Is this a slimy dealer GPS tracker?

[Henry Ford]

Doubt you'll be buying from a dealer in the PNW, but that information is still helpful to those in the market !

I wasn't speaking for anyone else but if it helps others, all the better.

I don't think bad actors should be protected with anonymity.

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[MaintGrl]

I would drop it off at the dealer - AFTER putting a few bullet holes in it.

Hum. . . .all that effort for a GPS tracker...

 

[MrLoganRoss]

Kirkland Ford

 

[Cvh8601]

Mine also came home with a tracker when i bought last year. I ended up taking the dealer at their word when they insisted they hadn’t installed it and didnt know it was there since it was a truck they bought from another dealer who couldn’t sell EVs successfully (23 bought in summer 24).

Now i know to check if i ever deal with dealers again!

 

[MrLoganRoss]

By the way, my experience is that not that they don’t tell you about a security system and give you the opportunity to have it “disabled”. Instead, it is that they talk about the security system without mentioning the live tracker, and therefore there’s no reason for someone to understand that a live GPS and cellular enabled tracker remains powered and active in the car. They simply talk about deactivation, which, without the additional context, leads you to believe that there is simply some service option that you are declining.

It’s not hard to be specific enough for someone to understand that there’s a live tracking device in the car and therefore request that it be physically removed Before the owner takes possession of the car. In my case, how hard would it be to remove the fuse prior to delivery. There’s an in-line fuse right next to the tracker. They don’t do that. And that’s what makes it slimy.

when I called, they were very quick to pull up the paperwork that I signed a delivery, which declines a number of different things, including the security system. That is what they think is their get out of jail free card.

just remember that we already have to deal with the prying eyes of our cellular company, Apple, or Google, and the auto manufacturer. These little trackers, introduce yet another layer that people should be concerned about. Just because you no longer take part in the service doesn’t mean that records about your comings and goings aren’t being leveraged by the security tracker company or anybody else they could potentially sell your data too. You have no idea what their privacy policy is or what their business model is. these days a lot more companies than you think have a show product, but then you are actually the product.

how hard would it be for the salesman or the finance manager that closes your deal to state the following: “for inventory management and security reasons, we have installed a GPS and cellular enabled tracking device in the car. You can continue the service if you like. If you decline, we ask that you please sign and acknowledge this disclosure. If you decline, we will remove or disable the hardware in the vehicle you are buying. We will do that prior to delivery.”

 

[RickLightning]

By the way, my experience is that not that they don’t tell you about a security system and give you the opportunity to have it “disabled”. Instead, it is that they talk about the security system without mentioning the live tracker, and therefore there’s no reason for someone to understand that a live GPS and cellular enabled tracker remains powered and active in the car. They simply talk about deactivation, which, without the additional context, leads you to believe that there is simply some service option that you are declining.

It’s not hard to be specific enough for someone to understand that there’s a live tracking device in the car and therefore request that it be physically removed Before the owner takes possession of the car. In my case, how hard would it be to remove the fuse prior to delivery. There’s an in-line fuse right next to the tracker. They don’t do that. And that’s what makes it slimy.

when I called, they were very quick to pull up the paperwork that I signed a delivery, which declines a number of different things, including the security system. That is what they think is their get out of jail free card.

just remember that we already have to deal with the prying eyes of our cellular company, Apple, or Google, and the auto manufacturer. These little trackers, introduce yet another layer that people should be concerned about. Just because you no longer take part in the service doesn’t mean that records about your comings and goings aren’t being leveraged by the security tracker company or anybody else they could potentially sell your data too. You have no idea what their privacy policy is or what their business model is. these days a lot more companies than you think have a show product, but then you are actually the product.

how hard would it be for the salesman or the finance manager that closes your deal to state the following: “for inventory management and security reasons, we have installed a GPS and cellular enabled tracking device in the car. You can continue the service if you like. If you decline, we ask that you please sign and acknowledge this disclosure. If you decline, we will remove or disable the hardware in the vehicle you are buying. We will do that prior to delivery.”

Here is reality. They installed the device. They sell the truck, and 1 out of 100,000 people want it removed. In other words, they don't lose business and it costs money (labor) to remove.

Remove it, kill it, move on.

 

[RickLightning]

I would drop it off at the dealer - AFTER putting a few bullet holes in it.

This would get you arrested for threatening violence.

 

[TaxmanHog]

 

[RickLightning]

Can't drop off something with bullet holes in it. That's a blatant threat.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Doubt anyone would do anything about it.

I've conducted 4180 / 433-A/B interviews during field calls where a disgruntled taxpayer had at the kitchen table knives & firearms, NOT intimidated in the least, but a report is made to the office responsible for employee security, CID & INSPECTION who were often unphased.

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