New Feature - Disables headlight disabler!!!

[ari14850]

I seem to recall a FAQ on weird Prius features here, but I can't find it again. I think I've found a new "feature".

The other night I glanced out my window and noticed that my 2007's headlights were on, even though the car hadn't been driven in hours.

I asked my wife what happened, and she didn't know. We went out and turned the lights off and they went off. But I was at a loss to understand why they had stayed on, whenever I drive the car, the headlamps automatically go off when I exit the vehicle, even if I''ve left the headlamp switch on.

The clue came when I asked my wife if anything unusual had happened. She then remembered that since it was raining, she climbed over to the passenger side to get out of the car since it was closer to the front door (!)

This got me thinking, and we recreated the situation. It appears that when you turn off the car, the headlamps stay lit, but are disabled automatically when you open the door. the DRIVERS SIDE DOOR. If you go out another door, the lamps stay lit - forever!

Not that anyone out there was thinking of using a door other than the driver's door (!) but if you do, make sure you turn off your lights first!!!

[canesfan]

Veeeerrrrryyyy interesting!

[minkforce1]

its not disabling it, per se, the car is thinking the driver is still sitting in there and would turn the lights off if they wanted to.

[jdchappie]

It's a feature of the Prius.
The auto-off only works if you exit via the driver's door.
It will kill the 12 volt battery in a hurry though.
Don't know if it has to be the last door closed to work, I'll have to try it.
Enjoy....but beware. Jerry

[rsforkner]

I became aware of this last week. I wanted to check something in the car and climbed in on the passenger side. (it was closer) Hit the start button, wrote down what I wanted, turned it off and got out. As I was walking away I noticed the headlights on. Then I remembered reading about this on these forums.

Really flawed design, IMHO

Of course, if we had true automatic headlights we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Bob

[genenkay]

OK, so I may be the happy recipient of a Prius because of this anomaly. My FIL would sit in the car while his wife got her hair done or shopped or whatever. 3 times when they went to leave the car would not start and they called the dealer who sent a wrecker to tow. It always started for them. She will not own a car that is that unreliable so they passed the car on to their daughter, my wife. BUT, if he is in the car with the remote the ICE should start before the battery runs down, No? Incidentally he did not know to try the remote directly into the slot on the dash. We never could figure exactly what was going on. He drove the car for nearly three years so he should know how to start it. Smile

Gene Lueg

[JimN]

If we had true automatic headlights I'd have something to complain about. I hate the Intrigue's--no off switch. How hard is it to just turn the lights off?

[Bill Merchant]

Originally Posted by genenkay

OK, so I may be the happy recipient of a Prius because of this anomaly. My FIL would sit in the car while his wife got her hair done or shopped or whatever. 3 times when they went to leave the car would not start and they called the dealer who sent a wrecker to tow. It always started for them. She will not own a car that is that unreliable so they passed the car on to their daughter, my wife. BUT, if he is in the car with the remote the ICE should start before the battery runs down, No?

Hi Gene, welcome to PriusChat!
If you're in the car with the headlights on and it's parked and the READY light is on, the ICE will start to charge the HV battery which charges the 12V battery.

If you're in the car with the headlights on and it's parked and the READY light is NOT on, the ICE will not start to charge the HV battery which charges the 12V battery, so the little 12V battery dies and you can't get to READY.

Solution: when you're sitting in the car, keep it in READY. Then you're always READY to go.

[PaulHS]

Originally Posted by Bill Merchant

Hi Gene, welcome to PriusChat!
If you're in the car with the headlights on and it's parked and the READY light is on, the ICE will start to charge the HV battery which charges the 12V battery.

If you're in the car with the headlights on and it's parked and the READY light is NOT on, the ICE will not start to charge the HV battery which charges the 12V battery, so the little 12V battery dies and you can't get to READY.

Solution: when you're sitting in the car, keep it in READY. Then you're always READY to go.

Hello Bill,

In a similar vein, I pulled into the driveway the other day, stopped to get mail from the mailbox, leaving the car on and Ready with the headlights on, smart key in my pocket. I then got cornered by a neighbor from across the street who talked for about half an hour. When I finally got away I discovered that the HV battery displayed three purple bars on the energy screen. I've never before seen purple bars. The ICE never started to recharge the HV battery. My question is, which of the above factors kept the ICE from starting? Thanks for any insight on this.

Paul

[rkskeet]

Yup!!!!