Regardless of what it's actually there for, if it's tracking the cars movement and you didn't give permission for it to be tracking the car......it's an invasion of privacy.
Those Trackers can shut down your car as you are driving down the highway. Can you imagine what could happen? (Massive accidents, with lots of injury attorneys kept busy). I have the Title to my car, and one of those devices is on it. They stopped my car in my driveway. I can't find the device, but I will.
Oh, you better believe the dealer knows of it. I had a similar issue. One was found on my 2019 Corvette and 2016 RAM 3500. The RAM was bought in 2016 in North TX. Two years ago, I started having an issue with my RAM fuel gauge reading incorrectly, so I took it to the dealer to have it diagnosed. Ultimately, after a month and a half spent in the shop, 1 wiring harness, 3 fuel pumps, 3 gauge clusters, and misc electrical troubleshooting the service dept on a tip from another TX Ram dealer recommended they go check in the wheel well behind the liner, sure nuff. The tracker was found buried deep in the harness. The splices had been made and had started to corrode the harness where all the splices were made, causing a substantial drop in voltage to the fuel gauge system. Ultimately, they said it was a KARR tracking system. Something I had not been advised of or knew about.
Right, they are charging you for all kinds of unnecessary parts and labor, when they put the engine cut off Tracker in your car to begin with. This is being done to me right now, but I know that my car was remotely shut down.
You do not want a tracker of on the car (like LOJACK) for several reasons but most importantly; if your car is stolen YOU DO NOT WANT IT BACK.. The one thing that can be guaranteed is that the vehicle was abused by the criminal.. Insurance will fix the broken lock and cosmetic stuff but the hidden engine damage etc is all on you.. If its stolen its trash, period. Second reason is that there is no law enforcement agency in the country that will bother to track and recover a stolen car.. just doesn't happen.. The only time law enforcement will use it is when there is a major crime and they are trying to find out who was in the area at the time which can lead to a lot of innocent people becoming targets of law enforcement.. When it comes to tracking; Just Say No
Law enforcement will not track your vehicle. Toyota will, for one week with Safety Connect. If thieves know they will be tracked and possibly caught. They will not take car to begin with.
There was a news story in Canada about ppl tracking their vehicles with air tags to the shipyards. Cops wouldn't pursue. "On private property, blah, blah." One guy hired a private detective and found his previously stolen deluxe Tahoe in Saudi Arabia for sale for $80k. He finally got the shipyard to work with the police and get his SECOND stolen Tahoe back.
@@jilbertbya we have a really really bad problem with car theft in Canada. Particularly in Toronto through to Montreal where these vehicles are being shipped from.
Beware of the app...toyota sells your driving info to insurance companies. I found that out when my insurance renewed, and they had my exact mileage for my camry and my wifes corolla.
When you get the app and the only way you can get access to your data is PAY THEM A MONTHLY FEE, then the dealer gets a kickback when you do. Cha-ching!
my buddy bought a raptor, right off the truck. When they detailed it, they put in a lowjack like this and it fell out while driving because it wasnt put in right. Dealership tried to tell him he couldnt legally remove it lol. Lawsuit is pending. His lawyer found someone to prove the dealership is selling the info to insurance and other companies. I'm guessing the gps data can be used to sell things like mileage so companies can try to sell you tires and oil changes and what not. Car warranties lol.
How crazy awesome they found a way to find the insurance connection. Eff that dealer its coming off. every second it is on they are using it against you. Now the next step is taking apart all the computer modules to find any gps/wifi/bluetooth chips from the factory.
It bothers me because if they told me it was part of the deal I wouldn't care. I am not a speed demon when I was a kid. I always make good on payments too. The problem is I have heard they are never deactivated even after you do pay off the vehicle. You are not told about it so you don't even know. Thing is a lot of them are set up so if the battery on the device dies a 'kill signal' immobilizes the vehicle. Apparently 'that's your problem' once you own the car. Nothing like walking back to your vehicle after a fun day on a road trip to find out it's dead in the water because a device that 'doesn't exist' decided to sanction you.
Dude, get rid of the battery sucking, Stealership spyware GPS tracker! Just hide an AirTag somewhere in your vehicle (with its speaker removed) and you can keep an eye on your trucks location, for free.
I had one of those installed by my insurance, only caused problems, if I didn’t drive for a week my car battery would be dead. Instead of OBD2, on my VW they got 12V/power_on/ground from the headlights switch. After removing it my car battery didn’t die again. It’s easier just to hide an AirTag on your car, only you’ll know where it is and won’t affect your car battery 😉
Your biggest concern is who has access to this data. And what are they doing with this constant location tracking of your daughter and her car? You can bet that someone in benefiting from this financially or otherwise or they would not be spending money of the tracker and its installation, and data connect charges.
was this car purchased with cash? financed? leased? i think it's important to know that NOBODY in the USA can be tracked without their permission or without a court ordered search warrant.
