Front Assist, Lane Assist, and DRL questions

[J-P]

Hi all,

I have a few niggling questions I was hoping Passat MY10.5 Highline owners could answer for me.

1. Recently my Front Assist setting randomly is off when I start up the car. In the past it always remembered it was at the on setting and stayed that way. I can't seem to make rhyme or reason what makes it switch off but it's about 10% of the time. Does anyone else experience this? I took it to the dealer and they have no idea why it's switching off and it's hard to demonstrate. This bothers me the most because I like having a warning when the car in front of me slows down suddenly. It has saved me from a collision a couple of times.

2. Similar to 1 my Lane Assist setting randomly is off on ignition and I seem to remember it staying always on. This happens about 90% of the time and again I can't work out what makes it go off or stay on, sometimes if I take the key out and put it back in a minute later it is off, other times it stays on hours later.

3. I have Bi-xenon lights and I don't have Daylight Running Lights even if I follow the manual guide on how to turn them on. I seem to remember these were on when I bought the car but I could have been wrong. When I bought the car I though it was listed as having DRLs. The dealer tells me that DRLs are not available if you have bi-xenon lights. Is this true? If so can they be switched back on with coding?

Recently the dealer replaced a park brake switch claiming this would fix 1 and 2 but it hasn't. I can't seem to find any info about this in the manual or online so I'm hoping the community here can help me. Also not sure if the Front assist and Lane assist settings are meant to be remembered globally or per key.

Thanks for your assistance.

[Guest001]

Hi all,

I have a few niggling questions I was hoping Passat MY10.5 Highline owners could answer for me.

1. Recently my Front Assist setting randomly is off when I start up the car. In the past it always remembered it was at the on setting and stayed that way. I can't seem to make rhyme or reason what makes it switch off but it's about 10% of the time. Does anyone else experience this? I took it to the dealer and they have no idea why it's switching off and it's hard to demonstrate. This bothers me the most because I like having a warning when the car in front of me slows down suddenly. It has saved me from a collision a couple of times.

2. Similar to 1 my Lane Assist setting randomly is off on ignition and I seem to remember it staying always on. This happens about 90% of the time and again I can't work out what makes it go off or stay on, sometimes if I take the key out and put it back in a minute later it is off, other times it stays on hours later.

3. I have Bi-xenon lights and I don't have Daylight Running Lights even if I follow the manual guide on how to turn them on. I seem to remember these were on when I bought the car but I could have been wrong. When I bought the car I though it was listed as having DRLs. The dealer tells me that DRLs are not available if you have bi-xenon lights. Is this true? If so can they be switched back on with coding?

Recently the dealer replaced a park brake switch claiming this would fix 1 and 2 but it hasn't. I can't seem to find any info about this in the manual or online so I'm hoping the community here can help me. Also not sure if the Front assist and Lane assist settings are meant to be remembered globally or per key.

Thanks for your assistance.

Mine is a MY11 but has Xenons and has LED DRL THEY COME WITH XENONS ONLY as part of the driver assist package. Mine go all the time and cant be turned off. Looking at pictures of your model on the net the Xenons DONT appear to have the LED DRLS but do have a strip in the bumper which may have them

The lane assist only comes in at a certain speed 65kph?? if I remember correctly Front assist (adaptive cruise) can be setup in the MFD as to distance etc A good read of the manual will tell you Mine is away in the car ATM The two indicators are always in my dash displays They are orange when off and green when working. Both can be adjusted in the MFD

City braking is a different part of the Driver Assist package and only works at lower speeds.

[J-P]

Mine is a MY11 but has Xenons and has LED DRL THEY COME WITH XENONS ONLY as part of the driver assist package. Look at the headlights they are along the bottom and go up the outer edge Mine go all the time and cant be turned off.
The lane assist only comes in at a certain speed 65kph?? if I remember correctly Front assist (adaptive Cruise)can be setup in the MFD as to distance etc A good read of the manual will tell you Mine is away in the car ATM The two indicators are always in my dash displays They are orange when off and green when working. Both can be adjusted in the MFD

City braking is a different part of the Driver Assist package and only works at lower speeds Download the Passat brochure and you can see what the lights look like

Thanks for replying Hillbilly. The MY11 is different with LED DRL. Prior to this DRL uses the low beam lights I think.

