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Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

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Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#51

Post by GekkePrutser »

carom wrote: post #33
GekkePrutser wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the usecase for a remote starter? I don't really understand why someone would want this. Could even be dangerous if it's left in gear.

Most people in the US do not drive manuals. You can get them in manuals but you have to hack some stuff, and yea, it will stall your car out if you start it in gear. In the US they are largely for convenience so you can heat or cool your car before you go out.

Ah I forgot about that. All my own cars were manuals.

And I've lived mostly in countries with pretty mild climates so there wasn't any need for this. Though even in the Netherlands this could be handy in the middle of winter or summer. Beats scraping the windows.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#52

Post by GekkePrutser »

dahdum wrote: post #43
GekkePrutser wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the usecase for a remote starter? I don't really understand why someone would want this. Could even be dangerous if it's left in gear.

Cold weather primarily. You need the engine to warm up before driving and it’s much nicer to have the heater warm up the car and loosen ice on the windows. You can run outside and start the car then come back, as I did growing up in a cold region, but remote start is sooo much nicer.

Makes sense yeah. Sometimes I'd do this manually but because I used a shared car park I'd need the spare key to do this safely with the main key in the ignition. I didn't consider this option. I haven't owned a car for many years and the last one was already pretty old :)

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#53

Post by GekkePrutser »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #50
GekkePrutser wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the usecase for a remote starter? I don't really understand why someone would want this. Could even be dangerous if it's left in gear.

It's hyper super duper useful in rough climates. Primarily when it's minus 40 outside and you have kids, it's nice to warm up the car slightly before entering it. If you get spoiled, you might then also remote start it when it's plus 40 outside and you want ac to at least start. Also note that "if it's left in gear" is virtually irrelevant in North America, fwiw - something like under 2 percent of cars here are manua…

Thanks also, I get it now. I used to do this manually sometimes in the Netherlands to warm up the ice to make it easier to scrape off. But it involved the spare key to relock it while running and also to set the heat to full blast. We never get minus 40 though and where I live now it doesn't even freeze :)

And as we also have pretty tiny engines here, it takes a long time to heat up this way because first the cooling water needs to get warm which takes ages with the engine running stationary. So I only did this once in a while if it was really needed.

My old Volvo did have an option to open all the windows with the remote though which was great to let the heat out in summer.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#54

Post by djbusby »

osamagirl69 wrote: post #32

Looks like a dealer installed 'alarm system'. I bought a mazda in 2011 which had a similar system, as best as I can tell the dealer installs them as asset trackers for cars on the lot and then tried to upsell it to me as an 'alarm system'. Its a bit sketchy that they didn't mention it to you when you bought the car... The 433MHz is likely a keyfob receiver (and possibly transmitter to spoof the original key).

Time for SDR inspection?

https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#55

Post by wruza »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #50
GekkePrutser wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the usecase for a remote starter? I don't really understand why someone would want this. Could even be dangerous if it's left in gear.

It's hyper super duper useful in rough climates. Primarily when it's minus 40 outside and you have kids, it's nice to warm up the car slightly before entering it. If you get spoiled, you might then also remote start it when it's plus 40 outside and you want ac to at least start. Also note that "if it's left in gear" is virtually irrelevant in North America, fwiw - something like under 2 percent of cars here are manua…

Spoiled? Being low tolerant to anything above 23C I find getting into these pressure cookers a very uncomfortable experience. I’m simply refusing to get a taxi when such happy summer driver arrives with windows down in 35C+. I’d better get into an ice cold car rather than that.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#56

Post by sircastor »

mutant wrote: post #4

I've heard of banks, and/or leasing agents install things so they can repo the vehicle even if it's not at a registered location.

I know some lower-end dealerships will install remote disable components on vehicles to disable in event of non-payment. This happened to a friend of mine. I don’t know if it goes as far as to report GPS coordinates.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#57

Post by judge2020 »

morpheuskafka wrote: post #35
jowsie wrote: post #24

If you google KARR Honda or KARR Alarm you should find some better information. I found identical looking devices by using Google Lens and focusing on just the black box with the green button. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/08/never-buy-car-alar... https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisit/comments/rnr48t/found_unde... https://www.reddit.com/r/subaru/comments/7m9dv9/mysterious_b...

How is it allowed for a dealer to cut wires and install a non OEM-approved electronic device onto the CAN bus? This seems like it would void all the manufacturer warranties and potentially create liability for the manufacturer if it malfunctions.

Manufacturers must prove a modification to a car caused the fault in a product to deny an otherwise-covered warranty issue, regardless of who installed it. As for if this device kills the battery or what-have-you, i'm not sure what sort of liability the dealership is taking.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#58

Post by judge2020 »

sircastor wrote: post #56
mutant wrote: post #4

I've heard of banks, and/or leasing agents install things so they can repo the vehicle even if it's not at a registered location.

I know some lower-end dealerships will install remote disable components on vehicles to disable in event of non-payment. This happened to a friend of mine. I don’t know if it goes as far as to report GPS coordinates.

Utilizing GPS for the repossession tracking has been a thing since at least 2012 https://youtu.be/npw4G1DOqaI

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#59

Post by userbinator »

When I got home I looked under the dash and straight away I could see someone other than Honda had been in here. The first thing I saw was this surface-mounted switch that doesn't belong there.

Does anyone else find it odd that he just bought a car and effectively started using it without going over it thoroughly and familiarising himself with what controls it contains? Then again, my experience has been with far older and simpler vehicles, so perhaps newer ones are so complex that people have given up spending any time to become acquainted with them.

Re: Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

#60

Post by ineedasername »

It's part of a new public relations & civic service initiative offered by the NSA. If you forget where you parked your car all you have to do is whisper near your phone (Even if it's off!) "Hey, NSA guys, where's my car?"

They'll honk the horn and, if necessary, send a micro drone to your location that you can follow to it if it's too far away to hear the horn or you're hearing impaired.

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