Used Car Dealership: Tracking device placed on car

[Latonia]

Is it legal for a car dealership to place a tracking device on the car I purchased from them without disclosing it to me in writing or verbally?

 

[CdwJava]

What do you mean by a "tracking device?"

How do you know that such a device is on your car?

Do you own it, or are you leasing/renting the car?

 

[mightymoose]

It may be that the device was placed on the vehicle for their own purposes and they forgot to remove it at the time of sale.
Have you asked them about it? What have they said?

 

[CdwJava]

That's what I 'm thinking - an anti-theft device of their own. I doubt they have any real care what is done with a car that someone else owns.

 

[Latonia]

I financed a used car (in-house financing) from a small used car dealership. The owner of the dealership discounted the car significantly and had a change of heart two weeks after the contract was signed. He asked me to return the vehicle but I refused because I knew the contract could not be broken unless it was a mutual agreement. He and his wife have been harassing me ever since. My first payment is due in two weeks and he's treating me as if I'm in default with the auto loan.

It has been a nightmare. I received a text message from him today that a tracking device was place on the car and that if I default on the loan he's coming to get his vehicle. Is it legal for a tracking device to be placed on the car without my knowledge or consent? I financed the car three weeks ago and was just informed of the tracking device by the owner of the dealership today.

 

[disagreeable]

Does your contract forbid a tracking device be placed in the vehicle? Many poor credit lenders install devices to make retrieving or disabling the vehicle easier. It allows them to reduce the value of a defaulted vehicle to a deadbeat.

 

[mightymoose]

There likely is no tracking device. If you find one there is no reason why you can't remove it.
I can't think of anything right away that makes it illegal, but it may be grounds for a civil suit under privacy laws.
If there is a device it should have been disclosed to you at the time of sale.
It seems more likely the comment was a silly bluff.