Patent ID: 8244448

Claim:
A method for remote starting an internal combustion engine of a vehicle comprising the steps of: (a) detecting a wireless remote start signal; (b) after detecting the wireless remote start signal, communicating with a garage door opener to determine if a garage door is closed; (c) remote starting the internal combustion engine if no closed garage door indication is received; (d) automatically transmitting a wireless garage door open signal and remote starting the internal combustion engine if a closed garage door indication is received; (e) monitoring a time since remote starting the internal combustion engine; (f) monitoring for vehicle operator interaction with the vehicle; and (g) if no vehicle operator interaction with the vehicle is detected before the monitored time reaches a predetermined amount of time and the wireless garage door open signal was automatically transmitted when the internal combustion engine was remote started, automatically transmitting a wireless garage door close signal and automatically turning off the internal combustion engine.