PSA: Dealer installed "Apex Protect"

76,711 Views | 247 Replies | Last: 5 mo ago by P.H. Dexippus
CR173
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Had a Spireon on my 2019 f-150. Followed the cable up to the left, had to pop access panel to the left of vent to get to it. One zip tie was holding it in place.
1agswitchin4lanes
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miley said:

2019 Expedition. The vehicle has a Kahu/Spireon unit but I'm drawing a blank on locating it.




Doesn't look like anything out of place. That's the correct location for the gateway/obd.
txags92
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Anybody know if Atkinson South Dallas was putting these on Toyotas back in 2016? Will go look tomorrow...
miley
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Any other guesses on location? I've looked high and low without luck.

I know it's there as the wife set up the app and I just checked and it's very much active. She doesn't care about it and I'd like it gone.

Mac Haik fwiw and I'll never forget the argument had that day.
txyaloo
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1agswitchin4lanes said:

slappy said:

Damn, if I was closer to 1ags I'd volunteer my two unlocked phones to test. Unless you want to mail it to me.
here's an unlocked phone...

Based on this, I'd say the SIM card either doesn't have active service or it's locked to the IMEI of the device.
Old Sarge
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The Apex "Car Theft Management System" was one of many reasons I did not deal with my local Toyota dealer when I bought my Tacoma last year, who had the $995 add on listed on the dealer "adds" decal. Went out of town to a dealer I had used and trusted. No Apex or GPS management was discussed, but the truck came via a dealer trade to get what I wanted.

Does 1Ags or anyone here have a pic of what this would look like on a 2020 Tacoma?
1agswitchin4lanes
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miley said:

Any other guesses on location? I've looked high and low without luck.

I know it's there as the wife set up the app and I just checked and it's very much active. She doesn't care about it and I'd like it gone.

Mac Haik fwiw and I'll never forget the argument had that day.


Pull pass side kick panel and look around the fuse box area.
1agswitchin4lanes
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Old Sarge said:

The Apex "Car Theft Management System" was one of many reasons I did not deal with my local Toyota dealer when I bought my Tacoma last year, who had the $995 add on listed on the dealer "adds" decal. Went out of town to a dealer I had used and trusted. No Apex or GPS management was discussed, but the truck came via a dealer trade to get what I wanted.

Does 1Ags or anyone here have a pic of what this would look like on a 2020 Tacoma?


Post pic of OBD port like everyone else has pls.
Old Sarge
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OBD?

On Board Diagnostics Port?

Will be tomorrow, at best.
1agswitchin4lanes
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Old Sarge said:

OBD?

On Board Diagnostics Port?

Will be tomorrow, at best.


Yup. Your should be white.
Sea Speed
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miley said:

Any other guesses on location? I've looked high and low without luck.

I know it's there as the wife set up the app and I just checked and it's very much active. She doesn't care about it and I'd like it gone.

Mac Haik fwiw and I'll never forget the argument had that day.


Well if you'll never forget it, you won't mind telling us.
jpd301
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Here's an example of how vehicle tracking data can be used for good...

https://modalshift.co/HardBraking/ This is all Wejo data which comes from all GM vehicles post 2016 or so if I recall correctly.

You can imagine the bad of trip level data.
miley
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It wasn't so much the argument itself but rather the lessons learned.

The wife wanted to be a part of the process which meant dragging the kids along (4 and 6 at the time). The popcorn machine kept them busy for about twenty minutes and their iPad bought me another hour. As the transaction drew on and the kids began to melt away I quickly came to the realization that the upper hand had already been given away.

I should mention that I was happy with all other parameters. Car was priced right, trade in valued very fairly, the new car was what the wife wanted, etc.

We only went back and forth three times about the tracker until they went to find the service manager and get him over to "see" about removing it. Another 30 minutes of waiting and, in an act of desperation, I caved and became the reluctant new owner of the dealership's inventory tracking equipment.
dubi
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miley said:

It wasn't so much the argument itself but rather the lessons learned.

The wife wanted to be a part of the process which meant dragging the kids along (4 and 6 at the time). The popcorn machine kept them busy for about twenty minutes and their iPad bought me another hour. As the transaction drew on and the kids began to melt away I quickly came to the realization that the upper hand had already been given away.

I should mention that I was happy with all other parameters. Car was priced right, trade in valued very fairly, the new car was what the wife wanted, etc.

We only went back and forth three times about the tracker until they went to find the service manager and get him over to "see" about removing it. Another 30 minutes of waiting and, in an act of desperation, I caved and became the reluctant new owner of the dealership's inventory tracking equipment.
You story explains why many of us negotiate via email and have a completed bottom line before we set foot in the dealer.
txags92
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dubi said:

miley said:

It wasn't so much the argument itself but rather the lessons learned.

The wife wanted to be a part of the process which meant dragging the kids along (4 and 6 at the time). The popcorn machine kept them busy for about twenty minutes and their iPad bought me another hour. As the transaction drew on and the kids began to melt away I quickly came to the realization that the upper hand had already been given away.

I should mention that I was happy with all other parameters. Car was priced right, trade in valued very fairly, the new car was what the wife wanted, etc.

