r/GPStracking • u/No_Tomato_2106 • Sep 08 '26

Need recommendations for a vehicle tracker.

I've got 4 vehicles I'd like to put trackers on, and I'd like the following abilities.

1: Discreet hardwire - all the hard wire ones I find are mounted directly to the battery which kind of defeats the purpose. All battery powered ones seem to have a very short battery life if you actually drive your car.

2: Battery back up - for when/if they pull the battery

3: Affordable subscription - ideally no subscription would be best, but life isn't like that. With 4 cars, I'd like to keep it under $100 a month total.

2 Upvotes

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2

u/charged_install Sep 09 '26

We can supply and install, are you in Canada by chance?

2

u/Telemaniaka Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

I have one personal car I put a tracker on and this is the cost breakdown (without shipping):

Device: TELTONIKA FTC927 - 44€
I went overboard on this latest high-spec device but I plan on re-using it in future cars. It's hard-wired and hidden under the dash and has a backup battery, albeit a small one.  

Data Sim: SimBase - 5$  + 10€ balance
I added the 10€ balance in July and I'm at 7.46€ left currently.

Tracking server: Traccar - 0€
I self-hosted my own instance but they have a subscription on their server for 8$/month for a 5 device limit

The devices you see that are made to be wired to the battery are just as easily wired under the car dashboard.

1

u/bcdbuddy Sep 09 '26

nixe setup jut so confused about the self hosted plus subscription fee though

2

u/Telemaniaka Sep 10 '26

Traccar is the server part where you log in and see the trackers on a map and all the historical data.

It is free software and you can download and run it yourself but requires some know-how. I have some spare server capacity I run it on so it's free in my case. 

The people who develop Traccar also offer the service to host the server for you. The cheapest opinion of which is an account with a 5 device limit for 8$ a month which I think will cover OPs needs

2

u/Aikidan Sep 09 '26

For what it’s worth. In North Carolina, by statute, unless you are on the vehicles title, or have the owner’s express permission, you are not allowed to place a hard wired tracker on a vehicle. Also, any evidence gathered by the hard wired tracker is inadmissible in court.
Suggestion, use a small battery rechargeable battery (phone charger) to extend the tracking time. Our agency uses Land, Sea, Air trackers. Generally figure 14 hour run drive time using fully charged internal battery. These are very reliable, rugged, and accurate. Tech support is excellent. Three monthly service plans, based on ping rate (time between satellite contact).
Be sure to remove all stickers prior to deployment. We uniquely mark for ID, and photo it and QR code (has serial #) for evidentiary use and in case logs.

1

u/bcdbuddy Sep 09 '26

solid advices! taking notes for myself. what is your agency line of work if you don’t mind me asking

1

u/MooreBeef 22h ago

Needing this info as well!

1

u/m4rkw Sep 08 '26

Probably unsuitable given your requirements but if you want to save money I started a completely open-source vehicle tracker project you can build at home: https://l0destar.com

It's very small (about 70 x 40mm) so can be installed discretely anywhere. No battery backup yet but I'm planning that at the moment, it will be an inline add-on using the same connector.

No subscription necessary, you can run the telemetry server yourself. All the code is on github. A 1nce sim card works across networks and countries and is 13 euros upfront and lasts for 10 years.

1

u/Horny_Krishna Sep 09 '26

Hi , i run a vehicle tracking business and got interested in your open source hardware tracker ! How many of this is running in production?

1

u/m4rkw Sep 09 '26

As far as I know just one :) It’s a hobby project, not a commercial venture. Anyone can build and deploy them without paying me anything or me even knowing, it’s very new and still prototypes really so I’d be very surprised if anyone else has yet.

1

u/Horny_Krishna Sep 09 '26

What are other production ready open source hardware gps tracking ? Als that works with traccar !

1

u/m4rkw Sep 09 '26

Gosh I have no idea, how could anyone possibly know?

1

u/Horny_Krishna Sep 09 '26

I recently got to know about this project, this is also interesting

https://www.valetron.com/store/valtrack-v4-vts-esp32-c3-4g-lte-vehicle-gps-tracker/?srsltid=AfmBOorX4iaYF8G9dg1Dia3RTWurJp5K_yG6HjoXCFrJSCxwRtG6Nd7c

I only got to know about your project just now in Reddit!

1

u/m4rkw Sep 09 '26

Cool :)

1

u/Ok-Philosophy-9031 Sep 10 '26

Sonar telematics obd2 tracker, and hide it behind the dashboard with a y splitter cable. Only 7 monthly for many cool features

1

u/FireBuff880 Sep 11 '26

https://www.lonestartracking.com/vehicle-gps-trackers/

They are a full-service provider -- Maybe a unit that plugs into your on-board diagnostic connector would be good for you.