quite a lot of sense, thanks.
As opposed to the Google malware store.
US Auto is off of my list...........thank you.
I had a similar experience in California. A truck was in our shop for the same thing. It was a fleet vehicle a client bought for his maintenance crew. They took lunch, and when they got in the truck it wouldn't start.
I found a similar device and using the manufacturer's info my boss was able to contact three seperate entities and all of them denied responsibility.
One of them did call back later and demanded we return the gps equipment at our cost.
Two weeks later a contractor removed it for us but the main computer module was permanently damage and had to be replaced.
Well you know where to send the repair bill, or at least your customer does.🤬🤬
What? The main computer module should not have been permanently damaged by that device being activated. It is meant to temporarily disable the vehicle so that it can be repossessed without ANY additional work being done.
They had the attitude to demand the GPS back and to not pay the shipping costs **after** denying any responsibility? Wow. I'd tell them to eat shit, proverbially and literally.
@@johnmccallum8512 We did not remove the gps device, a contractor did it because my boss did not want to be liable for it. We only billed him for diagnosis and replacement of the main cpu module.
They demanded YOU the mechanic return the device at your cost, and when their tech came and removed it they BROKE THE ECSU?! That has to be illegal on multiple levels.
I know a friend who was stranded who had to spend the night in her car overnight because that device was turned on and couldn't start her car which was very dangerous. I would never buy a car from a car dealership that does that you never know the circumstances they just want that money they don't care about you.
Uh yea that's what doing business is all about. I can see you never been in business for yourself at any point in your life. SMDH
@@kcook8119 enjoy your day. To my point proven. Thanks.
@@bwortham565 The only people who have that in their cars are people with the absolute worst credit. If your buying at this kind of dealership its basically your last and only option for a car. But props to him for paying it off, i would go to the dealership on my last payment date and have them remove it when paying the money.
So you actually read in entirety the stack of papers when buying a car or house, seriously doubt that most people do just like App terms of service?
@@M.J.212 I sell new cars most people dont read everything but we are legally obligated to give you a clear breakdown of everything your signing. we also dont sell cars to people who's scores require this level of extreme supervision to buy a car. I've had bad credit some through sharing an apartment with a friend who ended up in a mental home. Who then broke back in after our lease was up cops were called i was never alerted damages sat on my score for a full two years before i was aware went from a 720 to a 470 had to rebuild walked / biked to work until i could build my credit and buy a decent cheap used car.
Georgia needs to get it together. They have the worst laws when it comes to protecting the consumers. Ridiculous
The laws are just fine. Taking responsibility when you sign the contract. That's on the consumer not the state.
Republican states 🤔🤔🤔
@@kcook8119 you just blamed that car owner for a device the dealership added. I think you have Stockholm’s syndrome.
@@mikeylikesit6588 yes I did. If he paid it off like he claims then he should have took it to the dealer to have the module removed.
@@Midwest.. Everything is awful now !
That's why when I buy a car, I ask if there is some sort of tracking device on the car. I purchased a 2011 Lexus IS250, and luckily, it was removed prior to purchasing the vehicle. Because I had purchased a vehicle from Carmax in 2011, I had a personal mechanic who checked it out before I purchased it, and he removed it shortly after I bought it. Carmax left it on saying that it was disabled since I paid cash, a bunch of BS.
Last time I bought a car from Carmax, three of the tires had low air pressure and one tire had a nail in it. This car was also delivered from one location to a closer store to where I live. In all that time they failed to check the tires when they said they did an inspection.
My family and I made them pay for an entire new set of tires after we DROVE the car back to their lot to make them see in person AND check the odometer. From there it was clear we barely even drove the car so the air pressure had to have been lower from the time they sold it to us.
CarMax sucks.
I’m a mechanic here in Atlanta I have a whole box of them …. Anytime my customers purchase cars I always suggest for them to let me remove them to prevent this from happening .they don’t turn off when the car is running they just don’t let your car start back up. It’s just cheaper for the car dealer to leave it in the vehicle than it is to remove it
How do I get mines off 😂 DEAD ASS
@@datgrllRITZA I can give you are number you can give us a call ..I’m over in Lilburn Georgia if you are currently paying payments if you remove it they can repo the car it’s part of the agreement but if you It paid off you can remove them👍
@@hellcatredeye-g6582 You can send the number cuz at this point idgaf bout the repo they can have this POS 😂
Hi, Loganville here. I just bought a car for cash and just activated the LoJack. Are those ok to have? It seems very useful with the geofencing.
'a change in direction:
I was in the middle of buying 4 vehicles from US Auto Sales for my company
'Guess what?
