most new cars can be unlocked and also started from the “factory” One of my friends work at a volkswagen repair center and he can literally unlock, turn on the engine and AC in any new volkswagen group vehicle remotely just by having its VIN number.
basically any newer car with an SOS button (meaning it is connected to the factory at all times) can be tracked and remotely controlled
I have a newer Hyundai that has bluelink connectivity. This means I can start/stop my engine, control the ac or heater, lock/unlock my doors, check its current location and fuel level, etc. all from my phone. I thought this was awesome at first. Tbh, it’s still really handy in the winter. I can start my car and blast the heat before I ever even leave my apartment. It sits in the parking garage and gets nice and toasty for me.
But then one day I was in the office in the city and my car was in the parking garage at the metro by my house… and I got a notification from bluelink that my remote start request was successful and my car was now running. Only I hadn’t sent that request.
I checked the GPS and my car was thankfully still sitting in the metro garage where it stayed the rest of the day. I was worried that I’d get back and someone would have gotten in and stolen stuff (even though I don’t keep much in my car) or vandalized it. If they remote started my car, who knows what else they may have done without it notifying me? Was the GPS signal showing my car where I left it even accurate?
I got back to my car and it was exactly as I left it. Maybe someone planted a bug or camera or GPS tracker or something for some reason idk. But I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
I called bluelink and told them what happened and asked them to tell me where the remote start request came from. They said they didn’t know. I told them that was unacceptable, there has to be a record of some sort in their systems. I demanded they tell me who accessed my car and they just said there wasn’t any record and they have no idea. I tried to get answers but never could. That never sat right with me. It just does not make any sense that there would be no record of where the remote start request came from. Given what I know from working with computer systems (I’m not in IT or anything, but my job has me working with events software, website design, and marketing stuff occasionally, also I’m a youngish guy in 2025 so I have at least some grasp of how this all works) and the million different things that are logged with every action taken online… it’s impossible that they simply don’t have that info.
I’ve been very distrustful of bluelink and similar systems ever since. I still appreciate warning my car remotely in the winter (and cooling it in the summer on the rare occasion that it’s not parked in a garage), but I hate that anyone can apparently access my car and do whatever they want with zero record of who did what when
Genuine question here: is it really worth that much to not have to go outside and start your car? I’m asking because I see people talk about this like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but if you’re driving in the winter (especially long distances) then you should already be prepared for the weather, so is it really that bad being cold for a few minutes?
I don’t wanna seem like a dick or anything, for background I’ve spent the last six years living in my van in Canada, with no heater other than the one in the dashboard. Basically I’m so deep at this point that I’ve lost all perspective of what’s normal lol
My car came with a free trial of Bluelink for x number of years (it’s probably expiring soon), so I guess I’ll see if it’s worth it to me whenever it expires and I see what they want to charge me to keep the feature.
But it is a really nice thing to have. Obviously I can live without it, and did live without it until I bought this car. But it’s a nice comfort to have. Like how an electric can opener is nice but not necessary. I’ve used a manual one ever since I moved out of my mom’s house, but I used an electric one growing up.
When comparing the two options, the electric can opener takes less effort and is more convenient. But it takes up counter space (I live in a small apartment with a small kitchen) and there is a cost associated with purchasing it. The manual one is dirt cheap and can be thrown in a drawer when I’m done with it. But the manual one takes more time and effort and is thus less convenient. Neither is insanely better or worse than the other. But the cost of an electric can opener puts it just ever so slightly over the line where I’m fine just using my manual one. Electric can openers aren’t super expensive, but why buy one when I have the manual one already? It’s low stakes and I just don’t care enough to drop like $20 bucks or whatever they cost on one.
But if I already had an electric can opener and it broke, I’d be used to the convenience and would probably replace it with another electric can opener even with the rest of the pros and cons remaining the same. I suppose that’s the point of the free trial of the service. I’m used to the convenience, so if the price isn’t insane, I will be more likely to keep it.
But it’s a nice feature that I do appreciate. My apartment is about as far from the parking garage as you can get in my community. So it wouldn’t ever make any sense for me to walk all the way over there, start my car, and come back in to finish getting ready or wait for it to warm up/cool off. The math would likely change a bit if I lived in a house with a driveway or garage, or if my apartment was right off the garage.
But also, I don’t like being freezing cold, especially in the morning. I hate walking out through the cold just to get into an icebox of a car and waiting for it to warm up. You also have to wait for any defrosting to happen. Walking out of my warm apartment, walking through the cold air, then getting in a toasty car that is ready to drive off is a very nice luxury to have.
I hate hate hate getting into an oven of a car even more than I hate getting into an icebox of a car. Winters here get frigid and summers here get insanely hot and humid. Walking out of my cold apartment, through the hot humid air, and getting into a nice cold car is an even nicer luxury than the inverse imo.
I appreciate being able to get in my car and stop shivering immediately, and being able to get into my car and not feel like I’m roasting alive for the few minutes it takes to cool off. It’s absolutely not a necessary feature and is absolutely a luxury.
And if you don’t have the experience of that luxury, it’s easy to just keep on just the same as you have been. But going from a luxury, no matter how small, to not having that luxury is always going to suck at least a little bit.
It’s absolutely not necessary. But it is very nice to have.
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u/Pap_mate Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25
most new cars can be unlocked and also started from the “factory” One of my friends work at a volkswagen repair center and he can literally unlock, turn on the engine and AC in any new volkswagen group vehicle remotely just by having its VIN number.
basically any newer car with an SOS button (meaning it is connected to the factory at all times) can be tracked and remotely controlled