for those vehicles they finance. The first is a police matter and insurance automatically pays. The latter is a direct financial hit to the dealership.

when a vehicle is stolen why don't the police go to the car dealership to get them to track the vehicle? Are these normally turned off when the vehicle is sold? Can they be turned back on?

they contacted the dealership and turned on vehicle tracking ... for a fee.

Every new vehicle has tracking and telematics built so deep in the car its crazy. They can track, they can check error codes, and driving statistics down to if you wear your seat belt. Why do you think you get emails from them offering oil changes or other scheduled work. If you try to disconnect it, it will throw error coded, you cant even just disconnect the ant with error codes.

Someone on one of my tacoma forums tracked the ant wires back to the modules and found out what dummy loads ( non transmitting antenna ) fit the connectors. With them installed the modules just think your in an area with no cell signal. If they just get disconnected the module sees it as a disconnected or damaged antenna, the dummy loads, to the module look ( electronically ) like a functional antenna.

woman who got there 2 hours before I did and she had a brand-new vehicle being worked on. Apparently, there were 4 recalls of different things. The only one I caught wind of was reprogramming some kind of camera. She left at the same time I did and she was not happy. I decided right then and there to keep the 2012 Rav since it only has 60,000 miles and is low, low tech.

the "geezer" stage of not knowing where you live your relatives won't be able to locate you!

the corps just can't get enough info, ever.
we need to know what they are doing with tracking info.
are they selling it with our identity attached ?

Even when it is illegal to do so.....just look at Walgreens that was selling all your Rx info along with all your personal information.
They did it for years and years, making Billions, and were repeatedly fined only a few million, and then kept right on doing it.
The CEO even laughed about it, noting how much he was making in bonuses, not getting criminal charges against him and other executives, and best of all that Walgreens paid the fines, and even deducted the fine from their corporate taxes as a cost of doing business.......It went on for years........
Other companies weren't even caught, but probably also doing similar information peddling......

The grocery stores as an example.......they give you a "valued customer" card you use every time you go shopping to get a small discount, on some items......They broker all the information on your shopping and purchases to anyone who wants to buy it and make a bunch of money. AND, not illegal.......Kroger food stores are using the information collected by people who call in orders, and the AI allows them to customize the price TO EACH INDIVIDUAL SHOPPER, based on their buying history....The feds are pretending to be upset about it.....we will see if they do anything.

I am certain, that if this AI continues, with the massive server farms needed to store all this acquired information, going up everywhere, that Orwell had it right nearly a century ago.........
The Big Brother Corporations, and the Fascist Government will know every last thing about you, and where you are, every minute of the day......24/7/365/forever........
AND the Corporations running the Utilities to those Server Farms are charging FAR LESS for electricity to them, than to the Residential Customer's Rates. Same with the Corporations running the water supply to those Server Farms. A lot of water is needed to cool those server farms, and those Water Dept's are charging the Server Farms far less than the normal consumer rates.
WASF........We.Are.So.Fucked

It should be an OP.

My hometown area built a HUGE Amazon data center that is so long, the local drone photographer couldn’t get it all in one pass. It’s freaking two miles Long! Corn fields turned into warehouses of computers using the trillion of gallons of water near Lake Michigan. St Joseph County in northern IN.

had 5,000 data points on every voter, and that was a decade ago.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/07/the-great-hack-facebook-cambridge-analytica/

So I did. I was fortunate to be able to pay for it outright so repossession for non-payment doesn't apply. Not sure that took care of all tracking devices though. Anyone have a recommendation on how I'd find out?

Not my favorite company

my mechanic, when asked which car I should buy:
#1 Toyota
#2 Toyota
#3 Toyota

Think about how we feel here.

HOWEVER

I own a Ford F-250 and I own a 9000# GVW Dodge Van............but my wife owns a Toyota FJ.........
Would you like to compare vehicle repairs and maintenance bills on all three? Esp comparing mileage of all three????? NOT
Regretfully, for decades and decades, ever since foreign imports arrived on our shores, the American Manufacturers have seen the writing on the wall............
Oh, and the Dodge Van was built in Canada, BTW........

