Posted on 12/11/2010 7:04:09 PM PST by Sun
On our brand new 2011 Jetta, we just discovered a flaw,imo, no parking lights, only day-time FRONT lights (no lights rear of car). I was thinking that could be dangerous, because many people count on parking lights in the early dusk, and might think the day-time lights also have lights in the rear.
Some people also count on parking lights (with rear lighting) if they pull over to the side of the road, say with car trouble, and choose parking lights, rather than the hazard lights.
We thoroughly read the part on lights, so it won't be a problem for us, as we will only count on the regular headlights at night, but people who don't get a chance to read the vehicle's manual before they drive it might not know, so it seems to me it could be dangerous.
Otherwise, we really like the car, and it has lots of bang for the buck. We are on a tight budget, so got the least expensive Jetta, so the more expensive ones do have the parking light feature.
No. At dusk there's enough light so your headlights make no improvement at a distance. But at the same distance another car has blurred into the grey background, but it's running lights would make it noticable.
Read your owners manual.
In Sun’s defense she is saying that their Jetta has only an on or off selection no inbetween.
“Turn your light control one notch and you have “parking lights”.”
I don’t have them, and my owner’s manual agrees with me. (eye roll) Did you not read OP?
“My daughter’s 2007 Jetta does not having parking lights either.”
I never dreamed that there were cars w/o parking lights.
How does she like her Jetta?
“Cost me a 20DM fine...and then, you had to pay the cop right on the spot - no court or anything. If you had only American money, they would keep your car and make you go and get Deutsch Marks and come back to pay the fine.”
That’s awful!
But they make up for it by having the cruise control take care of the steering too.
We purchased a Jetta because it was on the top ten safety list, and also inexpensive, but it would also be nice if my Jetta lasted this long:
“1986 Volkswagen Jetta Has 562,000 Miles On The Original Engine - WOW!”
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/08/23/059479.html
” she is saying that their Jetta has only an on or off selection no inbetween.”
Thank you.
If only our fellow FReeper read the OP which said:
“We THOROUGHLY READ (emphasis mine) the part on lights, so it won’t be a problem for us, as we will only count on the regular headlights at night, but people who don’t get a chance to read the vehicle’s manual before they drive it might not know, so it seems to me it could be dangerous.”
If this thread gets people to read their manuals before driving, it could save someone from getting hurt.
My daughter likes hers so far. She likes the fact that the dashboard instruments tell her when she has a light out, any light. It tells her when one of her tires is low and it also dings at her when she needs to change her oil.
Thank you, and the fact that she’s had it a few years is a good sign.
Now am looking at tires, but getting conflicting info. Here’s one source:
“..ended up buying BF Goodrich tires for a few reasons. The first reason is they are made in America by Americans. The plant they were made at according to the DOT code is Tuscaloosa Alabama. The whole process of choosing the right tire for the right price was made much easier by a website called The Tire Rack. I found the right size tires, I read the customer reviews and then compared the prices. The whole time I was doing this I kept in mind that for me the tires had to be made in the USA and they had to be of recent manufacture (tires are good for 6 years).
The DOT code on the tire tells the story of where it’s made and when it’s made. The first two digits after the initials DOT are the codes for the manufacturer. The last three or four digits tell when the tires are made according to the week and year. Here’s an example, my new tires had the DOT code that looked like this: DOT BE —— 4207. The “BE” indicates the BF Goodrich plant in Tuscaloosa Alabama. The dashes represent the manufacturers size and style codes. The “4207” at the end indicates they were manufactured in the 42nd week of 2007 (the week of October 21st 2007).
Anyway, my new tires look nice, they ride nice and they were manufactured here in the good old USA even though the company that owns the plant is based in France. That was an acceptable compromise to me.”
excerpt http://madeintheusabyamericans.blogspot.com/2008/06/stimulus-check.html
Thank goodness. Can you imagine what would happen if the mini vans didn't have steering control, moms wouldn't be able to pay attention to their kids, instead of driving.
Owners manual... Near as I can tell, VW does not have an on line download of the owners manual so I can't use this source to figger our the light issue you described.
I did find the below forum threed discussing daytime running light stuff for some recent year Jettas. Weird light stuff! This forum could be something for you to join up for asking some VW enthusiasts on this or other questions or discoveries you have over time.
Thanks for the link.
My car does this. Originally, I thought I would like it. Instead, it's irritating, because it's so sensitive that when the weather changes, the light turns on. So, I never know if it's really a problem or just that the weather got a little colder.
Yeah fog lights are now used as driving lights which is the reason you rarely see the amber/yellow fog lights anymore. I installed a pair of driving lights on my old Explorer behind the grill and hooked them up to the high beam relay, off a fuse of course, and the State troopers told me that that is the legal correct way to use them. If not they would have to be mounted as fog lamps and directed downward and to the sides. The driving lights lit up the dark country road where I live but now I am back to a car so.....no light mods yet.
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