No warning light for malfunctioning headlights on 2013 Jetta TDI?

Hi to all. This forum has lots of useful information, I am glad to have joined. I have a 2013 Jetta TDI that I purchased new in June of 2013. I have enjoyed the trouble free and frugal driving experience until now. I have just about 31,000 miles on my car and recently had the 30,000 complimentary service. Two days after that, both of my headlights went out. Had to drive to work with the high beams on. No indicator light came on and I thought it was strange. I confirmed in the owner's manual (page 117) that the car should in fact let me know that a bulb is out. I have NEVER owned a car that did not do this. I called the dealer and asked why the indicator light did not come on and they surmised as did I, that something else may be going on. So I took the obligatory drive to the dealer and dropped it off. A few hours later, I received a call and was told " you had two burned out bulbs and we replaced them..." yeah wow what a surprise...and NOTHING is wrong with your car. Ok so I pick up the car and I am told by the service advisor that VW "deleted" the warning lights for malfunctioning exterior lights.

I did not buy it and proceeded to show him the manual. He replied "the manual is not always accurate." I called VW of America and they confirmed that yes in fact my car does in fact have the malfunction indicator. I received a call the next day from the Service Manager at the dealership who arranged for me to bring my car in for a full diagnostic. Took the car in and a few hours later got the call again: Sir, nothing is wrong with your car and by the way, this car also does not have a low windshield washer fluid indicator... When I asked him then how I am suppossed to know when a light is out, getting pulled over by a cop etc? He replied, just check your lights every once in a while... REALLY???

So, anybody have a 2013 TDI out there that can confirm that there is in fact an indicator light for malfunctioning bulbs? I can not begin to believe that it would not. Thanks in advance for any and all response.

I've never owned a car that DID have this. Never been a problem, either. Don't have any with TPMS, sat-nav, either. Yet I have always been able to get where I'm going, with all my tires intact.

Now, on some newer cars, the "feature" can be enabled in the Central Electronics Module, or disabled as well. I'm not sure on your particular car, and I really cannot recall if I have ever had an NCS Jetta in here with a bulb out indicator on.

It may just be one of the [many] cheapening things that they did to cut the price down. Base price did go from $19.5k in 2010 to $16k in 2011, so they obviously left some stuff out.

And yes, you really CAN check your lights once in a while. It isn't all that difficult. If you have a turn signal out, it will flash fast. You can easily walk around the car inside of 20 seconds to check all the running lights, and brake lights you can check while backed up next to something easily enough. It really is not a big deal.

Thanks for the reply. So, I guess when a bulb burns out (as happend to my uncle just last week and he is MECHANIC and meticulous about checking everything on his car)I will just have to take the ticket on the chin as he did since his Mercedes 300D does not have warning light either but then again it is a 1972...Like I said before, never owned a car that DIDNT have this. But the question still remains: who is correct, VW of America or the dealer? That is the point of my question. Not a big deal, agreed but just the same need to know what the story is. Thanks.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25

Try asking at above. may be more 2013 owners.

My 09 is the first car that told me a specific headlight was out and it is very handy to get ahead of the maintenance.

I also still find myself verifying function, which is pretty easy for headlamps in traffic. pretty much every car that stops in front of me has enough shiny bits to let me verify I have lights on each side.

Not to be arrogant, but if you can't tell a bulb is out based on what you see out the windshield, you probably ought to quit driving . . . it's screechingly obvious. And even the warning system won't tell you a bulb is going to fail, so you can still earn your much feared (but unlikely - it's not illegal for a bulb to fail . . .). Heck, so you park near a wall, garage door, fence, other car, and semi solid object? Turn 'em on and look for two bright spots - you don't even need to get put, and takes on the order of 2 seconds day or night!

This is another feature that somewhat chaps me . . .we get to pay for all these warning systems since folks can't be bothered to take responsibility to do simple checks! Folks who are that averse to this simple stuff, at least in my 'world view' should take the bus!

