Found this today in a customers 2026 expedition

Not hidden. Not concealed. Just plugged in to the OBD port.

Makes it easier to find.

How to best mess with the dealer? Plug it into another vehicle?

Mookie said:

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Definitely not exclusive to Keating

Our ability as a dealer to track a car goes away the same day the subscription to these is either accepted by the customer (who can track their own car) or is declined by the customer when it is sold.

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Interesting.

I would think the Ford/Lincoln Security Package would make these systems redundant for the OP vehicle going forward.

Mookie said:

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Definitely not exclusive to Keating

Our ability as a dealer to track a car goes away the same day the subscription to these is either accepted by the customer (who can track their own car) or is declined by the customer when it is sold.

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If I remember correctly, the rub was keating was charging customers for this tracker, but never gave any info about how to use it. No websites, no serial numbers. Basically they were charging for keating to keep track of a car they didn't own, then keating charged them to keep the thing active for a length of time, but didn't allow the owner to actually use the service they were charged for. That is what I recall, but I could be flatout misremembering.

dodger02 said:

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So I recently bought a car that had something like this installed. They told me it was "mandatory" and already installed and couldn't be removed.

I told them to EAD.

I got a call a couple of days later saying they'd take it off.

Where would I look to find something like this if it's not obviously plugged into the OBD?

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See if you can find the old thread. It has pics on how to find it. Thread was Apex something or another. I think it had asterisks in the title too, but maybe not.

Old thread:
https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/3197687

We use them to know where our inventory is (we have a remote lot). Customer can subscribe to the service once they purchase or not,up to them. Once the car is sold it falls out of our ability to track it anywhere.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Mookie said:

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Definitely not exclusive to Keating

Our ability as a dealer to track a car goes away the same day the subscription to these is either accepted by the customer (who can track their own car) or is declined by the customer when it is sold.

---

If I remember correctly, the rub was keating was charging customers for this tracker, but never gave any info about how to use it. No websites, no serial numbers. Basically they were charging for keating to keep track of a car they didn't own, then keating charged them to keep the thing active for a length of time, but didn't allow the owner to actually use the service they were charged for. That is what I recall, but I could be flatout misremembering.

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Keating has an ownership stake in Apex, that's what prompted me to ask.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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Mookie said:

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Definitely not exclusive to Keating

Our ability as a dealer to track a car goes away the same day the subscription to these is either accepted by the customer (who can track their own car) or is declined by the customer when it is sold.

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Interesting.

I would think the Ford/Lincoln Security Package would make these systems redundant for the OP vehicle going forward.

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Redundant yes but the dealership wants their own money stream so i suspect it will still be installed

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Mookie said:

---

Definitely not exclusive to Keating

Our ability as a dealer to track a car goes away the same day the subscription to these is either accepted by the customer (who can track their own car) or is declined by the customer when it is sold.

---

If I remember correctly, the rub was keating was charging customers for this tracker, but never gave any info about how to use it. No websites, no serial numbers. Basically they were charging for keating to keep track of a car they didn't own, then keating charged them to keep the thing active for a length of time, but didn't allow the owner to actually use the service they were charged for. That is what I recall, but I could be flatout misremembering.

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what you did there. it was seen.

Great question. Because they cost us around $8 per device. It would cost us 6x that cost in labor to remove it. With the scale, it's not worth it. Plus in order to activate with the carrier, they need a pic of the install sticker with a unique code on it, and the sticker obviously can't be removed.

I have had a few customers ask us to remove them at the time of the sale and it is not a big deal to do it.