The 2010 Prius V sticker lists as standard equipment, Auto LED headlight. However, the AUTO switch is not there on the light switch. I think Toyota made a mistake between what is implemented versus what is described. The AUTO is supposed to turn-on the headlight when it's dark not on at all times and the LED lights go off in 30 seconds when you are about 8 feet from the car with the key in your pocket. Does anyone agrees with this as a manufacturing defect?
They advertise them as auto-off in the U.S., which they are. If you leave them on, they will turn off after a certain amount of time after all doors are closed. http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/features.html
And pages 206 to 213 of the Owner's Manual that explain the operation of the lights are liberally sprinkled with the "if equipped" disclaimer, and notations of the U.S. and Canadian differences.
My initial reaction to this was along the lines of "What? How can Toyota be so cheap?" I don't know what the company has against full auto lights in America. Our Sienna doesn't have them, either. Perhaps someone could explain just how costly it would be to have the auto-on feature as well as the auto-off.
wow i hope that i dont forget to turn my lights off and drain the battery. Im used to auto headlights
I just got in the habit that when I get in the car I put my seatbelt on and turn the lights on and when I park I shut them off.Never use the auto off!! We run are lights on both vehicles day n night.I want to be seen!!
My 2007 Corolla has the auto - on feature. Surprised that the Prius doesnt have that. I do see the light sensor near the front windshield though...is there some setting we need to change to enable the auto-ON?
If you have Nav that sensor is used to switch between the day and night screens on the Nav Map. One would think linking the headlights to this sensor would be pretty simple. Another no-brainer would be to hook the headlights to the windshield wipers! GM does this on most of their vehicles, turn the wipers to a setting above the lowest intermitent setting and the headlights come on. Being as driving with headlights on in the rain is a law in most States, and should be common sense in all States, sure seems an inexpensive safety feature...
Come on guys...how hard is it to twist that little knob to turn on the headlights when it gets dark?? Since the North American Prius does not have DRL, it is quite obvious when the sky is dark and your lights have not turned on. Auto-OFF is a needed feature...much more important than auto-ON. My 2008 Sienna Limited with factory HIDs have auto-on and off. I actually have to turn the headlights on manually most of the time when the sky gets dark because the sensor is not sensitive enough. Lexus/Toyota sensors are not as sensitive as my Mercedes. So, having auto-on headlights on a toyota may not be that much better.
Correction, US-spec Prius don't have DRLs. Canadian models do (required by law). Also, the sensitivity is adjustable up to ±3 from the default setting.
The reason auto-on headlights were disabled in the U.S. on the Prius became crystal clear when the Lexus hybrid was introduced. Why would someone buy a pricey Lexus hybrid when the Prius gives you basically the same "luxury" features and at a higher mpg? So they had to do something, and getting rid of the auto-on lights was one of the things they did to solve the problem. I guess they couldn't get away with disabling it in Canada due to the DRL circuitry, laws, and/or dumb people not knowing whether their real lights were on or off, etc. But all U.S. Prius sedans that have a sensor on the dashboard can be wired up for auto-on lights. It requires stringing a wire from that sensor, to your ECU and another wire from the ECU to ground (you might want to put a switch here too). The ECU itself is not disabled in anyway. BTW that sensor has a three purposes that I know of. It is for adjusting your AC temperature lower if it senses direct sunlight coming into the car. That's why the AC is too cold at times.. look at the senor, is sun shining on it? The third purpose controls interior dash dimming. This got disabled when they removed the auto-on wire and should be re-enabled once autolights are restored. So all Prius drivers can thank the Lexus hybird for not having auto-on lights and having to suffer with a too dim dash during the day if their headlights are on, i.e. when it rains. Yeah I know you can dial up the dimmer, but that gets old after awhile whenever it rains, and then you get blinded it night. lol
Do you have the wiring diagram for this change? If not, do you have the necessary ECU pin out? Thanks.
I highly doubt that DRLs and auto-headlights are related. Up here, one expects automatic headlights in the Cdn$30k range. Even the $15k Corolla CE has it (though in a rather convoluted way since it doesn't have an AUTO setting on the stalk but it does have a light sensor and will come on even though the headlight switch is in the OFF position. Weird). Also, we tend to have more standard accessories to make up for the price differences such as carpeted floor mats, cargo net, wheel locks and mudguards on most Toyotas.
It's all described here in this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...modifications/64812-automatic-headlights.html The real challenge is getting to the sensor. If your Prius doesn't already have the necessary wire going to it, you might need to remove the entire dash.
