Looking For How To Program Garage Door Opener To Car? Let’s Find Out!

An average American opens and closes their garage around 1500 times a year. While manual garages can do their job very well, imagine the time and energy you can save if automated garage door openers do it. In these modern times, when everyone has a scarcity of time and patience, an automated garage door opener is more of a necessity than a luxury. In my opinion, electric garage openers are a convenient and innovative home feature that all modern homeowners should own.

An automated garage door opener is a device exclusively designed to make the user’s life comfortable as they park or leave their garage. And the coolest part, some modern garage door openers now have the feature that allows users to use their vehicle or the smartphone to open and close their garage door remotely. So, you can not only operate the garage without the hassle of locating the remote but also use a smartphone to close your garage in case you are away and doubtful that you’ve left it open. Moreover, smart garage door openers also let you integrate your other innovative home products with them. 

While more and more homeowners are installing automated garage door openers in their garages, they are often found looking for how to set up garage door opener to car. Though the instructions for the same are often mentioned in the owner’s manual of a garage opener, you may get irked if you cannot locate your manual. In that case, I am here to help you. Knowing that a smart garage opener is a relatively newer installation in most homes, not too much literature is available on the internet about how to connect garage door openers to cars. Hence, I decided to write this article. 

This article shall chew over how to program a garage door opener to your car with or without the remote. But before we come to the point, let me elucidate the pros of having an automated garage door opener for your home.

Why Do You Need An Automatic Garage Opener?

Garage security is of paramount importance. These days, when our homes are installed with the best motorized curtain openers and the best automated window openers, it is time that garages join the modern race, too, as they offer several benefits to the user. The benefits of having an automated garage door opener are so enchanting that most urban houses with garages are installing these in their garages.

Here are some of the reasons you should install an automated garage door opener in your garage.

1. Convenience: An automated garage door opener ensures that you don’t leave your children or pets in the car or go outside the vehicle in bad weather to open or close your garage door. It allows you to operate your garage door and a lot more sitting in your car. For somebody having a medical condition, this device is an excellent investment.

2. Lighting: Many modern automatic garage door openers have built-in lights to illuminate your garage or the path to your garage. This feature may sound like a luxury, but it is a boon if you reach home at night or in bad weather. Automated garage door openers can save you from sliding through the snow or getting blown away by the wind while trying to open the garage door.

3. Security: Having the ability to operate your garage door from far off gives us an added sense of security. Suppose you are in the office, supermart, or on vacation and doubt whether you closed your garage door opener or not. In that case, you can simply close it from your smartphone rather than worrying about the security of your belongings. Garage openers with a rolling code add another layer of protection to your garage as the code changes each time the remote button is pressed.

4. Safety: Garage door openers alarm and ensure that you do not crash something or somebody down while on the way to park your car in the garage. This is a helpful feature for somebody with toddlers or pets.

How To Program Garage Door Opener To Car?

Coming to the point, your automatic garage opener is of no use unless you know how to connect garage door opener to car. Many of my friends and readers often ask me questions about their garage door opener’s programming. Recently one of my friends bought a BMW and called to ask about programming BMW HomeLink. 

In this section of the article, we will discuss two ways to program the garage door opener to a vehicle to be able to operate it remotely, i.e., using a remote or without a remote. If you have a rolling-code garage door opener, you can program it both with or without a remote. However, a fixed-code garage door opener can only be programmed using a remote.

How To Program Garage Door Opener To Car With Remote

Not being able to pair your garage door opener may leave you frustrated. But not anymore because I have got you covered. If you are looking for how to sync garage door opener to car, you just step a few steps away from success. Though the given steps will help you program most garage openers, there may be a few alterations depending upon the model of your device or the remote. These directions work almost perfectly for the universal remotes available in the market.

Before programming your garage door opener with your car, ensure that your remote is paired with your garage door. If the remote is already not paired, follow the given steps.

Step 1: Enter your garage and use a ladder to reach your garage door opener device mounted on the ceiling. 

Step 2: Locate the Learn button on your garage door opener. Different models can have this button located at different places, but usually the button is near the antenna radio receiver. 

Step 3: Press and release the Learn button. A LED light turned on indicates that the garage opener device is programmable. Do not hold the button as it would erase all the programs from the machine.

Step 4: Now, take your remote and press and hold the button you want to use as a primary control to open or close your garage door opener. Hold the button for about 5-10 seconds.

Step 5: Wait for the click sound on your machine and the LED light adjacent to the Learn button to turn off. 

Step 6: Release the button on your remote as your remote is now paired with a garage door opener device.

Once your remote is paired with your garage door opener, you can test whether your garage door opener is receiving the signal and the garage door is opening and closing properly using the remote. If something goes wrong, you can erase the previous program from your garage door opener machine by pressing and holding the Learn button. Once reset, repeat the steps given above to sync your remote again.

