Interior lights

[Safcaw]

Can anyone tell me why the interior lights in my new RAV4 Black edition are really not up to the job, and if there is an led upgrade for them, and also is there any illumination on the window switches and mirror switch. It's an aug 21 car.

Thanks for any info 

Allan 

And happy New year to everyone.

[nlee]

I might be wrong but I don't think any of the MY21 HEVs have switch illumination, only the PHEVs.

There are lots of posts on here about changing the bulbs to LEDs. @ernieb recent post below summarises it well. Many of us that have upgraded bulbs have followed his excellent experience

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/204017-bulb-upgrades-to-led’s-and-other-changes-tested-on-phev/

[Lawnmowerman]

Finding the bl@@dy switch in the dark for the interior lights would help! Doesn't matter how bright the bulbs are if you can't switch the b@@ggers on! 🤪

Edited January 5, 2022 by Lawnmowerman
Added info.

[Safcaw]

Thank you very much for the info, it's my first Toyota,I must admit the interior lighting and switch illumination is really poor for a vehicle in this day and age, but I will check out the link you kindly sent me and will try to upgrade it myself.

[Catlover]

Yes, I changed the interior lights on my 2016 Prius to LED, made an amazing difference.  Some easy to change, some more fiddly but doable.

[Catlover]

Just type into google     led bulb kit for 2021 toyota rav 4     a couple of options pop up. Sorry i could not copy paste.

[Safcaw]

Thank you to all that's given the info needed, and to lawnmowerman, I know exactly what you mean  about searching for those switches in the dark. What were Toyota thinking about, or not thinking about.

Take note Toyota if you are watching.

[Lawnmowerman]

According to some who know - Toyota DON'T monitor this forum.

[FROSTYBALLS]

14 minutes ago, Safcaw said:

Take note Toyota if you are watching.

No Toyota don't visit the Club, won't see your post and won't respond on here. 

If you wish to raise something with Toyota, use the Help Centre of the appropriate Toyota website for your country.

[Safcaw]

Thanks fellas….that’s Toyotas loss.

[FROSTYBALLS]

At the end of the day there are who knows how many clubs or forums available for Toyotas - some for individual models, some on Meta, etc - so Toyota GB doesn't have the time or resource to keep track of comments, etc which may be raised via these mediums.

Toyota GB has a Help Centre on their main website, and Toyota UK Magazine ( https://mag.toyota.co.uk/ ) where owners can raise questions.

[Safcaw]

You’re quite right of course Frosty, I just find it personally dangerous fumbling around for the unlit switches at night. It’s not a big selling or asking point when you go to buy a new vehicle regardless of who makes them, as I stated previously, it’s my first Toyota, so have they always been like that.?

[Catlover]

I am racking my brain to think of a reason why I would want to adjust my mirrors whilst I am driving. Even with a change of driver, the adjustment would be made before starting to drive.      
Window switches, my memory is still good enough to tell me whereabouts the switches are, my fingers go to the area, I don’t need to look, in fact taking my eyes off the road ahead, especially when dark, is not recommended.         
If we talking about interior lights, why would you want to turn them on when driving? 

[Flatcoat]

40 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

At the end of the day there are who knows how many clubs or forums available for Toyotas - some for individual models, some on Meta, etc - so Toyota GB doesn't have the time or resource to keep track of comments, etc which may be raised via these mediums.

Toyota GB has a Help Centre on their main website, and Toyota UK Magazine ( https://mag.toyota.co.uk/ ) where owners can raise questions.

Maybe however I know Audi do (or at least used to) and they had links with the forum operators for the AudiA2 OC forum as a result of the A2OC making an effort to build a relationship. as did MGRover with various forums in the early noughties through an intermediary. Vauxhall did with the Astra OC forum and suspect others will do too. Now if Audi can do it for a niche model then I do agree Toyota are missing a trick not making an effort - especially given the power of social media. 

[Catlover]

Well, one of you, or all of you, could contact Toyota uk direct and put a case forward. Would be interesting to see the reply.