I wish it were different.......................

I love my State of Michigan. It is one of the best states.

two of my favorite vacations were a week in Marquette and a week in Traverse City.

Not just Toyota.

They have been making basically the same design hybrid system since 1997. A four popper,, two moto generators, a planetary electronically controlled transmission, a power control unit to tell the electrons where to go and dat's it. The tranny is very simple and is less complicated than a manual or an automatic...From the reports from toyota mechanics they hardly ever break if you change the tranny fluid on time..
I had a Prius V back in the day and I liked it. Way to slow for my taste.. This new one really zips and gets 45 mpg with out breathing hard.... We will see how this works out...
BTW this gps thing had no wires going to it.. Just a magnet to stick it on the metal and that's it..
m

that could be used to track you.On the other hand, if the car is stolen, it could be easily traced. But, Informing the buyer should be mandatory. That choice should have been yours to make. Wow, just wow.

if I need to take a long road trip then I'll rent something new. This is fine for getting around town. I just might, one of these days ...

First edition and one later edition. Gave up my last Beetle in 1990.

Both books have greasy fingerprints and lots of notes.

My first five cars were a 1963 VW Bug, a 1968 VW Bug, a1974 VW Kombi Van, a 1974 VW Bug, and a 1978 Westfalia VW Camper Van..........

As drivers got crazier and crazier I went away from VW's........

In today's traffic here in Denver Colorado, you wouldn't catch me in less than a full sized vehicle.......Of course, having been an FIRE/EMT for years, responding to hundreds of crashes.... showed me a lot..........

More importantly, I never drank that much, but I gave it up entirely and was the designated driver for all my friends/family.....
I think the Blood Alcohol for auto crashes, should be .0000 and an automatic minimum of ten days in Jail and suspension of driver's license for a year for the first offense with no injuries, and second offense should be a minimum of a year in prison a five year suspension of driver's license with no injuries. Same for marijuanna......
A DUI with injuries, much higher.
In Colorado, a Vehicular Homicide conviction for a DUI has a six year sentence, usually paroled after TWO years.......Ridiculous....

I drove my Bug on SF Bay Area freeways in the 90s. I stayed in the right lanes, drove 55, and yielded to EVERYBODY. Cars and trucks then were just as big as they are now. Key words, BTW: "Around town."

a mini cooper, miata or fiat saves you money on a coffin, you can just use the car as a coffin.......

If it got rusty it was a mini gas chamber...You learned to keep the windows slightly cracked...uff
m

I find my Ford app pretty handy. My son's Toyota app works the same way for his 2024 Corolla. It is where we are today.

I'd caution against ripping electronics out of your car. It might void your warranty.

Most of the magnetic trackers sold online need battery replacement every year or sooner. Sounds like it really is an inventory tracker for the dealer, since it is not expected to work for very long after it leaves the lot.

Fortunately I live in a city where I don't need one. I rent when needed. We have just recently joined a car share application. That gives us all the car we need during the move, flat furnishing, and misc, stuff. In summer I just bike or take transit. I will be renting a car for 9 days later this week for vacation touring. Yes that vehicle will be tracked as well as the car share ones. We navigate with our phones not the car so only google has our data not the rental company or car company.
A strange new world with cars for sure.

is very poor. I guess if I make it past 80 I'll be taking ubers/ride share.. A friend in Miami uses his bike to get around and when needed he rents from Turo. Relatively inexpensive for him.. Rents maybe 3-4 times a year..
m

With some ownership by the bank, presumably, for a few years.


===============

that these devices can and will be used to the benefit of many entities other than the vehicle owners.

What will it take for you to walk off the lot with this dandy
1920 Revere 5-Passenger Touring Car


Or this neat 1951 Merc?


Guaranteed.
NO INTERNET

Car data collection - they can get even your weight!

https://whatismyipaddress.com/car-data-collection

Big Brother is watching you and it's worse than anything George Orwell imagined.

If our Democracy crumbles it's going to get really ugly fast.