Thanks this is helpful. The point of all of this for me is this: IF my car does in fact notify (as I would expect it to)that I have a malfunctioning tailight, headlight etc. and it is not doing so, then how can I trust that I won't suddenly overheat, have a dead battery etc. Sure one can always do periodic checks which I do but it is quite simply a simple notification that SHOULd work, the manual says so and so does VW of America. I guess I will keep digging...

So tTdawson, I guess you missed my point: IF my car has a WARNING system that is not working correctly, then it may not warn me of something more important such as an overheating engine etc. That is the point of this. I knew immediately that my lights were off since I do park in a garage. BUT, since no indicator light came on, I thought there must be something else going on and hence my concern. If you actually read my post you will see that I KNEW my lights were out and drove with my high beams, my concern was simply IF the car is supposed to tell you that a light be it brake light, tail light or headlight, then it should. Period. Pretty simple really.

Ok PowerslavePA thanks. So apparently then, the manual is wrong and so is VW of America:2013 TDI's have no warning light. Just for giggles, you may want to look at the manual and see that is claims these car's do have them. Like you, a coworker has 2011 Jetta TDI which is what prompted me to buy mine due to his high MPG. His definitely has the warning light...who would have thought that VW would cheap out that much and delete that warning light. I guess they save a few cents which adds up over the production of so many cars..

Oh but by the way, PowerslavePA it is NOT apparent when your brake light or tail lamp goes out, just ask anybody who has gotten a ticket for that....

tennisrx7 said:

So tTdawson, I guess you missed my point: IF my car has a WARNING system that is not working correctly, then it may not warn me of something more important such as an overheating engine etc. That is the point of this. I knew immediately that my lights were off since I do park in a garage. BUT, since no indicator light came on, I thought there must be something else going on and hence my concern. If you actually read my post you will see that I KNEW my lights were out and drove with my high beams, my concern was simply IF the car is supposed to tell you that a light be it brake light, tail light or headlight, then it should. Period. Pretty simple really.

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Only if you become dependent on the lights. If you have gauges and use them, you will see things like an alternator failure and overheating well before the light comes on. Yes, if thr system is there, it should work. My point is that becoming dependent on what are often referred to as 'idiot lights' can be detrimental to the well being of your vehicle.

- Tim

tennisrx7 said:

Oh but by the way, PowerslavePA it is NOT apparent when your brake light or tail lamp goes out, just ask anybody who has gotten a ticket for that....

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I noticed one of my brake lights burned out while backing into my drive....there were only two red spots on the garage door....paying attention costs nothing.....

In my experience (I've been driving for over 40 years) if you get pulled over for having a light out on your car, treating the LEO with respect and promising to get the light replaced at the earliest opportunity will get you out of a ticket.

I've not been driving nearly that long, however I have yet to be pulled over, let alone ticketed, for having a light out. And I typically have a half-dozen cars at any one given time.... that's a lot of potential bulbs to look out for, LOL!

oilhammer said:

I've never owned a car that DID have this. Never been a problem, either. Don't have any with TPMS, sat-nav, either. Yet I have always been able to get where I'm going, with all my tires intact.

Now, on some newer cars, the "feature" can be enabled in the Central Electronics Module, or disabled as well. I'm not sure on your particular car, and I really cannot recall if I have ever had an NCS Jetta in here with a bulb out indicator on.

It may just be one of the [many] cheapening things that they did to cut the price down. Base price did go from $19.5k in 2010 to $16k in 2011, so they obviously left some stuff out.

And yes, you really CAN check your lights once in a while. It isn't all that difficult. If you have a turn signal out, it will flash fast. You can easily walk around the car inside of 20 seconds to check all the running lights, and brake lights you can check while backed up next to something easily enough. It really is not a big deal.

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I agree with Oilhammer.. All this nanny monitoring equipment on cars only adds complexity and WEIGHT.. If you can't take a look at your tires before you get in the car and see that one may be low, or you can't check once in a while to see that lights are working, TAKE THE BUS.. you should not be driving. How did people ever drive anywhere for all those years before cars had all this self monitoring ?? People no longer take an active interest in the machine they are driving. They want it totally self diagnostic. Might as well weld the hood shut.

