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Sometimes I want headlights staying on when I'm out of the car

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scottm

Legacy account
Jun 13, 2014
3,070
2,387
Canada
I don't use the "keep headlights on for a while after exit" feature.

All I want is to be able to manually keep headlights on when I'm the only person with the car and I need to step out and do something, like get the mail at the side of the road. Or shine my lights on a person changing a flat tire as I help them.

You might think that sliding the lights switch to "ON", which turns on the headlights manually, would keep the headlights on until you turn them off using the switch. But no. No matter what headlights go off as soon as you step out of the car and shut the door, poof!... Thanks Tesla. I think this also happens when you turn on just the parking lights.. they go off too when the door shuts.

Standing there, car completely dark, at the side of the road. It's winter now. Only a couple days away from the longest evenings all year. We do a lot of thinks in the dark these days.

Headlights gratuitously shutting themselves off is a safety issue in my mind. Shouldn't do that. If a user is offered a control for a manual setting, then the car should respect what the user is trying to do and not override it. Tesla breaks this simple design rule time and time again. (Because they're smarter than you, right?!)

Anyone else face this issue? Does any other car babysit you like this with the headlights?

The only lights I can get to stay on are the safety hazard flashers.
 
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Just closing the door to the first click should keep them on. Rain shouldn't be a problem as I've "messed up" a number of times with the windows down about 25 mm, and very little gets in--even in fairly heavy rain. So I don't expect the first click to let any in.
 
So you’ve turned off the option to keep the headlights on after you exit, but now you’re unhappy that the headlights don’t stay on after you exit. The car is doing what you’ve asked it to.

I get that this behavior might be a little different than most vehicles, but if you want the headlights to stay on after exit, instead of going in and manually turning them on, go in and manually enable “headlights on after exit”. Since they’re both functions on the touch screen I’m not sure it’s too much more work to do the second.
 
So you’ve turned off the option to keep the headlights on after you exit, but now you’re unhappy that the headlights don’t stay on after you exit. The car is doing what you’ve asked it to.

I get that this behavior might be a little different than most vehicles, but if you want the headlights to stay on after exit, instead of going in and manually turning them on, go in and manually enable “headlights on after exit”. Since they’re both functions on the touch screen I’m not sure it’s too much more work to do the second.
But don't they turn off after 30 seconds or so?
 
But don't they turn off after 30 seconds or so?

Correct. That's why this walk-away illumination feature is unacceptable for the purposes of needing to keep your headlights on.

Having to keep door ajar, or windows down reaching in.... ... in the winter !? Heating an EV cabin is a precious use of energy, so heating the outdoors as the only way to keep headlights on is not a great work-around. The fact we have to work-around a basic requirement like this is ....get ready for it.... ludicrous!

Hey! All Tesla cars have a little ludicrous mode in them.
 
the headlights don’t stay on after you exit.

correct

The car is doing what you’ve asked it to.

incorrect... the opposite is happening: lights turn off after asking them to stay ON.

Since they’re both functions on the touch screen I’m not sure it’s too much more work to do the second.

see cited use case... wanting them to stay ON for as long as I choose, or until the battery depletes, whichever comes first

this thread is "want headlights staying on when I'm out of the car"
 
Just closing the door to the first click should keep them on. .

This doesn't work.

Headlights go off shortly after your butt leaves the driver's seat with the door still wide open!

POOF lights just turn off.. and you are left standing in the middle of a dark road beside your completely dark car, hand still on the door, door wide open... Freakin' brilliant!

Tried this with headlight slider set to auto.... leave car... car goes dark.
Tried this with slider set to ON... leave the car... goes dark.
Tried this with slider set to Parking lights only... leave the car ... goes dark.

This isn't the first time Tesla has screwed up with the headlights. There was a release for a while, whereby turning the headlight slider to OFF actually turned the headlights ON. Very repeatably.

The headlight dude needs a different job.
 
My wife's Chevy Tahoe would allow you to leave the headlight's on for up to 2 minutes after you exit the vehicle or if you turned the light's on manually and wanted them to remain on you would have to turn the headlight knob to the the "Manual" position and they would stay on for up to 10 minutes. Tesla just need's to allow more customer input so that WE can choose the way we want our car's, and im sure a simple software update would allow us to change these setting to as long as we want. I would love to be able to keep the headlights on for up to 3 minutes.
 
I don't use the "keep headlights on for a while after exit" feature.

All I want is to be able to manually keep headlights on when I'm the only person with the car and I need to step out and do something, like get the mail at the side of the road. Or shine my lights on a person changing a flat tire as I help them.

You might think that sliding the lights switch to "ON", which turns on the headlights manually, would keep the headlights on until you turn them off using the switch. But no. No matter what headlights go off as soon as you step out of the car and shut the door, poof!... Thanks Tesla. I think this also happens when you turn on just the parking lights.. they go off too when the door shuts.

Standing there, car completely dark, at the side of the road. It's winter now. Only a couple days away from the longest evenings all year. We do a lot of thinks in the dark these days.

Headlights gratuitously shutting themselves off is a safety issue in my mind. Shouldn't do that. If a user is offered a control for a manual setting, then the car should respect what the user is trying to do and not override it. Tesla breaks this simple design rule time and time again. (Because they're smarter than you, right?!)

Anyone else face this issue? Does any other car babysit you like this with the headlights?

The only lights I can get to stay on are the safety hazard flashers.

I'm back here to report.... Tesla has fixed this bug. I don't know when, some update must have addressed it. Since about a year ago when I reported this defect as this thread.

Now when you slilde the headlight slider to ON... headlights stay ON when you exit the car, and shut the doors, nobody inside. You also get a friendly pop-up reminder and warning tones that your headlights are on as you're leaving the car.

This is like it should be, and I'm happy with it.

Thanks Tesla!
 
WAIT a sec!!! This bug has NOT been fixed.

I was fooled the other day... the pop up warning and lights staying on only lasts a few seconds. Then they go off.

I was a little impatient and elated trying the feature out to see if it was better and fixed. I stepped out, closed the door, opened the door and ... got in a few times.. But if you stay out of the car for maybe more than 5 seconds... they go off.

Erg.

C'mon Tesla keep trying! You're almost there:

Lightswitch ON position means: Lights stay ON. Until the switch is turned off. Or the battery dies.
 
You have to turn the lights back on after you get out of the driver's seat. They'll stay on indefinitely at whatever setting you choose.

Rather than arguing about how you think it should work, maybe accept the way it actually works.