A year or so ago I had a Mazda that I parked in my driveway. Chalk it up to absentmindedness or early onset dementia, but we left our car unlocked overnight a few times within the span of about 2 months. Almost every night we had done that someone would rifle through the car, pulling out everything from every nook and cranny but taking nothing, including leaving loose change, a bluetooth OBDII transmitter, phone cables and chargers. Addicts always take that stuff and sell it on the sidewalk, etc. Since nothing was stollen I figured they were looking for a garage remote. Fortunately for us (though bad for my blood pressure) my wife has loaded our garage with so much crap that we can't even park the car in there anymore. So, we don't bother keeping the remote in there either. We live in a relatively decent and safe neighborhood, it's just a dense city with a sizable homeless population.

Now we have a 2016 RDX with HomeLink. It perfectly opens the garage door without the power on and without a key within 20ft. Obviously the HomeLink unit is connected to constant power rather than ACC. Because of our history I deprogrammed it (simultaneous press of buttons 1 & 3 for 10 seconds). It boggles the mind why anyone would be OK with HomeLink working with constant 12V. I understand that some people never park their car outside, at least not over night. But even in a big city, you can get your car broken into, during the day, right in front of your house.

Anyone else on this side of this dilemma have a solution other than abandoning HomeLink? I was thinking of going to a local audio shop and having them change the power source for the HomeLink... I wonder if there would be a warranty issue.

jyg

 

I totally agree with you that the 12 volt should not be present when the car is off. While on vacation, i had to put our garage doors on "vacation" mode so they could not be operated from a homelink or hand held transmitter.

 

I didn't realize that the Homelink was active without the ignition being on. I agree - this doesn't make sense and seems like an oversight on Acura's part.

 

Since our 3rd car is now stuck outside (kid's car). I disabled his in-car homelink in the TSX and switched it out with a Genie 2 button key fob opener that is connected to the key chain. Since it is the kids car, not a big deal to me if he has an extra fob for his main keys. I already have the garage door mounted opener if I don't have his keys.

Side note: I added a UPS to my garage door opener because my wife/kid don't always take the door keys since we used the garage door 99.999% of the time to enter the house. We had a power outage for a few hours in my neighborhood and quite a few folks were locked out of their home because the garage door didn't open and they didn't have house keys on them.

 

Seems like it would be easier/safer to add a house key to each keychain/fob, no?

My wife and I use the garage door to enter the house exclusively as well, but I still make sure we have house keys on each keychain (I made extra copies), just to be safe. What happens if the motor in your garage door opener (or any other part) breaks one day and it fails to operate? There are more things that can go wrong than a power failure. Just my $.02.

 

I have a quick release on each key chain with about 5 other keys on them (front door, front glass door, mail box, etc..). The wife and kid always misplace or forget to connect the extra keys 1/2 time when they take the main key fob (usually the keys are lost in her purse). The UPS for the garage door is just another back up to the door mounted remote and door keys. Also keep a rock in the back yard if all else fails.

 

Yes, there may be a warranty issue - but - this is really no different than having a garage remote clipped to your visor.

More troublesome is that you didn't lock your car "in a safe neighborhood where the homeless and addicts go through unlocked cars and steal things".

In addition, you should lock the door to your house from the garage. That way they can only steal the things in your garage and if they've been in there for years you probably don't want them anyway and it saves you an argument about what to keep and a trip to the dump.

 

 

Thanks! Very useful thoughts

 

I get power outages all the time. That's why I chose a garage door opener that has a battery backup. Highly recommended.


Even with the quick release and balanced springs, my wife still has difficulty lifting the door (double width steel insulated - the hard part is getting it moving).


Best thing I ever did. Drawback is cost and replacing battery every 5 years or so, but the display tells you when the battery needs replacing.

 

It's powered all the time so you can open the door after you get in the car and realize you forgot to hit the wired opener. And, as someone pointed out, no different than having a remote opener clipped to the visor. The trick is not backing up until the door is completely open...

 

I loled at the claim that you live in a nice city yet you have had your car searched more than once over night.

Ive accidentally left my car unlocked more than a handful of times in the 3 years Ive had it and not once has anyone touched it.

You sir DO NOT live in a nice neighborhood. Unless we have different definitions of nice. Homeless literally equal bad neighborhood IMO.

 

Nice or not nice neighborhood doesn't matter, it only takes one time for a criminal to have the opportunity to steal a car that is left unlocked, many criminals go to "nice" neighborhoods where they know nice expensive stuff is.

 

These days unless you live in a gated community no place in 100% crime free