Vehicle Tracking Device...

you can track it but if it has not been disconnected from the veichel.

I am looking for a tracking device that can be installed in the car and linked to the Drivesmart 76 so that the vehicle can be tracked and found (if stolen) from home. Apparently Garmin at one time made and sold vehicle tracking devices but the product has now been discontinued. I am surprised that tracking devices that can be linked to your GPS aren't readily available. I would have thought that there would be a very high demand for such a device...

www.garmin.com/.../67686

Linking it to another device isn't necessary. It's less complicated and would be more marketable if the transmitter part didn't need something else.

Well there are many vehicle tracking devices that are available but if I understand correctly they use their own independent GPS. I am curious as to why a company like Garmin couldn't market a tracking device that could be linked to and  would be compatible to use with an existing Garmin GPS...

There's a very good chance they know more about it than we do.

So, if they don't sell such a device, there's likely a good reason they don't.

If there are " many vehicle tracking devices that are available", it might not make much sense to compete with those other suppliers.

Yes, they typically use a built-in GPS. Determining the car's location is the easy part (assuming the GPS reception is good).

The GPS receiver chip isn't that expensive. There isn't much reason to have the device use a separate GPS (it's much easier to sell something that is all-in-one).

Your existing Garmin GPS turns off when you aren't running your car. And you might not want it visible when you are in the car (since someone might see it and steal it).

Indeed there is very most likely a very good reason why Garmin no longer manufactures a vehicle tracking device or markets one that would be compatible with a Garmin GPS. But I am still curious as to why this is the case. Clearly there is something about this issue that I do not understand but I would like to...

Trackeres will use satellites to determine their location.  The questioin is how do they transmit their location.  My guess is that they use the celluar network.  Blue-tooth range would be too limited to be useful.  Wi-Fi connectivity might be to iffy.  For most people, adding celluar connectivity would be redundant.

It's even possible that trackers transimit their data to the providing company who then passes it on to the purchaser, who can use either their computer or cell-phone to monitor the tracker.  But that is just a guess as to how the system works.

The money is in the service plan not in the tracker.  The tracker is a one time buty while the service will most likey be a monthly fee.  The article suggests that my guess on how the system works is pretty close.  The tracker transmits data to the service provider via the cellular network.  The service provider supplies an apps for your cell phone and/or computer to access the data. 

As the article states, Garmin gps receivers never accessed the data, it was accessed via cell phone or computer.  It was most likely a business decision to concentrate on fitness devices and watches rather than continuing what is probably a smaller market.

Well I'm still trying to get a handle on how this technology actually works. The Garmin Drivesmart 76 GPS already acts like a tracking device does it not? I assume that an active coded signal is transmitted out from the GPS and a return signal is then sent back to you giving you your global position and vehicle speed. Like a transducer system. I'm just guessing at how this all works. Wouldn't it then be possible to have installed in your car a separate transducer signal transmitter that can be linked to your Garmin Drivesmart  to enable vehicle tracking???