I hate car dealerships. They are all ripoffs, I’m glad I’m at a point where I can buy from an individual and not a rip lot.
never buy a car from a dealership unless the car's value is likely to go up like Porsche 911 gt3 rs
I hate dealerships too. I hate car salesman! In fact, I pay people $20 just so I can test drive their car just to get my own data on how each car or truck drives. People live talking about their cars too! These people will tell you the pros and cons of their car. 😁👍
We stopped trying to sell our used cars for cash. Nobody has the money to pay cash. They want to shop a package with financing included
Newer cars now have over the air updates and some features can be activated by a dealership. Talk about being connected and tracked. Turns out, even when you're doing everything right you can still get screwed.
wouldn't buy anything newer than 1990.
Difference is you are dealing with corporate not some low life dealer like this. My husbands armada has an opt out screen that comes up every time it’s started. This blocks or allows transmission of vehicle data
@@BusArch42He has to opt-out every time he drives? Why isn’t this a one-time setting?
Oh wait … if they made opting out a one time option, they can’t annoy owners enough to just let them opt-in to the tracking.
@@StolenJoker84 it might be able to be defaulted but that would require research and more energy than he wishes to expend.
@@BusArch42 Thats a fair response, and I get that from a users perspective, but my point was that the very first time your husband (or anyone, honestly) hit the “opt-out” button, that should have been it.
This is shady on the part of Nissan for it to ask every single time anyone gets in the vehicle to drive it.
My neighbour had one of those in his pickup. Dealer never took it out when the neighbour bought (and paid cash) for the truck. It shut the truck down about 400 miles from home during a snow storm. He had to have the truck towed home and then the dealer wanted to charge him for removing the unit. The judge awarded him $1000 over and above his costs. There are laws here in Canada as well and the dealer was so crooked that when he dies they'll have to screw him into the ground. That's also why I never buy a used car from a dealership. Got hosed once and said never again. I've always had good luck buying cars privately.
US Aito Sales has done this to many people.
Yes they have. Happened to my sister in law on her way to work on the middle of morning traffic on 400
@@tbrowwnnthey don’t turn the car off when it’s running only when you go to start it and you have been late for a few months
@@richards8872Unless you're this guy apparently
I'm glad that CBS46 got this man his money back.
I wondered how this could happen, then he said, "Georgia."
For a while, I worked as a mechanic at one of these dealerships and I installed these devices on the cars. it is a simple relay put in line with the ignition relay that when activated prevents the car from starting. Yes, you can look around under your dash and look for it. Most of the time they will be easy to find because they look out of place or the installation is sloppy. My dealership was good about removing them when the car was paid off. I even found one of these in a junkyard car when I was salvaging some parts.
they should do another episode on why the hell did that mechanic charge $223 to remove that device that only takes 15 min
Probably included the tow to the shop
A towing runs around 150$ depending how far the car is, so that sounds about right
If the mechanic did not immediately know that the device was there and had reason to believe that was the problem there would have been some diagnostic time involved in trying to find out what the issue is.
Can you imagine someone figuring out how to hack these and trap people in dangerous locations to rob them?
I could see that being an issue, but I don't think they have the capability to disable a car that's already on. That would kinda be even more super-illegal because of the potential accidents that could be caused, and it could be easily led back to the dealership that owns the device.
They leave these on the vehicle after its paid off the tracker does nothing for them so why waste their money removing them
Same thing happened to me! Same dealership! Had not missed a payment! Had a tow and mechanic bill. Had to call numerous times until finally getting reimbursed $600. Glad it worked out for you as well. But what a inconvenience!! Laws need to change!
There is a case for this being unconstitutional. These devices are actually invading the privacy of citizens. A case can also be made that these devices and the companies that use them are in violation of the 8th Amendment because of the excessive and cruel nature in which these companies are operating. The people of Georgia need to take this to court. Companies should not be allowed to operate with impunity, it's disgusting.
The bill of rights addresses the actions of the government and the people, not private parties. Nothing unconstitutional about it.
More than just that. Devices like these are extremely dangerous. And as someone with access to other’s GPS data, I can assure u that its very easy for people to abuse or leak that info. Not to mention its an electronic. All electronics can be hacked. I found out OnStar can be hacked. A hacker can follow behind you and listen to your entire conversation and can even shut ur car off and unlock your doors. That’s besides the point tho. GPS trackers on leased equipment should be illegal.
@@texasstuff1281 I just saw this response, and I stand corrected. You are right.
@@texasstuff1281 just should be illegal. It's too dangerous to allow a car to be stopped randomly.
Constitituonality only applies to government issues. This was between two private parties and he consented to it.
My local mechanic removed it for Free since it was simply connected to the OBD😂
Was it plugged into the OBD port, or attached/wired into some other part of the car's electronics?
