# 2018 Tiguan SEL Premium (US) - Park Distance Control and Area View



## jperino (Oct 30, 2018)

Just got a 2018 Tiguan SEL Premium, and not sure that my Area View is working properly:

When I put the car in reverse, all I see is the rear view camera display. I have to hit the MENU button on the screen to pull up the Area View display (on left side of the screen). In reading the owners manual, I believe that the area view should come on automatically when in reverse. 

Also, if I do NOT hit the menu "button", I do get audio alerts when approaching objects in front or behind, but the Area view (or any display showing the yellow and red proximity symbols) does not display unless I hit MENU. If I happen to roll up close to an object before going into reverse, the PDC display does come on. Hitting the physical button turns on PDC in full screen (horizontal orientation) but putting the car in reverse after hitting the button just shows the backup camera display until I hit "Menu" again.

Owner's manual seems to indicate that Area View equipped cars should show the Area View automatically when putting car in reverse.

Questions: 
1. Can other US SEL Premium owners confirm that I am not crazy? 
2. Will OBDEleven allow me to control this functionality somehow?

This may seem trivial, but I street park in NYC on narrow one way streets, so this is one of the main reasons I chose SEL Premium over SEL. I don't want to deal with Dealer service hassles if I can fix this myself, especially if it gives me an excuse to get OBDEleven 

Thanks in advance


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## moveingfaster (Oct 4, 2006)

Hello, 

I mine is a May 2018 build and also exhibits the same behavior as yours. 

I’ve tried looking around in obdelleven for a fix without finding anything that has helped. I’m also hoping for a easy fix as I don’t want to bring it to the dealership. 


Paul 



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## LennyNero (Aug 25, 2018)

SEL-P here, mine is exactly the same. I have been looking for the same fix through OBDEleven. I'll post if i find anything.


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## marshotel (Mar 15, 2006)

I bought my original SEL Premium in September of 2017 and it worked the way the manual says it should. Vw bought that car back and I got a new one in June of this year, it behaves the exact same way yours does. Not sure why they changed it but I wish there way to go back to the old functionality. :banghead:


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## jperino (Oct 30, 2018)

Thanks all for confirming. At least I know it wasn't some random thing specific to mine. Guessing it was an unintended code mixup with non-Area View settings. Hope someone figures out OBDEleven fix, not banking on something that dealers will know/care to do even if there's updated code available.


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## gerardrjj (Sep 4, 2014)

I get rear view as well in reverse.
I don't think I recalled that the user manual said area view should be the default, but now I've got to dig through the coding/adaptations to see if there's anything about the default in there.

A "quick" run through the several possibly controlling modules' coding and adaptations and I don't see anything obvious. There's a few "mostly on" type things that I didn't want to play with tonight that could be that control.

Of note, I decided to press and hold the park camera physical button. After about 15-20s the instrument cluster displayed some errors like it was trying to do something different but didn't like it. I had ignition on, engine off sitting in park in my garage. There may be something to that press-hold.


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## moveingfaster (Oct 4, 2006)

This video shows the way it’s supposed to work. It’s what I’m going to show my dealership. Still not hopeful they will be able to change it. 

https://youtu.be/XMXdPQaXUiM

Paul


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## vw906 (Aug 17, 2018)

Funny you posted this because I was just wondering about this last night and if there is a way to default it. I'm a July build so it's always been this way for me. 
I wonder if removing the code for the pano lights messed up something with the camera? Isn't that the only update that VW has done recently? Has anyone noticed it not working after the recall?


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## inv4zn (Jan 10, 2018)

Chiming in - when I bought my first Tiguan in Jan. 2018, I immediately noticed this. 
Brought it up to the dealer and he said that half the cars on his lot did what everyone is describing here, and half of them worked as "split-screen" by default. 

The service guys took it to VW-tech but it was such low-priority that it never actually got looked at. 

I got my second Tiguan (replacement) in Aug. of 2018 and it does the same thing. 

Based on that, it looks like the very early builds had the "split-screen" by default, which is why you'll find them in a lot of the review videos. It seems like something changed and they've kept it that way ever since. I did some snooping around in OBDEleven but have yet to find anything for it.


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## LennyNero (Aug 25, 2018)

inv4zn,

Interesting that the early units were that way. IIRC, the early US (MEX build) ones are actually built with a lot of ROW parts if not being outright made overseas. This would explain the differences. I also noticed that my local dealer had a tiguan (not the trim line i wanted) in stock that had the european adjustable locking armrest which is definitely NOT in my mid September build SEL-P R-line. 

I'll bet it has some goofy thing to do with the reverse camera requirements on the 18+MY vehicles in the US. I'll keep poking through the modules and hopefully we can crack this nut.


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## moveingfaster (Oct 4, 2006)

I’ve searched through obdelleven last night for over an hour trying to figure this out. Can’t find anything. I’ll also continue to search. Hopefully someone can figure it out. 

Paul 


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## macrlz9 (Nov 13, 2018)

Would love a way to change this! With all the settings offered, you'd think it would at least be an option.


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## U-2 (Sep 14, 2018)

*Q5 has similar issue.*

seems to be fixed recently in Audi (which shares some of the software/hardware with VW)
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-sq5-mkii-discussion-218/top-view-camera-issue-2933609/


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## moveingfaster (Oct 4, 2006)

I brought my car into the dealership last week for this. They said there’s nothing they can change to get it to display properly. They did say early builds did work that way but Volkswagen has since changed it. Not sure why they did hopefully they will come out with a fix if enough people complain. 

Paul 


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## inv4zn (Jan 10, 2018)

I don't think VW will do anything about it...they will shrug it off and say 'all you have to do is hit Menu'. Which isn't wrong lol. 

Anyway I'll keep digging around as well.


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