Drained 12V battery - Stupid mistake

I will start this off by saying I always leave my headlights on and allow the car to turn them off after the preset amount of time. (30 seconds?)

Today when I got to work I turned off my car and then proceeded to turn my headlights off and then turned them back on remembering that they automatically turn off. I did not sit around and watch the lights go off. When I went out today to leave for lunch my car was "dead." Could not turn it on.

I guess it is my fault for turning the lights back on once the car was off, but I think that is kind of stupid that they must not have turned off.

Anyone else do this? Mondays...

this is why I had the dealer set the headlights to turn off at 0 seconds, peace of mind
Sorry that happened and thanks for sharing

Yeah, sorry to hear that, but they auto turn off only if they are left on after turning the car off.

When you turned OFF the car, you turned OFF the timing circuitry that tells the lights when to turn OFF. Even though you turned the lights back on AFTER the car was turned OFF, the circuitry had already been disabled.

Bet you won't let that happen again!

You WILL need to keep an eye on your 12 Volt battery, they never have the same charge capacity once they've been fully discharged.

David (aka Blind Guy)

There are several ways to out-fox the auto shutoff system. You found one of them. Exiting from the passenger door is another. Opening the door and then turning on the headlamps is a third.

I find the whole system a little uncertain. I always make sure my lights are off before I leave the vicinity of the car.

Tom

Yeah the system in the Prius is terrible. My other car has an auto shut off feature but also has warning beep when the lights are left on... it helps...

I read within the last few days, a post where someone turned off the car, and claimed her husband got out of the passenger door and the lights went out without her opening her door!

I'm gonna check it out!

David (aka Blind Guy)

Might be a new feature with the 2010.

Tom

Tom;

My wife and I just tried it out! We got in the car, turned it ON, turned ON the headlights, turned OFF the car (leaving the headlights ON), opened the passenger door, waited 30 seconds, and lo and behold, the LIGHTS WENT OUT!

David (aka Blind Guy)

I think auto on headlights are a solution looking for a problem. How lazy can you be! Auto off is nice, but I wish that they still included the beep alert that most cars have when you leave your lights on after turning off the ignition and opening the door. I have no problem turning my headlights off manually, but just wish I'd get the warning.