@@georgegravette1132 My guess would be a second OBD port splice onto the original. But theres a good chance that it was literally plugged into the port. Either way it would not have been able to interrupt the car's ignition.
How is this legal to begin with?
The question isn't frame correctly. The question is, what would make this illegal? At it's core, what happened here was that someone purchased a used vehicle (the dealer is not franchise, so they can't sell new cars, that narrows it down to used cars), and the used car had aftermarket (not original) equipment that failed, and the failure disabled the vehicle. Lucky, the guy was only out small amount. I know someone who once purchased a used truck whose mechanical fan had been replaced with an electric fan. Once again, a used vehicle with aftermarket equipment. The difference was, in his case, the fan quit, overheated the engine and ruined it. So in his case, the failure of aftermarket equipment totaled his truck, because replacing the engine would of been more than the value of the truck. Nobody questioned the legality of the electric fan in the truck.
@@vivillagerThe fan isn’t secretly providing a company with private data so they can find your car whenever they want. It’s not a simple as “just a device”.
@@oldjarhead386, That's entirely different. The complaint made was that the device malfunctioned and disabled the vehicle. Now it's, the device is tracking, however there's no evidence provided by anyone that the device was actively tracking. If that's now what is being claimed, it would be best to substantiate that claim
@@vivillagerThe issue is that it’s a tracking device that the dealership installed (possibly without the buyers knowledge), the dealership did not recall the device, and that device failed, leaving the owner of the car stranded.
The issue is that this device should have never been there to begin with.
Another issue is that devices like this are able to prevent people from getting around in an emergency situation.
It’s one thing to have a GPS tracker on something you actually own. It’s something else to be able to remotely strand someone.
This guy had paid his car off years prior to this, and so the dealership no longer owned the car.
@@StolenJoker84, there's a few misconceptions here, I'd be happy to clarify. When we install a device, we don't do it with the buyer's knowledge, we do it with the buyer's consent. We get written permission. I assume that this buyer, like others before him, gave permission, in writing, for the installation of the device. The fact that the buyer called the dealership for help after the car stopped working supports my assumption. Also, generally speaking, we dealerships offer to remove the device at no cost to the buyer if requested within 2 years of completion their obligation. The reason why we limit it to two years is because over time records can get lost, misplaced, or stored away into archive. Without records, removal of the device can become more complicated, and complicated means expensive... on the dealer's part. Especially if the dealer must hire a third party because the buyer has moved some distance away. Here, the buyer made no mention of ever requesting removal until years later, after the device malfunctioned. The dealer cannot be held responsible for the device if the buyer never requested the removal.
The same happened to me
Cost over 300 just to get it removed.
I was stuck for 3 days
That’s one you. It’s a 5 minute removal
Thank you for helping this man and throwing light on the bs.
Wow it’s so scary buying a used car now. Makes me wonder if you paid cash would the tracker still be on it 🙃. Great consumer information
I would say yes because they could sell the data from tracking you.
@@trekie12cataz Nah, Google already has that market sewn up.
Not if you pay cash and remove it@@trekie12cataz
They could claim its a security device
@@trekie12catazyeah you are dense. They do not pay the monthly or yearly fee just to track someone only if it’s financed
I buy all kinds of cars from the auction and most of the time the communication of the car gets messed up from the gps that's left inside the car. They never pay to get the trash removed neither.
Worst part? If the media hadn't gotten involved that company would have probably sued him for damaging "their" GPS device.
my left ear loved this video, thank you
I paid my brand new jeep years ago. Now I'm wondering if I have a device.
Make sure you check.
Thanks for helping that man
Georgia's use of the word "laws" is abominable...a vulgarity of said statehood.
GOOD JOB HELPING THE MAN
As an installer of automotive electronics and a mechanic I have seen several of these in vehicles customers have had no knowledge of.
They know they just didn’t notice when signing all the paperwork
THE WORST! BEEN THERE DONE THAT
F US AUTO SALES
Me too!
Bro love that key chain chip clean and serene for multiple years!!!!
Funny thing is MOST DEALERSHIPS do this to prevent the car from being hidden during a repossession. They’ll claim you need to come in for a complimentary tune up or tire rotations or oil change and they remove it without you ever knowing.
Wowwwwww, thanks for letting us know.
Thank you my left ear is blessed with dialogues and right ear with background sounds
👏👏👏 good win for the lil guy
Yup, get the news media involved. Horrendously bad but deserved publicity generated.... That is when a business in the wrong decides to do the right thing. Typical.
Atlanta News First are heroes!!!❤😊🎉
It being on the car, the device may have received a signal or it may be defective and caused the no start. I had an alarm system with starter disable that did exactly that, a solenoid failed and caused it. So its hard to say what caused it, but this is what can happen with devices like this in the loop.
