Are auto headlights standard on 2010 Prius IV?

If you turn them on and leave them on, they turn off 60 seconds after you open the driver's door. I think the dealer can change that to zero, 30 or 90 seconds for you. (I have mine set to 0)

(Every 5000 miles I have to turn mine back on as the Dealer tech always turns them off when he done)

 

If you leave then on, they turn on automatically every time you turn on the car, no delay.

The sensor decides if your instrument panel is in Day or Night mode.

 

I suspect you only notice the day night instrument panel when you leave the light on all the time. (I drive on two lane roads with farm equipment 90% of the time, I want other cars to see me when I am passing, I wish I saw them well so I could judge when to pass)


Stock Photo

 

Ours are like this:



(This is on Canadian Touring model btw, some other levels don't have the AUTO setting.)

If you turn to AUTO they turn on whenever it's dark enough, and will shut off automatically when you turn off the car. That shut off by default has a 30 second delay, that is dealership customizable, to zero or a few longer intervals.

I prefer to have manual control of when the headlights come on, and it's physically impossible for me to walk away from a car with headlights still blazing, so I never use AUTO.

I'd be more inclined to use it if the shut off delay was owner customizable. But still, I like headlights on in daytime sometimes, and definitely don't want to be driving at dusk with the headlights still off. So AUTO headlights are a non-starter for me.

All that said, in regular head light on setting, as far as I know: the headlights will not turn off if you forget. I don't have the guts to test this though.

 

The "auto" on feature didn't happen till the 2012 package 4 & 5 Prius.

It can be added to ur Prii If u wanted.

VS980 4G ?

 

Mine is an 11 (five) -- same way -- Dumb. The car should have DRL. I leave the headlight switch on -- so i have "in effect" DRL -- the headlights go off a bit after the car is turned off.

 

You need to search the Accessories section in the Gen III section. Search for automatic headlights. There's a long thread that starts out talking about aftermarket gadgets, then switches to mods using existing features on the US 2010 models that enable automatic headlights like on the Canadian models.

I have auto headlights and the Canadian turn signal lever seen above. One cool feature is how the instrument and display lighting changes quickly when I enter a tunnel.

 

Yeah I notice that. Doesn't happen on US models?

 

Nope. It was a pleasant surprise after all the work.

By the way, one has to remove the entire top of the dash to run a wire from the light sensor to terminals in the left lower side of the dashboard. There are good instructions in the thread about half-way thru.

 

I don't think that's true... Or if it is, maybe it's something that varied by region in the US? The instrument panel brightness on mine is controlled only by the dial on the left side of the dash. Turn it until it clicks, and it's in day mode. How do I know? Any time I turn on the headlights during the day, I have to hit that switch to be able to read the instrument panel. And then next time I drive at night, I have to hit it again to keep the panel from blinding me.

The sensor is used by the climate control system to help determine how much heat or cooling is necessary; when the sun is strong, you need more cooling (or less heat) to be comfortable.

 

On our brightness dial it turns freely all the way up, then there's a single detent to go to top (brightest) setting. If I roll it right to the top, then click it down through that one detent, it seems to work good for all light conditions. Again, this is Canadian model, seems to have sensor detecting and reacting to ambient light.

 

I sorry but this statement is incorrect.

That sensor on the top of the dash next to the windshield is a phptocell sensor used to dim the dash lights & to turn on the lights if equipped with auto lights.....it has nothing to do with the HVAC

VS980 4G ?

 

For the models that have Auto lights (meaning ones that have an "AUTO" setting on the stalk), I believe that is true. However, my statement *is* true, certainly at least for the 2010 models, none of which had automatic headlights. (They only had the automatic-off feature, after you turn off the car and open the driver's door.) Guess I should've been paying more attention to which model year everybody in this thread has...

Here's a quote from the 2010 repair manual:

The solar sensor (automatic light control sensor) is installed on the upper side of the instrument panel. It detects sunlight to control air conditioning AUTO mode. The output voltage from the solar sensor (automatic light control sensor) varies in accordance with the amount of sunlight. When the amount of sunlight increases, the output voltage increases. As the sunlight decreases, the output voltage decreases. The A/C amplifier detects changes in the output voltage from the solar sensor (automatic light control sensor).​

Elsewhere in the manual, they elaborate that input from that sensor is used along with the temperature setting, cabin temperature, external temperature, and evaporator temperature to determine how to run the A/C.

They do also call it "automatic light control sensor", but it was not used for that purpose in 2010 in the US (although it was in Canada and elsewhere), and I believe not in 2011 US models either. I would assume when they finally added Auto headlights in 2012, they kept the functionality for A/C too (since international 2010-2011 models had both), but I don't know. I suppose it's possible that the trim 3 and below for 2012 and later still use the sensor for dimming the dash when the lights are on, even though the Auto lights aren't available?

<sigh> Too much confusion over differences in the same "generation" of Prius. Let's just get the 4th gen shipping for a fresh start, shall we Toyota?

 

I assume by all models you mean all Canadian Gen 3 trim levels in all years. I wasn't sure about the lowest trim level.

IIRC, in 2010 no US Gen 3 had auto headlights.

 

You know you can hit the lock button 2x on the key fob to bypass the delay and turn off the headlights light immediately.