No "off" position for light switch!

[Paul john]

8 minutes ago, MC1216 said:

You are correct...my Golf has an off position BUT if i put it in that position and the sensor says it's too dark i get a warning on the dashboard to put my lights on...however like most people i leave them on auto.

Is your golf manufacturing year pre 2011 which is when DRL became mandatory in the UK?

[MC1216]

No 2019

[SDR]

Yep, Audi A4 the same (2023):

[FROSTYBALLS]

21 minutes ago, Paul john said:

Is your golf manufacturing year pre 2011 which is when DRL became mandatory in the UK?

DRLs became mandatory on vehicles with new Type Approval sold after November 2011, and mandatory on all new vehicles sold after November 2014. 

[flash22]

VW and Toyota use completely different control systems it's like comparing an Apple to a bar of chocolate, VAG use a lot of overcomplex control modules

[SDR]

21 minutes ago, flash22 said:

VW and Toyota use completely different control systems it's like comparing an apple to a bar of chocolate, VAG use a lot of overcomplex control modules

Whatever, both Toyota and VAG sell current type approved cars in the UK.  On some cars you can turn the lights off (except DRLs), on some you can't. 

Clearly, for our own reasons, some people would like the option to have an 'off' option. 

FWIW, I personally find some systems on my Corolla arguably over complex compared with my A4.   Thinking meter displays as an example (the A4 had a fully digital dash too but it was simpler and more intuitive to set up).   This looking purely from an end-user perspective, I don't care what is going on 'behind the scenes'.   

[TonyHSD]

Totally agreed, cars that can’t have lights off aren’t practical. Even drl Alen on its not ideal. 

[flash22]

Type approval is there to say a vehicle is designed and meets the correct standards, it does not dictate the method of operation of a system, VAG and Toyota have two completely different methodologies, topologies and nomenclature

Do pray tell your reasoning for the absence of an off position as per the title of this thread

Whatever.

[Cyker]

The DRLs shouldn't have a control - They should always be on when the car is active, although I'm not sure what the rules on that are as my Yaris doesn't turn on the DRLs until I move it out of P, and then they stay on no matter what, until the car is switched off.

I often take advantage of that when I'm e.g. sitting in some godforsaken services - I turn the car off so the DRLs go off, wait a second, then turn it back on again but leave it in P so the DRLs stay off and I can stay nicely air-conditioned while I eat my sandwich.

The 'Off' position would enable me to do that at night; At the moment, if I'm in that same scenario in winter, the whole nuclear LED light array will just turn on and blind everyone my car is pointed at unless I remember to switch it to sidelights, which then, ironically, risks me forgetting to switch them back to Auto/Mains  when I do move off (Which I have done many times!). It's easy to forget, as the Lights On indicator lights up for both side lights and main beams, and it's difficult to tell visually outside due to the pervasiveness of high-powered LED urban lighting...

[FROSTYBALLS]

On our cars when they are active (engine on, etc), the DRLs turn off when the handbrake is applied, and turn on when the handbrake is released.

[SDR]

1 hour ago, flash22 said:

Do pray tell your reasoning for the absence of an off position as per the title of this thread

I think that's a question that only Toyota UK could answer...

I'd like to know too.   Especially as an off position seems to be provided in some other countries. 

[Cyker]

29 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

On our cars when they are active (engine on, etc), the DRLs turn off when the handbrake is applied, and turn on when the handbrake is released.

Is that just on your Hyundais? That's quite neat.

On my Mk4, the DRLs don't turn on as soon as the car is started, but as soon as it's moved out of P for the first time they immediately come on and stay on until the car is turned off again!

 

[Derek.w]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

Is that just on your Hyundais? That's quite neat.

On my Mk4, the DRLs don't turn on as soon as the car is started, but as soon as it's moved out of P for the first time they immediately come on and stay on until the car is turned off again!

 

At dusk my headlights turn on before the car starts ie ready mode starts up.

Welcome home lights are turned off.

[Cyker]

Yeah, same here - Just unlocking the doors makes the main beams come on when the sun's gone down!

[TonyHSD]

45 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, same here - Just unlocking the doors makes the main beams come on when the sun's gone down!

Well this is like another nail in the coffin for dead 12v Battery together with auto parking brake and auto folding mirrors. These drain the Battery the most and since it’s a tiny one with regular short usage Battery gets burst. If me I will disable all these been auto and when park up and still in ready mode turn everything off and fold mirrors and then switch off the car and the only power use will be brake system depressurisation. 

[Cyker]

To be fair they're LEDs so the power draw will be tiny compared to all that other stuff, but it is annoying when I want to get something out the car at night and unlock it as I'm walking towards it and it beams me in the face...   

[SDR]

14 minutes ago, Cyker said:

To be fair they're LEDs so the power draw will be tiny compared to all that other stuff, but it is annoying when I want to get something out the car at night and unlock it as I'm walking towards it and it beams me in the face...   

Is it not possible to turn that feature off somewhere in the settings?   Not a rhetorical question, I simply don't know.   My Corolla doesn't do that;   what I can't now remember is whether it is a selectable option in the settings that I turned off when I did all the initial setting up (which I would have done if I could have done, if that makes sense).   Or maybe my Icon spec car simply doesn't have that feature. 

[Derek.w]

I presume the Yaris MK4 auto light position is a off position with the stork, is just labled differently and the electronics just take over in the off/auto position.

[Cyker]

The stalk we have is Auto->Sidelights->MainBeams, but the other stalk is Off->Auto->Sidelights->MainBeams

That's why it's so nonsensical to me that they wasted all that money making two different ones!

[Mjolinor]

9 hours ago, Cyker said:

The stalk we have is Auto->Sidelights->MainBeams, but the other stalk is Off->Auto->Sidelights->MainBeams

That's why it's so nonsensical to me that they wasted all that money making two different ones!

I doubt there are two different ones. Has anyone ripped one apart?

I would imagine it is just a different silk screen and a stop where the switch should be.

[philip42h]

From the manual for my 2013 4.4:

As described, there was no 'off' position - just a DRLs 'on' position - which is a potential problem since the DRLs should not be lit at night.