Important: Even after the modem is removed, if you connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth then the car will use your phone as an internet connection and send all the same telemetry data back to Toyota.
that is so fucking insidious
this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
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But one can also disable bluetooth tethering?
Can you use the phone to only allow Bluetooth media but nothing else?
At least on my pixel, I've got a setting to enable or disable sharing phones internet to bluetooth connections.
I don't seem to have this on my S23
Does iOS still not ask fully what the user wants to use the Bluetooth connection for? As bad as Android is I can't imagine it doing something like that without asking.
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Thank you for posting this. These devices are getting out of control. They are marketed as a convenience to the driver, when in actuality they are capturing and selling your location and driving habit information to data brokers and insurance companies. Sometimes dealerships will even add an aftermarket tracking device to their vehicles without telling you. I removed one that I found in a Crosstrek I bought last year. The device I removed was made by iKON Technologies, and is 'intended' to be used for lot management at the dealership. The dealership tried to sell me an overpriced security plan associated with the GPS tracker. I declined. They left it on anyway. What they don't tell you is that iKON Technologies installs them at no cost to the dealership, and that the tracker is used for repossessions and capturing data to be used for targeted marketing or sell to data brokers. Some devices have the ability to inhibit your starter and ignition system like the one in this manual.
Slap that tracker on a car belonging to an employee of the dealership.
and that the tracker is used for repossessions
The only dealers that use those kinds of trackers are BHPH lots, or dealers who handle a lot of high-risk customers.
It's still shitty, but the contract you sign when you buy one of these cars absolutely does state their usage.
This YouTube video includes footage from a video call with company representatives for iKON Technologies. Their products are definitely being used for more than theft recovery. There is also a Google spreadsheet in the video description with participating dealerships. Thankfully their products are easy to remove. The device in my car was connected to the battery and ziptied to one of the leads to the battery.
How is that in any way legal where you are?
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Fucking brilliant. We need much more of this--more public awareness of this type of hack.
Just gonna keep fixing my 19yr old Toyota until I can't.
I've thought about making a business that makes drop in electric kits for popular vehicles. So you could take an older worn out vehicle and refresh it with full electric. It would probably cost $20k or so, but that's much cheaper than a new car.
Yeah, its already a growing industry I have my eye on. I would love to just electrify my gas guzzler.
It's called retrofit. I would love to see the price go down but it's definitely a challenging task.
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Congratulations - your car no longer has the capability to transmit telemetry data. Of course it may still be captured to local storage and can be physically collected later, but for me that was fine.
Yeah, and it’s unknown how much telemetry the car keeps. Hopefully, the removal of GPS means the car no longer logs every location the car travels, but without that there are some reports that modern vehicles keep years of GPS data locally, so it’s possible for an intruder like law enforcement to see everywhere you’ve ever taken your vehicle.
I did something similar to a 5th gen camaro. It was much easier. Take out the cell modem unit, open the case, pull out a physical hardware pin bridge that connected it to the OnStar unit. Done.
The only thing I lost was an in-dash compass heading.
The modem was 2g so its dead now anyway, I suppose I could put the bridge back and get the compass. I won't though, that takes effort and road signs have directions on them. There is always the sun too.
I wonder if there is an equally in-depth info for the ~~2004~~ 2024 4Runner. Have someone else who’s totally nontechnical who wants this done.
The 2004 4Runner never had any sort of modem, and only the Limited models had GPS - but that's purely a receiver for navigation and doesn't actually transmit anything.
This level of connectivity is a relatively recent thing.
Sorry, slip of the finger while distracted. I meant the 2024 4Runner.
Edit: jeez, my fingers are potatoes today.
I'd imagine the system in a '24 4Runner is very similar to that of the '24 RAV4.
If we start at the shift selector as per the article, it is radically different. It’s a solid stick, it has no boot.
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