Yes, Land Rover Can Track Your Car – Here's How The System Works

Jaguar Land Rover vehicles can be tracked — but only in emergencies. It uses InControl, a mobile app offering a wide range of services, including a Stolen Vehicle Locator. The InControl Apps system is currently available for all new vehicles, which includes recent Defender, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport, and Range Rover Velar models. It's connected to the car's infotainment system, one of the many screens in modern vehicles.

When your vehicle has been stolen, you can contact the InControl Stolen Vehicle Center to find out where it is. Authorities must be notified, and a police report filed. The police report number can then be shared with a Stolen Vehicle Center employee. Then, the tracking center will use GPS tracking technology to help locate your vehicle and support with the recovery process. However, the Stolen Vehicle Locator isn't automatically available to owners of Land Rover vehicles. 

If you want to use the Stolen Vehicle Center's services for your Land Rover vehicle, that requires a bit of planning and money. First, you must select to have the InControl Apps system installed when the vehicle is first ordered, since the hardware can only be fitted at the factory. This will have a one-off cost that varies based on things like the model and location. It's not currently available for older or used models that have already left the factory. 

Downloading the corresponding app to your phone is free. However, you'll need a USB cable to connect your phone to the vehicle's entertainment system. Some services available in the InControl Apps system are free, including remote climate control and locking. Some safety features, including the Stolen Vehicle Locator, will require a Remote subscription. This currently costs about $120 a year, which you may consider a decent investment, especially if you live in one of the U.S. cities with the most car theft. If it's not connected to WiFi, InControl Apps also uses mobile data to function. 

Jaguar Land Rover isn't actively tracking your vehicle unless they've been contacted to do so by someone with a paid InControl Apps subscription. In this case, the location will be automatically sent over right away. There is currently no way to permanently shut off your vehicle's location or be off-grid — most modern cars are trackable in some way. While it's possible that Land Rover technically has your coordinates at its disposal, the carmaker doesn't have the tracking on until it's requested. 

If you have been getting alerts about your vehicle's location when it's not actually lost or stolen, you can enable Service Mode or Transport Mode. When these modes are on, you will no longer get tracking alerts when the vehicle is being worked on or moved. You will need to manually disable these modes yourself after they are activated. The maximum time that owners can have these modes enabled is 72 hours. To turn these modes on or off, you will need to use the InControl Remote app or the InControl website.