If you have ever wanted to be a stalker boyfriend, I’ve got the technology for you! It’s called Automatic. I went ahead and installed the device into my girlfriend’s car as sadly my car was destroyed by a 1969 Mustang.
I was floored with how creepy I became with Automatic. I could sit on my computer and watch Nila travel to her various destinations and see how much gas she was using, if she had to brake hard, or make any hard accelerations. It was so cool!
But let’s start from the beginning and explain what Automatic actually is, as it’s not just for stalkers.
In the world of every device being smart, your old hunk of junk car is probably pretty dumb. Well Automatic can make practically any car smart.
There are three required pieces for Automatic to work: car, Automatic car adapter, and smartphone app. To install Automatic insert the car adapter into your car’s standard diagnostics port, which is hidden under your dashboard. Then you’ll need to download the free smartphone app. Through a series of steps you’ll have to connect the smartphone app to the adapter. The process is relatively painless, but does take a couple minutes. I did get stuck during this process as during setup the smartphone needs to be connected to the Internet. My Android smartphone is WiFi only so I had to find a hotspot to set it up.
Now in order for the adapter to relay the information back to you about your trips, you do need the smartphone app installed on your phone along with a connection to the Internet. I deleted the app for several days and then installed it again on my phone. While no information was initially reported about those days without the app, somehow the adapter did remember my commutes and quickly replaced the blank information with my actual past driving data.
One fantastic feature is if you are involved in a crash. Automatic will send a text message to three of your friends and can even send an ambulance. So my suggestion is to always have an internet connection with your phone along with having the app installed on your phone. You’ll never know when it’ll come in handy.
Another worthwhile feature is that you’ll receive information on why your check engine light turned on. No more wasting hours at the mechanic to only find out that there’s no major issue with your car. While I have yet to have the luxury of trying this feature out, I know one day it’ll be extremely useful.
Of course there’s more stuff that Automatic enables such as finding where you parked your car. Automatic has third party apps that open up its world to very specific tasks that may or may not be one day be useful for you such as tracking business miles.
Anyway having a smart car powered by Automatic has made my driving more enjoyable. I love being able to track my MPG, never worrying about losing my car (I mean Nila’s car), and so much more. It’s crazy that all of this is provided for a one-time fee of about $100 for the adapter. I highly recommend making your car smart today.
