How do you use your headlights?

I'm sorry, but that's a very poor excuse. Let's hope they have very good liability insurance.

 

I can only speak for myself, but I do as much as possible to be SEEN. I need to protect myself first. The Prius is a small car, and it seems to be low to the ground. I don't want people making left turns in front of me because they didn't see me coming…

Fog, rain, low light conditions, I'm always keeping my lights on. And with the new. long-lasting LEDs, there's no excuse not to.

 

Are they behaving any different than the non-Prius drivers in car models without DRLs?

 

Unfortunately, no. And this fog required full-on headlights, not just DRL's.

I guess I was misinformed! Just because they are driving a technologically advanced vehicle (Prius), doesn't necessarily make them any wiser behind the wheel. Or have any more common sense.

Turn on your LIGHTS, people! Don't be a bonehead.

 

If you like, there's no harm in just leaving the lights in the ON position 100% of the time..

I've found that the AUTO setting doesn't do a great job in the cloudy/rainy weather in the daytime - even on the lightest setting

 

Actually, there's at least one situation where you don't want the headlights on.

A Gen 3 user in Australia had melted headlight covers due to the lights being left on while being serviced at the dealership. Fender protectors were draped over the headlights and fenders to protect the paint, etc. However, the heavy vinyl with soft backing material trapped in the heat from the lights and melted the clear plastic covers over the bulbs.

https://priuschat.com/index.php?threads/161911/

 

Back when Prius drivers were mostly techies or enthusiasts or something like that, such better expectations may have been justified.

But at least since the Gen3 introduction, or maybe even the fuel price shock of 2008, it has been a mainstream car. That means mainstream drivers, and a corresponding share of cluelessness.

 

Toyota, or some other company should have come out with a replacement LED bulb for those cars.

I'm not suggesting that people leave their headlights on full-time. Newer cars have DRL's for that. I'm simply wondering why there is not more awareness with regards to safety during inclement weather (fog, rain, storms, dusk).

 

I found myself having to override the auto setting on cloudy/rainy days initially, but since I adjusted the sensitivity up a notch with Carista it works fine now.

 

There's a sensitivity adjustment in the vehicle settings too. I have it adjusted to "most sensitive" and It seems to help somewhat. The DRL's will go to full-on headlights a little sooner.

But I still like doing things manually. When I get in the car, I flip on the DRL's. If it starts raining or it's foggy I just simply flip the switch to full headlights. (Keep it simple for this old guy.)

And If I ever forget to turn off the headlights when I get out, they automatically go off after 30 seconds. That's a nice feature to have. Takes me awhile to get used to all this fancy stuff. ​

 

Perhaps you should have purchased the simpler Prius Two instead of the Three

 

Yes, and I would have saved about $3,000.

 

Your new 2017 Two has all the Safety Sense features, correct? I don't even have any of that. I'm driving a "Model-T."

That's me and my "old" Prius....

 

Many of the safety features, yes. (TSS-P) No blind-spot monitor or parking assist, for instance.

 

I saved $2000 just by choosing a different dealer. My chosen salesman knows Prius & drives a Gen 1 Prius.

 

Damn, that's crazy! The standard LEDs on the Gen 4 emit quite a bit less heat than halogens though, right?

 

Right, but looking at the picture, it looks like the highbeams were on as well. Those are still halogen bulbs in the Gen 4.

 

Halogen main beams on Gen 4, really?
Think you'll find heads are twin led. One for dipped beam, another for main beam afaik!

 

I stand corrected.