New Owner - Lights on Gear Shift

[javagirl]

I'm happy to see there is a forum for Yaris owners. I'm looking forward to learning more about my new car.

That said...I have a complaint. I've only been driving it for a couple of days. I did a search on lights on the gear shift in the forum here and found several threads about there being no lights on the gear shift positions. I park in a underground garage and can't see what gear I'm in when pulling in or out of my spot. I understand I can turn on my lights, but I'm just astounded that Toyota wouldn't put lights on the gear shift. I haven't been driving it long enough to know what gear is where and I don't find stumbling around in the dark for the right gear to be a safe or acceptable solution. Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket fix for this? Thank you.

[Loren]

No fix is required. Give yourself a little time to learn the car, you'll instinctively know where the gears are instantly without needing to look or even think about it.

Seriously, it will be as natural as scratching your nose. You don't need a light on to do that, right?

[SilverBack]

Congrats on your new Yaris and welcome to YW!

I agree with Loren. It takes a little while to get used to the Yaris. It took me almost a month before I stopped getting weirded-out by the gauges in the center. See if you can find the cupholders lol.

By the way, what part of Pasadena you from?

[The little red pill]

My car which is a 2009 auto LB, shows me what gear I'm in on the dash above the odometer.

[HTM Yaris]

Addendum to what Loren said , the 1st , 2nd , 5th and reverse gears are spring loaded when coming from the nuetral position . Go ahead , try it ( With car not running , clutch pedal depressed , and emergency brake engaged , just to be safe ) . From the nuetral position , move your shifter to the right as if you want to go to reverse ( don't pull the shifter down into reverse ) . Now let go of shifter . See how it returns to nuetral . If you pull your shifter straight down from nuetral , you will be in 4th gear . If you move your shifter straight up from nuetral you will be in 3rd gear . As Loren said , it will become second nature very quickly .

[Altitude]

^^ She drives an auto.

Welcome javagirl!

[HTM Yaris]

details , details

[AznGouki]

Originally Posted by The little red pill

My car which is a 2009 auto LB, shows me what gear I'm in on the dash above the odometer.

I wish it did that for the manuals as well. That part of the dash is so empty. Sometimes I need to be reminded that I'm already in 5th gear or I'm still rollin in 4th haha.

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Originally Posted by AznGouki

I wish it did that for the manuals as well. That part of the dash is so empty. Sometimes I need to be reminded that I'm already in 5th gear or I'm still rollin in 4th haha.

lol I've had that before but usually I can tell by the sound of the engine when I'm in 4th on the highway, that and the fact that I end up passing people like constantly Most of the time now I'm used to it and can tell by feel what gear it's in (even with the short shift kit) Rather then the lights, I would prefer a tach!