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Heating control lights?

Moveme

New member
My first night drive in my Golf 8 GTD last night and notice there are no backlights on the volume/heatings touch thingys under the main screen?…is it meant to be like that or is there an option to turn them on somewhere?….seems old that they are totally dark so cannot see them to adjust volume or heating at night🤔
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Unfortunately that’s the way they are. The last time a had a car without illuminated heating controls was back in 1982! To be fair to VW, they have provided other ways to adjust these functions - haptic touch pads on the steering wheel for volume, and voice control can be used to adjust the cabin temperature.
 

Dougy

New member
I was about to add that to my list of faults before mine goes back in for the 4 time in 7 months.
It’s ridiculous that you can’t see the heater and volume controls when you drive in the dark
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Lack of backlighting suggests that VW are trying to force owners to use the alternative methods of voice control or the steering wheel controls to adjust these functions. Maybe the original plan was to not have any heating / ventilation or volume controls below the infotainment screen at all, and they were added late in the Golf’s development - almost as an afterthought - which might help explain the lack of backlighting.

A few good old fashioned knobs and buttons for basic functions such as heating / cooling and volume, easily accessible by the driver and front seat passenger wouldn’t go amiss IMHO. Sadly, I don’t think any will be added back when the mk8 Golf gets its mid life facelift in 2-3 years time as VW have just removed the conventional heating and ventilation controls in all but the entry level model the facelift Polo line-up and replaced them with a touch pad. Form over function (without backlighting in the case of the Golf) for the sake of clean, uncluttered lines is probably here to stay.
 

Wallop

Go Kart Newbie
Voice control of the heating isn’t available on the Life edition
And there was me about to suggest maybe they consider it a safety function that forces you to use voice control when moving!
I don't get on with the voice contol
"Play BBC Radio 6" Do you mean BBC Sussex? "F*** off i'll do it myself" I'm sorry i didn't get that "Double F*** off"
"Direct me to the M40" I'm sorry there are no military points of interest in the area!
 

Genegenie

Drag Race Newbie
Seems strange VW didn't add 3 cheap LEDs or bulbs in this area, easy to hit radio volume when trying for temperature sliders, apparently it's also a 'feature' on the cheaper Seat Leon, thought Golf sliders would be illuminated. Mind, I tend never to adjust temp or settings once on the move anyhoo....
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Seems strange VW didn't add 3 cheap LEDs or bulbs in this area, easy to hit radio volume when trying for temperature sliders, apparently it's also a 'feature' on the cheaper Seat Leon, thought Golf sliders would be illuminated. Mind, I tend never to adjust temp or settings once on the move anyhoo....
Yes, the Seat Leon has basically the same set up as the Golf. I think VW’s all electric ID.3 and ID.4 models have the same non-illuminated slider bar too.

Skoda’s and Audi’s equivalent models (Octavia and A3) both seem to have slightly different set-ups to the Golf and Leon. The Octavia definitely had more physical buttons than the Golf below the infotainment screen, but there’s a touch slider bar below the infotainment screen for volume only - I don’t know if it’s backlit or not. It looks as if adjustments to temperature needs to be done via the touchscreen though. The A3 also has a slightly different set-up again. For volume adjustments it has a weird circular touchpad in the centre console in front of the gear selector that you need to make circular movements on with a finger - clockwise to increase volume and anti clockwise to reduce it. That definitely seems like a classic case of form over function and designing a solution to a problem that didn’t exist in the first place! I don’t know if that touch pad is illuminated or not - you’d expect it to be in an Audi. The A3 does have buttons for heating and ventilation though - I don’t know if they’re short cut / ’hot’ keys to climate menus on the infotainment screen or if you can actually set the temperature by just using the buttons.

So whichever brand you choose within VAG, they seem to have placed significant emphasis on form over function and have gone out of their way to make operating simple basic functions in the car’s cabin a more complex process than it needs to be 🤔😠. Although this strategy might attract a younger customer base who’ve grown up in the smart phone era, there’s a real risk they’ll alienate more mature, loyal existing customers who’ve bought VAG branded vehicles for many years.

VW have just recently announced the facelift version of the Polo. They’ve removed the simple, easy to use (while on the move) rotary heating and ventilation controls with…………..you’ve guessed it; a touchscreen! It is illuminated though, but it’s positioned quite low down so it’ll almost certainly be necessary for the driver to divert their view from the road ahead down to the touchscreen to make cabin temperature adjustments.
 
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