[glint.bladesong]

The head lights on our T-Cross are automatic, they come on and off whenever the car thinks it is dark or light enough to do so, but they are also meant to come on if the wipers come on (they are automatic also), so my question is, is there any indicator in the cabin as to whether or not the head lights have turned on?

The little indicator lights on the rotary light dial do not appear to change and the only way I can figure it out is to either bring up the satnav (it has a "night" mode if the lights are on) or to get up close to a car infront and see if the headlights can be seen reflecting on the rear of the car, which is not something I wish to actually do...

This came up on our drive down south a little while ago, it wasn't dark enough for the headlights to come on but it was raining and I couldn't figure out of the head lights were on as they were meant to be or not. In the end I switched them on manually which is fine, but it defeats the purpose of the auto functionality. This car can tell me how much fuel my air-con is using, it can tell me my oil temp (??!?) and my altitude above sea level (???!? x2) but it doesn't seem to have a visual indicator somewhere that can tell me if my headlights are on.

Or am I just not looking in the right place?

 

[Tricky2]

This is an often repeated gripe of VW's. Yes, if there's heavy rain (not light spotting it drizzle) your lights both front and rear and head come on. The little green side light symbol will illuminate, but it's not very clear.

What I look for is the door locking switch! As you drive away it locks, and the locking symbol lights up bright. If your lights are on the unlock segment also lights up but dimly. You may need to shield it from peripheral light to see, but it's reliable. I usually cup my hand over it to check.

 

[glint.bladesong]

your lights both front and rear and head come on. The little green side light symbol will illuminate, but it's not very clear

This statement confuses me a little as my T-Cross front and rear running lights are on all the time, rain hail or shine, or have I miss understood you? (very possible..) and the little green light symbol on the rotary light dial is always lit. This is with the switch in AUTO, which is pretty much where it stays always.

I have noticed that sometimes when my wife reverses out of the driveway the fog lights come on and sometimes they don't, I haven't figured out a pattern or reason for that yet, but the led running lights are always on.

If your lights are on the unlock segment also lights up but dimly

Now that is a good tip Thank you, I'm going to try it out tonight when I take my kids to karate.

Cheers mate!

 

[Tricky2]

your lights both front and rear and head come on. The little green side light symbol will illuminate, but it's not very clear

This statement confuses me a little as my T-Cross front and rear running lights are on all the time, rain hail or shine, or have I miss understood you? (very possible..) and the little green light symbol on the rotary light dial is always lit. This is with the switch in AUTO, which is pretty much where it stays always.

I have noticed that sometimes when my wife reverses out of the driveway the fog lights come on and sometimes they don't, I haven't figured out a pattern or reason for that yet, but the led running lights are always on.
Cheers mate!

That's the problem with saying this happens or that, when we have an international forum

To be more specific, in the UK and many EU countries, the default daytime running lights is front only. With DRL the green sidelight light isn't on in the switch, only the Amber auto symbol. I've modified my car to be like the Scandinavian version with permanent front and rear DRL. However, my green light still isn't lit for DRL.

When the car turns the lights on automatically, it brings on the rear side lights, dims the front DRL, and brings on the headlights, and all interior switchgear illumination, which is why the lock switch is a giveaway. Again, I'm referring to my experience, yours may vary.

with regard to fog lights, are you referring to front or rear fog lights? Again, in our market if you have the static cornering lights, the front right or left fog light comes on as you turn that side, and a little earlier if you have indicated first.

If you have static cornering, at night BOTH FRONT fog lights come on when reversing to illuminate the front corners to assist avoiding hitting something at the front.

 

[glint.bladesong]

That's the problem with saying this happens or that, when we have an international forum

I had a suspicion it might have been that. The Door Lock Symbol is a neat trick, tested it out tonight and it is probably the best way of knowing. Why on earth it is more important to be able to show what music track I am playing on my dashboard then it is to show if my lights are on is beyond me :roll: (Especially considering some of us have the all digital dash... that doesn't even need any wiring, just a cute little symbol and some code to listen to the CAM bus).

If you have static cornering, at night BOTH FRONT fog lights come on when reversing to illuminate the front corners to assist avoiding hitting something at the front.

That explains it! I'll assume that when my wife leaves in the morning and she reverses out of the driveway sometimes it is dark enough to trigger the fog lights, sometimes it isn't. Mystery solved.

I know this is being picky, but I really wish that the fog lights were LEDs. All the rest of my lights are LEDs and when the fogs turn on it so glaring obvious that they are not. It's a minor annoyance however in an otherwise great little car, although don't get me started on towbars and australia... even VW doesn't have a dealer option for one.

 

[SouthOzi]

Just a comment about LED lights, in my opinion ,LEDs are the wrong sort of white in the fog. They seem to turn everything a bit too glary IMHO. Fortunately where I live we don't get much fog.

 

[Tricky2]

Just a comment about LED lights, in my opinion ,LEDs are the wrong sort of white in the fog. They seem to turn everything a bit too glary IMHO. Fortunately where I live we don't get much fog.

I know what you mean, my Tig was the same till I changed them for very White halogens.

 

[glint.bladesong]

Were I live we don't get fog, not a common occurrence in Western Australia to say the least, but they are very useful as static cornering lights.