Help with interior lights on a 2000 base

[Benjamin]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I was wondering if there were a common cause for all of our cars to revert back to transport mode (my 2000 S is doing it too). The closest dealer for me is over an hour away, and they (claiming over the phone they had never heard of this problem) said they would do it for $100. In calling around to independent shops in my city, one of them mentioned that they had seen this before and it seemed to be linked to when your battery goes dead. Not necessarily being disconnected for service work, but for instance leaving the lights on and your battery slowly goes dead. That did happen to me about a week after I bought the car, and to be honest, I don't remember if the interior lights came on correctly before hand.

Has anyone else had a dead battery experience just prior to noticing the problem?

Also, I've noticed that I can't store a new position in my memory seat. I never tried it before the dead battery, so maybe it never worked. I don't like the rear view mirror going down automatically because it's never useful and about half of the time it doesn't come back up, so I have to use the mirror adjuster to bring it back up.

Third, my brake lights don't work with the ignition off. I don't know if that's another symptom of transport mode, or it's supposed to be that way. On every other non-Porsche I've had the brake lights always work.

Fourth, (I keep remembering things), the central locks button on the dash doesn't work with either of the doors open? Again, doesn't seem like it should be that way.

I haven't checked the fuel door, but it may very well be not locking.

Benjamin

[Deserion]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Third, my brake lights don't work with the ignition off. I don't know if that's another symptom of transport mode, or it's supposed to be that way. On every other non-Porsche I've had the brake lights always work.

This is generally how German cars work. I've never had a German car (Volkswagen, Mercedes, or Porsche) that had the brake lights come on when the car is shut off. This is normal.

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Fourth, (I keep remembering things), the central locks button on the dash doesn't work with either of the doors open? Again, doesn't seem like it should be that way.

You cannot lock the doors if the driver's door is open. It's a feature on most (if not all) cars to help keep you from locking the keys inside if using the lock switch. Normal.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Deserion

You cannot lock the doors if the driver's door is open. It's a feature on most (if not all) cars to help keep you from locking the keys inside if using the lock switch. Normal.

True, but wouldn't it be a bit more convenient to be able to lock the car on the way out without using the key or the fob? So what can you do with the button? Lock the car while you're in it? I don't know why I would want to do that.

On my Cobalt, you need to push the lock button twice if the door is open, and then it will lock.