GoKawiilPeople should not expect vehicle apps to be able to help them if their car is stolen, experts have warned.
Car safety firm Thatcham Research said there was a "genuine and growing gap" between consumer expectation and the technical reality of so-called connected car features.
Ian Fogg, a technology analyst at FDM CCS Insight, said his car was stolen from outside his house in March, but he has not been able to retrieve it - despite the manufacturer, Kia, being able to view its live location via the Kia Connect service.
The company told the BBC that UK law prevented the Connect function being used to live track vehicles, advising customers to use it for "convenience" rather than security.
Fogg told BBC News: "This car was incredibly easy to hack but incredibly difficult to track, it shouldn't be this easy to nick a car when they cost an order of magnitude more than a phone and have similar radio technology".
He had video doorbell evidence of it being driven away, an Apple Airtag hidden inside it, and the Kia Connect service.
His story is a cautionary tale of how tech can promise security but cannot necessarily be relied upon in the event of a crisis.
He was abroad in March this year when his phone pinged to say he no longer had access to the Kia Connect app.