The problem started when we parked in a Disney Springs parking garage at Walt Disney World. We were on the lower level of the multi-storey garage. When trying to lock the car using the key fob as a remote it would not work. Tried our other key and it didn’t work. We locked the car by hand and the key wouldn’t unlock it. I’m pretty sure the radio waves from Disney were interfering with the key’s radio waves, but I didn’t realize it at the time. The parking spaces each have a transmitter that detects whether the space is occupied and sends the information to a screen at the end of each row. That in addition to all the other radio waves (Disney can literally track you using a MagicBand that contains all your ticket and hotel information) was probably enough to mess with the radio waves used by the key. The car’s manual says that the switches may not work in the presence of strong radio waves, but unfortunately I didn’t see that note until after 45 minutes of trying to figure out what was wrong.
While troubleshooting, I found the manual section on disabling keyless entry. Thinking that I had either somehow done it myself or the car’s computer was failing, I repeatedly followed the steps to disable and re-enable the keyless entry using both methods — in the key fob and using the driver’s side door.
I didn’t realize at the time that the key method only works if you had already programmed a PIN. We didn’t program a PIN, so I assume pressing the button on the key fob had no effect. I probably followed the steps in the manual 4-5 times for disabling the keyless entry using the driver’s side door with no apparent effect (because I was still in the same garage). During this troubleshooting process, I only heard the car chirp once (it should have chirped every time you followed the steps to disable or re-enable the keyless entry).
Eventually, I realized that the radio waves were probably interfering with the switch, so I shifted the car into third gear. Shortly after that, I could use the key as a remote to lock and unlock the doors, but the keyless entry and ignition would not work.
In retrospect (2 weeks later and after trying in vain to figure out the problem from the internet), I think I must have disabled the keyless entry as soon as I heard a chirp, but I couldn’t re-enable it. At this point, I’ve followed the steps in the manual probably 20 times (changing how fast I press the unlock button, open and close the door, etc) to no avail. I also programmed a PIN and tried using the remote to reactivate, but unsurprisingly, it didn’t help. The Subaru helpline was unhelpful and the only suggestion from the dealer was to disconnect the battery and pump the brakes a few times. I have done it twice (a week apart) with no change in status. I have found numerous videos showing how to use the key to disable the keyless entry, but so far none show how to use the driver’s side door. I wanted to see if I messed up a step even though I feel like I’m following the steps closely.
Tomorrow is the first appointment I can get (for a problem that started almost 2 weeks ago). I think they’ll probably hook up their diagnostic computer and then reset something to the machine (like when a printer is stuck with a bunch of print jobs), but I’d really like to know that this sort of thing won’t happen again .
Has anyone ever heard of this problem?
