[TheRaven]

Well, thanks to a helpful person or 2 on this forum (can't remember which thread) I've eliminated (or at least minimized) one of my complaints. I replaced that stupid little cargo light with a much brighter LED one that someone posted a link to (superbrightledlights or something like that was the site) and I am quite happy now with the increased light back there. I'd still love the light to be located up above instead of off to the side, but don't have the time or energy to do a more complete fix, but at least having a brighter bulb back there is making me happy every time I open the back at night. So nice to have a great site like this to get useful info from!

 

[misikoff]

I believe the Forester has a light there (on the lift gate) that is switchable to an Ascent with some modest wiring.

 

[DocRock]

Of the 20 or so cars I've owned over the years, I only "loved" two of them - my 1974 Corvette coupe (owned for two-and-a-half glorious years), and my 2000 Mustang GT convertible (still going strong after 20 years). All my other cars were bought to "like." I ended up "liking" most of them. Our 2019 Ascent Touring was bought for long-haul cruising. On that, the Ascent is very "likable" - quiet, comfortable and roomy with excellent fuel economy for a big vehicle. For daily, short-trip driving, the Ascent is not very suitable. So, I combine as many stops as possible to reduce the number of trips I take around town.

 

[baronbvp]

I love my 2021 Ascent Touring. But to play, mine are a little different from most posts:

1. Tom Tom navigation sucks compared to Garmin or Google Maps. It takes forever to calculate even a local route. And you can’t enter a lat/long to which to navigate. Like a campsite or a spot with no address. Very poor compared to even years-old Garmin functionality.

2. The little piece of seatbelt strap folded and sewn on the front belt to keep the buckle from being low when the seatbelt is retracted. That thing sits on my abdomen while driving and annoys me. Miss the seatbelt on my 2014 Outback.

3. The finger lock switch on the drivers door handle is wonky. On my wife’s Lexus RX350, you put your finger anywhere near it and it locks the doors ( and stows the side mirrors!). On my Ascent I have to hunt around and get the precise position of my thumb or finger to lock the doors. It’s a waste of time, so much so that sometimes I just lock it with the key fob. Any tips?

 

[MSCM]

(skipping over the seemingly consensus ones - simulated transmission shifts and throttle dropouts)

1. No ability to disable any dome lights other than front. Arriving home at night, everyone gets blasted in the eyes with LED lighting when someone opens a door. My 4 year old absolutely hates this. ON-DOOR-OFF switches on each light would be nice. (Or a driver Master Off switch for all domes - to compliment the newly recently Master On switch).

2. Side mirrors are not tied into seat memory functionality - a big negative for us.

3. The location and volume of the PIN code entry beeper. I deactivate my fob and store it inside every time I go for a bike ride from a park & ride trailhead. Several of the trailheads are next to high traffic (loud) streets. Because the beeper that chirps in between PIN code digit pushes is at the front of the vehicle (and not very loud), I have to use a rhythm method to enter my PIN code because I can't hear the chirps. I would love it if the PIN beeper was at the rear of the vehicle - ya know, like where the PIN entry button is - at the rear of the vehicle. Tying it to the super loud power rear gate warning beeper seems to me a more logical option.

Does anyone know if the PIN entry beeper volume might by chance be a dealer customization item?

While on the subject, does anyone have a composite list of what dealer customizations are available for the Ascent? I know many are sprinkled throughout the manuals - on another forum I used to visit, someone did us all a solid and generated a list.

 

[hokiefyd]

3. The finger lock switch on the drivers door handle is wonky. On my wife’s Lexus RX350, you put your finger anywhere near it and it locks the doors ( and stows the side mirrors!). On my Ascent I have to hunt around and get the precise position of my thumb or finger to lock the doors. It’s a waste of time, so much so that sometimes I just lock it with the key fob. Any tips?

Are you talking about the small capacitive "switch" on the exterior of the door, where you put a finger or a thumb on the two small bars at the front of the door handle? I haven't noticed ours to be particularly demanding in terms of where you place your finger. I don't know if it works this way electrically, but you do seem to have to connect both bars with your finger or thumb to get it to go. I use my thumb (larger) and I've never had a problem. I think it's sensitive enough -- I continually lock and unlock the car while I'm washing it, just by running water or the brush over the door handles.

 

[baronbvp]

Are you talking about the small capacitive "switch" on the exterior of the door, where you put a finger or a thumb on the two small bars at the front of the door handle? I haven't noticed ours to be particularly demanding in terms of where you place your finger. I don't know if it works this way electrically, but you do seem to have to connect both bars with your finger or thumb to get it to go. I use my thumb (larger) and I've never had a problem. I think it's sensitive enough -- I continually lock and unlock the car while I'm washing it, just by running water or the brush over the door handles.

Yes, this switch. I use my thumb or my finger and place it over both. I played around with it to see if my technique is at fault. I started using my thumb vertically on the switches instead of horizontally and that seems to work better.

