Last Updated on October 7, 2021
GPS tracking devices for cars are becoming increasingly popular. Car owners may want to track their car for several reasons. Perhaps they’re afraid of car theft and want the best chance at being able to find their vehicle if someone steals it.
Also, if multiple people use the same car, the owner may want to track where the car has been and how long it has been traveling. If you like to keep maintenance records or learn about the performance history of your vehicle, then a tracking device is the best solution. Here are the best GPS trackers for cars on the market today.
9 Best Car GPS Tracking Devices
You will find a plethora of tracking devices for cars on the auto market. Some good… some pretty much worthless. This makes finding a good vehicle tracking device more difficult than it should be. To help you sort out the confusion, below is a list of our favorite GPS trackers for cars.
#1 – Americaloc GL300W Mini Portable GPS Tracker
The Americaloc GL300W is a pricey tracker, but you won’t find one that’s better. It provides real-time tracking and allows you to view up to one year of history.
The magnetic case allows you to hide it really well on your vehicle and the battery life (up to a few weeks) is longer than the competition. You can set it up to alert you on movement, entering/leaving zones, speeding, and other scenarios.
See Also: How to Fix a Broken Speedometer
#2 – Optimus 2.0 GPS Tracker Bundle
The Optimus 2.0 is quality car GPS tracker which has compatible apps available for Android and iOS devices. Whenever the tracker generates new data, you can use your mobile app to view and manage this information.
This is great for historical information reference for your vehicle. The included twin-magnet case works very well for concealment.
#3 – Linxup OBD GPS Tracker
A budget friendly model, the Linxup GPS tracker easily installs in your car’s OBD port and is a popular option.
Aside from standard tracking features, you will have access to Google Maps, text alerts, email alerts, maintenance tracking and more. It can also detect driver performance and provide reports on it.
#4 – The Mileage Ace GPS Mileage Tracker
If you are running a business and you need to track the mileage of your drivers, let the Mileage Ace GPS Mileage Tracker do the work for you. Normally, you would depend on the driver to create mileage logs for you.
But to ensure there is no human error, this tracker can keep a more accurate account of the miles driven. This will make it easier to claim tax deductions on vehicle usage and more.
Read Also: Car Alarm Keeps Going Off? (Here’s Why)
#5 – Automatic AUT-450C OBD II Tracker
The Automatic AUT-450C car tracker does things a bit differently. Instead of a typically monthly fee for tracking, this unit uses 3G data from its included (unlimited) 5-year subscription.
It has a built-in car code scanner to help decode check engine lights and automatically alerts emergency services in the event of a crash. Alexa, Nest, and IFTTT compatibility allow you to seamlessly connect to your digital life.
#6 – Spytec GL300 Mini GPS Tracker
If you want to discretely place a tracker in your vehicle, the Spy Tec is a great hidden car GPS tracker. It doesn’t need to be connected to the OBDII serial port. This means you can hide the tracking device anywhere in the car.
The battery has a 2-week lifespan so you’ll need to keep an eye on it. It’s a popular tracking but the monthly fee is a tad high.
#7 – BrickHouse Security TrackPort OBDII Vehicle Tracker
The Brickhouse Security Trackport is a dependable real time GPS tracker for your vehicle or entire fleet of vehicles. Get a satellite aerial image of your car in its current location with this tracker.
Other features include a panic button, fast alerts, and travel reports.
#8 – MOTOsafety OBD GPS Tracking Device
If you want your tracker to put more emphasis on driver education, the MOTOsafety GPS tracker is a good choice. It provides you with information on what your car has done and when it has done it.
Priding itself as a real-time teen driving coach, it monitors safe driving habits and actually provides report cards to help newer drivers to learn how to drive better.
#9 – Zubie GL500C12M Teen Driver GPS Tracker
The Zubie GL500C12M tracking device focuses on safety and training new drivers. It can detect when your teenager (or another driver) is going faster than the posted limit in your area and will let you know with an alert.
It even notifies you of potential vehicle health problems so it won’t be up to your new driver to realize too late that something is wrong.
Thank you much for cutting the work for me; I’ll definitely buy the Americaloc GL300W if I get back my stolen 2015 Toyota Rav 4. It’s been missing for three whole days and let me tell you it’s a pain in the ass, pocket and it makes your daily routine so much harder. No one has been able to help me track my stolen 2015 Toyota Rav 4. Can anyone help me???Please.
So sorry this happened. Thieves are scum. Unfortunately, not much you can do besides filing a police report, checking Craigslist in your city and surrounding areas, and just keeping a lookout. Depending on where it was stolen, check with neighbors or businesses who may have cameras setup that may have caught something on video.
How can I buy any of these GPS trackers?
There is a link within each product that will take you to Amazon to purchase.
What do you recommend if I just want to track a stolen car in the future just in case? I dont need any performance tracking. Just a hidden device that hopefully powers itself off the cars battery so I dont hsve to remember to charge it.
I don’t know of any GPS trackers that connect directly to a car battery but there are a few non-real time trackers out there. Instead of pinging the tracker every few seconds, it pings maybe once a day. Here are a couple good ones for something like this:
• Trak-4 GPS
• Brickhouse Security EON 4
Some come with connectors that plug into the cars supply
that was very helpful. Most info is not well disguised sales pushing a device,for example the Bounce. Obvious. I don’t want a thief to be able to connect to the tracker by 3rd party application.
I need a tracker with long battery life? Please help
One that is much longer than 4 months!!!!
Please see my reply above to Jessica.
Any of these work outside in Africa, particularly Somalia and Kenya?
Some work only in the US, while others in most countries. You’d have to look at the product description or spec sheet of a particular model to confirm.
Is there a hidden gps tracker that includes a hidden camera that uploads video to the cloud in addition to tracking features? Something the driver/employee is not gonna see or be able to disconnect?
Where can I get one?
How can I buy any of these a GPS tracker with long battery life?
Most units should have a specification for battery life you can find before you purchase one.
What do you think about Teltonika’s FMB-920? In Pakistan, Alpha Track (A tracking company) is providing this device for tracking with all the services of tracking.
Is it good? and do you know anything about it?
I don’t have any experience with it.
Please may you share with me the manual as well as the prices list for all 9 types of devises and the competable platform (software)??
Many thanks
All of this information should be available online. Just do a search for the GPS tracker model followed by “owners manual”.
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
I live in AUSTRALIA.
My phone is a Samsung galaxy.
What would be the most reliable tracking device that I can use on a vehicle.
A client stole over a lengthy period a considerable amount.
He only uses cash.
I want to track him to find out which bank he visits before I take it to Court for a freeze on his account.
He doesn’t use computers or arms so this is hopefully a avenue to nail him.
Awaiting your reply.
I saw your recommendation but the Amazon site says can only be used in USA.
I cannot imagine how in your wildest dreams the Ameriloc unit gets a #1 rating. The software looks like it came right out of Windows 95 and works even less well. The device button was defective in some way preventing it from powering off and it sends spurious notifications. Junk AND a ripoff as well.
Which out of the 9 best device has camera attached to it?,
Cos, I want to always watch my truck/car in a video like and not with Google icon like.
Which of these trackers would work best to use for my father who is starting to expericence some issues with dimentia? He drives fine, but we just worry he will get lost and it would give my mom peace being able to always know where he is.
I need to buy trackers which will give me a tracking record and time that the car was parked. By this, I mean that the tracker can show me where it has gone and where and how long it was stopped. If the data can be downloaded as a csv file or any other type to do data processing on it, that will be exactly what I need. I need about 80 of the given product for my company to track employees.