The Vehicle Remembers the Trip.
A modern vehicle is a rolling evidence repository. The infotainment head unit and telematics modules record paired phones, synced contacts and messages, navigation destinations, track logs, door and ignition events, and connected-account activity — a dataset that is rarely requested in discovery, and routinely overwritten or destroyed before anyone thinks to ask for it.
What We Examine
Infotainment Head Unit
- Paired-device records and hardware identifiers
- Contacts, call logs, and SMS synced from a connected phone
- Navigation destinations, saved locations, and search history
- Track logs and GPS breadcrumbs, where the platform retains them
- Media, app, and voice-command artifacts
Telematics & Event Data
- Event Data Recorder (EDR) readouts — the “black box” crash parameters
- Ignition cycles, door open and close events, and gear position
- Speed, braking, and restraint data where the platform records it
- Manufacturer connected-services and cloud telematics accounts
Platforms
- Ford SYNC, GM, Stellantis / Uconnect, Toyota and Lexus, VW and Audi
- Tesla vehicle and account data
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto artifacts
- Acquisition in place, or from a removed head unit where the vehicle is unavailable
Attribution & Timeline
- Tying a specific phone to a specific vehicle at a specific time
- Corroborating — or contradicting — a claimed route or arrival time
- Correlation against mobile device artifacts and carrier records
- Reconstruction of who was driving, and when, where the data supports it
This evidence has a shelf life. Usually a short one.
Infotainment systems overwrite older records on a rolling basis, and a vehicle that is repaired, resold, salvaged, or simply driven for another month may lose the data entirely. In total-loss matters the vehicle is often released to a salvage yard within weeks. If a vehicle is material to your case, the preservation demand should go out before the forensic question is settled — it is far easier to decline to examine a preserved head unit than to recover one that has been crushed.
When we're typically engaged.
Wrongful Death & Auto Subrogation
Speed, braking, restraint, and ignition data alongside the navigation and pairing record — often the difference between a contested liability theory and a documented one.
Family Law & Custody
Where the vehicle actually went, when, and with which phone paired to it — where a party's account of their movements is in dispute.
Departed Employees & Fleet Vehicles
Company-vehicle navigation history, paired personal devices, and after-hours usage patterns in trade-secret and misuse matters.
Further reading on this practice.
- Vehicle Infotainment Forensics: The New Discoverable Goldmine
- Vehicle Telematics and EDR Data in Auto Subrogation
- IoT Gadgets: Exploring the New Sources of Discoverable Evidence (Law.com Legaltech News)