To those of you who have automatic lights, do you leave the automatic setting on all the time?

[RichUK]

I haven?t really used the auto setting before, I?ve always manually turned them on, but today I decided to leave them on automatic.

Because I have Xenon headlamps, I?ve always had an unnerving feeling about leaving the lights on auto in case somehow the auto setting knackered the lights by repeatedly turning them on and off ? bit weird, I know.

 

[JulesMaximus]

No, I don't because I can't get over the fact that my lights are on when I leave my car. It just bothers me that they are on wasting my battery for no reason at all.

 

[nickbits]

Leave it on automatic that is what it is designed for.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
No, I don't because I can't get over the fact that my lights are on when I leave my car. It just bothers me that they are on wasting my battery for no reason at all.

Even after you switch the engine off?

I believe there is a way of setting a courtesy delay on mine, for like a minute, but at the moment they?re just set to turn off when I remove the keys from the ignition.

 

[Apex]

Yep, I just leave them.

 

[Kadarin]

I leave mine on automatic.

 

[Aikouka]

I only used automatic once out of curiosity to see if it'd turn the lights on. But no, I don't ever use automatic in normal conditions. I'm not even sure if the auto functionality would turn the lights on just because it's an overcast sky (which I was taught to always turn your lights on for situations like this). Also, does automatic take into account enabling your lights if your wipers are going? It's NY state law to turn your lights on while your wipers are on (which I see quite a few cars ignoring).

 

[Vette73]

Yep on our CTS I just let it do its thing. Never had a problem.

 

[LTC8K6]

I leave them on Auto.

They seem to work perfectly. I can't think of a time when they didn't do what I would have done anyway.

I used to worry about them not turning on when it was overcast, but they do. It just takes them slightly longer to decide to turn on. I just needed a little patience.

Even the auto high beams work very well, so I often use them too.

The exit delay is nice, and since I can set it for various delays, or turn it off if I want, it doesn't bother me.

Auto wipers are great, too.

I just leave them on as well.

 

[LTC8K6]

Aikouka, my Jeep allows you to choose to have the headlights turn on with the wipers if you want.

 

[Jabbernyx]

Auto. The LS has an adjustable knob that you can use to set the off-delay (from 3s to IINM a couple of minutes). 10s is plenty for me.

 

[KDKPSJ]

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
No, I don't because I can't get over the fact that my lights are on when I leave my car. It just bothers me that they are on wasting my battery for no reason at all.

Even after you switch the engine off?

I believe there is a way of setting a courtesy delay on mine, for like a minute, but at the moment they?re just set to turn off when I remove the keys from the ignition.

Depends on manufacture, you can't adjust it. My mom's Camry leaves the light on for few seconds (like 10) after a car is locked. She had to wait for extra seconds to make sure the light went off. After few days of doing that, she just gave up and decided not to use auto mode.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
No, I don't because I can't get over the fact that my lights are on when I leave my car. It just bothers me that they are on wasting my battery for no reason at all.

Even after you switch the engine off?

I believe there is a way of setting a courtesy delay on mine, for like a minute, but at the moment they?re just set to turn off when I remove the keys from the ignition.

If I have them set on auto and they are on when I exit the car they stay on for a certain amount of time. I think it is just a waste of energy though because I rarely, if ever, need the light so I just turn them on manually when I need them on and turn them off when I arrive at my destination and shut the car off.

My wife on the other hand always leaves hers on auto and her headlights stay lit for about 30-40 seconds after she shuts the car off.

Just personal preference. I'm not a big fan of daytime running lights either. My car doesn't have them, wife's car does. I just see too many cars driving around with one burned out.

 

[franksta]

I always turn on my headlights manually even though my truck does have the automatic feature. I run them all the time anyway, so during daylight when I do most of my driving the automatic mode isn't saving me any trouble.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I do not like automatic lights because there are far too many situations where it fails to turn on the headlights when they ought to be on. Overcast and misty days are the primary culprits, but tunnels also confuse automatic lamps. By the time the automatic light sensor realises that it needs to turn on the headlights, you're already halfway through the tunnel. I've also had cars (GM rentals) where driving through tree-covered roads would have the automatic lights turning on and off every minute or two because of the intermittent shade.

On a core level, I dislike automatic lights because they contribute to driver laziness in the same way that I feel DRLs do. People use those features as excuses not to think about road conditions when they are driving.

ZV

 

[KDKPSJ]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I do not like automatic lights because there are far too many situations where it fails to turn on the headlights when they ought to be on. Overcast and misty days are the primary culprits, but tunnels also confuse automatic lamps. By the time the automatic light sensor realises that it needs to turn on the headlights, you're already halfway through the tunnel. I've also had cars (GM rentals) where driving through tree-covered roads would have the automatic lights turning on and off every minute or two because of the intermittent shade.

On a core level, I dislike automatic lights because they contribute to driver laziness in the same way that I feel DRLs do. People use those features as excuses not to think about road conditions when they are driving.

