Skip to main content

I Highly Suggest Everybody Go Down to Your OBD2 Port, Pull and See, and Make Sure Nothing Like This Exists, Says the New Owner of 2024 GMC Sierra After Closing a GM Family Deal New Truck Purchase

An easy check for new car and truck shoppers to knock $700 off of their sticker price. However, if you've already purchased a new vehicle, you'll still want to conduct this check as well, warns this new truck shopper.
Add-ons You Might Want, But Not From the GMC Dealership

The primary complaint the owner of a 2024 GMC Sierra has after buying his truck brand new is that the dealership sold him unnecessary dealer add-ons that other shoppers should be aware of―including a tracking device.

He states that this device does nothing for him but everything for the dealership at his expense.

I highly recommend everybody to check their OBD2 port for this kind of thing, and if you are not paying for it and are aware of it, remove it and throw it in the trash because this is a sinister device."

Why Car Dealerships Install GPS Trackers on New Vehicles

Car dealerships may install GPS trackers on new (or used) cars for three main reasons related to security and business operations.

  1. Inventory Management―Dealerships often track cars on their lots to prevent theft, manage test drives, and locate vehicles quickly. With hundreds of cars spread across large lots (sometimes multiple lots), a GPS helps sales staff and managers find any vehicle quickly.
  2. Security & Theft Prevention―New cars are valuable assets. Installing trackers helps dealers recover stolen vehicles or deter theft altogether.
  3. Demo or Loaner Vehicles―If a new car is being used as a loaner or is out on an extended test drive, the dealership may use a tracking device to monitor its location and duration of use.

However, there is a fourth and more insidious reason: making YOU pay for something THEY need that you don't, by including the tracking device as part of their pre-installed add-on packages, which claims it is an "alarm" system or "anti-theft" device.

Please Note: There are other insidious reasons/possibilities for tracking devices placed on cars such as for collecting meta data about your driving and shopping habits, etc., but let’s stick with the host’s point of his video.

Follow along with the host of the Gears and Gadgets YouTube channel episode titled, "If You Bought a New Car Recently… You Need to Check for This Hidden GPS Device" to understand why a tracker on your car could be a problem waiting to happen that you can easily avoid.

In the video, you will discover not only how easy it is to find and remove GM dealership tracking devices but also the reason why three add-ons you might want (but not from the dealership) include:

  1. Window tinting
  2. Ceramic coat protection
  3. Drop-in Bedliner

If You Bought a New Car Recently… You Need to Check for This Hidden GPS Device

 

One Final Note:

If you're buying a car and a GPS tracker is included, ask about it—especially:

  1. Is it active, and why?
  2. Is it removable?
  3. Is there a subscription fee?
  4. Is it part of a required or an optional package?
  5. Can you access the tracker data if your vehicle is stolen?
  6. How can they show that only you and not someone from the dealership has access to its tracking data after buying the vehicle?

You have the right to know if a tracker is installed and whether it's collecting data after your purchase.

For an additional recent GM-related article, here is one titled "Worst Start To Owning A 2021 Chevy Bolt EV Premier ―New Owner Shares Why Buying These Particular Used Chevy Bolts is Just Asking for Trouble."

COMING UP NEXT: Best Used Cars: Consumer Reports' Top Picks for June 2025

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati who currently researches and works on restoring older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. He also reports on modern cars (including EVs) with a focus on DIY mechanics, buying and using tools, and other related topical automotive repair news. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites as well as on Facebook and his automotive blog "Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair" for useful daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

Image Source: Deposit Photos

Automotive News
Car Questions
GMC

Comments

JP (not verified)    May 30, 2025 - 10:59AM

Permalink

People with lower credit scores get these installed when they finance a vehicle. It is often in the contract as a non removable item. You stop making payments, they know where to find the vehicle for repossession.

Timothy Boyer    June 1, 2025 - 8:22AM

Permalink

I wonder what happens if you just go ahead and remove it or have someone else remove it and claim it was stolen? I can see someone with a little electronics expertise seeing this as a way to take trackers,  reflash the chip for their own use, and then sell them. There must be a market for that, such as fleet businesses wanting less expensive commercial trackers. Hmmmmm.

