Has anyone ever seen one of these before?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-Su...Q5fAccessories

How do they work? Do you need a key still?

 

Looks like just a normal OE remote transponder for unlocking/locking the doors. Yes you still need the key to start the engine

And no, before you ask, it can't be retrofitted to a car without it (but you can do with an aftermarket alarm eg. Sigma, Toad etc); This item is only of any use to someone with a import bugeye WRX who has lost all of their existing remotes or with an existing faulty unit (and it'll probably have to be coded in to work by someone with the equipment to do so).

 

Its just an alarm fob. Most cars where you press a button to open the door is keyless entry. The vxr range also have a system where you have a fob and as soon as you go near the car it will open and you just press the button on the dash and it starts as long as the fob is within 5 meters approx. It does not have an ignition barrel. What your looking at is just a fob that opens the door.Go and speak to someone with a vxr and you will see how it works.

 

Or someone with a 2008+ Subaru with proximity push button start...

 

I have this on the wife's family wagon (Renault Grand Espace)- it's a pain in the backside as if you accidentally leave the "key" in the car - say while at the supermarket- then the door autolocks after a while and you can't get back in. You also have to stand on the brake while you press a start button to start it, so you end up doing more steps to get going than usual. A gimmick whose only saving grace is you don't have a jangly bunch of keys to trash your pocket lining IMHO.

 

Just to add - keyless entry is fantastic.
You don't realise just how much of a nuisance the good old key is until you've gone keyless

 

Not really a gimmic imho (maybe the French version need tweeking)

My keys stay in my pocket... I can lock/unlock/access the boot and start the car (foot on clutch, hardly a hardship) without once removing them....

Subaru's system also does not allow the car to be locked from outside with the fob left in the car...

 

Everything the French do needs tweaking

 

Pain in the backside when your battery is flat and you can't bump start the thing though...!

 

My M3 has keyless entry and start , I think its great , the key stays in my pocket so no chance of leaving it and forgetting it when getting out ,
It opens the door as soon as I pull the handle , then locks by just resting your finger on the door handle , like has been said , once you have it , you realise it is a nuisance with keys lol.

 

French one definitely needs tweaking as it does all that other stuff like Ian says above but it will lock itself after a time. I could read the manual but I refuse to coz I'm a bloke...

 

the good thing about the subaru one is it will still start the car when the battery in the fob goes flat as well!

 

Subaru legacy GTB i had was also keyless entry,you simply lifted up the driver door handle a preset amount of times and this would allow you to alarm the car and lock the doors.then on your return you lifted the door handle a preset number of times to unarm and open the doors - was brilliant but not cat 1 so had a toad installed and never used it again.

 

Exactly
If the system itself is well done then it'll be fantastic

Other manufacturers claim to have "keyless"
for example - bloke in work has a civic type R
He presses a button to unlock
Gets in, sticks key in ignition and then presses a button to start the thing

Now - thats a gimmick alright.

 

No, Thats just normal keyless entry; you press a button to get in...just like what the OP has in the link. No to key to enter - hence keyless, but a remote fob to press to lock/unlock the doors.

What some guys above are getting mixed up with is "Passive Entry", Keyless-go or keyless start (no ignition key required). Unlocking/locking cars without pressing any button is known as "Passive Entry".

Passive entry is a form of keyless entry, but keyless entry is not always passive. If you see what I mean. Just to clarify, what is in post #1 is your regular remote locking/unlocking via pressing a button; As found on pretty much every half-decent EU market car in production since 1996. It is NOT passive entry.

 

can or has anyone retro fitted a 2008+ subaru keyless entry system to their car ?

 

not possible by all accounts..or too big a job... factory fit only

 

I have OCD and could never live with a system like this. I lock the car, and before walking away, check a handle. Often I'll walk a short way from the car, then have to walk back to again check a handle.

This would **** me up!