So my poor car, a 2003 Chevy Malibu, was broken into about two years ago. They stole alot from inside, but the car was left…
The car started having funny electrical behavior. The horn would honk when I locked it, when it didn’t before…but the car ran fine. In the last few months I’ve had my car ‘refuse’ to start after running fine, only minutes before. Last couple of times I took it in, first they told me it was an electrical problem, then they told me the computer system was completely messed up and re-imaged it. They told me the car thought it was being stolen. So today, about one week later, my car won’t start again.
The driver’s side door is still messed up a little from the break in, but it was ‘cleanly’ done, so the key still works with a jiggle, and there is little visible damage. I’ve heard from folks I work with that other Malibu’s have shown similar issues, and it may just be bad electrical connections to the power source…But my mother had a kill switch on her car growing up, and it sounds alot like having a kill switch on, trying to turn it over.
So I’ve had a shop look at this, and ‘fix’ this, but could the original break-in still be causing this car to think it was being stolen? Is there a long term fix?-maybe I need to replace the door?
So this takes me to the question…
Have things become so mechanically removed, I might as well ‘hack’ my car?.. because computers I understand, car’s, I don’t. 
Thanks Click, Clack and Community…
These systems seem to be more trouble than the thieves. How about telling us what city you are in, maybe someone will know a good electrical tech there, or you may want to take a look at the Mechanx files (the C&C list of mechanics) on this site and see if you can find someone local. Even the dealers really don’t know these systems. Frankly I’d bet the guys who did the job on your car could fix it faster and better than the dealer or most mechanics.