I’ve enjoyed driving the xB around town; it responds nicely to the road and has been comfortable for me and my family. One feature that has been somewhat frustrating is the lack of any light in the cabin. When I pull into my garage and remove the key from the ignition the cabin is all but pitch black minus the neon blue illumination under the driver’s door, a nice style detail, but not nearly enough light to locate my phone and other accessories that I need to take inside. (The photo above is an accurate depiction, not just the result of a bad photographer!)
Alison Steinlauf Anziska, Marketing Specialist @ 12,750 miles.
m_thrizzle says:
03:38 PM, 02/ 5/08
there must be a dome light or something?
billt9 says:
04:04 PM, 02/ 5/08
Isn't this true of any car when the dome light is off?
wheelsee says:
04:55 PM, 02/ 5/08
weird because when I pull the key out of my xB the dome light fades up theatrical style and I've never been able to not find what I need...plus if you need light there are two giant lights above the rear view mirror
thebigal says:
05:49 PM, 02/ 5/08
check to see if there is a switch to turn the dome light on or off... Not the one that turns it on and leaves it on. Some cars (like mine) have a switch that deactivates the dome light so it doesn't come on when if a door is opened.
redliner says:
06:07 PM, 02/ 5/08
Alison, this has to be the LAMEST post EVER!!
I can't belive you guys. Just turn the darn thing on! A 10 year-old can figure that out.
desmolicious says:
06:25 PM, 02/ 5/08
RTM?
datumj says:
07:05 PM, 02/ 5/08
I swear some of you people shouldn't even write blogs about cars.
dodo2 says:
09:48 PM, 02/ 5/08
OMG!!! These blogs are more an more entertaining ...
I thought the post about the Outlander's HVAC knobs being "overshadowed" by the MMCS housing was the "funniest" post of the day, but this one is way better.
raduilie says:
10:31 AM, 02/ 6/08
Did you think to open the door a little? This usually turns on enough interior lighting in any car. Also, people usually have lights in their garage. How do you move in your garage AFTER your exit the car?
misterfusion says:
12:40 PM, 02/ 6/08
In Alison's defense, others have written about the dark cabin environment of the xB. But I thought that was mainly the fault of the big empty space in front of the driver, where the instrument cluster should be.
dotsara says:
01:30 PM, 02/ 6/08
Come on you guys, why the hostility? I mean, really. Shoot, it took me 10 minutes to find the stupid dimmer in the Wrangler and I've owned a Jeep before.
opfreak says:
01:38 PM, 02/ 6/08
dotsara -
we expect more from people that drive cars for a living?
djsyndrome says:
02:43 PM, 02/ 6/08
The dome light comes on whenever you remove the key. Check if the dome light switch is set to "Door".
dodo2 says:
02:55 PM, 02/ 6/08
dotsara:
The difference is you knew the dome light exists and besides this you did not tell the world how crappy the Wrangler is, using a car enthusiast web site.
Seriously, some people "blogging" here don't have a clue about cars in general based on what they write, not to mention about the cars they are trying to write about.
shopkeeper1 says:
03:13 PM, 02/ 6/08
Thanks to all, in my own self defense the switch on the dome light was jammed and it didn't seem to be operating properly. With your prodding though I've gotten it fixed. It's still quite dark in the cabin!
autoboy16 says:
03:55 PM, 02/ 6/08
I hate driving in cars like the XB where the interior is pitch black at night. I would love ambient lighting on my next car(even the $300 option on the 2008 accord).
Is ambient interior lighting available on the VW Rabbit? I know its on the jetta... I think a new column should be added to the Car comparison page...
WHATS WITH ALL THE HOSTILITY ON THESE BLOGS LATELY!?! I love all LongTerm Blogs. Who cares if its not about canyon carving or videos of the performance. The purpose of the LT blogs is to inform readers of day to day experiences with the vehicle. If you don't have anything nice to say, DONT TYPE INTO THE COMMENTS BOX!!
Thanks,
-Cj
dotsara says:
04:02 PM, 02/ 6/08
@opfreak & dodo2
You should expect more from an enthusiast site! I get that, I'm down with that. It's the all-caps and army of exclamation points and aggression that could use some toning down, that's all.
Be irritated, be disgusted, but don't be mean. It's unnecessary. (And I'm not saying that /you two/ were mean, I mean in general.)
tmanz says:
04:10 PM, 02/ 6/08
"Marketing Specialist"
I see a Dilbert cartoon somewhere in this :)
Seriously, does everyone that works for Edmunds get to take cars home on a regular basis? What a killer perk! Also not a bad way to get some 'regular drivers' impressions on the cars (as long as they are willing to take the abuse from the car nuts out here when they post.)
I'd be willing offer my own services if you need an outsiders take on the 308 :)
autoboy16 says:
04:25 AM, 02/ 7/08
Tmanz, DIBS on the diesel!!
-Cj
bimmerjay says:
12:22 PM, 02/ 8/08
+1 autoboy16 and dotsara, regarding the rude and just plain mean comments. Totally unnecessary.
kurtamaxxxguy says:
06:47 PM, 02/10/08
Isn't dark interior something Scion is shooting for? xB's I see at auto shows are black, with tinted windows, loaded with everything possible to make the driver invisible to the world. That's the hip LA image (and a core prop for the Scion image - they ain't playin' Wagner at those Scion stands!). And yes, that might be inconvenient for "normal" drivers.