Well crap, that’s not a cheap solution but I’m glad you commented because I didn’t know these Autel sensors existed and that you could reprogram them. I mean, this threat is semi hypothetical right now (not like it’s been used in the wild by authorities or anything) but one day it might be. Continual reprogramming would be a valid solution.
Comment on Your car’s tire sensors could be used to track you
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 22 hours agoBy “aren’t hard to remove” you actually mean requires dismounting the tire from the rim, remounting it, and then balacing it. This is far beyond the capabilities not to mention equipment of the typical layperson. Plus, your state is likely to conveniently fail your car on its next inspection for a nonfunctioning TPMS system, same as your check engine light.
If you’re going to go the distance anyway, get your tire shop to mount aftermarket Autel sensors in your rims. Using the readily available diagnostic tool, you can occasionally reprogram those (wirelessly!) with a set of random IDs and then also program your car to use them. You’ll be a lot tougher to track if your signature is different every week.
I’m not about to do this just yet, but I do have the tool for more mundane purposes and I only paid around $200 for it several years ago.
Broken@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
hector@lemmy.today 20 hours ago
State inspection of your vehicle? Wtf? I’ve heard of California with catalytic converters because the smog, that’s it. I
RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip 20 hours ago
I don’t understand the confusion.
hector@lemmy.today 19 hours ago
What shitholy states force you to get them inspected, obviously.
RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip 19 hours ago
How is making sure everyone’s >2 ton 100mph missile is safe to use shitholy?
TunaLobster@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
I feel slightly safer knowing that the cars around me most likely have a functional horn /s (but only slightly because there are more things going on in the inspection to meet the bare minimum of safety. not a high bar, but at least a bar)
grue@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Plus, your state is likely to conveniently fail your car on its next inspection
Your who is going to do what now?
(Posted from a state that doesn’t check anything except emissions, and even then only for some cars in some urban areas.)
ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 hours ago
Fuck that sounds like a place full of dangerously badly maintained vehicles…
grue@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Surprisingly, most people aren’t actually suicidally negligent in the absence of government regulation.
Mirshe@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
You would be extremely surprised. Car maintenance is expensive, and lack of inspection very often leads to people driving vehicles that should have been off the road years ago simply because a lot of states that axe it, axe inspections because they’re expensive for the driver (a lot of these states are in the former Steel Belt). In better-off areas or places where people have more time/money/equipment/space to wrench on cars, then yes, but here in my city, I definitely have seen cars where the entire frame is basically being held together by Bondo and prayer, cars where they’re running on 4 spares, cars where enormous sections of the body paneling are just gone. I’ve nearly been hit by people who clearly relied on yearly inspections to tell them “hey your brakes are failing” because they drive on autopilot and just adjust how they drive to accommodate failing/failed brakes.
In fact, I suspect maintenance costs are HIGHER in areas without inspection, because shops could rely on that regular-ish influx of cash even if it was only like $50-$100 a vehicle, AND you have the customer in the shop, so it’s easier to go “hey you really need brakes, it’ll cost you an extra $200 and take an extra hour or two”.
frongt@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
That is actually surprising, given people.
chillpanzee@lemmy.ml 12 hours ago
I worked at a car repair shop when I was younger. I agree that it’s not most (as in > 50%) but the number of people who knowingly drive very unsafe vehicles is bigger than you’d think.
herrvogel@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Eh. I’ve seen enough 300+ HP cars with 10+ year old bald tires and paper thin brake discs to believe otherwise. I personally know two people whose cars have broken wipers that simply don’t work. They don’t care. I know one guy whose car’s passenger door can only be opened by sticking the designated door opening pliers, which are stored under the seat, into the door panel through the hole of that door lock indicator peg thing and then fishing for some lever or whatever. You’re simply not gonna be opening that door in an emergency. One dude at my office has an old manual BMW with a shifter knob that just loosely sits on its lever, and can easily come off if you are not careful. Gotta blindly maneuver the knob back onto its spot underneath the leather cover when that happens. He drives it like that daily. No shortage of hideously dirty diesel engines. No shortage of badly misaligned headlights, nonfunctional brake lights, overly loud engines etc.
In short I not only think state inspections are a good idea, I even think they should be even stricter.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Survivorship bias
innermachine@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
State inspections are a racket. This is coming from a state inspector. Waste of time and money! I only got certified so I can inspect my own and wife’s vehicles. Well that and it’s invaluable at work but shit if your determined to drive an unroadworthy POS the lack of a sticker on ur windshield and the possibility u MIGHT get a 50$ fine and no points is not enough to deter the idiots from driving rolling scrap heaps anyways. Seen em before and will continue to see em weather inspections are mandated or not.
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
It certainly doesn’t require removing the tire from the rim. I removed each wheel, broke the bead on the side that has the valve stem, pried the tire back away from the rim, remove the sensor (mine had a convenient little part you can push to release them) then air the tire back up and put the wheel back on the car. Didn’t even have to re-balance them.
If we want to take steps to protect ourselves from such tracking, we cannot afford to simply say “It’s ToO hArD!!!1!” with a multi-paragraph reply that took more time to type out than it took for me to remove one sensor. Can’t do it? Learn how. Defeatist replies belong on Reddit with all the other propaganda.
innermachine@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Hope y threw ur phone away and got rid of ur head unit while u were at it. Tpms tracking is just about the last fucking thing I’d ever worry about especially with the lack of range those transponders have. Nobody is tracking you via tpms 😂
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
You know that you can leave your phone at home, right?
innermachine@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I’m honestly not trying to be defeatist, I just want to convey how idiotic of a concern this is. You sensor id needs to be tied to the car somehow for it to be remotely useful, never mind the atrocious reception of them in the first place it’s just a non issue. And if u reprogram sensor ids, how will it know what vehicle just went by its radar? It would also need a camera to tie the plate or something else which means your already being surveyed. The concern that ur TPMS is going to be used to track you is just so idiotic I cannot fathom the stupidity of telling people to go out and remove their pressure sensors. Hopefully u don’t own any vehicle made after 2002 cuz good Lord when you find out about key transponders and radio frequency security keys ! Good luck deleting your immobilizer 😂😂😂
Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 hours ago
It seems most states with mandatory vehicle inspections don’t fail for TPMS problems.
tirerack.com/…/what-are-state-tpms-regulations
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
That only lists 18 states…
My own state requires it despite that list implying they don’t. Thus I really don’t think that chart is completely accurate. If you have ANY warning lights on your dash at inspection you will be failed here.
Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 hours ago
I did say most, not all. Some of the info on that page may be outdated, but obviously it would just be limited to those that require regular comprehensive inspections in the first place.
I was able to easily look up the inspection guidelines from my states DMV page and confirm for myself that TPMS light is not a fail here so YMMV, but my point was essentially that it’s more likely than not that bad sensors won’t fail someone, not that nobody will get failed.
athatet@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
18 out of 50 is not ‘most’.