That seems like a lot of work to own something. At that point I will go with an alternative brand that doesn't have those kind of system or subscription. The problem will be when all the brands have something similar.
It is legally problematic to remove until you switch financing...
In addition, if tracking bothers you, your tire pressure sensors all have trackable (if there are enough sensors around a city) IDs, and if bluetooth is on, and it probably is, that as well...aside from your cell phone...
My next (secondary) vehicle will 100% be a dumb vehicle from the 90s or earlier.
I have never heard of this. Do you have any reference to learn more?
Who exactly does this installing - someone hired by the bank? The dealer? If I pay cash for a vehicle, does that guarantee that the dealer won't install a tracker? How can I find this out?
If you pay cash, you probably can't be 100% sure there isn't one, but it would still be illegal for them to do this. Otherwise, when you loan/lease the car, it's legal for the dealer to put a tracker on 'their own car'/do it as required by the bank ('their own car' or a car they have a 100% value lien on, for those of you in lien states).
Via the article, the FTC was supposedly probing these to determine 'if the availability of car loans outweighed the privacy issues', but nothing came of it (which is why i'm not hopeful for https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32426633 ).
It was just hanging off the OBD2 port, so if you're concerned about it when leasing or buying a new car then just make sure to check that port.
I still have it in a box somewhere. I'm not sure if there's anything interesting that can be done with it...
[edit: minor grammar]
A while back I set up a Ubiquity Wi-Fi system for a friend who lives near a fairly high-traffic street.
The default Ubiquity scan interval for spectrum and Wi-Fi network awareness was enough to map schedules for a shockingly high number of people driving by.
I imagine something custom built for this purpose would be significantly more, umm, “effective” for this purpose.
Is it?
Unless their financing T&C specifically tell you you are bound to let them track you, can't you just pop it out and tell them to pound sand?
What kind of janky banks are you working with?
My spouse and I financed a couple of cars recently, one new and one slightly used, and did not have anything of the sort. Different manufacturers, different banks, different dealerships.
Sure, if you finance through the dealership, then dealership personnel could stick it in there before you drive away, I guess. It plenty of people finance through third parties. Surely Wells Fargo, for example, doesn’t send an agent down to stick a tracker in your car while you’re sleeping or at work…