I know how to turn Lane Assist on and how it works - when on it has orange icon when not operating and green icon when operating and when off icon is off altogether. My issue is that at start up it is off so I have to go into the menu and switch it back on. Usually I seem to remember it staying active, albeit orange, at start up which was the setting when ignition was turned off. Now it is randomly totally off at start up. No icon displays at all and it needs to be turned on in the menu.

Same goes for Front assist collision detection which sounds an alarm when a collision is imminent and preps the brakes. When on Front assist icon is always green meaning it's working and operational, but again sometimes it's off altogether even though I never manually turned it off. My car doesn't have the City braking feature.

Assuming you never turn off Front assist does it always stay on for you? Meaning if you turn the ignition off with it on it will remain on when you start up again the next day. Most of the time this is the case for me but sometimes not and I can't for the life of me work out what makes it go off (or not on again).

Thanks.

[Guest001]

Thanks for replying Hillbilly. The MY11 is different with LED DRL. Prior to this DRL uses the low beam lights I think.

I know how to turn Lane Assist on and how it works - when on it has orange icon when not operating and green icon when operating and when off icon is off altogether. My issue is that at start up it is off so I have to go into the menu and switch it back on. Usually I seem to remember it staying active, albeit orange, at start up which was the setting when ignition was turned off. Now it is randomly totally off at start up. No icon displays at all and it needs to be turned on in the menu.

Same goes for Front assist collision detection which sounds an alarm when a collision is imminent and preps the brakes. When on Front assist icon is always green meaning it's working and operational, but again sometimes it's off altogether even though I never manually turned it off. My car doesn't have the City braking feature.

Assuming you never turn off Front assist does it always stay on for you? Meaning if you turn the ignition off with it on it will remain on when you start up again the next day. Most of the time this is the case for me but sometimes not and I can't for the life of me work out what makes it go off (or not on again).

Thanks.

Yes I just get in and drive it and the two indicators are always on in the appropriate color. However the other day my lane assist was not going when i was doing about 85kph and it showed orange for a little while It maybe because I was on a straight road and hadnt moved the wheel but usually when that happens after about 15secs it says "please resume control" I will keep an eye on it I think.
Yes the headlights are different in the earlier version and Im not sure thats why I looked in Carsales and they dont have the LED's

Mine only has all the gear because wife liked the color and the interior and it was sitting there waiting for a sucker with too much money.

I said it was too dear but she bought it as a birthday present Lucky me LOL

[J-P]

Yes I just get in and drive it and the two indicators are always on in the appropriate color. However the other day my lane assist was not going when i was doing about 85kph and it showed orange for a little while It maybe because I was on a straight road and hadnt moved the wheel but usually when that happens after about 15secs it says "please resume control" I will keep an eye on it I think.
Yes the headlights are different in the earlier version and Im not sure thats why I looked in Carsales and they dont have the LED's

Mine only has all the gear because wife liked the color and the interior and it was sitting there waiting for a sucker with too much money.

I said it was too dear but she bought it as a birthday present Lucky me LOL

Yup, wives are expensive! I was lucky to be able to convince mine a VW was a better option than a BMW. I still had to get most options though, all the comfort/safety options anyway, oh and the walnut trim which adds a touch of class to it as a sweetener .

Thanks for the info on assist functions. Mine too used to be always on so I'm worried they are switching off due to a fault detection at start up, however dealer said nothing is showing up on diagnostics. Other cause could be if they updated the software but it's so random it seems more like a fault to me. I probably should keep pushing they get it fixed.

