Alexa, UConnect, and Garage Doors
 

I was thrilled to see Alexa is now compatible with my Pacifica. I set it up, as can now use Alexa to turn on my van, but I fear it's a useless feature for me. My van is parked in a garage, so I can't just start it and leave it running with the garage door closed unless I just want to die. I know it's a long shot, but is there any way that I can use Alexa to open my garage door, too?

You can buy another remote for the garage door opener and park it next to Alexa. Push the button when you ask Alexa to start the car.

There very well may be an interface for the garage door opener that is compatible with Alexa. Contact the manufacturer of the garage door opener about that. Chances are it will cost a lot more than another remote. Personally, it doesn't seem like a good idea to have such a big opening into your house controlled by something like Alexa. Would you really want your door to be opened that casually?

I was actually smart enough to figure that spare remote fix out on my own, but it is not helpful. My hands are generally extremely full when I'm preparing to leave my home, so the voice activation is the convenience. If I had to walk to Alexa, I might as well walk the extra few feet and just open the garage door with the button in the garage.

As for safety, I believe you're overestimating the risk. First, I live in what has been labeled many times as the safest city in my state (and a few top 10 in the country). Second, I've got a nice security system on my home. Third, there's nothing of value in my garage besides my cars (although I'd be pretty hacked off of they stole all of my Dr. Pepper out of the garage refrigerator). Third, if you steal my cars, I can follow you on my phone from the moment you pull out of my garage to the moment the police arrest you. Finally, there's a deadbolt that's always locked on the garage access to my home. So, if someone hacks poor helpful Alexa to get into my garage, they still have a deadbolted door to contend with to gain access to my home. So in all actuality, access to my home through my garage is more difficult than any other entry point, even with Alexa, because you have to break into the garage first.

Sure, there are cyber thieves. Sure there are dangers, but it's much more likely that they'll get my credit card info from hacking Amazon than they are to hack Amazon/Chrysler/Sirius systems to gain access to my home. And I'm not about to stop online shopping. That's what my identify theft service is for. ;)

I totally get your excitement about Alexa being compatible with your Pacifica. It's always cool when new features become available. Regarding your garage door situation, I can understand your concern about leaving the van running in a closed garage. However, there are smart garage door openers available that can work with Alexa. You might want to check out this helpful article on https://multitechverse.com/, they have some great tech info.