Update: I have made an appointment to get the gate fixed as I found a few persistent problems that can only be explained by something that is malfunctioning. Furthermore compared to our Forester, especially regarding Pt-2, 4, the Forester's works efficiently and intuitively, not as finicky as mine (see below). Stay tuned.
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For anyone who is new or seem to have problems with the gate, firstly pay attention to how you "interact" with a button—whether it is Press and hold, a firm press, or a squeeze/a quick tap. Secondly, pay attention to the fact that the audible feedbacks (beep) from the car vary depending on which way you attempt to open the rear gate. So here is what I finally learn with my 2023 model: with key fob in hand ...
1. To open the gate from the outside, you should squeeze/quick tap the button by the rear camera, and the car will give out two short beeps before opening the gate. Squeeze/quick tap and release. I may be wrong here but if you press this button a little too hard (too long), the gate won't open. Pressing it longer still you would confuse the gate that you attempt to re-initiate the rear gate.
2. To open the gate using the key fob from a distance, Press-and-hold the button on the key fob, and the gate will open after two long beeps immediately followed by two short beeps (beeeep beeeep, beep beep). The trick here is that if you let go of the button too early or too late, the gate won't open. To me the perfect timing is to let go of the button when the second long beep is underway. This is where I got confused many times before as I often let go as soon as I heard the beginning of first long beep, which to me should be how the car acknowledges that the command has been received. Not so here, apparently. The car needs to know we are serious about opening the gate from afar. (May be this "logic" can help us to remember this more easily).
3. To open the gate using the button on the dash (inside the car), press and hold until you hear two short beeps. Here my impression is that you can let go of the button as soon as you hear the beep and it will continue to open. You can open the rear gate using this button while in the car with all the doors locked, car running or not, as long as it is in PARK. You do not need to unlock the doors to open the gate from inside the car using this button.
As you may have noted, the audible feedbacks (labeled in green) and the buttons (labeled in red) reacted differently to your inputs, even though the same gate is being opened. Why, why is this so necessary at the risk of confusing people? For my old Odyssey, a red light on the key fob flashed to tell me I had held the buttons long enough (to open/close the sliding dr and gate) and the gate always opened with a long beep ...
4. Once the gate is open, there are two buttons on the gate, one to close and one to close and lock. Both buttons need a firm press, not a quick tap. Nothing will happen if you squeeze it the same way you squeeze the button by the camera. Here you need a firm press and let go, after which you will hear two short beeps as the gate opens. There is a slight pause between releasing the button and the beeping so be patient and do not press the button again. These buttons have a spring underneath and you can feel it to assess whether you press it deep enough to engage. Do not press and hold the button for too long, and if you do, see #5.
5. If you press the close-and-lock button too long (>2 sec), the button will be canceled. I probably long-pressed it too long once because I over-reacted after a quick squeeze did nothing. This is very confusing as there is no way of knowing the button is cancelled, and there is no clear instruction in the manual how to reactivate it. I think I had to re-initiate the gate to clear it.
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For anyone who is new or seem to have problems with the gate, firstly pay attention to how you "interact" with a button—whether it is Press and hold, a firm press, or a squeeze/a quick tap. Secondly, pay attention to the fact that the audible feedbacks (beep) from the car vary depending on which way you attempt to open the rear gate. So here is what I finally learn with my 2023 model: with key fob in hand ...
1. To open the gate from the outside, you should squeeze/quick tap the button by the rear camera, and the car will give out two short beeps before opening the gate. Squeeze/quick tap and release. I may be wrong here but if you press this button a little too hard (too long), the gate won't open. Pressing it longer still you would confuse the gate that you attempt to re-initiate the rear gate.
2. To open the gate using the key fob from a distance, Press-and-hold the button on the key fob, and the gate will open after two long beeps immediately followed by two short beeps (beeeep beeeep, beep beep). The trick here is that if you let go of the button too early or too late, the gate won't open. To me the perfect timing is to let go of the button when the second long beep is underway. This is where I got confused many times before as I often let go as soon as I heard the beginning of first long beep, which to me should be how the car acknowledges that the command has been received. Not so here, apparently. The car needs to know we are serious about opening the gate from afar. (May be this "logic" can help us to remember this more easily).
3. To open the gate using the button on the dash (inside the car), press and hold until you hear two short beeps. Here my impression is that you can let go of the button as soon as you hear the beep and it will continue to open. You can open the rear gate using this button while in the car with all the doors locked, car running or not, as long as it is in PARK. You do not need to unlock the doors to open the gate from inside the car using this button.
As you may have noted, the audible feedbacks (labeled in green) and the buttons (labeled in red) reacted differently to your inputs, even though the same gate is being opened. Why, why is this so necessary at the risk of confusing people? For my old Odyssey, a red light on the key fob flashed to tell me I had held the buttons long enough (to open/close the sliding dr and gate) and the gate always opened with a long beep ...
4. Once the gate is open, there are two buttons on the gate, one to close and one to close and lock. Both buttons need a firm press, not a quick tap. Nothing will happen if you squeeze it the same way you squeeze the button by the camera. Here you need a firm press and let go, after which you will hear two short beeps as the gate opens. There is a slight pause between releasing the button and the beeping so be patient and do not press the button again. These buttons have a spring underneath and you can feel it to assess whether you press it deep enough to engage. Do not press and hold the button for too long, and if you do, see #5.
5. If you press the close-and-lock button too long (>2 sec), the button will be canceled. I probably long-pressed it too long once because I over-reacted after a quick squeeze did nothing. This is very confusing as there is no way of knowing the button is cancelled, and there is no clear instruction in the manual how to reactivate it. I think I had to re-initiate the gate to clear it.
