Question about my new 08 Legacy SE

[NJCOBRA10tha]

Well I finally own a Legacy. I had started looking at them over 2 years ago but decided to keep our other cars. Now my wife's lease is up and I needed to replace it and given the economy wanted something less expensive so I bough her a Newport Blue Legacy SE 5MT. 3.9%/63 months $1,500 off sticker and bought the car at dealer cost.

 

Anyway I have 1 question:

Is there a way to make it so it automatically locks the doors once you start the car or start moving, and automatically unlock when you take the key out of the ignition?

 

All the cars we have owned before have done this either by an after market alarm or straight from the factory. Now we are so used to that and end up forgetting to lock the doors.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

Dan

[82DMC12]

Thank god Subarus DON'T have that feature! 99% of the rest of world hates that auto-locking nonsense.

 

The only reason I could think of that someone would WANT to lock the doors while the car is moving is if they have little kids in the back. In that case, just flip the child safety locks so the doors can only be opened from the outside.

 

Just my opinion...

Andy

 

 

 

 

Well I finally own a Legacy. I had started looking at them over 2 years ago but decided to keep our other cars. Now my wife's lease is up and I needed to replace it and given the economy wanted something less expensive so I bough her a Newport Blue Legacy SE 5MT. 3.9%/63 months $1,500 off sticker and bought the car at dealer cost.

 

Anyway I have 1 question:

Is there a way to make it so it automatically locks the doors once you start the car or start moving, and automatically unlock when you take the key out of the ignition?

 

All the cars we have owned before have done this either by an after market alarm or straight from the factory. Now we are so used to that and end up forgetting to lock the doors.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

Dan

[NJCOBRA10tha]

I guess it's what you get used to, but think about it the other way our other cars unlock the doors when you turn the car off. The Subaru doesn't do that either.

[chenc544]

Some car makers have that feature others do not. I have owe 3 Nissans, a Mazda, a Toyta, a Subaru and none of them did the auto locking thing. My g/f's Focus does that and my Ion rental does that too. To answer your question I don't think you can make the LGT do that without some kind of aftermarket alarm kit or something.

[ConnertheCat]

I guess it's what you get used to, but think about it the other way our other cars unlock the doors when you turn the car off. The Subaru doesn't do that either.

 

Yeah, my previous car did it too and it's annoying me too… slowly getting used to throwing the locks evertime I take off.

[laz]

It is very annoying, and I would believe unsafe in some situations. Imagine you have a kid in the back, you get somewhere, turn off the car, the doors unlock and the kid opens the door and runs somewhere on his own!

 

I have trained my index finger to open and lock all doors on command!

 

X

[ehsnils]

The only reason I could think of that someone would WANT to lock the doors while the car is moving is if they have little kids in the back. In that case, just flip the child safety locks so the doors can only be opened from the outside.

 

Actually - the auto-lock is mostly intended to stop people to get INTO your car while driving it, to deter carjackers. It is normally not intended to stop someone from exiting the car. For that you have the little child lock handle that's accessible near the locking mechanism on the rear doors.

 

But some cars will also lock the doors from the inside, but that is not very effective to stop the kids anyway since each door still can be unlocked and relying on the central locking to protect your child is not very effective.

 

The following two pictures shows the location of that handle. (Black piece closest to the locking mechanism)

 

http://www.bedug.com/pics/DSC00081.JPG

 

http://www.bedug.com/pics/DSC00082.JPG

[NJCOBRA10tha]

Thanks - sorry to introduce such a "controversial" topic.

We like it from a safety perspective and the convenience of unlocking the doors when you turn off the ignition. We consider it a safety issue but as become apparent from this thread some people are dead set against it.

 

Given the enthusiastic responses I am slightly afraid to mention that my Clifford Alarm on my Cobra is set to not only automatically arm but to lock the doors.

 

That is what I am used to and like and that is how I programmed my Clifford Alarm.

 

I know many of you would hate that, but it's my preference and all the vehicles I have had since 1987 have been setup this way either from the factory or with an after market Clifford Alarm.

