This is the first and only vehicle I’ve ever seen that does this. This might not have happened if it was sunny. Instead it was dark and rainy. So the sensor was probably right on the verge of coming on.
My 17 4Runner does it, my 16 Tacoma did it and Volvo_V70 has 2 cars whose tail lights don’t come on until the headlights do. I think this is the default mode of operation for most “Auto” headlights. The 2017 Highlander owner’s manual shows that the tail lights do not come on in “Auto” mode until the headlights do. What year is your Highlander?
In low light conditions such as clouds, light rain, light snow, light fog, etc. it is not dark enough to turn on the automatic head/tail lights. Therefore your tails are not on causing your car to be less visible to other drivers. You could turn the light switch on to turn the lights on but then when you parked the car you would need to remember to turn the switch off. When you are used to automatic lights this is not something you automatically do even with the dinging telling you to do so. So covering the the sensor, makes the car think that it is night and turns the lights-heads and tails, on, thus making you more visible in low light but not dark situations. Plus when you shut the car off, the lights will automatically shut down with the car thinking it is night time. I have black cherry headliner material left over from a previous car with one side gray and the other black cherry. This matches my dash.
Sometimes I think I’m being trolled. Naw.
1 Like
Good Grief Bing , I thought what you are doing with the sensor was pretty easy to understand.
1 Like
Trolled? Hardly:-). I’ve owned 6 vehicles with auto headlights and every one of them was smart enough to shut the headlights off if you left the switch in the on position. Maybe yours doesn’t do that? Point being, just turn your lights on with the switch in low light conditions and, if you forget to shut them off, the car does it for you.
Luckily I have not noticed, or just assumed people were hitting the brakes. Good Idea to check for the cyclops light to see if it is really brakes being applied, I being older and not growing up with the extra light did not think of that. It is possible something was partially covering the sensor making it more sensitive, like a pair of sunglasses.
That’s what I love about my Forester. I just leave the lights on all the time, and when I turn the ignition off, the lights go off. I don’t know why all cars don’t do the same.
My Odyssey (05) does almost the same thing. They’ll stay on for 10-15 seconds after the ignition goes off, then they shut off
I dunno, maybe what we have is “a failure to communicate” or else my cars are very different. Are you sure you are not talking about the “auto” mode and not the “on” mode? You should have four positions on the multifunction stalk, Off, On, Auto, and Park. Off the lights are off all the time. On the lights are on all the time regardless of whether the car is running or not. On Auto, the sensor takes over and turns them on at night and off after a few seconds when you get out of the car (or whatever delay you set it for). Now there is a battery saver that will turn the lights off after 20 minutes, but you just have the light switch on the “On” position and walk away and after a few seconds the car knows it should shut the lights off? You could be in the woods looking for something and the car will shut the lights off on you? Well whatever works I guess.
If you are asking me, no, my Subaru has 3 positions, off, park and ON. I leave it in the ON position.
And when the engine is off, the lights turn off.
I think we’re talking about the same thing. Yes, my vehicles with auto headlights have the 4 positions you mentioned - Off, Park, Auto, On.
The “Auto” does just as you said - the sensor takes over and does all of the controlling based on ambient light and when you shut the car off, it turns the lights off after a certain amount of time. In my 4Runner that time seems to vary. If I have the doors open (when unloading groceries for example), the lights seem to stay on longer than if I just shut the car off and get out although I’ve never timed it both ways.
The “On” position is obviously when the headlights are on all the time regardless of ambient light - I have to do this when it’s raining as the state I live in requires use of headlights when it rains. Or low light as you mentioned in a previous post. When I park the car with the headlight switch in the “On” position it gives me the buzzer when I shut it off to remind me the lights are “On”, but if I forget, the battery saver function, as you mentioned, will shut the lights off after a certain amount of time. I’ve never waited to see how long that is because whenever I leave it in the “On” position it’s by accident and when I come out the next time to start the car I notice I left the headlights “On” but the battery saver kicked in and all is well. Hence, I wondered why bother with the piece of headliner over the sensor as that seems more trouble than just turning the switch “On” and letting the battery saver save you if you forget - which I often do.
So, if I’m looking for something in the woods and I have the lights “On”, I guess at some point I’m going to be standing there in the pitch black wondering what the heck I’m doing out there.
I think we’re on the same page, no?
Yes we’re on the same page. I don’t know about Subbies three position switch. That’s strange. The battery saver on my Pontiac kicks in at 20 minutes. I’m not keen on having the lights on depleting the battery for 20 minutes. Especially in the winter. So all I’m doing is over-riding the sensor to make it think its night time, but I only do it in semi-inclement weather. I don’t remember which car, but if it is in Auto, and you turn the wipers on, the lights also come on as an over-ride.
Our 2018 Ford Fiesta does that.
My old Saab had only 3 light positions. No Auto. The default could be ON since all the lights go out when the car is turned off. Parking lights would stay on with the car off. In the OFF position, the DRL’s would run.
Plus the car had front and rear fog lights.
Before auto mode came around, all cars had those three positions.
I guess you just have to know your own car. On my VW, the radio would stay on regardless so you had to turn it off every time. I have no idea why they wired it that way but they did. Never had another car like that.
I like that. That’s a good feature.
2 Likes
That makes perfect sense. For all I know, mine may be depleting the battery for 20 mins too, I just don’t know because I assume it’s on “Auto” when I forget and don’t stick around. I’m probably lighting my garage halfway through dinner before they shut off.
The details of these functions are described in the owners manuals.
I never read all of the manual for my 1999 Civic, but while on a trip west and back my partner did. She told me if I unlocked the doors with the remote and did not open one within 30 seconds, the doors would relock. Where’d she get a crazy idea like that?
Have you looked at the manual to see if she read it correctly ? Have you tried to see if the doors do relock after a certain time ?
The 2014 Nissan Frontier we sold would relock after 10 minutes if a door was not opened .