Vehicle control system for controlling a vehicle function including a vehicle tracking unit and related methods

A vehicle control system comprising:

• a tracking unit and a function unit cooperating therewith, said tracking unit comprising a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a tracking controller cooperating with said vehicle position determining device and said wireless communications device to send vehicle position information to a monitoring station;
• said function unit comprising a biometric characteristic sensor for sensing a unique biometric characteristic of a user, and a function controller at the vehicle and connected to said biometric characteristic sensor for learning the unique biometric characteristic to permit control of a vehicle function by the user;
• said function controller cooperating with said wireless communications device of said tracking unit for sending an alert indication of whether at least one new unique biometric characteristic has been learned.

A vehicle control method for a vehicle comprising a vehicle tracking unit for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station, the method comprising:

• receiving signals from at least one uniquely coded transmitter at a receiver at the vehicle;
• learning the at least one uniquely coded transmitter to permit control of a vehicle function by the user using a function controller at the vehicle and connected to the receiver;
• sending an alert indication of whether at least one new uniquely coded transmitter has been learned using the vehicle tracking unit.