In the age of smart phones and smart cars, you need to make sure to remove private information from your vehicle before you sell it. Vehicles today give you the convenience of connecting your music, contacts, travel destinations, and even your garage opener all in one place. While this connectivity may make your life easier, that same information in the wrong hands can turn into a nightmare. You may not realize the extent of your private data that is shared with your vehicle. Before you sell or trade in your connected car, be sure to remove information that could make you a victim later.
Unpair All Bluetooth Devices
Delete all pairings on your car AND on your devices. Unpair anything that might have been connected to your car. Bluetooth connections can share more information than you realize.
Log Out of Apps
Log out of any apps in your vehicle or mobile apps on your phone connected to your vehicle. Remember to also remove any saved passwords from your devices and your vehicle.
Delete Contacts, Messages & Call History
Manually delete all contact, messages and call log data from your vehicle’s infotainment system.
Clear Your Vehicle’s Navigation System
Avoid the identity theft by deleting your entire navigation history, including all locations you commonly visit. This is a treasure trove of information on how to find your house, your friends, your job, and your favorite coffee place.
Reset Telematic Services
Those subscription services can sure be a life saver in an emergency or crisis, but they can also transmit information about your vehicle even if you don’t have an account. Contact your vehicle’s manufacturer to change the account owner information and cancel any services before selling your vehicle.
Remove Garage Door Opener Codes
If you use a universal application, such as HomeLink, you want to make sure to remove any codes from your vehicle that could grant access to your home. An unscrupulous person could get everything you own by buying your old car.
Remove Tracking and Monitoring Devices
Whether you’re trying to save money on insurance for safe driving, or utilizing a transponder for tolls, many of us use electronic tracking devices on our vehicles nowadays. Remember to remove any tags you’ve used to find your car in a parking lot. Remove your toll transponder (there are so many horror stories of unexpected bills finding you). Take out any monitoring devices from your insurance company, and make sure you don’t leave any tags or trackers behind.
Log Out of Cloud Accounts
Remember to log out of and delete any data stored to a cloud account for your car, such as your favorite radio stations, your preferred temperature, and driving history.
Remove Data Storage
Be sure you leave nothing storing data behind. This includes any drives, music players, USBs, etc.
The Great Reset
As a final step, see if you can reset your car’s internal systems to factory settings. Check your manual or ask your dealer how you can do so. This is the surest way to remove all your data. You want your familiar car to suddenly think you’re a stranger.
Remember, caution must come with connected convenience. What you don’t take with you could come back and bite you. Just because you feel paranoid doesn’t mean someone nefarious is out to get you Enjoy that added convenience, but be diligent when it comes to keeping your personal data safe and sound when selling your vehicle.
Ready to Sell Your Vehicle?
If you want to sell your car today, get an offer from CashForCars.ca. You can fill out a short online offer form or call us at 1(800) 261-9854. We’ll pick up your vehicle at a time and place convenient for you. We take care of all the paperwork, ownership transfers and other legal requirements. You just accept the offer, schedule a pickup, and get paid the same day. It’s that simple.
