So I registered for the Toyota VTS... And found out that whether you sign up or not you are already being tracked with these new Toyota cars. All the trips I made before registering for the service were already recorded without my explicit consent.

I mean... good and bad I guess. For people who don't mind 3rd parties knowing where their car is, it's helpful when the cars are stolen. Kind of like modern smart phones. Used to be a big target for theft. Since Apple started the trend of releasing phones that can be remotely tracked / disabled / locked, you can now leave your phone on a cafe table and go to the toilet without anyone stealing it.

It just opens up for corporation / government / insurance for misuse. The VTS system tracks the vehicle cornering, braking rate, acceleration, max speed and impact events among others. So it is possible that in the future car companies will void your warranty from these telemetry data, government can impose "lock downs" where you can't drive at certain time or restrict where you can go, or just ticket you for traffic violation automatically and insurance companies can increase your premium, or outright refuse insurance coverage from telemetry data.

So we are moving towards owning your car... but you don't have the freedom to drive the car the way you want to. Also for people with high privacy needs, the only way to disable this is to find the GPS transmitter and remove it / cut the fuse to the VTS system, or use a GPS signal blocker.

Also targeted marketing and big data collection will have even more ways to pinpoint exactly where you are and what you do. Although, frankly most people they are already tracked precisely by their smartphones anyway. It's just a little scary that certain people will have your precise location, in real time, at all times. Imagine someone scheming to abduct your child while you pick them up from school etc.

Just one more step towards an authoritarian dystopia.

This post has been edited by kimlaw: Dec 25 2022, 05:41 PM

I think it's cheap. One time I had to send the car for a repair at Toyota center. Long story short, they had to reopen and reinstall the windshield. Was surprise to receive a call from official VTS number. My guess something triggered it and got VTS to call the customer for verification. My guess if you car gets stolen and something is on modified, you'll get the same call as well.

Confirmed ? Toyota VTS is actually supplied by Captor ?

This post has been edited by Roman Catholic: Dec 22 2023, 08:10 PM

Seeing how Hilux got stolen easily, rather spend some for GPS tracking device aftermarket

This is the most confusing part. Captor previously was memang renown for it's GPS tracking features sampai pihak insurans memang suka sangat Captor services ni but dunno why suddenly Captor services macam sial when Toyota VTS came into picture . I have not come across 1 case of Captor being able to recover a stolen vehicle since it was introduced in 2021. Sebelum tu boleh track Dan jumpa dengan senang. Now habuk pun takde.

Most likely because thieves know of a way to bypass it. For most Toyotas, the module is under the front passenger seat. There must be some easy way to screw it up and just make it think that your car is stationary. I know because on a recently purchased Cross Hybrid the module malfunctioned and just kept reporting the car in a static location for days, but I received no emergency notification or phone call from VTS services. Only on the day I took it to SC to replace the module did the VTS office call to ask if there was any problem, most probably the same time the SC tech disconnected power to the module. Basically useless!

I haven't done a thorough investigation into the Cross Hybrid so I have no comments about the Cross Hybrid.

If it is so easy for the SC tech to disconnect the power to the GPS tracker module as you had written, what is stopping the thieves from doing the same ? Is there even a need for a bypass ? We are talking about a security system here and if every Tom, Dick & Harry can access it, what is the point of such a security system ? Question is why when Captor was operating before Toyota even came into picture, Captor was recovering stolen vehicles like it was a piece of cake. Now suddenly even with Captor's involvement, not even a bloody vehicle was found by them.

Recently purchased Cross Hybrid with a faulty GPS tracker module ? Don't they even test the GPS tracker system before delivery to the customer ? So much for reliability huh.

Patut la sales for Hilux is rumoured to have slumped by 36% from last year figures. (excluding Year End Sales figures but I doubt it's going to change the results) but we are still awaiting official figures to be released.

This post has been edited by Roman Catholic: Dec 23 2023, 09:15 PM

You misunderstood. If power is disconnected, you will get a call from VTS center (or a notification via the MY Toyota app).Thieves will not disconnect the power. I’m saying thieves have some other way to stop the real-time tracking without cutting the power. Basically making the VTS think the car is parked. With regards to captor’s reputation, I cannot comment. That’s between captor and umw to settle between themselves.

Also, with my Cross Hybrid, VTS worked when picking it up. Only failed after a couple of months. Replaced at SC within 3 days of me making the call. Working fine ever since.

Lastly, I doubt Hilux sales decline has anything to do with how easy it is to steal, because they’ve always been easy to steal, even throughout years they with good sales. Demand for stolen Hilux is very high across Thai border. 36% is roughly 1/3. Guess what, government announced the 2024 ending of diesel subsidy around 2/3 of the way into 2023. There’s your answer.

This post has been edited by dev/numb: Dec 23 2023, 10:46 PM

Some owners of stolen Hiluxs don't even get a call from VTS center. Some do. Some don't. Most likely it's the dead shift when nobody's around in the office. I thought about this for a long time. Why is it necessary for the VTS staff to even make the call ? Couldn't this be like automated process the moment it's tampered with, let system automatically contact the owners directly.

The thieves don't disconnect the power ? You are right they don't disconnect the power, they discard the GPS tracker completely. The smarter ones would go with a jammer but what is the point, when that could also be tracked with the right technology too.

Perhaps your are right about the falling sales due to uncertain future diesel price but I still think it's the weaker security system that's putting potential buyers off.

It's a pity there was a group of onwers whom had lost their Toyota's and they wanted to bring Toyota to court but I dunno what happened to that group. Kind of died down despite it started off with a bang. Guess now we will never know the true story between Captor and UMW.

This post has been edited by Roman Catholic: Dec 23 2023, 11:27 PM