Is this a settable option?

I saw a Highlander do this... I thought the driver had left the lights on, but they went off automatically in about 20 seconds. I have not read a post saying that this is user configurable.

 

i miss that, my last several cars had it. but i have not seen anything on here about it. maybe this is another possiblity for coastal dave?

 

It sure is odd that they automatically go off so quickly, as I've never seen another car do that.

 

part of the problem with the 20 second and then go out is that the Aux battery in the Prius is very small and only designed to boot the computer to have it start the car. It's about 1/4 the capacity of a regular car battery or less. In the Classic it's even smaller. The lights left on for any length of time posses a siginificant draw on it.

 

That would explain it.

And even though it's odd, I like the benefit of knowing for a fact that my lights are off, especially with the smaller battery. Even though I know lights are auto-off, there's still that hesitation to accept the fact that they're off if there's a delay. :mrgreen:

 

And, if you drain the auxilliary battery enough, you'll get a big and very frightening red triangle warning. :mrgreen:

 

yup and then you get a new battery. Happened in the wife's 2k1. Mechanic say's you need a new battery, she grabs her chest and he turns white and say's NO not that battery! warranty covered it.

 

I like it the way it is. Twice I drained the battery in my previous car and had to call a tow-truck to get a starter-boost. I feel no need for a 20-second delay.

Of course, if you open the door before you shut off the power, then the lights stay on and you drain your battery. I wish the lights would go off any time the power is off.

 

to say that the Prius 12 v battery has ¼ the capacity is stretching it quiet a bit i think.

there has been many reports of batteries dying because SS/SE was nt turned off and the car sat a month.

the SS/SE uses practically no power. to drain a battery in just a month tells me that the 12 v battery is much smaller than that. physically speaking, its not even a 10th of the size of a car battery.