Once you are done pairing your remote, you can now sync your garage door opener to your car.

Step 1: Get inside your vehicle and close the doors.

Step 2: Locate the garage door opener control panel in your car’s built-in system. Usually, the system is located on or near the rear view mirror or with the primary control buttons of your vehicle. The location may vary depending upon your car brand and model.

Step 3: Press the button you want to program to open and close your garage door on your car’s built-in panel.

Step 4: Simultaneously, hold your garage remote within 1-2 inches from your car’s built-in system and press the Open button on your remote until the indicator light starts flashing.

Step 5: Once the light stops flashing, release both the buttons.

Once you are done with the above procedure, your garage door opener should be connected to your car and you no longer should have to worry about how to pair the garage door opener to the car. 

How To Program Garage Door Opener To Car Without Remote

Your garage door opener can also be connected to your car without the remote if your vehicle has a built-in system for the same. The steps to complete the process are as simple as the process given in the above section. If you are looking for how to program garage door opener to car without remote, read the steps given below.  It is noteworthy that this method is only applicable to rolling-code garage openers, as you cannot program fixed code garage openers without a remote.

Step 1: Park your car inside your garage to ensure you connect to the suitable garage opener.

Step 2: Locate the garage door opener control panel in your car built-in system. Usually, the system is located on or near the rear view mirror or with the primary control buttons of your vehicle. The cation may vary depending upon your car brand and model.

Step 3: Press and hold the first and the third button on the built-in panel of your vehicle to reset any existing program. You will notice that the LED on your car’s panel will start blinking. Continue holding the buttons for another 30-40 seconds.

Step 4: Release both the buttons once the LED stops blinking completely

Step 5: Get off your vehicle and reach your garage opener device using a ladder. Press the Learn button located at the back of your device. 

Step 6: Return to the car within 30 seconds. On your panel, press the button you wish to grant control to for two seconds.

Step 7:  Repeat the above step about 3-4 times.

Once the above process is complete, your vehicle should have connected with the garage door opener, and you should be able to open and close the garage door from your vehicle.

Common Problems Faced While Connecting Garage Door Opener To Car

There are times when you are programming the garage door opener in your car, but even after several attempts, you have no luck. There are many reasons why users, at times, face issues while connecting their garage door opener to their car. In this section, I am discussing a few of these common reasons and the possible solutions.

Your car does not have a built-in system to connect to the garage door opener- While most new cars have the system installed in them, the older models may be incompatible with this automation. In this case, you can pair your remote with the garage door opener device and use it to open and close your garage door.

Your garage door opener batteries are dead- In case your remote batteries are dead, you won’t be able to connect your car to your garage door opener using the remote. In that case, you must either replace the batteries or attempt to connect your vehicle to the garage door opener without the remote.

Your garage door opener remote is out of range- You must place the garage door opener remote within the range of 1-3 inches from the built-in panel of your car. If the remote is beyond this range, your garage door opener will not pair.
Your remote is incompatible with the garage door opener- Different garage door openers work on different frequencies. If you are not using the kit remote, ensuring that your remote is compatible with your garage door opener will ensure there are no glitches.

FAQs

Q1. Are garage door openers energy efficient?

Answer – Although garage door openers can help you automate a lot of things related to your home, they do not need very high power to operate, which makes them an energy-efficient and cost-efficient investment. 

Q2. My garage is installed with a fixed code type garage opener, and its remote stopped working. How do I program my garage door opener to my car without a remote?

Answer –You cannot program fixed code garage openers without a remote. You can, however, pair a rolling code-type garage opener to your vehicle without a remote.

Q3. My garage door opener remote got lost. I purchased a new remote, but it is not connecting with my device?  How to set garage door opener in car using the remote?

Answer –While most garage door openers work with a 315 MHz radio receiver frequency, some may work on 310 MHz. Ensure that your remote is compatible with the frequency of your garage door opener. Unfortunately, you cannot program your garage door opener to your car using a remote with an unmatched frequency transmitter.

Q4. What is the role of three buttons on the garage door opener remote or car in-built panel?

Answer – Out of the three buttons on the remote of the built-in panel of the car, one is to open, one is to close, and one is to lock the vehicle. You can program these buttons as per your choice.

Conclusion

An automated garage door opener can make your life quite convenient and comfortable. Having your garage open and close from within your vehicle can save you from the effort of coming out of your car to open the garage. Well, nobody wants the hassle of getting drenched in the rain or sliding through the snow to open the garage door. Despite being a relatively newer innovation in smart home technology, garage door openers have spread in homes across the US like wildfire. 

Once a homeowner has this automation installed in their garage, they often look for how to pair garage door opener to car but often get distressed as they do not find many articles on the internet. If you are one such user, you may have felt relieved reading the article as it gives all the information about how to program a garage door opener to your car in detail. 

I am sure you would have found the article useful. If you still have any questions regarding the topic, write to me in the comment section.