OK. The backlighting on the steering wheel buttons. My volume and channel buttons do not light up nor do the cruise control buttons... is that normal?

 

Probably your bulbs are burnt out. Happens a lot. Did you notice if your button lights around your radio/navi/hvac are out also? My car lights are slowly disappearing also. My gearshift lights are also out.

 

yes. It's called "the most common issue in the TL dash beyond 30k miles", lol. The lights burn out so fast. I hit 70k on my car and I already have a seat heater light burnt out. On my old 2005 TL by 100k miles my entire steering wheel was dark.

good news is we have DIY for replacing those lights in the 3G Garage

 

Oh yeah, like i_love_cars...your seat heater light is probably out also!

 

is it easy to replace the bulbs in the steering wheel? and what kind of bulbs are in there? those little tiny ones?

 

The scary thing is that you are fooling around the airbag. There is a DIY, just look it up. Doesnt seem to hard, I havent had the balls to try it.

 

You should just order the factory bulbs. As for difficulty, I'd rate it about 3/10. Easy peasy if you follow the 3g garage guide.