Can Car Hire Companies Track Where You Drive and Do They Do It?

Some rental companies are capable of tracking their vehicles, but they should make sure that renters are properly informed before accepting the rental agreement. Car rental companies naturally want to protect their cars from theft and damage and GPS tracking devices can help to protect their cars.

It should be noted that some executive rental companies might track the car via Global Positioning System (GPS), but most car hire companies do not have GPS installed to their vehicles. It is a common misconception but if you think about it, it’s simply not sustainable financially to add GPS to all the hire cars. In Australia alone, there were 18.8 million registered motor vehicles as of 31 January 2017 according to the data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, so you can just imagine the cost for adding a GPS navigation into the rental vehicles not to mention the cost of labor to install it and then uninstall it when they sell them each year.

Why would a rental car have a tracking device?

Rental car companies may use tracking devices as a precaution to protect their financial asset (the vehicle) since there are some instances when drivers fail to return vehicles on time or return them to incorrect locations. Should there be any concern of misuse of the vehicle then they may prefer to put a tracker so they can have peace of mind. Another reason is for sending alerts only upon occurrence of particular trigger situations like crossing a state line or an international border.

Top benefits of vehicle tracking

1. Avoid illegal and unlawful usage

Some rented cars may be used for illegal acts other than the usual transportation purposes, hence it is always better to have a real time idea on car locations and in the event of suspicions, rental car companies can just remotely stop the car to recover it with lack of difficulty later on.

2. Quickly recover stolen and missing vehicles

Rented vehicles which gone missing or stolen can cause big financial liabilities to car rental companies. That’s why GPS vehicle tracking systems are installed in these cars to help them recover the missing ones with ease.

3. Make their customers feel secure

Some customers may be puzzled in explaining in the event of a car breakdown or accident. But with fleet automation, you will have multiple ways to get known on such incidents, maybe an SOS buzzer fitted on car dashboard, or an automated alert on accident event.

How to know if your rental car has a GPS Tracker?

To know if your rental car has a GPS device, remember that such device is most likely to be placed in a spot that will safeguard it and still have a direct communication with GPS satellites. It is recommended you check the wheel wells, the rear bumper, the dashboard area, the consoles and the car’s undercarriage.