Seat Position Memory

whobodym · June 2018

My '17 Forester XT Touring's seat position memory has misbehaved in an odd and subtle way since day #1 eighteen months ago. This means the power driver's seat with "1" and "2" buttons on the door panel. I have registered our preferred positions for both the buttons and our two keys. Per the dealer (doubtful accuracy) the memory should only hold two positions; i.e. pushing the buttons should give the same two positions that the two keys do, respectively. The misbehavior is only for seat height - fore/aft memory works fine. The seat height misbehavior is that slowly over a period of many weeks, the memory positions gradually increase in height until they eventually give you maximum seat height, for both positions 1 and 2, whenever the car is unlocked, even if you yourself were the last person who drove. My Subaru dealer has made two attempts to fix this, the first time with a new seat module, and this last time with a new switch. They claim it's fixed now but I'm beginning to have my doubts because my personal "2" position is supposed to be set all the way at the bottom, and I'm beginning to feel a slight lowering as I touch the seat controls myself after entering - which is exactly how the misbehavior started to appear every time before. As this misbehavior begins to occur, the buttons can be reset to preferred correct positions but the key-registered positions remain the max-height wrong ones, thus my doubt about the memory only holding two total positions. I understand this is hardly a fundamental problem, and I could fix it by just resetting the key-registrations frequently, but this is very hard to do for a spouse!

whobodym · November 2018

Last week our car finally had a full-day session at Eastside Subaru (Kirkland WA) with both dealership mechanics and corporate Subaru zone technicians, and for the first time I've gotten documented agreement that our seat position memory behaves as I've said it does all along. No remedy is available yet; they are thinking about it.

whobodym · November 2018

My opinion continues to strengthen, that this problem only occurs when keys have been registered to positions -- ignition off, hold "set" button, hit Subaru logo on key fob. I continue to survey '17-'18 Forester Touring owners on the street, and no one else so far seems to have registered their keys to seat positions. They just use the "1" and "2" buttons on the door. And they don't have the height problem.

whobodym · November 2018

So - if you have a Forester Touring (top of the line) from last year or this, and you haven't registered your keys to seat positions, DON'T. But if you already have, PLEASE speak up and say whether the memory for seat height misbehaves like ours. (I don't believe Foresters had any seat position memory, for years 2016 and earlier).

wmillerwjm · December 2019

I have a 2018 Forester Touring...the seat position drives me insane. I'm of average size and height, my wife is much smaller than I so, she adjusted her seat position to the number 2, and I as the primary driver set it to position #1. The buttons work fine but, the sync with the fob is problematic and unreliable. I noticed when she drives the vehicle and locks it after, when I go to the vehicle and unlock it the seat will go to my preferred setting BUT, if the vehicle has not been locked and I simply open the drivers door with the fob in my pocket the seat will not position itself and I have to press the #1 button in order to enter the vehicle (I can't enter the vehicle with the seat all the way forward like my wife drives). I can be sitting in the vehicle with it running, when she enters the vehicle on the passenger side (she has her keys in her purse with her fob) the drivers seat that I'm sitting in automatically starts adjusting to her setting crushing me against the steering wheel. So, in the big scheme of things this sounds trivial at best, however; since I live in a wet climate area with snow in the winter this is a real problem for me as I end up several times having to wait in the rain, wind and snow for the seat to adjust after pressing the #1 button when the fob should have already started the process so I can enter the vehicle. Even after I get the seat adjusted to my setting when her fob is in the vehicle it seems to have a higher hierarchy and her settings appear to be the default. This is just one more nail in the coffin for the forester. This happens intermittently and I constantly have to reset the fob and I'm really tired of trying to fix a dysfunctional system that should be a convenience and not ramping up my emotions as I'm standing the rain waiting to enter my vehicle. I purchased this vehicle with the complete expectation it would be a top of the line model with no problems but with the constant alarms and cheap (and I mean really cheap) construction and materials I've decided this will be my last Subaru and I'll be happy to be rid of it. (Don't even get me started on the lane departure warnings)...

kyfdx · December 2019

@wmillerwjm Carrying two fobs in the car is problematic for many makes. It might not be what you want, but the easiest fix is to leave one of them at home.

whobodym · December 2019

wmillerwjm, you might benefit a lot by permanently de-registering your fobs from the seat positions, if you're willing to fall back on pushing the 1 and 2 buttons to get positioned every time. the owner's manual DOES describe how to do this, but in a maddeningly subtle way I failed to notice for 2 full years - have ignition off, hold SET button, then push LOCK on each fob. the manual just used the closed-padlock symbol to say this, not the word "lock". I read right past it without noticing, any number of times.

whobodym · December 2019

to continue the nit-detail comparison, I suspect our position-height creep issue is a coding error somehow specific to my chosen minimum-seat-height position. I'm 6'2" 225 lb and my wife is shorter and lighter but still tall. We do have the issue on long trips, of each other's fob interfering with the other, but here I think the design is functioning as intended. The driver does have to be the one who unlocks the car each time. We've actually taken our Forester on about the longest trip possible by anyone anywhere - Seattle to St. John's NL, 11,000 total miles in 6 weeks, which would have been ridiculous not to take both keys. Once we developed the habit well of always bringing all keys with us as we left the car, we did OK. Finally after 3 years of ownership I'm getting automatic-habit familiar with doing a seat position reset every 2 weeks or so, to have seat position always go to the bottom. If I wait longer than that, I have to whirr the seat down 1/8 inch or more each time I enter.

Michaell · December 2019

We've owned our Outback for almost 5 years and have yet to program the seat position memory.

Seat Position Memory

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