Sure, unless the dumbass signs an agreement to be tracked and allow Toyota and their associates to use and sell their tracking information as they see fit. Including selling your driving records, hard acceleration or braking, parking in a bad part of town, parking outside, going to Mexico... or worse, St Louis, to your insurance company.
A lot of buy here pay here dealers equip the vehicles with immobilizer /tracker modules so they can shut down the car when they don’t receive the note payment.
I just checked my 2020 Prius. Thankfully it didn't have one but for anyone else checking a 2019-2022 Prius, the OBD 2 connector is White and the wire running to it comes straight out of the computer mounted next to it on the left. The total wire length is about 6-8 inches and it's a loosely wrapped bundle. Due to the design of the car the logical place to hide a OBD tracker is in behind the drivers side kick plate which is held on with one thumb screw. The only tool you will need to check for this device is a Phillips head screw driver..
Hack it so it has a “killer USB” function. Return it back to the stealership with a smile knowing as soon as they connect it up to a pc or their diagnostic tools, it will cause some damage.
$100 after market part and the dealer charges $500+ for it, to steal your data. But YOU have to pay a subscription fee to be able to see your data. And yes, the green light is on, bcuz it is always transmitting and will kill your battery.
You also signed up to allow Toyota to sell your data to whomever they like when you signed for your free telematics. So no, I don't need that, thanks. You know what you signed allows them to sell your driving information, where you drive and how you drive, and where you park, etc., to your insurance company? Or anyone else they see fit?
This isn’t over dealerships, as well as manufactures will come to the conclusion to design a low jack that you cannot take out of your smart vehicles and will be low jacked in such a way that will shut down your vehicle if needed to by sending a signal in case of person is out of control with the vehicle and stop police chase as well PS its coming
Technically any car dealerships brand does it. They are installed by others (probably from the company who gives the device) and they make a nice commission should you accept the service and device. It's a win win for the dealership and lowjack company. It also doesn't hurt if they leave it in. As if you normally would finance through the dealership and they can lowjack your car should you are behind on payments. More of an insurance policy on their end and if you signed on, they benefit it even more as you paid for the service they now can use for free.
Dealer’s are doing this for Repo purposes. There are case where a person misses a payment and the dealership via the GPS tracker disabled the car. There’s another instance where there was a medical emergency and the dealership disabled a car that was fully paid up on. Its not only an invasion of privacy, it is a severe safety hazard. It wont be long until these are fully outlawed and banned country wide, as many states have already amended how they can be used or banned them outright.
All cars have a factory gps already in the car... Thats how ur navigation & maps work, Etc.... The PROBLEM is the aftermarket gps trackers that r put in for no good reasons. Cars dont need any other trackers put in them, aftermarket!!!! They r up to no good, for sure. The factory installed gps will find ur car if u dont pay the loan. And it will find ur car if its stolen!!! The aftermarket trackers are to track U or to track Ur driving habits or whatever. But they r not to locate ur car if stolen. Or if u miss a payment. They are put in ur car to get UR INFO, to get info that they cant get from the factory installed gps!! Thats why they r added aftermarket and why they r spliced into wires or why they r plugged into the obd readers. They r not supposed to b plugged into those readers. They should not b there, PERIOD!!
Low jack does not attach their devices to the readers!! Bcuz they are legit devices. These trackers are not for ur safety PEOPLE!!!!! WHy do u think u r not told about them??!! Seriously use ur Brains!!! Think about it!!! Guaranteed if u have lowjack its not gonna be these cheap trackers!! Its a totally seperate device!!! These r for tracking U or UR info. They use Ur driving info for insurance or for what ever purposes. None of which u would approve of... if u were told the truth!! Thats why they dont tell u about them!!!!! If u get lowjack, thats usually installed separately and u r told about it and charged for the service. I doubt they install new lowjack devices and then just leave them if u refuse them after they supposedly installed them. If u get a new lowjack device its usually a seperate deal. Or its already preinstalled in a used car. They leave it then. But its not these cheap trackers!!! Lowjack is added separately, from these DEVIOUS tracking devices that r spliced in or pluged into the readers. Lowjack is not done that way!! THESE TRACKERS ARE plugged in and left on, even if u say turn it off. Thats why they use up batteries and have lights on them when u find them.. They r on!!! And It tracks ur driving or whatever. These are not lowjack trackers and they r not for ur safety or for ur purposes at all. Or they would have definitely dicussed them with u. Honestly!!! They tell u all about lowjack if u agree to have that added. They give u lowjack paperwork too. They dont discuss these, even after u have found them & even if u say ok, leave it. They dont explain them after u say leave it. & U don't get any paperwork on them. They dont tell u what they r for. They just give u BS reasons for them!!! They say they r for repos or for ur safety... I say THEY R SO FULL OF CRAP!!!! AFTER MARKET TRACKERS SHOULDNT B DECEITFULLY, & UNKNOWINGLY PUT IN UR CARS!!! PERIOD!!!!
