Hi all, this is my first post, please be gentle. I've browsed the other headlight threads and couldn't find a solid answer. I purchased a new 2010 Prius III about three weeks ago, and whenever I turn the car off the headlights and tail lights have been going off automatically like they should. However, the last couple of days I've had neighbors come by to let me know that my Prius lights are still on long after I've turned the car off. I can't figure out why all of a sudden the lights won't shut off - to my knowledge I haven't done anything differently. I've read the manual cover to cover, and all it tells me is that the lights should go off within 30 seconds of the car being turned to OFF or ACCESSORY mode. Any troubleshooting help would be greatly appreciated!
One caveat to that, my Gen II Prius lights will stay on until I open the driver's door. I have heard that the Gen III may stay on until you close a front door. (then there is either a 30 second delay, or if adjusted at the dealer, a 0 second delay)
Another consideration, the lights must be on when you power down the car or the auto off feature won't work. If you turn them on after you shut the car off they will stay on.
I've been exiting through the driver door, so that's not the problem. I have the lights on when I power off the car, but if I know I'm not going back out in the dark I usually turn the switch from headlights to DRL. Maybe this is where I'm running into my problem? I will have to go play with it. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll update you if that solves it.
DRL? I didn't think any of the U.S. cars had DRL. The Canadian cars do but I don't think there is a switch for them. My car's headlight switch just has off, parking lights, and headlights. Auto off feature doesn't work for the parking lights, they just stay on. Owner's manual pages 206 through 208.
I'm thinking of my old Camry with DRL... you're right, it's parking lights I've been switching to. I tried just leaving the headlights alone and it works fine. I guess that's what I'll have to do. My Camry also had automatic on/off lights, so I'm adjusting to the way the Prius works.
I've run into this same issue several times with my 2009 Prius. I always leave the headlight switch on and the headlights are supposed to automatically shut off when I open the driver's side door to get out of the car. Over the past few months, though, there have been 10-15 times when the lights didn't shut off automatically. If I notice that they're still on, I can open the driver's door to get them to shut off, but it's hard to notice in the daylight and I've returned to a dead battery because of it twice now. I've taken it to my dealer twice and they can't reproduce the problem. When it happens, the interior lights shut off, which makes me think it's not a problem with the door switch. I've tried opening other doors when the lights are staying on, but they have no effect...only the driver's door being opened will shut them off. And lately the problem's been getting worse and I have to open and shut the door several times to get them to shut off. Cassiopeia, were you able to figure out what the problem was? Anyone else seeing this happening?
I have the same problem. I went to the dealership. They were not able to replicate the problem. Was you problem resolved?
The OP's problem is he messed with the controls after he shut off the car. This will cause the AUTO OFF function not to work. Either leave the headlights alone and they should shut off automatically or if you know you're not going back out in the dark, turn them off completely and don't move it to any other position including parking lights.
[FONT="]Can you please clarify yourself? Do you mean if any of the cars’ controls touched after power button pressed and the car was turned off the lights will not turn off automatically?[/FONT]
