T6.1 interior lighting - am I missing something?

[Victor_Tango_]

We have just taken delivery of a new Starlight Blue Ocean with the sport pack via Jamie at Breeze Poole who has been excellent (pics to follow)

All is fantastic except for three things: the well-documented insanity of the dashboard storage situation, the fact I have 03S bellows, and the overcomplicated lighting.

I've read a few threads and I've got most of it figured out. My remaining questions are:

• Is there any way to have only the cab lights come on when you unlock or open a door? For discretion I don't always want the living area lights to come on. You can force them on from the switches under the camping panel, but I can't see a way to force them off? (From the adjacent switch you can force the cab lights off). I know I can use camping mode for this but it's not permanent...
• My kids love to switch on lights over the door or kitchen in the back when I'm driving. Often we only notice this once everyone is out and we've locked the van. But then you can't turn it off by just opening the door and hitting the switch, oh no. You have to unlock, get in, then either switch on the ignition, or lock yourself in with the fob to get all the interior lights to go off (or wait an age for them to go off by themselves). Only then can you switch off the offending light. However demented the engineers at VW have become over the last few years... this can't be right? Can it??!

Grateful for any insight!

 

[BigJohn]

Hi, if it's the same as our MY23 van, then 1. This is what camping mode is for, it stays selected until you switch on the ignition
2. This is annoying but you can switch them all off at once from the overhead camping control panel - lights menu, no need for ignition or locking yourself in

 

[Justinitus1972]

Hi, if it's the same as our MY23 van, then 1. This is what camping mode is for, it stays selected until you switch on the ignition
2. This is annoying but you can switch them all off at once from the overhead camping control panel - lights menu, no need for ignition or locking yourself in

Thanks - helped me there too!

 

[Victor_Tango_]

Thanks @BigJohn

re 1, I know camping mode will do it but it's still amazing you need to fiddle around with the control panel every time
and 2, thanks for the tip. A shame it requires fiddling with the control panel as well, which takes nearly as long as ignition/locking yourself in to turn it off!

It's just crackers that they've let it go out like this

Also I've just realised it seems there's no way to turn on the cab lights together (in normal driving operation). You have to turn on both individual map lights.

Overall the lighting is better in many ways; but in a lot of ways it's leap backwards from my 2007 T5 SE!

 

[cjjenkinson123]

Here's another option:

Sounds like your van is a brand spanker in which case it will have the WiFi button at the right hand side of the bank of switches under the infotainment screen. With that on (glowing yellow) if you download the 'Cali on Tour' app and set it up then you can remote control lights etc from your mobile! You can even open the roof from it, which is excellent to be able to keep an eye on it while it goes up!

Hope that helps.

 

[Victor_Tango_]

Oh wow. That actually sounds brilliant, thank you!

VW taketh away, but VW also giveth!

 

[Victor_Tango_]

Hmm. I have the button but it's not lighting up yellow. Am I out of luck?

 

[Victor_Tango_]

Scratch that. It mysteriously started working. Fantastic, thank you!

If only they could add an update to give the option for the living area lights to stay off.

Now onto a quest for warm white reading light bulbs...

 

[This_one_goes_to_eleven]

Surprised you have 03S. I’m collecting start of March and I was fully expecting 04S

 

[Victor_Tango_]

I ordered in September so probably a smidge too early for the 04S...

 

[Grorich]

I ordered in September so probably a smidge too early for the 04S...

Sorry to jump on the thread. How do you know which bellows you have? I picked my ocean up from breeze in November and it’s been back 4-5 times for ‘issues’. I am concerned as things have gone wrong that just shouldn’t have or should have been sorted on the PDI

I am very pleased you’ve manage to sort out you California tour app as I have been trying since November and it just won’t work. Every suggestion and work around from VW just doesn’t work on this van.

 

[Victor_Tango_]

I am very pleased you’ve manage to sort out you California tour app as I have been trying since November and it just won’t work. Every suggestion and work around from VW just doesn’t work on this van.

That said, after getting it connected the first time I haven't been able to connect it again since!

The kids left the lights on again the other day and I said to my wife "It's all right, watch THIS," whipped out the phone and... nowt! Had to clamber in and fiddle with the panel.