 

I know the Japanese logic is different and IMHO better in many respects like turning off the cigarette lighter and headlights when you turn off the car. This makes it so much easier to use a radar detector or Sirius Radio, but I am sure there are those that would argue "yeah but then you can't charge your cell phone when the car is off". That's true but I would much rather be able to always have my Sirius Radio plugged in and have it turn on with the ignition without any wiring than be able to charge a cell phone with the car off.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

-Dan

[ebpda9]

i had the auto lock with an aftermarket alarm on my old honda, but it annoyed the crap out of me, especially when i would have to start the car then get out to remove the snow, or to go pick my parents.

 

AFAIK Subaru doesn't do that from the factory,. not it can be programmed. I think the reason behind the auto lock feature is so the door doesn't fly open in case of a collision. Doors are parts of the crash structure of the car

[lfdal]

One feature you can have the dealer program in for you is to at least arm the alarm passively, so even if you forget to lock the doors, if someone opens them without the remote the alarm goes off.

 

I think you can do it with some combination of cycling the ignition switch back and forth as well but its a whole lot easier to have the dealer do it. Since you just got the car, I doubt they'll charge you for it. At least my dealer didn't.

[cmc032]

your best bet is to take it to the dealer and see what they have to say about the issue.

 

Your second option is to just press the lock button...

[NJCOBRA10tha]

Thanks for the input. Again it can't be dismissed as just press the lock button. I have no problem with others not wanting this but to dismiss it as "eh just hit the lock button" is irational.

 

* It is a huge convenince to have it unlock the car when you turn the ignition off.

* We like to drive with the doors locked for various reasons that I hope don't need enumeration.

* despite having this "Satanic feature" in dozens of other cars we have not once locked our selves out. The better systems which we have either from the factory or after market don't lock the doors until there is movement.

* locking yourself out is all but impossible with my Clifford alarm. If you start the car with the door open it will not auto lock the doors. If you start the car with the doors shut it will lock them, but it's a non issue as you can't get out of the car without unlocking at least 1 door.

 

How many times do you drive your car a year? For me that's at least 2 times/day=730/time a year. 730 times we will have to hit the lock button and 730 times we will have to hit the unlock button=1460 times.

 

How many times do we start the car with the door open, shut the door and remove snow? I leave in the Northeast and maybe it was 3 or 4 times this year tops.

 

So doing the math 1460 vs 4? Hopefully you can see my point.

 

Lets take it a step further. How many times have you forgotten to lock the doors when driving? I can't give a fair answer that because it's a non issue on my other cars, but as described above if I start the car with the door open it won't autolock. Under that scenario I have forgotten to lock it more than 4 times this year. (How - why? Sometimes I am in a rush and start my car before shutting the door. No I am not getting out to remove snow or anything else).

 

Additionally if you are absent minded and prone to locking yourself out of your car you could always carry the valet key seperately.

 

 

So I am sorry if I offended those who are prone to locking themselves out of their cars. I thought this was a more intelligent crowd.

[ehsnils]

A few things about the auto-lock:

 

It won't help/protect against opening of the doors in a collision. If the damage is severe enough to cause an unlatching of the door it won't make much difference either.

 

To assume it will protect against escaping kids is really not smart. It won't...

 

But to protect you against carjackers or unexpected passengers it may be feasible.

 

As I have understood it - most people here finds it annoying, and if you really want it you may do a hack of your own or select a different brand.

[spartan0199]

Having your doors locked is safer in an accident. When your doors are locked movement of the outside door handle in an accident will not release the latch.

[NJCOBRA10tha]

With all the great aspects of the Subaru Legacy this won't make me sell our new car. I know some things are programable and just wanted to know if this was. Now I find myself defending common sense.

[lfdal]

Now I find myself defending common sense.

 

Good luck.

 

At least if you get it to arm passively, its better than nothing.

 

But for my wife's OBW I wish it had the auto lock feaure. That said, I don't care for the auto-unlocking when the key is turned off and/or removed. There's places I stop I'd rather not unlock the doors.

[Voytech]

I have the auto lock in my golf. Bit annoying. When you shut the car off, it doesn't unlock, but when you pull the door handle (inside), it unlocks that particular door and lets you out. Now the beef I have is that it doesn't do that for the rear doors. I have to unlock via switch to let my passengers out.