[Safcaw]

It's not so much the mirror adjustment, I found looking for the switch to unlock all doors after stopping, again I'll say I'm not used to Toyota switch gear , and I'm convinced I will get used to it eventually  I've been driving fords for over 20 plus years and all the switch gear was illuminated well it was in Mondeo Titaniums and Ghia x

[Flatcoat]

22 minutes ago, Safcaw said:

It's not so much the mirror adjustment, I found looking for the switch to unlock all doors after stopping, again I'll say I'm not used to Toyota switch gear , and I'm convinced I will get used to it eventually  I've been driving fords for over 20 plus years and all the switch gear was illuminated well it was in Mondeo Titaniums and Ghia x

Even my wife’s basic SEAT Arona has illuminated switches as did my A2 in 2004. However it is not the end of the world and in 24 hours or so I can give my own view after picking up my car tomorrow afternoon. 

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, Safcaw said:

... as I stated previously, it’s my first Toyota, so have they always been like that.?

It seems to vary between cars; I will say for example the interior light controls in the Yaris Mk4 are a big step back from the Mk2 and Mk1 I had before.

In the Mk2, there were 2 big clear plastic lenses the light shone through and they also doubled as the buttons, so it was easy to reach up and jab it without looking.

In the Mk1 it was a traditional sideways-sliding lever that switched between on/off/door and was in the middle so it could illuminate front and back.

In the Mk4 the light and button are part of the rear mirror assembly and are both separate. The button is tiny compared to the Mk2's and is in amongst a load of other buttons, including the SOS button!! (Thank smeg they put a plastic cover over that or I'd probably have several thousand £ of fines by now!  ). You can't activate it without looking, and in the dark you either need to learn to find it using the SOS button illumination as a reference point, or a torch  

The light also does not illuminate the rear passenger area very well, which sucks as the rear passengers don't seem to have any rear illumination at all!

It's only a minor gripe to be fair, but definitely strayed too much into form over function for my tastes.

 

[Safcaw]

Good luck with your new car flatcoat, and you’re quite right it’s not the end of the world, I’ll get used to mine eventually. I’m enjoying the Rav so I’m happy.

[philip42h]

2 hours ago, Safcaw said:

it’s my first Toyota, so have they always been like that.?

Yes ... 🙂

OK, this is my 3rd RAV4 and for all that time there has been one or more switches 'unlit' where one or more owners would have preferred them illuminated. And Toyota always hide one or two switches where they aren't so easy to see / find. It all goes to give the RAV 'character' ... 😉

The situation is getting better year by year but there is still room for improvement. I find that I learn to live with it and can find the switches I need to ...

[FROSTYBALLS]

Some owners with early 4.5 Rav4's replaced their door switches with ones from, I think, the C -HR, which were illuminated. From memory they were plug and play. Not sure whether the switch would then be covered by the new car warranty - probably just the 12 month parts warranty. 

There are a couple of older topics covering this dating back to 2019/20.

[ColinB]

I've only had my RAV4 for a couple of months and have not driven it much as yet. The few things that I have driven it at night I do find the lack of illumination on the door switches annoying, although no doubt I will get used to it. I do wonder why Toyota in their infinite wisdom out some of the switches out of sight before the day on the right, e. g. heated steering wheel etc. 

Colin

[Cyker]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Some owners with early 4.5 Rav4's replaced their door switches with ones from, I think, the C -HR, which were illuminated. From memory they were plug and play. Not sure whether the switch would then be covered by the new car warranty - probably just the 12 month parts warranty. 

There are a couple of older topics covering this dating back to 2019/20.

Ooh that's a good tip

[Flatcoat]

50 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Some owners with early 4.5 Rav4's replaced their door switches with ones from, I think, the C -HR, which were illuminated. From memory they were plug and play. Not sure whether the switch would then be covered by the new car warranty - probably just the 12 month parts warranty. 

There are a couple of older topics covering this dating back to 2019/20.

And there is a video I recall seeing on YouTube for this mod too, possibly from a US owner. I seem to recall reading somewhere this is addressed on the 22MY upgrades. 

[ernieb]

The ‘21 PHEV has illuminated door switches as standard in the UK.