Toyota GR Corolla owner sues dealer for secretly installing GPS tracker

The GR Corolla owner’s lawyer said the situation did not bode well for the dealership halfway through the purchase agreement

Sometimes owners discover cool features long after they first buy their car, like long-pressing the unlock button and having all the windows roll down, or hidden storage compartments that few people knew about. In Anthony Do’s case, the unexpected “feature” he discovered was a GPS tracker that the dealer had installed on his Toyota GR Corolla without his knowledge, as we first reported in June.

Now, his committee says they have reviewed about half of the purchase agreements and have not found any mention of the device. Apparently, they don’t expect to find any at this point. The company was somewhat adversely affected by Hurricane Beryl, though, so it will be a while before this whole issue is resolved.

MORE: Toyota GR Corolla buyer finds dealer-installed GPS tracker hidden inside car

Do highlighted the discovery of the tracker in a video posted to his channel on June 9. In it, he revealed that he had heard of some car owners who had experienced battery drain or were unable to adjust their cars due to the GPS tracker they had installed. Sure enough, his car had the same problem, and after sitting in the garage for a few weeks, the battery died. In his first update, he confronted the dealership.

According to Do, a higher-up at the dealership initially denied ever installing the tracker. When confronted with the evidence (not only Do’s first video of the situation, but also the tracker itself), the higher-up admitted that the dealership did install it. They argued that it was only to track the car if it was stolen from the dealership.

Do said that didn’t make sense because he was there when his car arrived at the dealership. Apparently, the same dealership employee then tried to defuse the situation by claiming that only a few people had access to the GPS data. Even that wasn’t a good situation because, as Do correctly pointed out, access could fall into the wrong hands.

MORE: Is your car spying on you? Hidden GPS trackers are on the rise

Why sue a dealer like this? Carscoops has reached out to Do for comment but has not received a response as of this writing. It could simply be a desire to set a precedent for dealers who engage in such outrageous behavior. Or it could be a desire to obtain material damages.

We will update this story if we hear back.

Image credit: Anthony Do