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Headlights remain on while parked inside car after dark

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DerbyDave

Active Member
Jul 2, 2020
4,790
2,806
Kentucky
When I put the car in park and am waiting for someone after dark, why do the headlights remain on? I could understand if they stayed on for 60 seconds after exit if you have that option set, which I do not. They stay on wasting energy until the car goes to sleep, in about 20 minutes. I also do not understand why it goes to sleep with me still sitting inside. I have to wake it back up for the seat to readjust, heat, etc., and then the lights come on again. I read another thread where I could use dog mode, but I don't think that is enabled until I exit the vehicle.
 
Dog mode is available immediately. As is camp mode.

You can also turn off the headlights from the settings -> lights screen.

Why turn off? What if someone left a heavy bookbag, or a sensor failed. Don’t want the car on forever.

It’s easy to tap the screen and gave it come back on.
 
Turning off the lights manually increases the likelihood of forgetting to turn them back on. I am getting used to expecting the lights work automatically.
They do reset to Auto when you get back in for the next drive cycle. They do not reset if you just put it in D (like sneaking into the driveway without being caught by the parents).

My other cars keep the lights on too if they are in Auto and I put the car in park without turning it off. The ones with the mechanical switch do not automatically reset when I exit the car and get back in.
 
They do reset to Auto when you get back in for the next drive cycle. They do not reset if you just put it in D (like sneaking into the driveway without being caught by the parents).

My other cars keep the lights on too if they are in Auto and I put the car in park without turning it off. The ones with the mechanical switch do not automatically reset when I exit the car and get back in.
Thing is, I never leave the car. I am waiting for someone. If I go in and manually turn off the dome lights, which also come on, and the headlights, I likely will forget to turn them back on. The car should not do this when I am parked and inside. If it switched to parking lights, I may understand better. It makes no sense to leave the headlights on with me sitting in the car. Is there a way to "turn the car off", besides the total Power Off in the Control Panel settings?
 
the car doesn’t understand the drivers intent, so I’m not sure what would be a better answer.

My non-Tesla cars do the same. I just turn the little knob at the end of the stalk and turn them off. Of course Tesla makes you go through menus.
 
Thing is, I never leave the car. I am waiting for someone.

I used to pick up my wife from work and faced this same situation.

What I did was:
1.- Put the vehicle in Park.
2.- Unbuckle seatbelt.
3.- Open driver's door just an inch.
4.- Lift my butt from the seat.
5.- Wait for the "Car off" message to appear on the Instrument Cluster.
6.- Place my butt back on the seat.
7.- Close driver's door.
8.- Press the lock button on MCU.
9.- Check e-mails while waiting for wife.

Once you get into the habit of doing these steps, they become second nature, and they take less than a minute to perform.

The perks of having a Tesla, I guess...
 
Thing is, I never leave the car. I am waiting for someone.

The headlight setting will revert to auto after about 15 minutes (when the car finally times out and turns “off”), whether you leave the car or not.

The annoying part about THAT is when it turns “off” it helpfully turns the parking lights back on for a minute or so. 😆
 
I used to pick up my wife from work and faced this same situation.

What I did was:
1.- Put the vehicle in Park.
2.- Unbuckle seatbelt.
3.- Open driver's door just an inch.
4.- Lift my butt from the seat.
5.- Wait for the "Car off" message to appear on the Instrument Cluster.
6.- Place my butt back on the seat.
7.- Close driver's door.
8.- Press the lock button on MCU.
9.- Check e-mails while waiting for wife.

Once you get into the habit of doing these steps, they become second nature, and they take less than a minute to perform.

The perks of having a Tesla, I guess...

The things we humans do to avoid the easy and obvious solution… “controls” -> “off” is literally two taps on the screen…
 
I used to pick up my wife from work and faced this same situation.

What I did was:
1.- Put the vehicle in Park.
2.- Unbuckle seatbelt.
3.- Open driver's door just an inch.
4.- Lift my butt from the seat.
5.- Wait for the "Car off" message to appear on the Instrument Cluster.
6.- Place my butt back on the seat.
7.- Close driver's door.
8.- Press the lock button on MCU.
9.- Check e-mails while waiting for wife.

Once you get into the habit of doing these steps, they become second nature, and they take less than a minute to perform.

The perks of having a Tesla, I guess...
I do something like this as well, but I don't really have to wait for the car to turn off when I open the door. It kills the lights pretty much immediately and then I close the door and sit back down. I don't bother to relock. This procedure is easier than pulling up options on the screen to turn off the lights.
 
When I put the car in park and am waiting for someone after dark, why do the headlights remain on? I could understand if they stayed on for 60 seconds after exit if you have that option set, which I do not. They stay on wasting energy until the car goes to sleep, in about 20 minutes. I also do not understand why it goes to sleep with me still sitting inside. I have to wake it back up for the seat to readjust, heat, etc., and then the lights come on again. I read another thread where I could use dog mode, but I don't think that is enabled until I exit the vehicle.
my car had headlights on auto, had to manually turn them off when waiting
 
My car is a 2018 Model 3 LR.
This works on my car

Again. You tap on the headlight icon just below the speedometer in the latest software.
The bottom left of the screen shows the headlight controls
Yes, you have a Model 3 with a single screen. The speedometer on a Model S is on the separate Instrument Panel screen behind the steering wheel. It is not touch sensitive.
 
I prefer to go to the Safety/Security screen in setting, and power the car off. If I need to access the touchscreen or climate control I can bring them up by touching the brake pedal, however most functions still stay off (headlights for instance).
 
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