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Just leased a Crosstrek and, while I like the car generally, the fact that the radio turns itself on immediately when you start the car is just CRAZY. There's no option to start the car in silence, unless you turn the radio volume down to 0 before you shut off the car! Why should I have to twiddle the knob down to zero in order to have peace and quiet when I start the car next time? (or, unless you push and hold the OFF button for 2-4 seconds, in which case the info screen shuts down as well)
The "off" button on the radio is also really only a mute button if you press it once (which you'd think would shut the radio OFF for real)
Where on earth did Subaru get the idea that this is a good thing that ought to be the default state? Do most other people really enjoy having their radio constantly on, even to the point of having it start automatically when starting the vehicle??
Anyone else out there hate this? It's almost like Subaru is getting a kickback from radio advertisers for holding drivers hostage to the constant ads and blabbing.
own a 2014 Subaru Forester, bought new, now has 60K on it. Already had head unit (radio) replaced, along with the A/C, the CVT transmission, and the wheel bearings all before reaching 50K miles
Big spot on concrete driveway this week, going back to dealership, it's transmission fluid.
We own a 2017 Subaru Outback. We've never had any of these issues. Our radio is set to bluetooth and access's our phones playlist that we have created. It takes about 30 seconds to locate the source, and if we don't want to listen to music, we can set the volume to zero. Personally, I always want to listen to my playlist.
Just leased a Crosstrek and, while I like the car generally, the fact that the radio turns itself on immediately when you start the car is just CRAZY. There's no option to start the car in silence, unless you turn the radio volume down to 0 before you shut off the car! Why should I have to twiddle the knob down to zero in order to have peace and quiet when I start the car next time? (or, unless you push and hold the OFF button for 2-4 seconds, in which case the info screen shuts down as well)
The "off" button on the radio is also really only a mute button if you press it once (which you'd think would shut the radio OFF for real)
Where on earth did Subaru get the idea that this is a good thing that ought to be the default state? Do most other people really enjoy having their radio constantly on, even to the point of having it start automatically when starting the vehicle??
Anyone else out there hate this? It's almost like Subaru is getting a kickback from radio advertisers for holding drivers hostage to the constant ads and blabbing.
None of my radios turn off unless I turn it off (outside of battery saving features). Are you saying your other cars would automatically turn the radio off when you shut off the ignition? Seems like someone is going to be annoyed either way. You either have to turn it off, or turn it on.
I have had cars where you can set a default volume. So if you came home one night blaring the music on 11 with your friends, it's not going to scare the crap out of you the next morning or wake everyone up.
I thought the same thing about my Impreza until I figured it out. To shut the radio off but not the display, just press and release the Volume/Off button. As you discovered, if you press and hold it, it shuts off the display also. But just press and release it, and the radio turns off and stays off until you turn it on again. Voila, silence is golden
I think my 2019 Forester does the same thing. Doesn't really bother me. I do like to listen to the radio, and if I want silence, I can just dial the volume all the way down or press and hold. I tend to use the Apple Carplay integration a lot though too, for receiving and making calls, and even the GPS for navigating traffic... and both of those use cases require audio anyway.
We too have a 2019 Crosstrek and have the same issue with the bossy radio. Obviously not a deal breaker, but it is pretty obnoxious. We have tried all of the above and will try it again today but it does not seem to matter if we have the radio off when we turn the car off.
In addition, we can be driving with the radio off and plug in a phone to charge and the radio comes on.
In general very pleased with the car, but the tech stuff is very frustratingly high maintenance.
If Subaru would just start making 4WD vehicles again, I would buy one and forgive them over the radio issue
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