ZV

It really depends on. I am quite surprised that my Bimmer's reaction, which turns on and off in very proper manner. But mom's Camry, I wasn't impressed.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Originally posted by: everydae

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I do not like automatic lights because there are far too many situations where it fails to turn on the headlights when they ought to be on. Overcast and misty days are the primary culprits, but tunnels also confuse automatic lamps. By the time the automatic light sensor realises that it needs to turn on the headlights, you're already halfway through the tunnel. I've also had cars (GM rentals) where driving through tree-covered roads would have the automatic lights turning on and off every minute or two because of the intermittent shade.

On a core level, I dislike automatic lights because they contribute to driver laziness in the same way that I feel DRLs do. People use those features as excuses not to think about road conditions when they are driving.

ZV

It really depends on. I am quite surprised that my Bimmer's reaction, which turns on and off in very proper manner. But mom's Camry, I wasn't impressed.

Yeah that sounds more like poor programming than anything. I generally leave the lights on my Mazdaspeed 3 on automatic, and very rarely need to change it for any reason. Most truly overcast days will cause them to come on, but occasionally it won't if it's still pretty bright. That's about the only time I've had to turn them on manually. They actually seem to err in the other direction, coming on in the early evening before I would expect.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I do not like automatic lights because there are far too many situations where it fails to turn on the headlights when they ought to be on. Overcast and misty days are the primary culprits, but tunnels also confuse automatic lamps. By the time the automatic light sensor realises that it needs to turn on the headlights, you're already halfway through the tunnel. I've also had cars (GM rentals) where driving through tree-covered roads would have the automatic lights turning on and off every minute or two because of the intermittent shade.

On a core level, I dislike automatic lights because they contribute to driver laziness in the same way that I feel DRLs do. People use those features as excuses not to think about road conditions when they are driving.

ZV

Must have been a older GM model? My 04 CTS works great. I go under a bridge and they don't come on neither does driving under trees. But they have come on if i run my wipers, cloudy and light rain, etc...

 

[LTC8K6]

My 08 Jeep is:

Not fooled by flickering light through trees or buildings.

Right on the ball with tunnels.

Apparently smart enough to detect overcast and fog.

*****

The auto high beams recognize tail lights as well as headlights, and turn off if you get within a certain distance of a car in front of you.

 

[HannibalX]

My car has automatic headlamps. On clear days the headlamps will activate right at dusk and will deactivate slightly after sunrise. The system works well and I typically leave the system "on".

 

[EightySix Four]

My car defaults to them on when you turn the car on, and you have to manually deactivate the auto mode everytime you get in, despite this my last car had the option and I just used the auto then as well. They turn on when I want them, off when I don't need them. Guess ymmv.

My F150, Corvette, and Sky all do it just fine. It actually annoys me when I get into a car without them because I'm not used to it.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I do not like automatic lights because there are far too many situations where it fails to turn on the headlights when they ought to be on. Overcast and misty days are the primary culprits, but tunnels also confuse automatic lamps. By the time the automatic light sensor realises that it needs to turn on the headlights, you're already halfway through the tunnel. I've also had cars (GM rentals) where driving through tree-covered roads would have the automatic lights turning on and off every minute or two because of the intermittent shade.

On a core level, I dislike automatic lights because they contribute to driver laziness in the same way that I feel DRLs do. People use those features as excuses not to think about road conditions when they are driving.

ZV

Must have been a older GM model? My 04 CTS works great. I go under a bridge and they don't come on neither does driving under trees. But they have come on if i run my wipers, cloudy and light rain, etc...

Not that old. It's rare for it to come up, but it happens mainly in places where there are heavy trees, then an open spot for a mile or so, then heavy trees, then open spot, repeat. The lights come on after about 15 seconds of heavy trees, then turn off after about 15 seconds of open spot, then turn back on when the trees come back. It's the kind of situation where one should just leave the lights on through the open parts as well.

And that still doesn't address the issue with tunnels where it will take several seconds for the auto lamp sensor to activate the headlights. An alert driver should be turning on his or her headlamps just before entering a tunnel, not 10-15 seconds after (this may not be an issue for most people, but where I live I drive through tunnels several times a week).

I'd just rather have the control myself.

ZV

 

[sdifox]

DRL is the law up here so the auto light function is pretty defeated on my wife's E350 4Matic. The central display does throw me off because it switches to night mode in like 2 second of dark spot (underpass) and the colour scheme change (it flips the backround/foreground colours) draws my eye's attention.

 

[BassBomb]

I had AUTO on my I30. I left it on always, except when I felt it was required and they weren't being engaged automatically..... since it was a CDN car it had DRL's already anyways

 

[bruceb]

I disabled both DRL and Auto On for Headlamps on my 1999 Grand Prix .. All it took was removing 1 Fuse marked DRL
Easy to restore if needed for inspections or when I decide to sell the car.