03 Venture - No interior lights, no switches on compartments on ceiling

[WendiLoohoo]

I've had my Venture for a few months and so far, I'm very happy with it. I've been sniffing around the Internet and I see that a lot of other people have the same problem I do with the interior lights. They don't come on when I open any of the doors. I can sit in the car and push the black toggle switch that's in front of the storage containers (I assume they're for sunglasses and a garage door opener?), and the lights will come on. However, they STAY on when I turn the ignition off and close the doors again. There's no main switch for the lights anywhere that I can see; I definitely don't have the 3 buttons on one of the storage container lids that I've seen in photos. Both my husband and I have gone over the owner's manual several times and neither of us can find the necessary instructions. Because I bought it used, I'm not yet certain what features the original owner chose to have installed; I'm still discovering things that it can and can't do.

I have a child so I like to see what's around me if we park and exit in the dark. Can anyone help, please???

[Tech II]

The overhead console is where the on/off switch is for the interior lights.......

So let me get this straight.....you open the door, and the interior lights are not on......you flip the switch, and the lights come on....you close the door....do the lights go out right away, or does it take 15-30 seconds for the lights to go out?

If they don't go out, do they go out when you start the vehicle?

On the headlight switch, do you have the dimmer control all the way up to max? If yes, turn it down slightly.....the dimmer control on max, makes the interior lights stay on constantly.......