At about 1000 miles before I get to my next 5000 miles on my odometer, I get a notice from my dealer that my car is due for an oil change and whatever other service is required by the maintenance schedule. I remember reading somewhere that a GPS (not the kind used for navigation) is installed in all new Toyotas; it is used simply for tracking. I didn't believe it when I had read it, but now I believe it's true. They even knew when my first 5000 miles was coming up. How else could the dealer know when my next 5000 miles is coming up? Can anyone confirm this, and where in the world is it located on the car?
Thanks everyone. I know two other people who bought cars the same month that I did. Their driving habits are very different from mine. They are also getting notices 1000 miles before their 5000 mile intervals; so it's not based on a time interval. Thanks for your answer, ggood, but is your answer just a guess, or do you know this for sure? Can anyone respond with certainty whether there is a GPS or not? After all, all mobile phones in this area have a GPS, so why is it so hard to believe that a car has one?
OBD-II records parameters (speeds, steering angles, etc.), but there is no GPS info in OBD-II. GPS is not just a chip, it also needs antenna on the roof or hidden below dash near the lower edge of windshield (so it can "view" the sky"). Saying that there is a GPS on every new Toyota is just non-sense. Toyota would not spend that kind of money and risking getting sued for privacy. Besides, GPS on vehicles are passive. It receives and decode coordinates for displaying on MFD. It does not transmit the coordinate or vehicles info to anyone else. Your cell phone, however, most likely has a GPS decoder (or rather, a portion of a chip) in it. How can I be sure? No, I can't. But I use my professional training and information I read to make assessments and judgements. Look at my avatar. I work on chips.
There may not be a GPS in every Prius, but there may be a Gremlin, but it only comes out in the dark (milk duds, yum!)
There is no tracking device on your Toyota. You do, however, have a tracking device on your person that was inserted during your alien abduction. Tom
