If you suspect that your vehicle has been outfitted with a GPS tracker without your knowledge, there are some simple steps to find a GPS tracker on your car:
- Perform an exterior inspection
- Perform an interior inspection
- Sweep the vehicle with a bug detector
- Know when to seek professional help
For more information, keep reading.
What You Need to Know About GPS Tracking Devices
Real-time GPS trackers (active) and GPS data loggers (passive) are the two broad categories of GPS trackers, which come in a variety of sizes and shapes, some more covert than others. Active trackers use cellular towers to transmit real-time data while simultaneously tracking GPS locations. The ability to remotely access active GPS trackers via the internet is their main benefit. Only a person can access the internal memory of passive GPS trackers, which store location information.
Finding hidden GPS trackers is rarely as easy as installing the majority of modern GPS trackers on a vehicle. But because of the way GPS trackers operate, there are a few places on a car you should always check if you think someone is tracking your whereabouts with a GPS device.
How to Find a GPS Tracker on Your Car?
You’ll need some basic tools, such as a flashlight, mechanic’s mirror, and some sort of creeper or mat to help you slide under the car, if you think someone may have hidden a GPS tracker inside your vehicle. It may also be necessary to use specialized tools like electronic sweepers or bug detectors in situations where a straightforward visual inspection is insufficient.
The basic steps involved in locating a hidden GPS tracker on your car are:
Perform An Exterior Inspection
Examine places like the wheel wells and underneath the car using a flashlight and a mirror. The majority of trackers are hid in places that are simple to get to.
It’s possible that the tracker is obscured by dirt.
Small GPS trackers can be hidden almost anywhere, but they are typically concealed in places that are relatively simple to get to. Therefore, the first step in locating a concealed GPS tracker on your car is to visually check for potential hiding places that someone could easily and quickly access.
Inside a wheel well is a popular location to conceal a GPS tracker, and it is also simple to check. Check the interior of the front and rear wheel wells with a flashlight. To get a good look, you might need a telescoping mirror. You can also use your hand to feel around in areas where your vision is limited.
If the rigid wheel well liner is loose, try to peel it back so you can peek inside or feel around. It’s possible that someone unfastened the liner so they could fasten a magnetized tracker to the body or frame behind it.
You can check underneath the car using your flashlight and telescoping mirror. Use a creeper to slide under the car if the ground clearance is high enough and you want to give it a thorough inspection. Keep in mind that the tracker may be covered in road grime and dirt and concentrate on places where someone could conceal a tracker without too much difficulty or time.
It’s also possible to conceal trackers inside or beneath bumpers. For a complete inspection of this area as well, you’ll need a flashlight and mirror. In some circumstances, you might need to reach up and feel around inside the bumper.
Trackers can be concealed inside the engine compartment, but it is uncommon. The likelihood that someone will conceal the device inside your car increases if they can enter your car and open the hood.
Perform An Interior Inspection
Start by looking at the data port. Don’t disregard any potential hiding places, like the trunk, because most GPS trackers are compact.
Due to their small size, hidden GPS trackers can be hidden almost anywhere in a car or truck. You should concentrate on locations where such a device could be quickly hidden, but sometimes that won’t work.
While the most covert trackers run on batteries, simpler units are made to plug directly into a vehicle’s data connector. If you can find the data connector, which is typically located under the dash close to the driver’s legs, and it has something plugged into it, that’s cause for alarm.
Use your flashlight and mirror to look in the center console, inside and behind the glove box, under the seats, under and behind the dash, and anywhere else that might not be immediately apparent. Trackers can also be stowed away in various places, including the pockets and spaces in between seats and behind sun visors.
A hidden GPS tracker inside a car might blend in with other components, which makes it challenging to find. Small modules, for instance, like the one that controls the power door locks, could easily be mistaken for something more sinister.
When someone is determined to keep their surveillance device hidden, they might put a tracker inside a seat cushion, behind a door panel, or in another obscure place.
These gadgets may also be stowed away in a trunk. Remove and inspect your spare tire if you have one. A small GPS tracking device can be easily hidden when the trunk liner is peeled back at that time.
