What Is This???

Another vote for it being a tracker. As @Colner says, some trackers work differently and rather than continually broadcasting and you being able to see where the vehicle is they just check in at predetermined/programmed times - by doing this they can be self contained with their own integral battery, well hidden in the vehicle and give years of service (I know of one such tracker which promises up to 10 years from the integral battery).
 
I don't like striking fear in people for no reason. Is there a possibility that if it is a tracker the previous owner may still get updates on its location and if they have a spare key and of that sort they could make your van disappear. Do you have any prevention steps in place?
 
I don’t now if it will work but download a bar code scanner and see if it brings anything up?
I dit try it from the photo but it looks like the bar code is a little faint and it would not pick it up.
Worth a go.
 
Trackers have small and long lasting batteries these days, with up to 6 years depending on the reporting and power consumption of the transmitter.
I'd vote tracker for this. Open it up.... :grin bounce:
 
I don't like striking fear in people for no reason. Is there a possibility that if it is a tracker the previous owner may still get updates on its location and if they have a spare key and of that sort they could make your van disappear. Do you have any prevention steps in place?
If it is a tracker, go and leave it on a bus FFS!
 
If its a long-life permanent-install tracker its probably potted so you might not be able to see anything inside.
Some trackers dont do a periodical check-in at all and only respond when pinged, so the battery
can last ages
afro.gif
 
is it magnetic? related to sliding door mechanism?
Didn't check for magnetic properties.
I don't like striking fear in people for no reason. Is there a possibility that if it is a tracker the previous owner may still get updates on its location and if they have a spare key and of that sort they could make your van disappear. Do you have any prevention steps in place?
The van was owned by a rental company and I have bought it through a VW dealer, so if it turns out to be a tracking device, maybe they forgot it or maybe they just deactivate it and leave it. Too much hassle removing it.

Don't like it though.
 
the strange thing is apart from some military tracker most of them have a manufacturer/type scribed on them
chance of you having one is virtually zero
(although i say that, but we crash cars on purpose from time to time for the blackbox development, and one of the cars we got from the scrap yard had one of our own blackbox/tracker already in it!...)

as for tracker only answering to a ping, well, they might check once a day, but can't be listening all the time, it would take to much power and would need to be connected to a car battery. my 2004 bmw 1 series is like that, the tracker is radio, activating on a broadcast, then emitting a ping, not gps/gsm lol a bit like the animal tags feels so prehistoric now!

someone tried to scan the barcode, and i bet it is the same as the number displayed, which returns nothing when googling it

if you decide to break it open, be very careful. if it has a lithium battery inside, it could blow in your face/start a fire. (see e-cig explosions)
if we don't manage to find what it is, maybe a vet/dentist might be kind enough to x-ray it for a small fee and curiosity to see what's inside

<troll>if you do nothing illegal why does it bother you </troll> btw, leave the toilet door open while you're in there lol
 
Good idea @Loz I’d like to see Big Clive use the ‘vice of knowledge’ to give that a squeeze and reveal the secrets within.
 
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