How can you turn off the stupid cargo area light while the rear hatch is open?
Most cars have a switch somewhere in the back to control if the light comes on when you open the hatch or not. I can't find the switch anywhere. There HAS to be a way to keep the rear hatch open without having that light on.... At least I hope so.

 

It is considered a door. So it is controlled by the door lights up above the rearview mirror. At least that is what the manual says. I never tested it. Hit the off button up front, and all door lights should turn off.

 

Negative ghost rider. The rear cargo beacon is unaffected by that switch. This is going to suck if you can’t have the hatch open without the light on.

 

Piece of tape!

 

Lol, I really hope that's not what I have to do. At least since it's a small LED bulb, if the hatch stays open for 5 or 6 hours it shouldn't put too much strain on the battery.

 

gaddam, I RTFM, and it lied? What is this world coming to?

 

The ONLY time RTFM is not suggested 😂😂

 

Yeah I can confirm the overhead switch doesn’t control the cargo area light. I was out stargazing 🔭 last weekend and it stayed on even when the rest of the interior lights were turned off using the overhead switch. But if you wait long enough it does turn off on its own.

 

My 2018 MDX has a very small slide switch on the physical lamps of the light.

 

I had a switch like that on my '03 Pilot. Doesn't do me much good now.

Doesn't the light go out automatically after a short time - about 5 minutes? I'm pretty sure that happened to me once when I was unloading the car with the tailgate open.

 

You know, it's funny you mention that, because when I first got my RDX, I had the rear hatch open while I was doing something in my driveway and the light stayed on for over an hour. But about a week ago, I had the hatch open for about 20 minutes and when I went to shut it, I noticed the light had turned off on it's own. I wonder if they added something during one of the system updates to shut it off after a short time???
I'll have to research further...

 

According to the owners manual, the lights should turn off after about 15 minutes, if the RDX is in the VEHICLE OFF (LOCK) mode.

I don't know exactly what that means. I assume it just means the the key is turned off (neither in the accessory or engine run mode),

 

Hmmm, you raise an interesting point.
I will have to experiment and see how the cargo area light responds to the following situations:
- Exit the vehicle with the hatch open, close all passenger doors but leave the hatch open;
- Exit the vehicle with the hatch closed, close all passenger doors, then walk to the rear and open the hatch;
- Exit the vehicle, and after closing all passenger doors and opening the hatch, press the lock button on the remote to (hopefully) activate lock mode and see what happens to the light;

In any case, my original quest was to be able to turn off the cargo light so that it didn't turn on at all when the hatch was opened.

 

All because adding extra circuit switch would increase total cost by $2?

 

So it appears my cargo light goes off after 30 minutes if I exit the vehicle and close all doors other than the tailgate. It did NOT go off after 15 minutes.