Vehicle authentication system

1. A vehicle authentication system, comprising:

a controller configured to:

detect a trigger event including a sequence of interactions with at least one exterior component of the vehicle;

in response to the trigger event, activate at least one vehicle camera and transmit a unique identifier to a mobile device;

receive an image from the at least one camera; and

grant access to the vehicle in response to the image including the unique identifier.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to communicate with the mobile device via a wireless connection formed between the controller and the mobile device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein to grant access to the vehicle includes unlocking at least one vehicle door in response to the image including the unique identifier.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to enable a number vehicle features in response to the image including the unique identifier, the vehicle features including updating an ignition status to enable vehicle engine start.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine whether the image includes the unique identifier; and

determine whether the unique identifier is expired.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein to determine whether the unique identifier is expired includes determining whether a predefined amount of time has lapsed.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein to determine whether the unique identifier is expired includes determining whether a predefined number of images including the unique identifier have been received.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is at least one of a Quick Response (QR) code and bar code.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger event includes a series of sequential actuations of a vehicle door handle.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger event includes a series of sequential actuations of at least one of a vehicle door handle and a vehicle mirror.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the trigger event includes a movement of a vehicle windshield wiper.

12. A vehicle authentication system, comprising:

a camera; and

a controller configured to:

determine a trigger event including a sequence of interactions with at least one exterior component of the vehicle;

activate the camera in response to the trigger event;

transmit a unique identifier to a mobile device in response to the trigger event;

receive a unique image from the camera;

compare the unique image with the unique identifier; and

unlock at least one vehicle door in response to the unique image and unique identifier matching.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the unique image includes the unique identifier.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the unique identifier is expired.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the unique identifier includes a Quick Response (QR) code.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to communicate with a mobile device via a wireless connection and transmit the unique identifier to the mobile device in response to the trigger event.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the camera is a rear-mounted camera.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions of a software program, the software program being executable by a processor of a computing device to provide operations, comprising:

activating at least one vehicle camera in response to a trigger event;

transmitting a unique identifier to a mobile device;

receiving an image from the at least one vehicle camera; and

granting access to the vehicle in response to the image including the unique identifier.