Sweep the Vehicle With a Bug Detector
Many of the same places that sell trackers also sell bug detectors. Be aware that sweepers cannot detect passive trackers and that some trackers only transmit when the vehicle is moving.
Electronic sweepers, also known as bug detectors, are portable electronic devices that can identify electromagnetic signals, such as those produced by radio transmitters and cellphones. The same places where GPS trackers are sold also sell this kind of equipment, or if you have the right spare parts lying around, you can build your own bug detector.
Sweepers can’t find passive GPS trackers because they rely on detecting transmissions. However, they can be very helpful in locating well-concealed active trackers.
If you can, turn on the bug sweeper before taking a cautious stroll around your car. You might need to keep it close to every place mentioned in the preceding sections, depending on the sensitivity.
It usually buzzes, vibrates, or lights up to alert you when a bug detector finds a suspicious signal. You should now use a fine-toothed comb to thoroughly go over that area.
You might occasionally come across a tracker that only transmits when the vehicle is moving. This kind of tracker is passive when the vehicle is stopped, making it impossible for a bug sweeper to find it. So if you initially don’t notice anything, have someone else drive the car while you keep an eye on the sweeper.
Know When to Seek Professional Help
A specialist might be able to assist you if you believe someone may have hidden a tracker on your car but are unable to locate it. Automotive electronics, car audio, and car alarm technicians frequently have the required knowledge and tools.
What to Do When You Find a Hidden GPS Tracker?
You might want to get assistance from a lawyer or your local law enforcement if you think you are being followed. You might occasionally be able to identify the device’s owner with the aid of a private investigator or spy expert.
You might be able to learn more about the manufacturer of the device you’ve found if it has any identifying information. However, in most cases, you’ll need to remove the device from your car and disable it. You can do this by turning the device off or removing the battery if it doesn’t have an on-off switch on some units.
How to Remove a GPS Tracking Device?
You should remove the tracker from your car as soon as you can to prevent it from tracking your movements, whether you discovered it using an electronic bug detector or by using your bare hands to dig for it.
In spite of this, there are numerous varieties of active trackers and passive GPS gadgets, some of which may even be hard-wired into the electrical or data port of your car. In this situation, if you are unable to unplug the device, you may need to cut any wires that are connecting it to your car. We advise taking the device to your local repair shop to have this done so as not to damage anything significant on your car.
However, the majority of the time, the tracker will be attached to your car using a magnet or an adhesive like tape, the latter being more typical. Remove any objects that might be keeping the tracker in place in either of these scenarios, take it out, turn off the battery, and bring it to your local law enforcement for advice.
Types of Vehicle Tracking Devices
There are two main types of vehicle tracking devices:
- GPS tracking devices that are watched. The device, which functions much like a cell phone and is used to transmit real-time data about its location, relays data whenever it is moving or, in some cases, at predetermined intervals. While some devices can be hardwired into the car for power, the majority run on batteries. Battery-powered tracking devices typically have a sensor that detects when the tracker is moving, begins power and signal transmission at that time, and turns off after it hasn’t moved for a certain amount of time. A computer with an internet connection or a smartphone can receive tracking data, which is very practical.
- GPS tracking systems without surveillance. These function as portable GPS devices and store waypoints onboard while not transmitting their location. The GPS tracking device on the vehicle records waypoints at predetermined intervals as coordinates that must later be plotted while it is moving. The unmonitored devices are less expensive because they don’t need a subscription for their monitoring activity but instead need to be retrieved and downloaded to get the tracking data.
Summary: How to Find a GPS Tracker on Your Car?
Today, many vehicles come with a car GPS tracker that tracks and reports the precise location of the vehicle using cellular networks and the global positioning system (GPS). Since they aid in theft recovery and vehicle monitoring, GPS trackers are popular among fleet and taxi companies as well as individual car owners.
The article concentrated on how to locate a GPS tracker on your car. It is easy, just follow the steps:
- Perform an exterior inspection
- Perform an interior inspection
- Sweep the vehicle with a bug detector
- Know when to seek professional help
I appreciate your reading.
