cabin lights

Do you observe this from afar, or when you go past it? Every time you approach (or just go by) the car (assuming you have your fob with you), the interior lights will come on. You don't have to touch the car. The lights come on even if I'm just going past to take out the garbage. It startled me the first time it happened.

 

Yep. That is smart key at work. If you car is locked and you walk by the passenger doors with the key on your person the car goes ito a pre unlock mode. That mode activates the interior lights for you. That will not happen if you approach the back of the car before approaching the sides. The smart key system will not poll the transponder on the back door until you lift the handle. If you notice, with the car locked, if you open the back hatch before you unlock the side doors the hatch will take some time for it to unlock. Usualy the sequence is grab handle, wait fraction of a second, car beeps, hatch releases, doors unlock. This is because, as soon as you grab the release handel on the hatch, that is when the car looks for the smart key. The car verifies you have the smart key and then unlocks. Unlike the side doors where the car is prepared to unlock for you before you grab the handle.