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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

#201

Post by actionablefiber »

incompatible wrote: post #179
buran77 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joke aside, your car probably has a mobile connection by now and even the dealer/manufacturer has access to the data which means authorities don't need more than to purchase it. So you might want to leave the car at home too. And the smartwatch.

Actually, I don't have a car. Is there any good way to check for trackers embedded into shoe soles?

This gives me a morbidly hilarious mental image of someone trying to dispose of a body using a bike trailer or cargo bike. Perhaps the rider might even feel a little self-satisfied about how environmentally friendly they're being by doing so.

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

#202

Post by GekkePrutser »

wruza wrote: post #55
NikolaNovak wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I live in a country where it's above 23 degrees most of the year :) I got used to it. When I first got here I used to wear T-Shirts in winter at the agony of my colleagues. But the second year was a lot tougher..

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

#203

Post by GekkePrutser »

hirvi74 wrote: post #100
carom wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No manual I have ever driven will even start without the clutch engaged, so I assume a remote starter can bypass that somehow? I always leave my manual car in gear in the opposite the direction the car would be likely to roll if the emergency brake ever failed. (If the car would roll forward, put it in reverse. If it would roll backwards put it in 1st).

All the cars I've owned in Europe (all manual) had no lock out whatsoever.. No need to press the clutch or brake for the starter too work.

Having said that, when I still had a car I used to drive old cars. My newest car was a 2005 Volvo S40. But this was also perfectly capable of starting in gear and with the clutch engaged.

My first car still had a choke :)

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

#204

Post by wildrhythms »

willcipriano wrote: post #18

First hit on DDG for "PL884-200" is a asset tracker: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22PL884-200%22&t=fpas&ia=web Perhaps this is a part of one of those units? They have "hard wired" as a option on the site, but it's greyed out. Speculation: the site used to talk about a PL884-200 hardwire kit but they have since stopped selling it.

That 'first hit' (to the logistimatics result) appears to not contain the string 'PL884-200' anywhere on the page.

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

#205

Post by junga »

rocqua wrote: post #166
GekkePrutser wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Note that, for emmesions, heating up the car in stationary is actually positive. It prevents driving a car with a cold engine. Cold engines cause horrible inefficiency in cars. It's one of the reasons why city driving is worse for mileage and emissions than highway driving. Shorter trips.

I am unable to find a source for this. Until now I thought heating up stationary is bad concerning all possible aspects, including emissions.

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

#206

Post by ospzfmbbzr »

FireBeyond wrote: post #147
WalterBright wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A remote start should have a slider switch and a lock for it, so you can't "push the button" by sitting on it.

My factory one on a factory fob requires 3 presses within a second to activate.

It was and add-on to a car alarm and controlled via second or third button on the fob. Also 1994.

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

#207

Post by fortran77 »

rightbyte wrote: post #194
fortran77 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most accurate answer in this thread. Toyota dealers in Northern California did this to me twice on new cars. (A third party autosound guy removed it and fixed the harness for me) Even though we always pay in full for cars, the dealer has you talk to the finance guy who will try to sell you useless addons like undercoating and an “alarm system” which has already been butchered into the car by the dealer. (…

> useless addons like undercoating Bad example really. Depending on car age that might be insane value. If people treated their cars like boats the car bodies would last for 30 years easely. Take it up once a year and paint the belly ...

On a new car? No. In fact the Toyota owner's manual warned against after-market undercoatings. The dealer was trying to do something that the manufacturer warned against.

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

#208

Post by judge2020 »

themulticaster wrote: post #197
judge2020 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Does this apply even if the manufacturer adds a clause like "any modification not authorized by [manufacturer] or performed by a [manufacturer]-approved repair shop voids the warranty"?

It doesn’t matter what the manufacturer says, they cant void the entire car’s warranty due to a modification. If a 3p repair shop performs eg. a brake pad replacement and then your brakes fail, then that repair shop is liable and not the manufacturer.

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

#209

Post by driverdan »

rightbyte wrote: post #194
fortran77 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most accurate answer in this thread. Toyota dealers in Northern California did this to me twice on new cars. (A third party autosound guy removed it and fixed the harness for me) Even though we always pay in full for cars, the dealer has you talk to the finance guy who will try to sell you useless addons like undercoating and an “alarm system” which has already been butchered into the car by the dealer. (…

> useless addons like undercoating Bad example really. Depending on car age that might be insane value. If people treated their cars like boats the car bodies would last for 30 years easely. Take it up once a year and paint the belly ...

Dealer undercoatings are a scam. They are significantly overpriced. You can get it done elsewhere for much less or do it yourself.

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

#210

Post by closewith »

mellavora wrote: post #191
nephanth wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how those telemetry systems work for EU customers. Cause that sounds pretty much illegal under GDPR (non-consented tracking, data stored overseas...)

Works just fine. The major German carmakers have an alliance to share data, and treat cars as roving sensor networks. The data is used for improved road safety (real-time traffic jam awareness) and also so premium clients can find parking spots.

Do you have a source for these claims? Without informed consent, they would be significant breaches of both national data protection legislation and the GDPR.
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