GPS Vehicle tracking (if stolen)

[Aggie PT]

This may be a dumb question so I apologize in advance if so. If my Mach E was stolen would I be able to track it online or via the app? Just curious as I was thinking about hiding one of those smart tags in there somewhere if not so I could track it if it was ever stolen. Or if it is possible to track it if it was stolen via the built-in software is that something that a criminal could shut off so a tag would be better? Thanks everyone!

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[hawkeye3point1]

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-mach-e-was-stolen.10945/

The Smart Tag couldn't hurt.

 

[ThatGuyLando]

You'd be able to track it through Ford Pass. That being said, it's Ford Pass so installing a separate tracker might be wise.

 

[Mach-Lee]

You'd be able to track it through Ford Pass. That being said, it's Ford Pass so installing a separate tracker might be wise.

No, because most of the good car thieves know how to disable connected services on the screen as soon as they get in. That's what happened to the guy in the previous link, the thieves disabled FordPass tracking and he couldn't find it.

What bugs me is that Ford should have a 24/7 phone line that police can call to track stolen vehicles.

 

[Hammered]

They should give a simple pin option to lock the connected features behind an admin lock only a full-on dealer FDRS system can reset. Typical ford half-assery to allow anyone even with an RF key bridge to just nuke vehicle tracking. It'd make entirely too much sense to lock that feature and prevent the vehicle from moving if the TCU is disconnected and there's not a continual key presence in the vehicle. That'd immediately put an end to thefts of sync4 vehicles via RF key bridge methods.

 

[EV Life]

No, because most of the good car thieves know how to disable connected services on the screen as soon as they get in. That's what happened to the guy in the previous link, the thieves disabled FordPass tracking and he couldn't find it.

What bugs me is that Ford should have a 24/7 phone line that police can call to track stolen vehicles.

I’m not 100% positive… but I think that guy left his key in his Mach-E because he was using his phone as a key.

 

[hartmms]

I built a DIY tracker from a Particle Boron device and a Adafruit GPS module for my RAM instead of paying the $300 a year for the Sirius service. It does require some understanding of electronics and some programming. I also added a CAN interface to this and found the OBD code to lock and unlock the doors. So not only do I have a GPS tracker (built into my home assistant software), I can remotely lock and unlock the doors again.

If you want something already built, they have a plug and play box. The box can be directly wired into the 12v power with a cable they sell. It also has a built in CAN bus support, so you can change the software to read data from the MME OBD port. Maybe even read internal CAN bus, but it depends on if Ford has any security/encryption for the internal CAN busses.

Neither hardware solution has a monthly fee. You only need to start paying if you use too much data (100MB) or have a > 100 devices. Since the amount of data required to transmit a GPS coordinate is so small, that 100MB goes a long way.

Since this is a non standard system, thieves will take a while to find and unplug it if you hide it well enough. You could get crafty and make up some fake labels that look like they are ford part number labels to disguise it further. I've seen the images of the frunk removed and there is so much going on there, this box could easily hide there and still see the sky enough to see the GPS satellites.

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