Rear Lights...?

[Gumpf]

Hey all. I'm going to excuse the seemingly stupid nature of this question but its been on my mind since Monday night and figured I'd finally ask it. I was informed that when I put the car in reverse, only one side had a reverse light turn on. I thought he was being a clown and didn't believe it so I checked and sure enough one reverse light. The right hand side light only turned on when I pulled the rear fog lights on, and that was red as well.
My question is whether or not thats normal. I would have expected both left and right light clusters to show reversing lights.
Do I need to book in to my dealership to get this looked at?
Anyone?

[wilditr]

I was also concerned aboutt this in my GTI that was delivered last week but the dealer advised that it only has the one reverse light and the other is the fog light.

[Gumpf]

Phew. Well I feel better. Thanks mate!

[dylan8]

yeah believe a lot of cars come with just 1 reversing light (mums focus is the same, not just vdub)

[gavs]

You will find nearly all euro cars have only the 1 reverse light so yes, completely normal

[Gumpf]

Thankyou all for clearing that up for me!
I've come from a family of Toyotas and as such have grown up with 2 reversing lights. Mum has a Prius, Dad drives a Hilux, brother owns a Camry and they all have got them. I'm the black sheep of the family and got a little crazy!

[RoknRob]

I've asked this before, and I will ask it again...

Am I the only one to think this is ridiculous?

The (single) reversing light is so dim as to make it almost useless!

And how, exactly, is this rear fog light meant to be useful? It can only be turned on when the lights are all already on! So, a little wedge of red under the taillight is supposed to make a difference?

I'd be pleased to be enlightened...

[apples]

I've asked this before, and I will ask it again...

Am I the only one to think this is ridiculous?

The (single) reversing light is so dim as to make it almost useless!

And how, exactly, is this rear fog light meant to be useful? It can only be turned on when the lights are all already on! So, a little wedge of red under the taillight is supposed to make a difference?

I'd be pleased to be enlightened...

I'm with you on this. I love my Polo except for this horrible excuse of a reversing light. There aren't a lot of street lights in my street and the reversing light is too dim. It's the one thing I miss about my Astra - two bright reversing lights.

[PoloDave]

even my E46 BMW only had 1 rear light, so I'm used to not having them. In combination with my black rear windows it basically comes down to reversing while using my memory on where some poles/curbs/potholes are

[Gumpf]

Are you listening Volkswagen...!

[brad]

And how, exactly, is this rear fog light meant to be useful? It can only be turned on when the lights are all already on! So, a little wedge of red under the taillight is supposed to make a difference?

i guess you don't get a lot of fog on the GC? We get a fair bit of fog in the areas i work (Campbelltown through to Bowral & out to the coast)

a) of course the rear fog only comes on when the other lights are on. You still need the other lights to delineate the edges of the vehicle or people might think you are a motorcycle.
b) It's amazing how much difference a single rear foglight makes to being able to spot a car just that little bit earlier. I wish more people would turn their rear fog light on in fog or misty/heavy rain. OTOH, I wish they would remember to turn it off again when the weather goes away.

I feel sorry for your single rear reverse light. They do look under-cooked.
There are a few things you can do to help when reversing:
Turn your running lights on
Turn your rear fog on
Rest your foot on the brake pedal so the brake lights come on
Replace the number plate lights with LEDS
Replace the bulb in the reversing light with something brighter (lots of suggestions from Golf owners out there)
wire the rear fog into the reverse light circuit (if you live in an area that doesn't need a rear fog)

[JexL]

Yeah my LED number plate lights do a really good job of lighting up the ground and the kerb at night

[RoknRob]

i guess you don't get a lot of fog on the GC? We get a fair bit of fog in the areas i work (Campbelltown through to Bowral & out to the coast)

a) of course the rear fog only comes on when the other lights are on. You still need the other lights to delineate the edges of the vehicle or people might think you are a motorcycle.
b) It's amazing how much difference a single rear foglight makes to being able to spot a car just that little bit earlier. I wish more people would turn their rear fog light on in fog or misty/heavy rain. OTOH, I wish they would remember to turn it off again when the weather goes away.

Thanks for the info, brad. Though I am still skeptical that little red wedge will actually make me more visible to oncoming cars, when there are much bigger taillights just above it... I'll have to try it out sometime. (And you're right, I haven't encountered much night time fog, since receivng this car, yet.)

Good suggestions regarding improving rear lighting. Maybe I will try the number plate LED swap, since JexL confirms it helps - seems like it should be easy enough to do...

[brad]

Ahhhh...

So what you are saying is that the fog light is more to help ME see cars, rather than improve the visibilty of my car to others (which the tail lights would already do a decent job of). That sounds reasonable. Though I am still skeptical that little red wedge will actually do so... I'll have to try it out sometime.

No, the fog light (when turned on) should help vehicles approaching fron the rear see your vehicle sooner.
The tail lights are only 5w; the fog is probably 21watt, so it sticks out like dog's bollocks. You only have one light (RHS in Aus) or people think you are driving around with the brakes on.

About the only suggestion I can make is check out all the annoying Hyundai Exell with their rear foglights on - annoying yet noticeable.

[RoknRob]

You're too quick, brad - I edited myself as you were correcting me! Yes, I realised I got it wrong the first time...

So I took photos this evening... I was surprised the foglight was so bright. Is it enough to make a difference? You be the judge....

Spot the difference...