I currently drive a mid 2000s Ford truck, which runs great and meets my needs, but lately I got interested in minivans/people carriers. I pretty quickly realized that newer vehicles seem to not just record, but export a lot of driving data.

The minivan market is small. There are really only 4-5 available and every single one sends telemetry data from the car and makes it hard/impossible to opt out of selling your data. Additionally, without pretty extensive work there is no means of physically disabling the telemetry, which forces you to trust they'll honor your opt out request (vs re-enabling it with some update).

I'm clearly in the vast minority on this, but it's so frustrating that there are no options beyond buying and installing a third-party bypass to disable this type of tracking. Worse, I'm aware that the absence of data is data itself. Is my insurance going raise my rates because my vehicle won't provide telemetry for them to buy?

▲

sippingabonedry an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Ford until recently sold a minivan that was ugly as sin (looked like an '87 Vanagon) because it was a panel van with seats added. They are popular with the campervan community.

As it was essentially a commercial vehicle meant for upfitters turning them into work vans for electricians and plumbers, it would probably be easiest of all to disable telemetry.

From what I can find, permanently disabling FordPass at the hardware level is as simple as unplugging the cell modem or pulling its fuse.

▲

renjimen an hour ago | parent [-]

I have the Ford Transit Connect "Wagon". It's a 2016 model with no internet connectivity. It can fit a double mattress in the back and is tall enough to sit up on the bed, unlike nearly every SUV. I cannot recommend it enough for an everyday vehicle that doubles as a camper.

Of course, Ford discontinued this model in North America because their margins are better on trucks and SUVs.

As for the aesthetics, we really like it. It's certainly a darn sight better looking than a truck or SUV, which are all aggressive-looking pedestrian killers.

	▲	sippingabonedry 26 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		That's the one. It's reminiscent of a time when vans were vans — but it shares most of its parts with the Focus so should be relatively easy to maintain and repair.

▲

renjimen 42 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If you don't mind used, the Ford Transit Connect Wagon is an excellent option for an everyday vehicle that doubles as a camper. We have one and love it. It fits a double mattress with plenty of headroom room to sit up in bed. Ford discontinued it in 2023, hence the used requirement, but I believe you can turn off the internet connectivity on that model. We have a 2016 model (still going strong after 150,000km!) which has no internet connectivity, thankfully.

▲

27 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

▲

detourdog an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

By a slightly used one that has a 3g modem. My 2018 car no longer can phone home.

▲

asdff 40 minutes ago | parent [-]

That is interesting that they fail safe and don't just brick the car though. Maybe you can still go with a newer car but just wrap the antennae in foil or maybe just unplug it.

▲

sippingabonedry 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Seems you can unplug it and it won't complain or anything:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/disabling-fordpass...

Likely because Ford was a latecomer to this always-online telematics crap, so the design was an add-on to an already completed and functioning car.

▲

Rebelgecko 20 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

IIRC, some brand (maybe Subaru?) had a problem where the car would drain its 12v after a few hours retrying its search for 3g towers

	▲	sippingabonedry 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Subarus were notorious for doing that if you left the dome light on. I hope they have since fixed that in 2026.

▲

Barbing 7 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Is my insurance going raise my rates because my vehicle won't provide telemetry for them to buy?

Thanks, I hate it.

▲

helterskelter2 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I know some models of Ford allow you to pull the modem out. It doesn't even nag you about a connection problem.

▲

mistrial9 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> absence of data is data itself

oh that is endless.. if you are aware enough to do something about telemetry IMHO do that and don't obsess about loose ends.

▲

helterskelter2 an hour ago | parent [-]

I wonder how easy it would be to spoof the data sent back. Either with SQL injections, LLM prompt modification, or just thousands of goatse images.

▲

Iolaum an hour ago | parent [-]

And risk having lawyers after you?

	▲	tejtm 7 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I am pretty sure goatse does not have lawers and the RIAA disavows their collection