Exactly. The difference is, the factory GPS requires the car to be turned on in order for it to track. The lowjack is constant on. Hence why people are experiencing low battery.
@@debrakemp669they tell you and try to sell you the service. If you decline, they are suppose to remove it. However, they don't. That is where the problem is. Is it that they are lazy or they leave it there for other purpose to track your car should you be financing it and they can repo it if one is behind.
I've owned my lexus and another customer was selling his GS350. He showed his car to a potential buyer and he ended up stealing the car. Lexus offered to help the customer by connecting the Boomerang tracking system and he had to pay for the previous fees and they found his car. Sometimes its a good thing
Can police use your VIN number from your registration to track your vehicle through a database system that dealerships use to locate your car if it is stolen or if you have not reregistered your car? Money, money, and more money.
I once worked worked for Klein Forman VW in Van Nuys CA as a tech. I compare this to being told to replace all license plate frames on cars I serviced to our frames. Not quite the same, but wrong for the customer and their trust.
is there a way to scan the car somehow [ok, 007, settle -down] to detect these? and are we sure they sneak-up language into your purchase docs saying they have your tacit or implied permission to install it w/o reported it to a new buyer?
When you try to scan with a OBD computer, it won't scan if a device is installed infront of it. Last newish-used suv I got, I took my OBD with me. SalesMAN about had a baby when I went to hook it up, telling me I can't do that! I'm gonna ruin the car! The programming! Blah, blah, blah! Told him to go get a service GUY. He came out, I showed him my unit and he said to SalesMAN "yeah, so what?" The service guy smiled and nodded at me, that I had the smarts to look for codes, etc...
All new cars that are financed for several years come with a GPS tracker it's for the financing if you don't pay they come and take it. When the car is finally paid off the tracker is disabled
It’s called don’t make a payment we will come get your car . It’s more for lower score people funny how my car didn’t have one but my buddies car just happened to have one .
Hey Texen, I have a 2022 Tundra and wish it was not connected at all, I dont know why you cant get the plain old am fm radio that come on right away and NO BLUETOOTH or microphones in the cab. I bought the truck to drive and disconnect out in the backwoods of northern Canada where there is no cell service anyway. Yes the infotainment system is still virgin as it has never been paired with any phone after two years of ownership. Thanks for the video and I will go check my truck for 3rd party GPS and pull the DCM fuse while I am at it.
Yes, BUT when you picked up the car and the dealer gave you a walk thru of the system (or not), HE/SHE entered your information and activated it to report data back to the manufacturer. You need to go in and remove your info (which I don't think it will let you blank it out) put in "Joe Schmoe" and erroneous info. But, they already know who you are....
@@richardcornelius1050or like he said in the video just disconnect it if you didn’t know you had it, but if you know the dealer has it and that it’s a aftermarket add on then you can ask to remove it 👍
Is this hard wired? Is there an extension to the OBD port where you can plug it in? Or did it get hard wired into the harness? I wish you would have just shown us where it is tied in.
It's usually tied to the obdi port and to another wire for power. This is all part of their lowjack security they try to sell you at the deal. They are suppose to remove it if you decline it. Yes, it does drain the battery as it is constant tracking by GPS.
Trackers is almost on every new car nowadays. When people dont pay their car note, they gotta find a way to find their vehicle. When it comes to thieves, alot of people dont know or realize your car computer & key sends a signal back & forth to each other & theives use a scanner to copy that signal & thats how they steal cars so easily these days. The best way to keep theives from copying your signal, is to use a farraday type box to keep your keys in & blocks the signal between your car & keys.
I'm dealing with a battery that seems to be low I'm not sure but I don't think it's this. Just going step by step from lest costly to alternator problems. This information will help with my first checks.
I’m glad I listened to your whole video because my wife has a Toyota also I am that something all dealerships should do so many cars get stolen that’s so crazy
I have this lowjack and blindly accepted it when purchasing the car the dealership. They charged for the device and installation and also tracking service for 5 years. Have to register it through their lowjack company. It works well and track the car eveytime it moves. It shows the last location it sat. You can even track it on a map on demand. Its nice, if you want peace or mind. Can you do the same with a gos tracker and paid simcard? The answe is yes. However i suppose the upside is you can get a insurance discount when you report that you have lowjack installed and the insurance company would want a legit lowjack company to qualify.
