Changing the time in the car is not automatic

[Luke717]

For the third time since I bought my 2020 Corolla HB in the summer of 2020, I manually updated the time to take into account the seasonal time change, this time from daylight saving time to standard time, otherwise known here as going from BST back to GMT (elsewhere in Western Europe you'd have done UTC+2 back to UTC+1).

And for the third time I wondered why this change wasn't automatic. After all, I have the clock setting configured to be adjusted automatically by GPS. The photo you see shows the settings today as they were when I took delivery of the car in 2020; I've not fiddled with them since.

But, as before, the time did not change automatically. Instead, I did it manually. Note the setting for 'Daylight saving time' shows 'On' - maybe this confused the auto-by-GPS setting, I wondered.

But no, that wasn't it. I discovered a highly plausible explanation in a discussion thread on this very topic from October last year:  

 

@Geoffw made the point:

Added to by @AndrueC

As others pointed out, if just about any modern device that uses time accuracy as part of its feature and function sets can change the time and time zone automatically, surely the auto industry ought to step up a bit more on this. It's time 😊

 

[50p]

I have just changed mine. I didn't have it set to Grenwich, so changed the setting and the time was correct. Activated the 'daylight saving time' and the time moved an hour forward?! Guess you only use this setting during the Spring?

[Cyker]

You'd be surprised how hard it is... there is a team of volunteers trying to keep the Linux time database up to date and it changes frequently, often several times a year!

Ages ago I had a friend in the US who had to look after an old system that was out of support and couldn't be upgraded because it was part of a turnkey system; When the US changed their DST dates, he found himself in this bizarre situation where the system would change at the old date, and he had to manually change it back, then wait for the new date and change it back again, every year, until they finally replaced the system  

As cars do not receive regular updates for their whole lives, I'd rather be in the habit of manually changing it than end up in a weird situation like that!

 

[Rosgoe]

At least it’s a dam site easier than changing the time when I had the auris 

[AndrueC]

47 minutes ago, 50p said:

I have just changed mine. I didn't have it set to Grenwich, so changed the setting and the time was correct. Activated the 'daylight saving time' and the time moved an hour forward?! Guess you only use this setting during the Spring?

The UK is in the GMT time zone. Always was, always is (for the obvious reason that Greenwich is in the UK, lol).

However during the summer months we apply an hour's positive offset to relocate some of daylight from the morning to the evening where it is more useful and can (possibly) reduce national power consumption by reducing the need for lighting. Most countries do this and it's typically known as 'Daylight Savings Time' or 'DST'. People in the UK also refer to 'British Summer Time' but there's actually no such thing. It can also be expressed as GMT+1.

So last week midday was 12:00GMT+1. This week it's going to be 12:00GMT.

So the way you should set up your car (and any other timepiece that requires it) is to tell the device that your time zone is GMT. When the clocks 'go forward' in the summer, activate DST. When the clocks go back in the autumn disable DST.

[AndrueC]

Dealing with time can be messy and confusing but mostly because humans are easily confused. Which reminds of this amusing and scary situation:

https://onezero.medium.com/the-largely-untold-story-of-how-one-guy-in-california-keeps-the-worlds-computers-on-the-right-time-a97a5493bf73

..and don't even get me started on how the calendar has been mucked about with over the years 🙂

[Stopeter44]

53 minutes ago, 50p said:

I have just changed mine. I didn't have it set to Grenwich, so changed the setting and the time was correct. Activated the 'daylight saving time' and the time moved an hour forward?! Guess you only use this setting during the Spring?

Duh! looks like it's simples, then. I always wondered why DST setting never worked !

[Luke717]

22 minutes ago, Stopeter44 said:

Duh! looks like it's simples, then. I always wondered why DST setting never worked !

It is quite straightforward in a Corolla. Just tap on the DST setting to On or Off, that's it.

Except it's not automatic ! As that's not likely to be so for a while, manual works 🤓

[Cyker]

14 minutes ago, Rosgoe said:

At least it’s a dam site easier than changing the time when I had the auris 

Ahh did you have to do the tap-mode-button-until-time-is-displayed-then-hold-down-button-until-time-blinks-then-press-button 22-times-because-you-can-only-go-forwards-and-not-back ritual too then?  

Changing the time in the Mk4 is definitely easier - Getting to the option in the first place tho'...

[ZZYGY]

I blame Einstein with his new fangled ideas, but Feynman - QED ...

[AndrueC]

2 minutes ago, ZZYGY said:

I blame Einstein with his new fangled ideas, but Feynman - QED ...