We only went back and forth three times about the tracker until they went to find the service manager and get him over to "see" about removing it. Another 30 minutes of waiting and, in an act of desperation, I caved and became the reluctant new owner of the dealership's inventory tracking equipment.
You story explains why many of us negotiate via email and have a completed bottom line before we set foot in the dealer.

Yeah, that is pretty much their playbook. Get you in there...get you close to a deal...then make you sit around and wait and get bored and frustrated, then come back and hit you up for just a few more things to "make the deal work". You give in because you just want out of there and want it over with, and that is exactly what they are counting on. Next time, when the waiting and haggling starts on their part, just get up and leave and tell them to email you the details when they figure it all out and you will see if anybody else can make a better deal with you in the meantime. They will get it worked out real fast before they let you get up and leave.
1agswitchin4lanes
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Autonation and the big National conglomerate dealers are famous for this.
Sazerac
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New Sequoia had one pre installed
When I saw the pre paperwork tonight (you have to sign for the service) they removed on request. But the price didn't change. It's basically built into the price regardless.



Flaith
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Does anyone know how NissanConnect is installed to the car and how it is able to remotely get vehicle data, unlock doors, start car, etc? I assume that this has to be a factory-installed thing to be so integrated and isn't a dealer-installed 3rd party inventory management parasite...

I'm going to check my 2018 Pathfinder's OBD tonight
1agswitchin4lanes
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Flaith said:

Does anyone know how NissanConnect is installed to the car and how it is able to remotely get vehicle data, unlock doors, start car, etc? I assume that this has to be a factory-installed thing to be so integrated and isn't a dealer-installed 3rd party inventory management parasite...

I'm going to check my 2018 Pathfinder's OBD tonight
Theres a gateway somewhere installed on it.
lb3
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Just removed the Apex Snitch from my '22 Tucson.

I pulled the SIM card if anyone in SE Houston wants to play with it. You'll likely need to spoof the IMEI number.
DaveHimself
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Howdy, made my way to this thread from the "bait and switch" thread. Checked my wife's 2016 Honda Pilot and it's hooked up as shown below. I'm guessing these Sky Link devices are similar to the Apex devices? Can you confirm?




sts7049
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yup

https://www.mpp.com/products/skylink-theft-protection.htm
1agswitchin4lanes
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DaveHimself said:

Howdy, made my way to this thread from the "bait and switch" thread. Checked my wife's 2016 Honda Pilot and it's hooked up as shown below. I'm guessing these Sky Link devices are similar to the Apex devices? Can you confirm?







Definitely a tracker
Centerpole90
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Texags Auto Board.

Sticking it to the MAN, one thread at a time.
DaveHimself
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Any issue simply unplugging? Since it's wired into my OBD port not sure if it will throw a code.
Also, any idea what the unused plugs are for?
1agswitchin4lanes
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Plugs are likely factory plugs for features you don't have.

Unplug at obd port and remove all the extra bs that the gps is attached to.
texsn95
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1agswitchin4lanes said:

Plugs are likely factory plugs for features you don't have.

Unplug at obd port and remove all the extra bs that the gps is attached to.
Then show us a video of you running that thing over and obliterating it into a 1000 pieces.

**** Apex, and **** Keating, will never set foot in another Keating dealership again.
K Bo
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Finally got around to taking this POS out. 2021 Land Cruiser purchased new from Toyota of Victoria / Keating
Kvwina
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What type of data can be collected by these things other than your location??
1agswitchin4lanes
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Kvwina said:

What type of data can be collected by these things other than your location??


It has a SIM card and a gps chip and is plugged into the On board diagnostics port of your car. So a lot.
DaveHimself
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Did you have to connect individual wires back to your OBD port?
Here's what mine looks like. This is a photo of the pos device so I have to remove those wires and connect back to my OBD port.
There was a second pos device at the end that I just unplugged.

1agswitchin4lanes
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Dude. Can you take some clearer photos of what we're looking at? Maybe pull the foam away and show the front of the connector?
Picard
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APEX removed from a 2017 Expedition. Sort of. I had looked at it a while back and saw the factory diagnostics port with the blue clip and stopped there thinking I was good.

But after this evening I went and checked again and found the in-line fuse. Pulled the panel off below the steering wheel and found APEX zip tied up in there but not plugged into anything.

This was purchased used from a Mac Haik dealership but I don't know why it wasn't connected. Kinda looks like it never was based on the way it was zip tied in there. Well it'll never be connected now.

1agswitchin4lanes
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Picard said:

APEX removed from a 2017 Expedition. Sort of. I had looked at it a while back and saw the factory diagnostics port with the blue clip and stopped there thinking I was good.

But after this evening I went and checked again and found the in-line fuse. Pulled the panel off below the steering wheel and found APEX zip tied up in there but not plugged into anything.

This was purchased used from a Mac Haik dealership but I don't know why it wasn't connected. Kinda looks like it never was based on the way it was zip tied in there. Well it'll never be connected now.




Most likely disconnected when the dealer had to reflash or do state inspection
Strongwind86
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Got bored watching Georgia boat race TCU in Championship game….went out to check the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus.

Don't think I got tagged w the tracker. I see the blue clip on the OBD port. It's really tight in the footwell . Before I start pulling off panels - one question. I know the car has knee airbags - what steps do I need to take before I start yanking on covers?

Thx SW '86


 
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