2008 Hyundai Veracruz: Gauges Should Be Lit All the Time

I think Hyundai has electroluminescent gauges only on certain trim levels like in Azera. Until the 2009 model year, electroluminescent gauges were available only on the Limited trim level for Azeras & rest got 'regular' gauges. I think starting the 2009 model, Hyundai has made them standard across all Veracruz & Azera trim levels.

If it bothers you for some reason, just leave your headlights on all the time.

i disagree. having the gauge cluster lit all the time discourages use of the headlights. in seattle, particularly when it is raining and cars disappear into the mist, people still refuse to turn on their headlights. this also almost makes me support mandatory DRL.

Isn't it adjustable?
On Nissans, Mazdas, whatever other brands, you can shoose for the lighting to be
on bright / on dim / off
in the day time.

On my Mazda3 the gauges are on fully (with levels of adjustment) during the daytime then dimmer at night, the only time they are not lit up is when the car is off. In fact without them lit up you cant see anything. The only problem with this setup is that there are times in the early evening when the lights should be on, but the gauges dim to where you cant see anything. If my light sensor was any more sensitive then it probably would drive me crazy to drive in the evening, but fortunately its set to where the lights dont usually go on until its dark enough to see the dimmer gauges.

I'm with dingo567. In the city at night a dark instrument panel is often the only reminder to turn on the headlights.

With the electroluminescent gauges in Mazda's, the sign to turn the lights on comes from the gauges being way too bright, at least in the CX-9.

I'm gonna have to agree with the other posters and say that I don't like this idea. The gauges in my Fit are lit all the time, and the only additional lights that come on with the headlights are the radio buttons and climate control (aside from the little headlight indicator). The dash lights don't get dimmer or brighter with the headlights. Many times, I have started up the car in a well-lit parking lot after dark, and not realized my headlights were off until I was out on the road. It doesn't have any running lights.

girkabob,

Actually, the gauges in the Fit do dim when you put the headlights on unless you have the dimmer set in the highest position. I'm surprised you can see at night without the gauges dimmed because those suckers are bright!

You know, those guauges in the Veracruz actually look almost exactly like the Fit's as far as lighting goes. Kinda cool for the Fit if you ask me considering the Veracruz is supposed to compete with Lexus.

While indeed the Azera GLS did join the Azera Limited in getting an electroluminescent cluster for '09, the Veracruz did not. The gauges in the Veracruz are merely backlit. The problem with the Veracruz seems to be a lack of contrast, very likely due to the markings having to be translucent for the backlighting to work. And it's not a function of the blue lighting. The '06-'08 Sonata has the same problem with its yellow-green lighting. My '98 Intrepid had a related problem. Around dusk, the white faces would pick up reflected light, washing out the blue-backlit numerals unless the cluster was dimmed fully. And that only improved, not solved the issue.