Ford F-150 Photo by Ford

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For several years now, we have been keeping you updated on Canada’s expensive car theft problem. Organized crime rings fill international shopping lists from our expensive, easily stolen Canadian stock — that new SUV or pickup (among others) in your driveway. Owners have been alarmed, government and law enforcement have spent millions on multipronged responses, insurance companies have jacked rates and demanded expensive aftermarket modifications, and car manufacturers have done, well, almost nothing. 

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Ford just did something. It’s called Start Inhibit. Your truck will be immobilized and immune to relay attacks, cloned key fobs, and even your own key fob if the app is activated. Is this the (metal) holy grail we’ve been begging for? 

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First, the facts.

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Current models that have Start Inhibit are:

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Additional Ford and Lincoln models will get the Security Package for the 2027 model year.

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You can pay $595 up front for seven years of access, or, after an initial free yearlong subscription, you can pay $9.95 monthly with no upfront cost. Even if you buy one of these as a used vehicle and the original owner opted out of the service, you can still activate it as the current owner. 

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Via the Ford app you install on your phone, you can activate a function that will make starting your vehicle — even with your key fob, or a cloned one — impossible until you deactivate it from the same app. This is fundamentally what so many of us on the car theft beat have been yelling for years: make the car more difficult to steal; in fact, make it almost impossible to steal. Immobilizing the engine is the sanest, safest way to circumvent car theft. Someone loading a vehicle onto a flatbed calls infinitely more attention than a kid in a hoodie breaking into and driving off in your car in under two minutes. 

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The app is clear and easy to use: a swipe to the right activates it, and a swipe to the left releases it. As a built-in backup, when you set Start Inhibit, you will be sent a one-time PIN code. The deactivation PIN lets you turn off Start Inhibit via the vehicle’s console screen. The security call centre can help if you’ve lost your phone or that code.  

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It’s proof that a PIN could solve so many of our car theft woes, and it’s good to see Ford embracing this simple, effective practice.

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Overarching this application is the vehicle’s connection to Ford and law enforcement. If your vehicle is stolen, a live human being (they promised us that) will work with you as you contact police, who then work with Ford to locate and bring your vehicle back.

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2025 Ford F-150 Photo by Ford

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But wait, you’re asking, how did your Ford get stolen in the first place if you have Start Inhibit? Didn’t you just tell me, Lorraine, that this is the answer to our stolen vehicle prayers? Sure. If you set it. You have to choose to lock down your vehicle. It is not a default element. It should be, but manufacturers (I’m told) have to weigh the wants and needs of all of you, you weird, disparate group, and some of you don’t want your car automatically preventing itself from being stolen. All I can say to that is, if you have this available on your vehicle, set it every single time. 

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It does more than immobilize your vehicle. It alerts you if someone is breaking in or tampering with it (Ford showed a video of a bear breaking into a truck; it’s somehow cute and effective at the same time; you can watch it here if you like). If you didn’t set Start Inhibit and you’re alerted that your truck has been nabbed, Ford Security will assist law enforcement in locating it. While you can set Start Inhibit remotely, you cannot use it to shut down a moving vehicle; if you’re on the move and set it, it will lock down once you’ve parked it. Law enforcement also invites you notto go chasing after your own vehicle as they track it. They will be working with Ford’s Security team to find it and stop it. 

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If you’re the only driver of your vehicle, this is a no-brainer. Many of us, however, share vehicles with others, like a spouse or a kid. Does this mean someone can lock me out of my truck? Remember: holding the key fob beside a vehicle that has Start Inhibit activated renders that key useless until it is released by an authorized user.

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The vehicle owner controls who they invite to have access as an added driver on the app. They must be added by sending an invitation through the app to their email address. Once they’ve accepted, you cannot remove them, though they can remove themselves, unless a Master Reset is carried out. All authorized drivers will be alerted about a Master Reset. If one person chooses to inhibit the vehicle, any authorized driver can de-inhibit the vehicle using the slider in the app, or by entering the randomly generated alphanumeric code in the centre screen. If anyone here has ever been through a testy divorce, you will know why I’m including this information. 

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In certain cases, an authorized driver can contact Ford Stolen Vehicle Services to remotely de-inhibit a vehicle should they experience something like a lost or broken phone or a drained battery. They will do so only after confirming the driver’s identity. 

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Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch

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On the security front, Matt Drennan-Scace, Communications Manager at Ford of Canada, assures me Ford does not sell your info, and their vehicles “connect to a secure, proprietary cloud network that follows industry best practices and digital security standards” with rigorous ongoing review. Car thieves will be kicking into high gear to try to defeat this; I hope Ford uses many resources to keep this working.

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In Canada, some insurance companies have been placing surcharges on owners of vehicles that populate the most stolen lists. This has led to owners being forced to purchase aftermarket anti-theft devices. CAA stood out by requiring guards that prevent the vehicle from being taken in the first place, as opposed to many other companies that insisted on systems that simply track and locate stolen cars after they’re gone. CAA is right; law enforcement spending huge money to chase after vehicles that shouldn’t have been stealable in the first place is a giant waste of resources. 

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Interesting note regarding insurance: in 2025, when Ford in the U.S. rolled out Start Inhibit, it also debuted the (rather startling) announcement that it would refund a buyer’s deductible up to $2,500 if their ride was stolen and not recovered. There was fanfare. It was not available in Canada. Now, it’s been (quietly) cancelled in the U.S. as of June 11, 2026, to new buyers. Somebody got ahead of themselves.  

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In a perfect world, this kind of technology should be a default setting. Insurance companies should recognize it as the best practice for preventing car theft and reflect that in the rates for owners. In a perfect world, other manufacturers will recognize this as a gauntlet that Ford has thrown down and realize they must follow suit.

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One of my favourite security experts and outspoken critics, Mark Whinton, is impressed. “Ford says no key can start your car. I find this earth-shattering news since most auto theft methods in Canada have all been key-related. Relay attack of the key, key duplicating, key emulating and CAN injection [hacking the CAN bus via a headlight]. This means a lot; this Ford system has just solved the major forms of car theft in Canada. Amazing.”

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