Yesss, yt-channel Anthony Do also posted a vid about it. Also very interesting to watch. He already confronted the dealer also. Thnx for this post! 💪✌️
put a current shunt right off the battery. Monitor any current draw very easily. They can be hidden anywhere outside of this obvious OBD port location. Hall sensors the ones that go around the wire are not ideal. Personally finding out myself BUT nothing beats a multimeter and personal knowledge of electronics yourself. Either its a short to ground allowing energy to be pulled, an accessory(these gps) pulling power or its the modules doing their unknown spy shit randomly. Modules while parked can be programmed to time checks and system shit but any of that is not necessary at all while not running. A kill switch will immediately solve that but within these modules (abs, light, transmission, etc) can hide gps/wireless communication devices from the factory.
First of all when ever you encounter some attention getter like this go into the "thought mode." That is when you grab a cold been and start the process to figure out how you can put what ever it is to personal use. A GPS tracker can probably be picked up by an Apple iPhone and help you find your car after the ball game. Should it quit working the Car dealer, FBI or local Sheriff (you never know who installed it) will try to replace the battery or check the wire connection providing the tracker power. When they can't find it some one may ask you to give it back and you with a big smile offer to help them search for it. If you just want to stop it from working just wrap aluminum foil completely around it.
Okay I hate to burst a lot of y’all’s bubbles but the video is just to inform you that it’s there and that it’s not necessary. So I’m just going to answer a lot of things I saw in the comments - NO the dealer is not tracking you for nefarious reasons, however if you don’t pay they will track you to get the car repossessed ❌ - It’s not some conspiracy so don’t sue your dealer for it❌ -(I’m surprised I have to say this but) DONT ADD A KILL SWITCH TO THE GPS!!!❌ Toyota will use that information if your car gets stolen - In the video he does disconnect the GPS✅ - You do not have to sign up to a third party app to get information on the GPS, Toyota does that for you✅ Those last two are ALL the video was made to inform you of, anyway happy driving 👍
So we're just supposed to take your word for it sure.They won't track you sure.They won't sell your data.Why wouldn't they?They would just profit from it.They would never do that.Companies never go after profits
This is installed so the dealership can see how you drive. It's for data logging how you drive. Hence if a warranty happened they can say NOPE not covered because you abused the car.
Just wondering. You keep saying toyota can track your car through toyota safety connect. How do they do they do that? Do they have their own gps tracker device installed at thr manufacturer level? Or do they rely on this device? 😂. Normally people do not remove it and if you decline it, the device is there. So when your car gets jacked, Toyota will locate it with this device you just removed. Just wondering.
Most new vehicles come with GPS from the factory. Primarily to use the Navigation System. I use Apple Car Play with Google maps. The Navigation System from factory requires a subscription these days. It used to be a chip that you could replace every few years. Even though you are not subscribing to Navigation. Your vehicle still has GPS. Toyota can activate it and track your vehicle if stolen.
@@Moondoggy1941 I'm aware of that. But there's likely a year in which they started doing it. Since the consensus is the port should be white, and mine is black, I presume my 2016 has it.
@@anonymousinc6330 Since more and more people know of this people will start to look and report back. Hopefully some ex employees will chime in as well. The problem is if people make too much noise about it the manufactures will build in into the system and there will be nothing you can do about it.
Again, NOT a GPS tracker for the consumer. These are ASSET trackers used on multi-line, multi-location dealers so they can track the INVENTORY. They have NOTHING to do with security of the Toyota version of on star. It cost the dealership MORE to remove them than it does to replace them. You really want the proof? There should be a name on the tag if it is a legit tracker or lo-jack type unit. If not, it is a generic unit sold openly to dealers and the like and programmed with the asset companies peramiters. You can also run the serial and FCC code through the net or contact the FCC they can tell you exactly what it can do and possibly who it was sold to. Go ahead and remove it. It served its purpose.
That's fine. The issue is some of them are set up to stop the vehicle from starting if the tracker battery fails. Because it assumes you are trying to steal it.
Possibly being done for all the negative reasons below, but possibly more benign ones, too. I went up a trim level (at some expense) on my 2023 in order to get onboard navigation because I don't use a smart phone. If you have - and use - onboard navigation in the car, and not just your phone, be aware that it's simply not possible for it to work unless there's some sort of onboard GPS tracking. Before your paranoia gets carried away, try to remember that, sometimes, there's a good reason for some bit of electronic gear you weren't aware of. And by the way, if you're using your phone for navigation, be aware that your phone is being tracked in exactly the same way.
