I am the new owner of a 2019 Crosstrek Limited. So far I love the car. I’m having trouble with the dome light. When I bought the car, the dome light was in the Always off position. I’m used to having a dome light that comes on when I open a door and turns off after it closes, so I set it to the center position, and it seemed to work. I found out, however, that sometimes the dome light isn’t turning off after the door closes. I’ve flipped the switch back to the always off position, as I don’t really have time to wait to see if the light turns off whenever I leave the car, and I don’t want to risk discharging the battery by having the light stay on for several days at a time. I don’t live close to the dealer where I bought the car. Is there a hack of any kind to make this switch work correctly? Is the switch easily replaced by the consumer?
Flukey Dome Light Switch
- Thread starter Libran56
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2 things...
1, it's on a timer. You can set this in the settings menu, provided the 2019 has an infotainment system, which it should.
2, Subaru is smart and the cars have a time-out feature so if you do leave any lights on, interior or exterior, they will shut off so you don't drain the battery. This was the case for my 2011 WRX and my 22 Crosstrek Sport. The WRX was all LCD displays, no infotainment system, so I couldn't change the time-out, but the lights did turn off if left on...
1, it's on a timer. You can set this in the settings menu, provided the 2019 has an infotainment system, which it should.
2, Subaru is smart and the cars have a time-out feature so if you do leave any lights on, interior or exterior, they will shut off so you don't drain the battery. This was the case for my 2011 WRX and my 22 Crosstrek Sport. The WRX was all LCD displays, no infotainment system, so I couldn't change the time-out, but the lights did turn off if left on...
What I’m finding is that I’ll park the car and close the door properly, then a few hours later I leave and find the car with the dome light still on. I’ve just turned the dome light off so I don’t have to worry about it.
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Well that sucks. Something is wrong, as like I said, if my old 2011 had the time-out technology, and my 2022, your 2019 should also have this feature. Ever ask Subaru? Maybe a knowledgeable salesman could assist you without having to schedule a service visit. Also, reddit has a Crosstrek and Subaru sub. You should look into that if you already haven't. Reddit is as much of a wonderful source of information as any forum, but much more active. These forums are very dead in comparison.
One more thing to check, but still the lights should turn off after like 30min. The scroll wheel above your left knee above the traction control button should not be aligned with the dot, rather scroll back a little until you physically feel it move, like there's a notch inside it. Good luck, weird stuff like this sucks...
I went in and changed the timeout settings for the interior lights to 10 seconds. I watched after I left the car and stood a short distance away. Tit’s only been a couple times since I changed the setting, but in both instances the light has gone out. What I HAVE noticed, though, is that as I approach the car with the fob in my pocket, the dome light will turn on when I get a foot or two from the car, and I think this is by design. I will continue to monitor, as it’s possible that I simply
mistook a built-in feature for a problem.
mistook a built-in feature for a problem.
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Glad to hear. And I never had a car that had this feature either but when it’s locked and I approach with fob clipped to my belt loop the doors unlock when I reach for the handle. Both driver and passenger front handles do it. I think the feature you were mistaking is called approach lighting. Not sure if that’s automatic/intelligent or if it’s when you press the unlock button on fob. I know it’s when the fob is used, just not sure if it’s when you’re near with fob on you.
My dome light actually comes on before I put my hand on the door handle, I’ve found, when I’m a few feet from the vehicle. I think it’s this feature that made me and my BF think the light was on all the time.