[sbh1973]

Hi,

I'm considering replacing my 2004 Toyota Prius with a Subaru Outback, a car I've always liked but which lacked one feature my Prius had: the remote smart key. Once you've walked up to your car with a bag of groceries and didn't have to reach into your pocket to find the FOB, but just opened the locked door, you're spoiled for life. For me, it's now a must-have feature on any car I buy.

So, I was thrilled when I saw Subaru began offering this on its special appearance package Outback.

But does anyone know how many doors can be unlocked? On my Prius, it's three - driver's and passenger's sides and the rear hatchback. On some Prius models, it's just the drivers. Having it on several doors is particularly convenient.

Thanks to whomever knows the answer to this question!

 

[AO River]

As I understand it:

• unlocking from the driver's door will only unlock the driver's door

• 
  unlocking from the passenger's door will unlock ALL doors, including rear gate

• 
  unlocking from the rear gate will only unlock the rear gate

 

[Primitive]

I think Robert is correct but I also believe that according to the owners manual that all 4 doors can be opened at once if programmed to do so.

 

[Freelancer]

Whats nice about the OB SAP is that, as long as you have the remote on your person, the front doors will open and the rear hatch. Even though there is a button on the door handle, as long as you stick you hand inside of the handle it will unlock the door, there's a sensor inside the handle.

I'm waiting for a service call to have the dealer program the car to unlock all of the doors from the driver's door.

I believe it needs to be programmed because, when I grab the driver's door it only unlocks that door, but when I grab the passenger front door, it unlocks the rest of the doors. I did get all of the doors to open once from the driver's door but I can't get it to happen again.

As far as the rear hatch, as I said, if you have the remote in your pocket, just grab the handle and it will unlock.

Hope this helps.

 

[astro9476]

When I went in for my 1st oil change I had the dealership reprogram the door locks so ALL the doors unlock when I grab the drivers door. As mentioned before, as delivered only the drivers door unlocks when you grab the drivers door. If you open the front passenger door all doors unlock.

If you're going to buy a SAP Outback, be sure and make them include the reprogramming of the door locks in your purchase deal - I had to pay for the reprogramming.

 

[HDSkullfire2]

You know what's really cool about the remotes, a few days after getting the new SAP, we went out to pick something up at a store nearby. Here is what happened, in this case my wife had her remote in her purse and left it in the car while I had the other with me, when we attempted to lock the car from the push button on the door handle the car has a safety feature that will prevent you from leaving a remote inside the vehicle. Ours refused to lock and a message came up on the dash mini display telling us to remove the remote from the car..

I don't know how it knew it was in there, but it was nice to know..

Steve

 

[sbh1973]

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. That's great - it works exactly as it does on my Prius. The front driver only unlocks the driver's side, but the passenger side and rear tailgate unlock all doors. That would be my preference, so it's nice to know it can be programmed to do that from the driver's side as well.

Now, if only they'd put a hybrid engine in the Outback! It's really hard to go from 45-50 mpg to 25 mpg, but I do really like this car.

 

[2013OB]

Robert---correct on those notes.

I like the remote door key. Never have to take it out of my pocket or jacket. I added a remote "smart" start to it as well. Just put my hand in the door handle and it unlocks or push the button on the door handle and it locks.

I added the "smart" remote start. It runs for 15 minutes and then will shut off and also shuts off when you physically open the door after starting it with the remote start.

 

[jbrooks5215]

Can anyone tell me what sort of distance they are getting their remote "smart" starter to work from? I am having a hard time getting more than about 40 feet away to start it, sorta defeats the purpose of remote start.

 

[OBnube]

Can anyone tell me what sort of distance they are getting their remote "smart" starter to work from? I am having a hard time getting more than about 40 feet away to start it, sorta defeats the purpose of remote start.

With SAP that's about it. Mine is the same way. Lots of complaints of short range and no two-way feedback.

 

[JCBERB]

That sounds about right. I emailed Subaru about this asking if there was some possible solution in the works, but all I received was an apology and a paragraph of crap that sums up to "NO!", also mentioned that all future models of Subaru remote starts will shut off the engine when accessing the vehicle unlike previous versions because it is a safety feature.

Can anyone tell me what sort of distance they are getting their remote "smart" starter to work from? I am having a hard time getting more than about 40 feet away to start it, sorta defeats the purpose of remote start.