Deactivated or working, the Passtime device can fail just like any other computer module. If you're used car is paid for, I recommend removing it from starter circuit asap.
How can I put my story out with the news
That dealer should be charged with vandalism
Great reporting!
Glad to know what to look for and this also informs the bad guys
I had a problem something like that. I bought a used van and used it for quite a while but then it started cutting out on me and I couldn’t get it started from time to time. The dealership I bought it from had folded about a year earlier so I went to another place.
They looked it over and they found a weird device wired into the electrical system. They didn’t know what it was. They thought it might’ve been some kind of after-market security system. At any rate, at my request, they managed to disengage it and after that I didn’t have any trouble.
would be awesome if the sound was enabled when the lawyer was speaking.
Why would u buy from a dealership that does that anyway?
People don't know about it until it's too late.
If it a condition of sale it is fitted while finance owing the contract should also state it will be removed at sellers cost when paid off.
Remove that crap
Good for you 46!
This is news done right. Not a sensationalized story telling people how to feel about the latest story that’ll get the most clicks, but a story to shame shady dealings that will probably actually help people.
Respect🎉
As they say the its the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.Good on him for going to the news and making them reimburse him
Thats seriously dangerous
every car buyer can check the obd2 port if theres anything plugged in remove it'
Except it usually isn't plugged into the externally visible obd2 port. They put it behind the panel with a y-cable running to the port.
@@caulkins69 Nothing should be pluggwed into the port
@@bikeman1x11 I just explained to you why you wouldn't see anything plugged into the obd2 port. You'd have to remove the panel to find the tracker.
@@caulkins69 there is always something plugged into th port with anther obd on a dongle
Buy here, pay here, get screwed here!
And the hundreds who didn't get help to get the money back? And the hundreds driving around not knowing it is there and could turn off at any time?
That happens a lot. I was stranded nearly 70 miles from home. Mine was paid for and they forgot to take it out.
Way to go Harry.
File a lawsuit immediately
Oh hell no!
That's crazy
Damn, now i gotta check to see if Nissan is doing the same. It's one thing to track me, my phone does that for the government anyway, but to disable my car over one missed payment? Hell no, a car is a LIFELINE for most people.
An electronic device inserted into the vehicle with the express purpose of disabling the device. Ahuh, what's the shelf life of that device?
This becoming wayyyyyyy too common. How is this allowed?
Never have bought a car from a dealership and never will, and I even worked for a dealership for over a decade.
whoever edits these should try putting audio on both left and right channels not just one or the other
One day that business will be OUT OF BUSINESS
They are now went out of business a few months ago
@@Queendeewitdalocs Good for them. This is what happens when you treat customers badly
Could it have anything to do with 2g/3g being phased out?
Omg. No. All cars have that.
@@evanm9026 he means as in cellular network. In North America 2g is gone and 3g will be by the end of the year
Dealing with this issue right now. 4 months its been down and even after removing the tracking it won't start.
I've had one of these on my car before. It was the scariest thing in my life. I took the car back so fast.
It will be very dangerous if is in a middle of a highway then suddenly it he car stops due to the device the next thing we know a major accident happened at the said highway
Damn that's horrible
i just had a friend that bought a used truck it had a breathing machine on it and a tracker. and it was a nightmare to get it removed legally. removing the tracker was no trouble. to remove. the breathing machine was because DPS had to sign off on it. and they had to have someone in their department to remove it. once he got everything straight it took less than 5 minutes to remove both.
my left ear loved this
Lousy car dealership only in damn Ga
Good story, good outcome.
Disabling the vehicle like that is technically theft, home he takes them to court!
You really need to read the contract. Take it to a lawyer and later take the car to a mechanic to ensure the dealership isn’t spying on you (and selling your info to your insurance company!
They usually don't engage it if the car note is paid
My left ear loved this 😭
The government is going to be able to do this on vehicles 2030 and newer according to the new "infrastructure bill"
Shocking. Good to know he got a refund.
Coming your way soon - as of a few days ago in Europe, all new cars must have speed limiters fitted - yes, the men in black will be able to stop you exceeding the limit, slow you down or even stop you.
Installing crap like that should be ILLEGAL
Sue them plus all expenses.
The old Nice car's, 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
We have the right to transportation. We have the right to our property, and screw all of these companies that say you don't pay to own my product. You pay to lease it or to use it. That's just another fee to breathe. To leave uninformed that there is a kill mechanism installed and with a simple mistake your lifeline to a job and everything you maintain because of it is in jeopardy. Whether accident or malicious this device gives too much control to those that already have the majority of us in a corner.
Maybe time for class action lawsuit.
How is this not illegal as hell