Why are my tail lights on?

[PA]

I have noticed a couple times (when I have left my headlights switched 'on') that when I return to the car the tail lights, or more specifically the bulb in the red cube in the lowest of the 3 light positions in the tail light assembly (are you still there?), is on. Of course, the obvious solution is to just turn off my headlights, but I thought the auto-off feature was supposed to turn off all the lights when I turn off the car and open the door. I don't know if the lights in question have been on the whole time, or whether it has something to do with the SKS. The bulbs are definitely on, and not just reflecting sunlight, because I can see the filament glowing (and it goes out when I turn the lights off).

I tried searching for this topic but wasn't really sure what to be searching for! Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks.

[silentak1]

The same happens with me when I do this:

1. Turn off the car
2. Turn off and on the lights
3. Lock the car

Yes it's quite stupid of me to do such thing, but they stay on...

Maybe i'm crazy but it has also occured to me that once or twice i shut my car off, locked the car, and the lights remained on either way. No explanation for this one...

[eagle33199]

the auto off feature only works in a fairly specific situation: You have the lights on, turn off the car, and then open the drivers door. Doing any of this in another order will cause the lights to stay on.

So, for example, if you turn the lights on after turning off the car, they'll stay on. if you open the drivers door before turning off the car, they'll stay on.

Make sure you're "obeying the rules" and it should be fine.

[Charles Suitt]

My "Old habits remain strong."

So many years, I always turned the headlights OFF, then turned the ignition OFF. Accordingly, I don't depend on the Toyota "auto off" feature. I am grateful for it, though, since my wife has learned (in her Camry) to depend on the "auto off" feature so when she drives the Prius, she (as I) stays with her old habits and leaves the headlight switch ON.

[Pinto Girl]

How can you tell that you're getting old?

--I'm so old that, even though I have a car that turns off its headlights automatically, I still stand around and wait for them to turn off...then walk away in the dark

Now, this has me thinking...

--I'm so old that I have a box full of dictaphone belts in my garage.
--I'm so old that I can remember why they used to call the TV remote a 'clicker' and when cc'ing someone actually involved carbon paper.
--I'm so old that I still call CD's "albums."
--I'm so old that I pine for the taste of Space Food Sticks and Tang
--I'm so old that I can remember when being a stripper meant that you worked in the printing trade, cutting rubylith.

...now that's old!
[smile]

[PA]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Oct 11 2006, 09:22 AM) [snapback]331081[/snapback]</div>

the auto off feature only works in a fairly specific situation: You have the lights on, turn off the car, and then open the drivers door. Doing any of this in another order will cause the lights to stay on.
[/b]

Thanks. On those two occasions when the lights were on, I must have done things in a different order as you indicate. It was sometime around the middle of the day so I'm assuming the headlights were on but I didn't notice them (but I saw the tail light as I approached from behind the car). I didn't realize I had "overridden" the auto-off so that's why I couldn't figure out why they were on (and it happened so infrequently).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Oct 11 2006, 02:55 PM) [snapback]331282[/snapback]</div>

My "Old habits remain strong."

So many years, I always turned the headlights OFF, then turned the ignition OFF. Accordingly, I don't depend on the Toyota "auto off" feature.[/b]

Yes, I always turn off my lights, too, except for those few times. Okay, ALMOST always. Just like I almost remembered to turn them off today.