Is there a way to force the display screens to day mode?

[WopOnTour]

Moderator: Aren't you being a ittle reactive/harsh here? This is a legitimate question that I was asking myself just the past two days (my little toddler must have played with knobs becuase now my dispaly is super dim like the original poster is describing). I'll try the knob on the left. His question wasn't whining but a real question.

Thanks for your insights, but I don't beleive so.
You're talking about two different things (normal interior dimming adjustment vs. auto-lighting)
But as I've said, I've now moved it into the "suggestions" box so...
WOT

[Blastphemy]

Moderator: Aren't you being a ittle reactive/harsh here? This is a legitimate question that I was asking myself just the past two days (my little toddler must have played with knobs becuase now my dispaly is super dim like the original poster is describing). I'll try the knob on the left. His question wasn't whining but a real question.

The "Super Moderator" appears to be super annoyed when anyone posts something critical about the Volt. But I understand because this is a Volt forum, so that's expected from the moderators. The point of the post was to find out if there was a solution that I had missed, and the answer is, "no." Issue closed, suggestion made to GM for the future. There was a reason I posted this in the "Newcomers" thread and not one of the main ones. I guess even the Newcomers thread was too much issue exposure for WopOnTour.

[ClarksonCote]

Hey WOT, does switching from "Auto" to "Off" on the stick cause the displays to revert to "Day mode" and fully bright? I thought that only affected the headlights, not the displays... I guess I'll have to check now!

[Blastphemy]

Like I said, you can over-ride the feature on the Volt as well. Just turn the little headlight knob from AUTO to OFF. How is that any different from your other car?

Yes, it would be a very logical assumption to think that the Volt works the way you suggest. But I've tried all the logical approaches, including that one, and it doesn't work. If your solution worked, I wouldn't have posted this thread complaining that I couldn't find a logical workaround for this problem.

So how is that any different from my other car? The difference is that it actually worked in my other car. And my wife's car. And the car I traded in to get the Volt. And my parent's car. And my neighbor's car.

What's especially dangerous about this problem is when one backs out of a garage or shaded parking spot: the camera may turn on in reverse, but it's nearly impossible to see until the display switches to day mode. So if my son leaves his bike in the driveway or there's a neighbor's dog standing behind my car, there's going to be an accident - an accident that could be prevented if the darned display brightness could be overridden.

[Sphyrna]

I can see how it could be an inconvenience with the delay. Perhaps you could keep a flashlight in the car and shine it on the DRL sensor when you start it? Not sure if it would work but might be worth a shot. Not a bad idea to have a flashlight in the car for emergencies anyway.

Or turn the garage lights on but then you'd have to get out to turn them off. Which would kill the 10 sec delay anyway.

[sgtpokey]

I can see how it could be an inconvenience with the delay. Perhaps you could keep a flashlight in the car and shine it on the DRL sensor when you start it? Not sure if it would work but might be worth a shot. Not a bad idea to have a flashlight in the car for emergencies anyway.

Or turn the garage lights on but then you'd have to get out to turn them off. Which would kill the 10 sec delay anyway.

Well, i fixed my problem by using the brightness knob to the left of the steering wheel (the vertical slider next to the left-hand config wheel). I know you already said you did that too (or you did not want to do that). But setting it all the way to bright makes the display as clear in the garage as it is in the bright day (or dark night).

EDIT: I guess I should add: i didn't even know that knob existed until i let my toddler play with the controls (with the car off). He apparently turned that dial all the way to superdim without my knowledge. The next time I started my car, my displays were very dark just as the original poster described. It wasn't until this thread that I clued into the fact that there was a brightness control at all. <-- sure I assumed there was but had not yet bothered to read the manualfor it . For me this solves the problem and is completely independent from any autosensing for the exterior lights.

[Blastphemy]

That's the solution, for sure. Again, this isn't a huge problem (if it's even a "problem"), just a minor annoyance along with all the other minor annoyances that collectively feel like a larger issue. But as workarounds are found for each one, they become less of an annoyance. Still would like to see all these nettling things refined on future models, but for now they are what they are. In the grand scheme of things, having to adjust that brightness dial down when I'm driving at night (and then remembering to put it back to full brightness in the morning) is not that big a deal - but it's still annoying that it's not handled better.