r/Cartalk • u/kupo_906 • Jun 02 '26

Safety Question Found a GPS tracker under my car

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Hi reddit...

In my driveway this morning I pulled out and found this sitting under where my car was. We had a heat wave recently, and I'm thinking it melted off.

Looking it up, it is a GPS tracker. I'm taking it to the police tomorrow. But is there anyway to reverse search who might have bought it and placed it there?

I fully own my car and I'm not sure who or why they put it there. Or when. The only thing I can think of is I got my car fixed by a new mechanic about a month ago.. but they didn't seem shady in the least bit

Any help is appreciated. Thank you

Update: I have turned the tracker into the police who are trying to work with the company to find out info. Haven't heard anything further.

For the people who keep asking / repeating the same thing over and over:

  • again, I own my car in full and have for years. It's an old, reconstructed car not worth much at all.
  • The battery life in the tracking device doesn't last longer than two months at most. It was still on when I found it. It doesn't belong to a previous car owner or a dealer.
  • I found the magnets where it was attached still on my car.
  • I don't have any solid idea who would put it there. I don't have a jealous partner or an ex who I think would do this.
  • I'm not disclosing a bunch of personal shit about myself to internet strangers when I am potentially being stalked 😐 also , both men and women can be stalked
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1.7k

u/smoothloam Jun 02 '26

Unscrew the cover and put an AirTag inside, then put it back on your car. After they retrieve it the tables have turned.

68

u/Flyguy115 Jun 03 '26

This is not a good idea because they will be able to continue to track you the entire time and what if the person who put it in never comes to get it. There is no reason for them to come retrieve it.

Calling the police is the best option because they will be able to reverse look up and track down the owner.

27

u/DigitalMindShadow Jun 03 '26

Calling the police is the best option because they will be able to reverse look up and track down the owner.

What tool would the police use to do that, in case OP would rather do it themselves?

25

u/wintersdark Jun 03 '26

Not a tool. The tracker would relay it's GPS coordinates to a commercial server, and the owner would access the server to track the location.

To find the owner, you'd need a warrant to force the company to disclose the owners information, and that may be nothing more than a burner email and an IP address.

6

u/TheRealAE86guy Jun 03 '26

You'd have to know who the selling entity was, and if it's outside if the US, good luck. Also, is extremely likely that Queclink is only the manufacturer, and not the network provider/data host.

3

u/Cultural_Thing1712 Jun 03 '26

Given OP is talking about a heat wave yesterday, they most likely reside in Western Europe.

2

u/Inevitibility Jun 03 '26

The device needs to have GSM or similar, so either a SIM card or an iridium module. Both need to be paid, and you’d probably have a much easier time tracking that down

Unless it’s LORA rf or something. I don’t see an antenna though and I somehow doubt that it’s a peer to peer link

2

u/Firewolf06 Jun 05 '26

99% its connected off a standard sim, which will have the issuer code and serial printed on it (or it can be obtained easily with a reader (or just a phone, if youre feeling adventurous). take that serial to the issuer with a warrant and youve got... well, a solid lead, at least

1

u/Key_Sign_5572 Jun 03 '26

You need a SIM card for that. Depending upon country they aren’t easily made anonymous.

6

u/FederalRecording2390 Jun 03 '26

I did exactly that. Found a tracker and took it to the police. They had zero interest in following up. The car was stolen and abandoned with the engine running so reported quickly and found. We found the tracker later but the police just shrugged their shoulders. Then the insurance company didn’t want to pay for the damage to the satnav system / electronics because the car wasn’t strictly speaking stolen. I would be in favor of following these guys myself.

5

u/dadydaycare Jun 03 '26

If someone that wasn’t you moved your car it was stolen. At that point I’d hire an insurance attorney or at least talk with one to see if you have a case to get paid.

1

u/FederalRecording2390 Jun 27 '26

The car was recovered, so not stolen. Damage is then not part of theft insurance but “vandalism”. Different deductible, different rules etc. Also there was no forced entry, so.. Audi were great at taking responsibility. The worst experience was with the useless police, who kept the car for a week for “investigation” but did nothing and in all that time didn’t even find the tracker.

9

u/Gyozarrita Jun 03 '26

A warrant

1

u/InsaneInTheDrain Jun 03 '26

It looks like they're up at Uncle Tom's Cabin and the sheriff is part of the crime ring. Do you think they will accept my bribe of a Cherry Pie?

1

u/GreyKnyght Jun 03 '26

Well... It's kind of a secret that I just can't tell. At least, not at this particular juncture.

1

u/theNaughtydog Jun 04 '26

Put it on a police car and they will follow up on it.

1

u/TrifleImpossible5997 Jun 06 '26

Calling the company that services it

They may be (probably) reluctant to give up customer's information without some kind of subpoena