Ok guys, everybody wants to be a comedian and poke fun at people. Got it. The point of my post is very simple: It is VERY simple to notice most things on your car that are not correct, tire pressures, oil level, coolant level, driving lights etc. Having rebuilt a few transmissions in RX7's, I think gives me a little more than the average bear knowledge on cars. Not to mention, my last car I drove until 230,000 miles and had many mishaps along the way that I was able to address. The point of all of this is simply:IF this car says it has a warning light for malfunctioning bulbs, and if said light is suppossed to come on, then something is not doing its job properly. If you had read the original post, I stated clearly "I noticed my headlights were out..." pretty obvious. BUT the manual states clearly on page 117 that a malfunctioning light will trigger the dashboard warning light...it did not. By the same token, the query to the dealer was simply this: IF that light did not come on, how can I trust any of the indicators to do their job? Since these cars do not even have a temperature gauge(ridiculous), how will my wife or daughter who sometimes drive my car, know to seek any type of help? I thought forums were suppossed to be about helping others solve an issue, not be ridiculed and offer opinions on what qualifies as an issue or not. If VW of America says the light should come on, then that is what I am going to insist on. If this prompts them to issue a TSB, then so be it and this will help others in the future. Thanks for your helpful comments guys, really appreciate it.

I think your initial post is what warranted the responses you got. You made it out to be a really big deal that your car did not do this, and made it sound like you would not have purchased the car if you knew it did not do this. Mountain out of a molehill, as it were. That's what got a chuckle out of me. I did an almost two year tour of duty at a Lexus dealership, the "problems" that some of those people concentrated on were truly trivial, like leather seats creaking in the cold when you sit down on them. So I've developed a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reaction to things that just are not really worth worrying about. I meant nothing personal.

BTW, regarding Lexus... I was at the dealership earlier this week visiting a friend for lunch. There were as usual no less than FOUR engines torn apart in their shop. Nice to see Lexus owners finally have something truly worthy of worry, like their VVT actuators falling apart and tearing the living crap out of the timing chain and case. But at least those cars DO tell you when a bulb is out.

HAHAh that is a good one. I appreciate that and I did not take it personal. Thanks. I guess I am spoiled by the fact that my previous car told me everything, to the point of annoyance. Just looking to call VW on their assurance that the dealer is wrong. I will let them fight it out. I have other more important things to worry about like changing the Throttle position sensor on my wifes car.....

You sure got a ramming for this one... I'd want to know to if the car had a system that was malfunctioning.

I had a crossfire for awhile. It had a light out indicator. It was on and me and my friends circled the car several times and could find no bulbs out. I can't remember exactly what bulb was out (some type of running light I think) but the dealer was the one that found it.

Thanks man, appreciate the comment. That is exactly my point: if something is malfunctioning, I need to know about it!

belome said:

You sure got a ramming for this one... I'd want to know to if the car had a system that was malfunctioning.

I had a crossfire for awhile. It had a light out indicator. It was on and me and my friends circled the car several times and could find no bulbs out. I can't remember exactly what bulb was out (some type of running light I think) but the dealer was the one that found it.

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We used to havea Crossfire as well, and the system was sensitive! I had to replace some bulbs that were not dead, since their aging changed draw enough to set the warning off!

Also one of the hardest cars to change headlight lamps in that I have ever owned . . .

- Tim

I have a 2014 Jetta that DOES have this light. The night I picked it up, I had all sorts of issues with a headlight and signal from a loose ground from the factory. Indicator light came on in the dashboard as described in the manual

Ahh, but is there a light that tells you that the bulb out light is out Sorry I couldn't help myself

JDenyer232 said:

Ahh, but is there a light that tells you that the bulb out light is out Sorry I couldn't help myself

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Reminds me of one of the HHGttG books:

Douglas Adams said:

Further investigation quickly established what it was that had happened. A meteorite had knocked a large hole in the ship. The ship had not previously detected this because the meteorite had neatly knocked out that part of the ship's processing equipment which was supposed to detect if the ship had been hit by a meteorite.

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