On our 2017 Prius Prime Advanced we have the headlights set to AUTO and AHB (auto high beam) on and never touch any headlight controls. The other day we drove and parked the car then turned the car off. However we never opened the doors to get out of the car. We stayed in the car for about an hour. It was light outside so didn’t notice that the headlights and all backlit buttons were on. This drained the auxiliary battery. When I got back I tested this behavior. With the headlight switch in AUTO and car on in READY, hit the Power button. Car turns off but headlights stay on and dome lights turn on, Score, ODO, headlight indicator and clock remain on. After 30 seconds dome light fades, Score, ODO and clock turns off. What remains on are headlight, headlight indicator and interior buttons until I open and close the door or manually switch the headlights off. Does anyone know a way to force the car to turn off headlights without opening the door?
Flip the light switch to off. I'm pretty sure you can put it back to auto and they won't turn on again
As others have pointed out, if you turn the switch the stalk to off, the lights will turn off. You can then turn it back to auto and they will not come on until the next time you use the car. The activation of the delayed shut off by opening the door is intentional because the purpose of the lights staying on is to give you time to get from the car to your house when parking in a dark driveway. Even if you don't park in a dark driveway, when you do, it is useful. Fortunately, the lights are LEDs. If they were old-fashioned incandescent headlamps, you'd have a much more serious drain.
What's so hard about opening and closing the door? That's what I do to shut them off if I'm not getting out. Also a clarification: unless it's dark, it's just the driving lights if the headlights are on auto. My headlights don't come on in the daylight until I'm in the garage. Driving lights will still drain the battery, so I'd still shut them off.