Ben (not verified)    May 30, 2025 - 7:45PM

Permalink

Oh it's worse than described. My vehicle came with a GPS tracker that required an online account wise terms and conditions were disclosed only after purchase (of the vehicle, I made them remove the insane charge for the tracker). Said terms and conditions would have made me agree to be responsible for any problems that the device caused while driving, including injury or death (yes, a malfunctioning tracker connected via OBD can cause an accident). And would have required me to indemnify them for their liability to third parties. I refused of course.

Timothy Boyer    June 1, 2025 - 8:09AM

Permalink

Smart choice. Some reports have shown that plugging in accessory items into the OBD ports for power can cause compatibility problems with the ECM software. Maybe not today, but afterward whenever ECM software becomes automatically updated and it results in buggy behavior.

Thanks for the input.

Steve Horne (not verified)    May 30, 2025 - 11:54PM

Permalink

This is a common practice at the dealership we just purchased a new vehicle from. Fortunately, we were able to put a stop to it before they installed the device. I caught it by closely scrutinizing all the paperwork before signing the dotted line. This is a genuine problem.

Mike R (not verified)    May 31, 2025 - 6:49AM

Permalink

You may or may not have read/heard about GM, by way of Onstar, selling vehicle driving information to insurance companies illegally. Meaning without the vehicle owners concent. The Insurance companies used the information to raise insurance premiums, sometimes by thousands of dollars. A court forbid GM from selling this type of driver information for the next 5 years even with owner concent. It sounds like they moved this insurance scam down to the dealership level. You can gather the exact same driving information with these GPS devices; speed(avg, highest, amount over the posted limit), hard stops, miles driven, etc to sell to insurance companies. At this local level it would be much harder to know it's happening and who to blame. Selling this data to insurance companies represents a lot more money than the cost of the add-ons to the dealership. It's really just adding insult to the injury, you pay for items you don't want and those items end up costing you a small fortune in additional insurance premiums. Ask me how I know? I was caught up in the original GM/Onstar data selling. I haven't had a ticket in 38 years. Insurance premiums on my 2017 Camaro 2SS went tripled for no reason when I renewed my policy. After 2 years of these premiums, the scandal broke and the court gave it's ruling. The next time my policy was up for renewal, after having Mercury Insurance since I was 18, they canceled my policy. No accidents, no tickets, and no reason why. They said it was because of other drivers. The point is I'm 56 and the data theft cost me a lot of money and then got my policy canceled. And surprise, no company wanted to insure me ,not even the General. I did eventually get another expensive policy. But you see the power of data being sold. Especially when you're unaware of it happening.

Timothy Boyer    June 1, 2025 - 8:02AM

Permalink

You are absolutely correct. The "theft" of your activity, not just in vehicles but primarily online, is a problem many do not see yet...or see and ignore. You cannot do a search without targeted ads promoting some product or service related to your search. Worse yet, in my opinion, is looking for info about something you may have heard that may seem hard to believe, and all of a sudden you get "news" related to that search, making it look like whatever it is, is happening frequently, leading someone to feel like THIS---whatever it is--- is a real and growing problem.

Thank you for your share. Much appreciated.

Alexander Manuel (not verified)    May 31, 2025 - 11:22AM

Permalink

You are missing an extremely important reason for these trackers- Theft Warranty! These packages often include a vehicle theft warranty that gives the owner $5K to $20K in the event the vehicle is stolen and unrecovered.The underwriting insurance company requires such a device, and if you're worried about your "privacy" that ship already sailed with your smartphone. Also, most new vehicles already include a GPS from the factory, so there are really 3 trackers on you anyway by the time you drive off the lot (4 if you include the Bluetooth Tile often included and hidden in premium vehicles to backup Stolen Vehicle Recovery efforts).

David Oliver (not verified)    June 2, 2025 - 12:24PM

Permalink

Umm
every new GM truck is connected to the internet and has a built in GPS from the factory.
Open the app and you can see where your truck is.

While his dealer may have added something, I doubt it was for the reasons stated.

Karrpilot (not verified)    June 2, 2025 - 5:42PM

Permalink

Here's a solution. Order a vehicle the way you want it. That's exactly what I did. And if you see ANYTHING dealers added on, do not buy it. Walk away.