Climate Control Question on Auto Setting

That AC button/light is not an "AC Indicator Light", it's a switch that lets you manually turn AC on or off. In Auto mode it will turn AC on or off depending on conditions -- turn it on in cold weather when it detects fog on the windshield, or on when the interior is too warm and outside air will not cool it.

 

Anything that's being automatically controlled has no dashboard indication - it doesn't tell you what it's doing. That applies to fan speed, vent direction, A/C compressor and recirculate.

The A/C switch can be in 3 states - Off, On and Auto. Only "On" has the white light lit.

If the white light is off, it's potentially ambiguous.

If the master "Auto" green light is on, then that means everything is in auto, so A/C must be in auto too.*

If the master "Auto" light is off, then you can't directly tell whether A/C is Off or Auto, but it's visible in the "Vehicle -> Climate" screen, which does distinguish On/Off/Auto.

(* Edit: actually there is an options setting which controls whether "A/C" goes to "Auto" - it is on by default, but if that was disabled presumably you could have the green light on and the A/C actually off. )

 

I tried to explain this a few months ago, but I think I did a crappy job. Hopefully I'll do better this time.

Short version: Don't worry about it; it's working like it's supposed to.

Long version:
On previous gens, the Auto button was not able to completely control the A/C. The user had to turn it on or off depending on conditions. In the gen5, the climate controls have been taken up a level to give Auto complete control over A/C. Since Auto is now in charge of the A/C system, the panel isn't going to show you when it's turning on or off by the green A/C light. The system will turn on and off automatically whenever it's needed to cool the cabin or dehumidify the air.

However, there is a way to go back to the old system if you really want it. Within the climate options in the big infotainment screen, you'll find a setting marked something like: 'A/C on Auto'. This setting is enabled by default, giving control of the A/C to Auto. If you want to manually control it like previous models, just disable the option. Once done, the green A/C light will show whether the A/C system is turned on or off at any given time.

If you leave the system in the default 'A/C to Auto' and want to manually override A/C control every once in awhile to force the climate system to leave the A/C off, you can do so by double pressing the A/C button. Pressing the button once(while Auto is also engaged) will force the A/C system on(green light on), while pressing it a second time will force the A/C system off(green light back off). After this, the A/C will remain off until the Auto button is pressed, which will give it control of the A/C system again.

Hopefully that all made sense.