In response to a triggering event, changing a vehicle remote engine start system from a first state to a second state. In the first state a remote engine start mode, a drive engine of the vehicle and a plurality of vehicle functions are deactivated. In the second state the remote engine start mode, at least one of the plurality of vehicle functions and the drive engine of the vehicle are activated. After activating the remote engine start mode, a timer is incremented or decremented from a predetermined start value. If the timer has not elapsed and the presence of a user is detected, the remote engine start system changes to a third state in which the last timer value and the current state of the remote engine start mode are stored and then the remote engine start mode and the timer are stopped, wherein the drive engine remains switched on.