I just picked up my Prius III today and noticed that it does not have Daylight Running Lights / Auto-On Lights! This is 2010, Toyota, this is hard to believe! Anyway, I was thinking of just leaving the headlights on all the time. Assuming (and this is just a guess) that the bulb life is 3000 hours, then I might get 4 years on a set of bulbs, given my usage. New H11 halogen bulbs are what, $20/pair? $5/year for better safety. Is there any reason I should not do this? Thanks!
The upside is more safety. The downside is you will use more 'battery', which means you have to recharge, which means you will get very slightly less mpg. I'm sure someone else could give you an exact number. Regarding which bulbs, no clue.
Web Electric Products, it shows it's for the 2009 and later but it works on the 2010 as well... Here's a link to the thread with more pictures and an explanation of how they work...
Just leave your headlights on all the time. They turn on/off only when your car turns on/off. THESE are much cooler. Since both void the warranty, go with the cooler looking one. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-modifications/84872-led-drls-foglights.html
In Japan, cars frequently don't have auto lights. When behind someone at night, or as the first car at a stoplight, it is customary to be polite and dim your lights so you're not blinding the person in front of you.
Everywhere I've lived, low beam (or more precisely, not high beam) is the law in these situations. That is entirely different from whether or nor the lights turn on automatically.
I'm referring to dimming to running lights only, not high to low. In reference to automatic lights, I am also aware that its not really pertinent. It might mean something as to why we don't get offered auto lights on lower class models. Just thinking out loud. Sorry if I wasted your time.
I've heard that earlier generations of Camrys had DRLs that couldn't be disabled and people disliked them. I've have rental GM cars in the past w/DRLs that couldn't be turned off. Some people don't like them because one looks like an idiot driving around w/their lights on all the time. I've (and my parents) personally have never owned a car w/DRLs. I wouldn't want them either. (The newest being model year 07.) One of my cars had headlights w/an auto position but since it had HIDs, I didn't want to use it for fear of putting on needless cycles on HIDs. In Japan, they apparently, out of politeness, turn off their headlights at traffic lights so that one's headlights don't shine into cars on the other side. I only looked into this when my Nissans had statements in their manuals to not unnecessarily turn HIDs on/off and the example they gave was "at traffic lights". Sure enough, I did observe the above politeness in Japan. When the light turns green, they turn their headlights back on.
