OBDII vehicle trackers are great little devices that are easy to set up and track a car or truck location along with many other features.
Depending on the unit they can also track a vehicle’s location, mileage, speed, and even monitor revs on the engine.
How Do OBDII Vehicle GPS Trackers Work?
They work by plugging in a dongle into an OBDII port that is built into almost every vehicle 1996 and newer.
Units are plugged into the OBDII port and ready to go.
Using a combination of its own electronics and a vehicle’s computer it can send a lot of information to an app or computer program.
Many businesses that have company cars, trucks, and vans use them to give information on where and what employees are doing.
Since they communicate directly with a vehicle’s computer they can give a lot of information such as hard braking, speed, or an engine being revved high.
The dongles work with apps or computer software to display the information.
Most units work with a service that has a monthly fee while others are self setup with no fee.
Having a service that takes care of all the information likely is best for those who are not technical and want a quick easy Plug-and-Play option.
The services monthly cost range from $10-$20 dollars often with the first month free.
Units with no service will be somewhat technical but can be a good option for those who are good with technology.
Types of OBDII Vehicle Trackers
OBDII vehicle trackers work with GPS and transmit the location over a cell network.
After the device is plugged into an OBDII port an app or computer program is setup to gather and send information.
The information sent will depend on the device bought with most able to send much more information than the vehicle location.
There are many good units available with some of our favorite picks below.
As always be sure to read the reviews on Amazon, forums, here, or elsewhere to be sure a unit is a good fit for you.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Our Picks for Best OBDII Vehicle GPS Trackers
- MasTrack MT-OBD
- Accutracking
- Land-Air-Sea
- CarLock
MasTrack MT-OBD Live GPS Vehicle Tracker with Engine Diagnostics
The MasTrack MT-OBD is a system to track a vehicle and display it on a map.
It plugs into a car or trucks OBDII port and will Geo-Track a vehicle to an app or computer program.
The unit gives real-time data on speeding, hard braking, excessive idling, along with the location.
It will work in the USA or Canada and like most all trackers it does have a monthly fee currently $10.99 a month.
Accutracking VTPlug TK373 3G Real-Time Online GPS OBD II Vehicle Tracker
This unit from Accutracking has many nice features.
It works over the cell networks along with GPS to transmit data back to an app or computer software for real-time updates.
A cell phone sim card is inserted into the unit and it communicates over cell towers to give status such as location.
They have pay-as-you-go plans with different packages along with a 7-day free trial.
No Monthly Fee – LandAirSea Sync Real Time 4G LTE GPS Tracker for Vehicles OBD Tracking Device for Cars, Trucks or Fleets, 1 Year Data Plan Included
Land-Air-Sea is a real-time vehicle tracker that works with an AT&T SIM card.
It plugs into a car or trucks OBDII port and is ready to connect to an app or computer program.
There is no monthly fee, but there is a one-time activation code for $29.95 for 1 year of service.
CarLock – 2nd Gen Advanced Real Time 3G Car Tracker & Alert System. Comes with Device & Phone App. Easily Tracks Your Car in Real Time & Notifies You Immediately of Suspicious Behavior.OBD Plug&Play
CarLock has been around for a while and now has the Gen 2 that is a nice all-around unit.
It has many features such as alerts for when an engine starts and when it is moving.
There is a monthly service fee but is good for those looking for an easy plug-and-play setup.
The Carlock is good in many scenarios from a company with a fleet of vehicles to a single car owner needing more protection.
Summary
There are many good OBDII trackers that can give a user a lot of real time data on a vehicle.
They are easy to setup with no need to tie into wires or batteries since the OBDII port supplies everything needed.
All vehicles built after 1996 are required to have an OBDII port located under the driver side dashboard.
Having access to all the data a good tracker can send you is a real benefit to many users, from wanting to keep your car safe from theft, to a company needing to track vehicle usage.
As always be sure to read the review on Amazon or elsewhere to be sure a unit is a good fit for you .
Beware of the financial risk when using these car GPS products who are infringing some patent rights. I work for a fleet management company and recently learned about the legal troubles faced by many Car GPS Tracking companies. Read their patent rights before making any purchase.
Read this: “https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/13894646”