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How to trick "auto-on" headlamps?

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stevewaclo

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Hi gang,

I really can't sleep so thought I'd throw out this thought exercise for folks to ponder.

My wife's car is an '08 Altima Coupe with HID headlamps, and I'm confident that every unnecessary start-up of those lamps puts me one step closer to a very expensive replacement. Of course, incandescents are the same way, but around two (three?) orders of magnitude less expensive.

We used to leave the light switch in "auto" till we realized every time we started the car in our garage, the HID's fired up, then went out shortly after we pulled out into daylight.

When I look at all the problems in the world, I feel quite foolish complaining that I can't use my "auto-on" function (poor baby), but just wondered if anyone has ever heard of a solution to this issue.

Thanks for your consideration and don't hesitate to send me a bill for "cogitation time". Specify work order # AO 1.0, but don't uphold your breath .

Best wishes.
 
Switch on garage light.
Start car.
Exit garage.
Switch garage light off.
 
Do you have a garage door opener with a light? Perhaps you could add a light that would shine directly on the auto-on sensor when in the garage.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions!

Come to think of it (and thanks for making me think!), after we got the car in '08 I installed a motion sensor on the overhead garage fluorescents, and I believe that install was after we stopped using the auto-on feature in the car. I got tired of the garage lights coming on under nearly all my appearances in the garage and cranked the sensitivity way back, so the fluorescents only come on when it's quite dark.

You guys got me wondering if those garage lamps would be bright enough to fool the sensor in the car and keep the headlamps off. Easy enough to find out.

The concept of a light directly on the sensor is intriguing, as well. I currently have a motion activated laser that puts a red dot on the car as we pull into the garage. It also comes on when we walk into the garage (and is a great source of amusement when unknowing friends visit and think a sniper is after them). Unfortunately, lining up the car so the laser hits the sensor every time would be tricky . Adding a flood lamp to the fluorescents would be trivial however, and I would welcome a bit more light on that side of the garage.

I'll try both suggestions and have a full report on the everyone's desk in the morning. Well, how about soon?

Thanks again.
 
Turn the auto-lights OFF - it's an incredibly stupid function - look at all the idiots driving round in the fog with no lights, idiots with auto-lights!!.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that maybe Nevada has slightly different weather patterns to the UK. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've seen actual fog within 300KM of my house. Weather aside, automatic headlights aren't an excuse for being oblivious, they can be convenient but if you need to turn your lights on manually it is still your responsibility as the driver to do so.
 
Turn the auto-lights OFF - it's an incredibly stupid function - look at all the idiots driving round in the fog with no lights, idiots with auto-lights!!.
How do you know they are idiots with auto-lights as opposed to general run-of-the-mill idiots without auto-lights?
 
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