Automatic, a company that made the Automatic Adapter that plugs into a car's OBD-II port to provide vehicle information like distance traveled, gas used, time spent in the car, and more, is shutting down.

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The imminent shuttering of the company was announced on the Automatic website, which says that the global health crisis has impacted its business.

The Automatic connected car product, service, and platform are shutting down at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 28.

All services, including crash alerts, roadside assistance, and real-time location and sharing will stop when the shutdown occurs. Automatic recommends that non-functional adapters be recycled using standard electronic recycling procedures.

Automatic released several adapters over the course of the last several years, and its products were popular among those who wanted to use an iPhone to monitor vehicle diagnostics and sign up for services like crash alerts. Service plans were priced between $2 and $5 per month.

Top Rated Comments

realitydcf Avatar
40 months ago
Automatic abandoned me. I was an early adopter and really appreciated the product. For no necessary reason, they discontinued the product, and released the new one with the subscription model for features I already had. This insured that I would NOT upgrade nor support the company. It was a poor decision, and one that appears to be part of the destuction of the company now. It's too bad they made the wrong choice. Anyone have a suggestion of a viable alternative? I know there are many on the market now.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
40 months ago

Took a world pandemic to finally kill off non-viable subscription services.
I wonder how many companies who were on the path to demise anyway, will bring up the pandemic on the way out as a convenient excuse.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoEw Avatar
40 months ago
Took a world pandemic to finally kill off non-viable subscription services.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
natallica Avatar
40 months ago
Anyone know of an alternative that will let me tag trips as business-related? This is why I've been using Automatic since gen 1.

What rubs me the wrong way is that they blame the pandemic for this, but it feels disingenuous.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oregon.trader Avatar
40 months ago
I'm another unhappy former customer, abandoned by Automatic when it stopped supporting the 2nd generation (non-subscription) product.

Has anyone found an acceptable replacement?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
40 months ago
So many "because of COVID" cover stories being used that really, let's be honest, have nothing to do with COVID actually.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)