Albert wasn't the problem. As I understand it the problem is his relatives.

[Luke717]

2 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Ahh did you have to do the tap-mode-button-until-time-is-displayed-then-hold-down-button-until-time-blinks-then-press-button 22-times-because-you-can-only-go-forwards-and-not-back ritual too then?  

My old microwave was like that. Got rid of it a few months ago - and bought a replacement that doesn't have a clock 😁

[Roy124]

Actually we could not afford to maintain GMT so we let the French do it. The time zone 7.5deg east and west of Greenwich is the Zulu time zone where the offset from the Universale Time Coordinadire is zero. 

In Western Europe, ie East of us, it is CET. 

Now my Garmin Satnav actually has a time zone file and data on DST. There is no reason why that data could not be incorporated in the cars. 

 

[Cyker]

The problem is when/if that timezone file stops getting updated for your device, what are you going to do?

Cars are already awful for getting software and firmware updates once they get past around 5 years old, so I'd rather not rely on something that needs regular updates from an external system!

That said, with cars increasingly being connected to the internet permanently, your dream may come true as they will be able to access the NTP/Network Time Protocol servers to keep their clocks up to date and also automatically to DST changes! But it's one thing I get worried about with cars being increasingly connected to the Internet - Computer Operating systems are getting patched for security problems so often the patches vastly outnumber feature upgrades, but how long will cars be supported before no more security updates are made and the car's just left to get remotely hacked...? There's no law mandating it at the moment so maybe you don't get any unless a high-profile hack is made public in the media...

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Then again as we only need to change the time twice a year, it isn't much of an issue.

[Jiff]

I don't know why Toyota can't have an option for the display time to be obtained from your phone. That updates automatically and the displayed time doesn't have to be related to sat nav or anything else the car might use. 

It would also work if you took the car abroad, to a different time zone. 

I wonder what people do in places where they live near a time zone & drive across frequently 😱 

[Beta]

I had a SEAT Leon before the Corolla that picked up the time from the radio and changed automatically even changed automatically to French time when driving in France. I also have two    clock radios that change automatically.

[Rambler56]

2 hours ago, Jiff said:

I don't know why Toyota can't have an option for the display time to be obtained from your phone. That updates automatically and the displayed time doesn't have to be related to sat nav or anything else the car might use. 

It would also work if you took the car abroad, to a different time zone. 

I wonder what people do in places where they live near a time zone & drive across frequently 😱 

Be careful what you wish for.  Do you have any apps on your phone that stopped working after one of the frequent OS updates?  Yes, it could be better integrated in the car, but better there than trusted to a third party app.  Just my opinion😉

[Luke717]

2 hours ago, Jiff said:

I don't know why Toyota can't have an option for the display time to be obtained from your phone. That updates automatically and the displayed time doesn't have to be related to sat nav or anything else the car might use. 

It would also work if you took the car abroad, to a different time zone. 

I wonder what people do in places where they live near a time zone & drive across frequently 😱 

And what about the embedded SIM card in the car that shares data about the car's position, journeys, etc, with Toyota? It's a two-way data channel so in theory it could be the ideal conduit for additional comparatively minor functionality like adjusting the time automatically according to date-related changes, eg, DST.

[Stivino]

Sat-nav, FM radio, DAB radio all know the time.  So, there should be no need to have to change the time twice a year.

[Yugguy1970]

Same in the rav, seems a bit rubbish in 2021.

[frizzbee30]

It's easily done via an automatic route, despite some of the  comments here.

Besides time signals, Internet sync etc, it can also be done via calendar  (I have a standalone mains clock, that auto changes without any external input whatsoever )

It's just another of those bizarre quirks,  like the 1980's pixel infomatic, and the shocking adjustment levers 🤦‍♂️

Such a shame, as otherwise its a great car.

[Cyker]

That's a good point actually, I forgot about FM and DAB - Satnav is no use as it provides UTC time, but FM and DAB supposedly provide time information, as well as DST offsets IIRC, so they would work as a time source.

Still, all rather trivial. I've turned off DST in the car so it's gone back an hour, so I've already lost interest in the subject and won't care for another 6 months  

[Velvet--Glove]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Still, all rather trivial. I've turned off DST in the car so it's gone back an hour, so I've already lost interest in the subject and won't care for another 6 months

Me too. It's actually just THREE quick touches on the screen to change the time, for goodness sake, plus one more action to get back to the home screen or map. Hardly an arduous or lengthy task.

Maybe it's the shortening days making everyone a bit tetchy around here... 😂

[50p]