[Sig]

Every vehicle I've owned for the past 15+ years leaves the vehicle lights on for some period of time (30,60 seconds, whatever) AFTER you lock the car, just as an added safety measure. I happen to park in a relatively dark area, so this feature is actually useful to me. However, the XC40 shuts down all the lights as soon as I lock it. There is a mention in the owner's manual that you can manually activate guidance lighting when you park by pushing the left stalk back before you exit the car. That's not working for me - once I park the car, and even press the Park button, then push back the stalk, all it does is flash the high beams. No Guidance Lighting is activated - no icon shows in the display to indicate that. But, more importantly, why should I need to manually activate it?

If this is something that is unique to the Recharge, I suppose I can see this as a battery-saving feature, but even then, I would expect a settings option to enable/disable it. Have I missed a setting somewhere?

PS: I do realize the lights stay on after I leave the vehicle and that I could walk away and use my fob to lock it, rather than touching the door handle. Just doesn't make much sense to me that this is required.

 

[gkb993]

You say
"Push back the stalk" Not too sure which direction the stalk is moving. If I push the stalk forward on my late 2022 the lights come on. Not as good as my previous cars where it was automatic but at least it works.

 

[Sig]

You say
"Push back the stalk" Not too sure which direction the stalk is moving. If I push the stalk forward on my late 2022 the lights come on. Not as good as my previous cars where it was automatic but at least it works.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. What I meant was that I push the stalk forward towards the dashboard. And yes, the high beams come on when I do that, but it does not seem to be activating Guidance Lighting as described on page 160 of the 2023 XC40 Complete Owners Manual.

 

[Greg S]

I believe you have to reach in and flick the stalk (I can't recall whether you push it forward or back) AFTER you exit the car.
Edit: as per the notes in the manual, push the stalk forward. Note you must exit the car first, as if you're still sitting in the driver's seat the car is still "on". The only other way to do it would be to power down the car (there's a menu setting to do it), but much easier just to get out, reach in and push the stalk forward, then close the door and lock it.

 

[jay_man2]

I believe you have to reach in and flick the stalk (I can't recall whether you push it forward or back) AFTER you exit the car.
Edit: as per the notes in the manual, push the stalk forward. Note you must exit the car first, as if you're still sitting in the driver's seat the car is still "on". The only other way to do it would be to power down the car (there's a menu setting to do it), but much easier just to get out, reach in and push the stalk forward, then close the door and lock it.

That’s not the order shown in the post above, and it makes no sense to exit then reach back in. Same for the C40. As the manual states, you push the stalk forward, then you exit the vehicle.

 

[Greg S]

That’s not the order shown in the post above, and it makes no sense to exit then reach back in. Same for the C40. As the manual states, you push the stalk forward, then you exit the vehicle. View attachment 6173

It says "make sure the vehicle is switched off". The only way to do this is to either go into the main menu and select "shut down" (or hold the "play" button" until the option appears on the centre screen to switch off the car) or to exit the car...exiting the car is much easier IMHO. But yes, it is silly that you can't have a setting that just leaves the lights on for 30 seconds after you exit and lock the car.

 

[bogiesan]

But yes, it is silly that you can't have a setting that just leaves the lights on for 30 seconds after you exit and lock the car.

Agreed. Similar to the tiny screen buttons for cabin comfort controls, this is one of those Volvo-ish head scratchers. what were they thinking?

A good project for someone coming to grips with a new Recharge might be to create The LAME, List of Annoyances, Master Edition. The rest of us could then do our best to mollify or offer crowd-sourced workarounds for some of the LAME items.

 

[jay_man2]

It says "make sure the vehicle is switched off". The only way to do this is to either go into the main menu and select "shut down" (or hold the "play" button" until the option appears on the centre screen to switch off the car) or to exit the car...exiting the car is much easier IMHO. But yes, it is silly that you can't have a setting that just leaves the lights on for 30 seconds after you exit and lock the car.

There’s a third way. Put the vehicle in park and open the driver door.

 

[Sig]

OK, well it seems I'm not alone in not getting this to operate as the manual states (or in scratching our heads that this is even necessary). I have not attempted to do a full vehicle "shutdown" via the settings menu before exiting, nor have I tried getting completely out of the car and reaching back in to push the stalk forward. I'll give both a try over the weekend and see if either works.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Sig]

Just tried the get out of car and reach back in thing, and it worked. Even got a nice message in the cluster display saying Guidance Lighting had been activated. So, problem solved. But, I mean, c’mon Volvo, really? 😐

 

[jay_man2]

I tried it today when I got home. I put the car in park, opened the driver door, pushed the stalk forward, and the lights came on and the guidance lighting message popped up on the driver screen.

 

[RechargeHard]

It works for me try taking the seatbelt off first

would be a nice permanent option in the settings