 

[baronbvp]

The location and volume of the PIN code entry beeper. I deactivate my fob and store it inside every time I go for a bike ride from a park & ride trailhead. Several of the trailheads are next to high traffic (loud) streets. Because the beeper that chirps in between PIN code digit pushes is at the front of the vehicle (and not very loud), I have to use a rhythm method to enter my PIN code because I can't hear the chirps. I would love it if the PIN beeper was at the rear of the vehicle - ya know, like where the PIN entry button is - at the rear of the vehicle. Tying it to the super loud power rear gate warning beeper seems to me a more logical

I didn’t know there was a PIN entry. Is that on your phone in Subaru Link like remote start?

 

[Robert.Mauro]

It's the "secret" button on the liftgate, right side.

 

[baronbvp]

It's the "secret" button on the liftgate, right side.

Thanks Robert, I just found this video in other thread. Neat function.

One thing to be careful is moving the driver door lock manually to LOCK to disable the key fob does NOT lock the whole car when you shut the door. It only locks the driver door. I found after I disable the key fob I have to push the electronic lock button on the driver door to lock all the doors when it’s closed. This is important because if you follow the directions in the video, you could walk away from your car thinking all the doors are locked but only the driver door is. So double check the back door and tailgate are locked before you walk away and leave your car unattended.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

I've been meaning to set mine up, but, I keep forgetting. LOL, I'm falling behind on even the simple projects. 😕

 

[baronbvp]

I've been meaning to set mine up, but, I keep forgetting. LOL, I'm falling behind on even the simple projects. 😕

I updated my post above when I discovered the procedure in the video doesn’t lock all the doors after disabling the key fob. Be careful.

 

[ntotrr]

1) head unit does not recognize the tagging of my MP3 files so it plays the songs on an album in alphabetical order rather then proper song order. No other car I've owned did this, only the Ascent.
2) no "off" for the radio, it plays at the last volume setting it was on when the carc was shut off, as everyone knows. When I drive alone, I like to listen to my mostly hard rock songs really loud. If I forget to turn the volume down before shutting off the car, it can cause a problem if the next time the car is used and my wife is with me. She suffers from hyperacusis and if the radio volume can cause pain in her ears.
3) carpeting is not great quality. A Touring trim level Ascent should have real carpeting.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Hi, some tips that may help...

1. Alas, it recognizes the tagging, but doesn't use it. You can even request it plays a song using voice commands (assuming you're not hooked up via Android Auto/Carplay). The solution I found was to make playlists, as much of a pain that is. The various documents that say our head units don't support playlists are all wrong. I did a video showing how. It's not horribly difficult, and just requires an app that makes M3U playlist files, and a decent text editor.
   
   
2. I am still hoping this is changed in a future software release. I'd let Subaru know you'd like that. Regardless, in the meantime, I set Preset 1 to XM Station 0, which is the radio's information/ID "channel", so, there's no sound. Then, to turn the radio "off", I simply hit preset #1 and I am done. The car turns on, plays XM Station 0, which is totally silent. Same happens when I shut off the car and it stops playing my preferred source and switches to the radio - it plays XM 0.

 

[xydadx3]

I am still hoping this is changed in a future software release.

An update would be nice to accommodate more folks and options. However, I think it’ll be easier for them to just let CarPlay and AA do the work instead.

 

[Mhanlen]

1. Would rather speed adaptive cruise control brake earlier instead of the more aggressive implementation.

2. cup holders up front or in doors that can handle larger diameter popular water bottles... like my hyrdoflask 32 or 40oz.

3. Cleaner hitch install look when the hitch cover is removed. Seen it look so much better on other vehicles with center of bumper hitch position.

I put a few of my other thoughts in my video review of it:

 

[Jim_in_PA]

1. Would rather speed adaptive cruise control brake earlier instead of the more aggressive implementation.

There are multiple levels of "aggressiveness" available with the adaptive cruise control on the Ascent. I run mine at the least aggressive and have been happy with it.

 

[Mhanlen]

There are multiple levels of "aggressiveness" available with the adaptive cruise control on the Ascent. I run mine at the least aggressive and have been happy with it.

I use second from the lowest setting under eye sight acceleration- Comfort Lv 2. That did not seem to affect the agressiveness of the braking- just the acceleration. Am I missing something?

 

[lesanek]

1. The radio displaying the volume level. When I am listening to a song it is fairly loud, then I want to change the channel so I turn the volume down and try a different channel. BUT the volume level screen comes up and delays you from channel changing. Its just a second maybe two but it drives me crazy!

2. Cheap felt instead of carpet on the floor. Might as well have been vinyl or rubber, would not look any cheaper.

3. When you stop and get out and try to open the rear door to get your package out of the back seat the door is still locked. You have to unlock with the switch on the door or fumble for your key.

""3. When you stop and get out and try to open the rear door to get your package out of the back seat the door is still locked. You have to unlock with the switch on the door or fumble for your key.""
i believe there is a setting on the steering wheel where you can change witch doors unlock when you open driver door or something similar...... I've set it all year ago so don't remember exactly .. good luck!

 

[Jim_in_PA]

""3. When you stop and get out and try to open the rear door to get your package out of the back seat the door is still locked. You have to unlock with the switch on the door or fumble for your key.""
i believe there is a setting on the steering wheel where you can change witch doors unlock when you open driver door or something similar...... I've set it all year ago so don't remember exactly .. good luck!

Correct. It can be driver's door only (default) or all doors. Configured in the menus available from the steering wheel controls.