Our Top Picks
The 5 Best Car GPS Trackers of 2019
Keep track of where your kids are or your vehicle if it gets stolen
Best Overall: Spy Tech STI GL300 Mini Portable GPS tracking system for cars
One of the most popular vehicle GPS Or Car tracking systems for cars on the market, the Spy
Tech STI GL300 is a standout solution that offers nearly exact 100 percent
vehicle location, thanks to real-time GPS tracking. The addition of a
three-axis acceleration meter makes for an even higher pinpoint
detection of a car's location's smallest GPS tracker (and updates can be provided as often as
every five seconds).
Setting up geographic fencing or boundaries is easy if you want to
get real-time notifications of a car leaving a specific zone. Measuring
1.5 x 0.9 x 2.7 inches in size, the STI easily tucks away anywhere
inside a vehicle and, with motion activation battery life, can last two
weeks or longer before requiring a recharge.
Tracking reports are available on both desktop and mobile
devices, and you can even receive text or e-mail alerts when a car
leaves a geo-fencing zone. Data is stored for more than 365 days on
every device with subscriptions starting around $25 per month.
Best Splurge: AMERICALOC GL300W
The GL300W from AMERICALOC isn’t a cheap tracker. At over $100,
you’ll definitely find a lower price out there. What you won’t find,
however, is one with quite the attention to detail as is available here.
First, the tracking capability is incredibly detailed, including
software that seems right out of a spy movie. The pricing structure for
data notification seems pretty reasonable, too. Whether you want updates
on the location of your vehicle (or whatever you’re tracking) every 60
seconds, 30 seconds, or even 10 seconds, it’s all $228 per year. You can
pay monthly and cancel at any time, but to get the best deal, you
should purchase yearly.
What you get with this unit is real-time tracking via software or
email, but you also get up to a year’s worth of data storage to recall
routes and locations months prior — a premium feature not available on
many lower-priced models. The tracker itself is pretty small, too, at
just over the width of a standard quarter, and the build quality looks
sleek and modern.
Best for Parents: MOTO safety GPS GPS tracker for car
Plugging directly into your car's ODB outlet without any wiring, the
MOTOsafety GPS vehicle tracker is another hugely popular option that
receives rave user reviews. Offering a slew of services for a monthly
subscription, the MOTOsafety piggybacks on wireless 3G networks for
peace of mind. The downloadable Android and iOS smartphone apps allow
users to track device location, personal GPS tracker set geofences around a school or home
for teens, as well as receive a daily driver's report card for seeing
how your teen handled the vehicle that day.
Users will also find the route replay worthwhile, which allows
parents to review teen driving routes for excessive speeding and harsh
braking. With ODB support available, the MOTOsafety can easily be moved
from vehicle to vehicle for a family to track different vehicles during
the course of a week.
Best Battery Life: ABLEGRID Smallest GPS Vehicle Tracker
With a powerful 3300mAh battery inside, the ABLEGRID personal GPS tracker offers 180 days of standby time and operate continuously for two weeks
before requiring a recharge. Measuring 4 x 2.2 x .9 inches in size, the
ABLEGRID is slightly larger than the competition, but its compact size
allows it to easily be tucked away inside a glove compartment, trunk or
other vehicle storage area for difficult detection.
The portable design also allows the ABLEGRID to be swapped quickly
between cars since there aren't any wires required for installation.
Beyond installation, GPS detection is GPS tracking system for cars easily pinpointed in real-time on
Google Maps, and it even adds historical vehicle tracking data for
detecting travel routes.
Working on wireless 2G networks, the ABLEGRID offers similar GPS
tracking system as those on 3G networks but with less wireless carrier
availability due to a scale back of 2G networks in the U.S.