Q&A for How to Find a Hidden Tracker on a Car

There's no statistical evidence on this, but most people who have actually been surveilled by law enforcement find the tracker under the vehicle on the bumper or sides. It makes sense if you think about it, a police officer or federal agent wouldn't have the time to place the tracker anywhere else without drawing suspicion.

Ask your mechanic. There's nowhere that a snoop would be able to put the tracker that your mechanic wouldn't be able to look.

That's a great question. This isn't the most popular bug detection method out there, but it should work in theory if a magnet was actually used to attach the bug. Some people use adhesive, tape, or suction, so you wouldn't be able to find those bugs.

It depends on the type of tracker. The cheaper ones aren't monitored at all; you have to upload the data from the tracker to a computer. If you find the tracker before whoever put it there retrieves it, they'll have no way to know where you went. The higher end trackers provide a live feed that can be monitored via computer. Some also have apps that come with them. It just depends on the model.

You're going to have to remove the panel if you can't reach behind the panel. There are bolts on the inside of the compartment for the door handle (on the interior side). Remove those and then remove the bolts for the window control. Undo the wired connections and then pry the interior portion of the door panel off. You can always ask a mechanic to do this for you if you aren't a gearhead.

Which type of tracker? If you are just generally looking, look inside the fender on all four corners.

It is most likely in the fuse box in the engine compartment, under the hood.

Hidden trackers can be placed under the wheel well. They're usually stuck there with an adhesive, where it is safe and secure from weather, but you wouldn't be likely to see it.

It is very unlikely that your standard AM/FM car radio (whether old-fashioned analog-only reception or a newer unit with digital HD reception) will receive any Tracker signal due to the fact that Trackers operate at considerably higher radio-frequencies than the standard AM Broadcast-band (0.530 to 1.710 MHz) or the standard FM frequencies (88 to 108 MHz). Trackers operate in the UHF and microwave ranges -- that is, well above 400 MHz, the exception being the "Lo-Jack" anti-theft transmitters/trackers that sent brief 200 milli-second digital "packet bursts" and which are on 173.075 MHz. Trackers can have brief on duty-cycles, also.

Check the horn. Honk four times, then proceed to knock on your window. This should trip the tracker.

No, most likely your door open switch is defective. Replace it.

Check under the car between the pipes, check in the wheels, check inside the exhaust pipe. Open the gas cap and detach the rubber/plastic piece from the metal plate. Check the part of the plastic piece that was obscured before you took off the metal.

Look under the least obvious places. Under the hood of the car, under the grill, behind the undercarriage, maybe even inside the exhaust pipe. Shine a light all around the car, as cars tend to be grey or black, and a new silver or shiny object will reflect light back at you.

Check under the dash or by the rear bumper or proceed to redline your car and then slam on the clutch whilst parked, this should trip the tracker and send out loud blips. This worked for my 2012 Camaro.

It's usually lodged in between the engine and the fuel filter.

Check the exhaust pipe, inside wheels, and in the gas cap between the plastic and metal. For the gas cap one, detach the plastic/rubber piece from the metal shell and check all over the plastic/rubber piece.

It's possible that the tracker is not on your car at all. You might want to check you cell phone for tracking apps.