 

On a side note. I'd rather have my doors fly open during an accident. The seatbelt should keep me in place. Imagine the car catches fire and your doors are locked, and the battery is shorted/damaged. I'd rather have the door unlocked so that anyone from the outside can drag me out if I'm unconscious.

[ehsnils]

Yes - using the seatbelt will improve your chances a great deal Here in Sweden 2 our of 3 killed in single vehicle accidents weren't using the seatbelt. And at the same time it is estimated that up to 45 percent of all lethal vehicle accidents were alcohol-related. Mind that the total number of killed in the Swedish traffic during 2007 were 490 people. This includes all types of motor vehicles (motorcycles, mopeds, tractors etc.) on a population of 9 million.

 

And my opinion is that the persons under the influence are less prone to wear a seatbelt.

 

And consider the risk of a door handle being pulled during an accident. The probability is low. A rollover may trigger it, but in that case you will probably have bigger issues from a caved-in roof.

[NJCOBRA10tha]

I have no concerns about the door flying open in an accident.

 

I do however feel one should lock the doors before driving away.

 

I live in a nice town but drive through not so nice towns and it just makes sense to lock your doors to prevent inviting trouble.

 

Now with that said I can't say that anyone has ever tried to open my door but I still want my wife to lock the doors when driving around with the kids regardless where she is.

[Gasaraki]

My dad's golf has the auto locking feature when he gets to around 10 mph. It's nice but not really a big deal. You know what I do now? Put on seat belt, see that everyone's in, take .5 sec and flip the lock doors switch, then engage. When I stop I put it in park, unlock doors (.5 secs), turn off engine, unbuckle seat belt.

[NJCOBRA10tha]

Don't get me wrong it's not a show stopper and wouldn't have prevented me from buying a Legacy, it started as me asking if that was something that could be programmed. Gasaraki of course we can get in the habit of locking/unlocking but have you ever forgotten to lock the doors? It's like auto power window down, you get used to it and would miss it a little if it were suddenly gone.

[82DMC12]

Don't get me wrong it's not a show stopper and wouldn't have prevented me from buying a Legacy, it started as me asking if that was something that could be programmed. Gasaraki of course we can get in the habit of locking/unlocking but have you ever forgotten to lock the doors? It's like auto power window down, you get used to it and would miss it a little if it were suddenly gone.

 

I used to work in a quick lube, many years ago, and I can't tell you how many times employees got locked out of cars while the engine was running because of auto-lock. This would usually happen when checking the automatic transmission fluid level, where many cars need to have the gear shifter moved through the gears and back to park with the car running to check the fluid level. A tech would get out, and the door would accidently close and latch, or another tech would bump into the door while moving around the pumps and close it. It was so bad that we had to change procedure and start rolling down the driver's side window before every service and let the customer roll it back up when he walked out to his car.

 

When you live in the cold North, like many Subaru owners (I live in North Dakota), many of us will leave our cars running while going back into the house for a minute or when checking tires, at the bank, etc. I have a feeling many Subaru owners would find themselves stranded outside their car with auto-lock.

 

I'm not saying you don't have a legitimate request, since everyone is entitled to his opinion, but I think it should be a feature that can only be activated on request. No car should ever come with it on from the factory.

 

Just my $.02

 

Andy

[NJCOBRA10tha]

I respect your opinion as well.

 

With our SUV we are turning in this month the doors lock once the car starts moving. I do not know if revving it would cause them to lock or not. I am pretty sure my Clifford alarm works off of revs or speed too so it would be rather difficult to get locked out.

 

I do want to say it is wrong to leave a car running not via remote start and go into a store. I know many insurance companies will not cover it if it's stolen with keys in the ignition. It may also be illegal in many jurisdictions. Leaving it running in your driveway is another story, but with the availability of cheap remote start I would rather pay $200 for an aftermarket than take the chance of having my car stolen with the keys in it regardless of how slim the chance is.

 

-Dan

[ConnertheCat]

I usually leave mine idling when I'm clearing the 6 inches of snow off of it! Real easy fix to this would be to just have it auto lock only when you go above 10 MPH - everyone's happy.

[ehsnils]

Even better solution is to have a fuse position where the user can select if he REALLY wants that piece of feature or not. The number of problems related to the autolock far outweighs the convenience it may provide.