Would appreciate anyone else confirming it should alway remember setting, especially MY10/MY10.5.

[J-P]

Mystery solved!

Yesterday my battery died and needed to be replaced. All my problems with assist functions turning off are now gone. Basically the car was turning these off, including lane assist, front assist, and ACC during start up to provide more cranking amps on my worn out battery. So for the record if you experience any of the following have your battery checked and replaced - it's been happening more and more frequently over the last 6 months or so.

- Lane assist is on when ignition is on but goes off when you start the engine.
- Front assist is on when ignition is on but goes off when you start the engine.
- You get a message briefly flashing after starting the engine, 'ACC not available'.
- Possibly this is also related to a message, 'Park brake failure! Check manual!' also on ignition. Only got this about 3 times.

Everything is then fine once engine is running and possibly for a few days, or once it's close to being completely dead I had Lane Assist switch off every time.

I'm surprised VW dealer service department could not diagnose this. Of course my battery was just out of warranty so I needed to pay NRMA for a replacement on the spot. I went back to the dealer to ask for the battery report at the 3 year service because it was not included and lo and behold it said my battery was 'WORN OUT' in big letters. I'm asking VW to replace it under warranty considering it was playing up with my electronics and should have been replaced then. Will let you know how goes.

[J-P]

Last week I received a refund cheque for the new battery for $258. Pays to ask after all. No letter of apology though so VGA still need to improve customer relations.

[Guest001]

Last week I received a refund cheque for the new battery for $258. Pays to ask after all. No letter of apology though so VGA still need to improve customer relations.

Only $258 Mine is a Bluemotion model and I was told by my Friendly Battery World man that a replacement was $816.

[Eaglehawk]

I've had this sort of batter-fixed-it problem with my old MkV TDI 2.0 Golf.

The SatNav kept on "disappearing". Took it do the dealers 3 times where they "no-fault-found" me each time, and on the third time, hard the nerve to charge me. (Thank you Lennock).

I had told them at the third attempt that unplugging the battery would make it work again, but it seems that their heads are up something-else.

I've only seen one other forum post similiar to mine, and this thread too. So I guess it's not "common" enough to make their knowledge base. Great news it was fixed though.

[J-P]

@Hillbilly, that seems astronomical for a battery! I imagine my battery would have cost more had VW replaced it with an OEM battery and I only got a 2-year warranty NRMA battery (the only option for my model). I was happy to get a cheque at all so didn't push it further.

@Eaglehawk, thanks for sharing that info. I agree it should be something that goes in the knowledge base but it also seems like it's something they could fix with a software upgrade. Even if it does have to temporarily turn these systems off to provide cranking power at start up, they could turn them back on once the car has started. I do wonder though why the car can't give a warning signal if the battery is worn out. It only gives a warning signal if the alternator is not charging but with all the electronics in today's day and age you'd imagine it could be a bit smarter in knowing when a battery needs replacing. The last thing you'd want is to be out nowhere when it completely dies and won't start anymore.

Anyway I don't trust my dealer's service department at all (Klosters Newcastle). I've never had a service there I feel confident about. The guys there can't even write and have an IQ of about 20 so I can't see how they could even follow a flow chart or look up a knowledge base and it could even be argued they tried to be deceptive. Within 2 months of my last service my wipers fell apart and with 3-4 months my battery dies. Not what you want from a service that is meant to check and report on these items if they need replacing. Now that I'm out of warranty I look forward to going elsewhere.

[Guest001]

The Bluemotion ones have a different battery as I understand it as they have regenerative braking etc The guy said it had a chip in it and was a pretty fancy design and it is an AGM. CAr also has stop start so will require a bit more than an ordinary one

Its a VARTA AGM 7PO 915 105 68AH 38A DIN

[J-P]

Fair enough but you'd hope they would last significantly longer than a standard battery too or it could offset the fuel savings for having Bluemotion. Luckily if yours if for your 2011 Passat then it should be replaced under warranty.