Subaru's PIN Code System Provides Easy, Keyless Access
By Courtney Messenbaugh
August 1, 2018
Share
The following is a true story: I went for a hike. It was lovely. As I was finishing — two hours and 1,700 vertical feet later — I realized I’d dropped the keys to my vehicle somewhere along the trail. My feeling of victory was washed away by the dread of the fatigue I felt at having to re-traverse the trail to find my keys. Once I pulled myself together, I was lucky enough to not only find my keys, but also to find them only halfway up the hill.
Holding onto my car keys during a hike is always a nuisance; my hands are full, and there’s no way I’m wearing a fanny pack. A backpack would be too cumbersome because I often have a child on my back. I’ve left my keys in the car a couple of times, but that never feels like a safe practice.
Clearly, I’m not alone in my quest for car-keyless outdoor time because Subaru has just rolled out a new feature on certain models called PIN Code Access that basically disables the key, allows you to leave it in the car and gives you lock/unlock access from a code entered into the trunk lid’s button without needing a remote.
I recently tested this available new keyless entry feature on the all-new 2015 Subaru Legacy. It’s also optional on the 2015 Outback, 2015 Impreza and 2015 XV Crosstrek; it’s standard on the 2015 XV Crosstrek Hybrid. Here are the basic steps for making this feature work for you:
Open the driver-side door and lock the car with the lock switch on the door.
Simultaneously press the remote’s lock and trunk open buttons until you hear a long beep (this takes about 5 seconds). This means the key is disabled.
Put the key wherever you see fit in the car: under the floormat, in the center console or in the glove box. Then head off on your hike, swim, run or bike ride.
To get back into the car, you enter your preselected five-digit PIN (like Morse code) on the trunk-lid button and the car will magically unlock.
Open the driver’s door and press the lock button on the door handle again. Then simultaneously hold down the lock and trunk open buttons again until you hear a short beep. The key is reactivated.
This might seem like a complicated process, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes instinctive. In all, the successful execution of this feature only takes a minute or two. Before you know it, you’re enjoying the great outdoors without fear of losing your keys!
Be warned that you can still lock the keys in the car despite the PIN Code Access feature. It is only after you’ve completed steps one and two that you can go on to use the trunk-lid button for access. Without those two steps, you might be out of luck.
If, however, you’re worried about a thief somehow figuring out your code and driving away in your new Subaru, never fear. Subaru spokesman Andrew Ganz says that by his calculation “there are about 100,000 possible combinations, so I imagine a thief would be more inclined to simply break the glass.” Excellent point. Now off you go into the wilderness!
