Automatic lights, automatic wipers - more trouble than they are worth??

Bpmull

My current car (mk5 vw golf) is the first I've had that has auto lights and wipers. Before it got it I always thought they would be features that had little benefit. But now having them they are both really good. Particularly the auto lights. Unlock the car in dark conditions lights come on stop it at night there is a delay for them going off so you can see.

They are really very handy and when set up right you never need to touch the light switch unless there is fog or the odd case. Both features suprisede and Id be hard out to go with out them I've had no reliability issues with either.

KNS

Have them both on current car (Audi TTS). First time having them and they're great, although not essential. Could survive without them.

The auto lights and DRLs have made me lazy. Couple of times I've borrowed the car from herself only to realise I'm driving around with no lights on.

Out of all the gadgets I find the electic folding mirrors the best for making life easier. Purely because I've to park on a narrow road so mirrors need to folded.

Wonder if some of the extras break how will the cost vs use work out.

Oafley Jones

Cork selfbuild wrote: »

I'm on my second car with Auto Lights & Auto Wipers, first was a Volvo, now a Superb, find the Superb great, I use the auto wipers 95% of the time and they do the trick with the right sensitivity setting almost always, the auto lights, I use 100% of the time.

Also the auto dimming rear view and side view mirrors and other nice little bits like passenger mirror tilt down and radio mutes when I go into reverse, handy little features.

As previously mentioned, once you have them you'd not look back, in my experience, the newer the car the better they work with plenty of control over sensitivity and manual over rides.

Find this really irritating on the Superb, have it on the is250 and both mirrors drop down a fair distance for great visibility, on the Superb the passenger just drops a tiny useless amount. Also, find the auto wipers aren't as good. Slow enough to come on and then I find that the speed is often poor for the conditions and end up changing it manually. I've never had to touch the Lexus's wiper controls.

Oddly, there's one point on bend on the road, that the Lexus wipers nearly always seem to come for. I don't know is it moisture falling off a tree, but they'll nearly always come on for literally a second in the same place. Another corner (fairly dense tree coverge in fairness) on the same road has the dips kicking in a fraction of a second in the Superb, I'm beginning to think other drivers think I'm warning/saluting them.

Falcon L

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Find this really irritating on the Superb, have it on the is250 and both mirrors drop down a fair distance for great visibility, on the Superb the passenger just drops a tiny useless amount. Also, find the auto wipers aren't as good. Slow enough to come on and then I find that the speed is often poor for the conditions and end up changing it manually. I've never had to touch the Lexus's wiper controls.

Oddly, there's one point on bend on the road, that the Lexus wipers nearly always seem to come for. I don't know is it moisture falling off a tree, but they'll nearly always come on for literally a second in the same place. Another corner (fairly dense tree coverge in fairness) on the same road has the dips kicking in a fraction of a second in the Superb, I'm beginning to think other drivers think I'm warning/saluting them.

I suppose different cars handle things in different ways. My auto lights will stay on for a few minutes once they activate. I've seen a lot of cars with lights that come on for a second under bridges and the like.

Oafley Jones

KNS wrote: »

.

Out of all the gadgets I find the electic folding mirrors the best for making life easier. Purely because I've to park on a narrow road so mirrors need to folded.

Wonder if some of the extras break how will the cost vs use work out.

The Superb is a better car than the Megane Estate it replaced, but the auto folding mirrors are on thing I miss one the older car.

Actually, the whole keyless entry business was easily the best we've had. The Superb seems to be playing mind games with me. I genuinely hate it's keyless entry and it's the one thing I loathe about the car. It's seems completely random.

It'll happily allow the tail gate to open, but then won't open the doors, other times it's the opposite. Some times it'll open the passenger door and not the drivers, next time it'll change this up - this with my keys in my pocket. It's just erratic and with baby in tow it's a ****ing pain in the arse.

The Megane was great. All doors and tailgate would open when approached. Walk ten feet from it and it'd beep, lock and fold in the mirrors.

dastardly00

I like technology and gadgets, but I prefer to have a proper car key, and manual lights and wipers

_Kaiser_

My A6 has auto lights, DRLs and auto wipers and I think they're fantastic. The wipers are a bit more sensitive than I'd like sometimes but this can be adjusted (though not disabled completely AFAIK).

Auto lights should be standard and mandatory IMO. I'm sick to death of seeing cars at night/in bad weather with no or minimal lights.. or the eejits who use fogs instead of dips.

Works in my brothers A4 brilliantly, the auto dipping is really handy and works surprisingly well.

Auto wipers don't work so good in my Ma's 03 micra.

Unfortunately, I don't have such luxuries.

kirving

I don't really get the "just another thing to go wrong" argument against technology such as this. The reality is that an external light sensor is extremely unlikely to go wrong since there are no moving parts, and it's basically the same as any other electronic component.

Not the biggest fan of the hybrid keyless entry system in my mothers focus though, it's factory fitted of course, but it's clearly just an upgrade from a standard model since there's no stop-start button, and you still have to turn a false key in the ignition once you're in the car. Still, its incredibly handy to have on the few occasions that I've used it. I don't think I could ever justify spending money on a car without cruise control, auto-lights/wipers, auto-dimming rear view mirror or air-con. They should be standard across the board if they're available on an eight year old Focus.

Tea 1000

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I don't really get the "just another thing to go wrong" argument against technology such as this. The reality is that an external light sensor is extremely unlikely to go wrong since there are no moving parts, and it's basically the same as any other electronic component.

Not the biggest fan of the hybrid keyless entry system in my mothers focus though, it's factory fitted of course, but it's clearly just an upgrade from a standard model since there's no stop-start button, and you still have to turn a false key in the ignition once you're in the car. Still, its incredibly handy to have on the few occasions that I've used it. I don't think I could ever justify spending money on a car without cruise control, auto-lights/wipers, auto-dimming rear view mirror or air-con. They should be standard across the board if they're available on an eight year old Focus.

The electronic components are a problem though because they're manufactured to the cheapest standard these days, so a few years time cold weather etc causes premature corrosion, and hence unpredictability in operation. Then you get wipers going erratic and other such nucances that cost lots to fix.
Depends on the manufacturer though. I'd rather have these things on a 10 year old Lexus than a 10 year old BMW or VW.

In terms of your list, the only essential that will dictate the purchase of a car or not for me is air-con. I can live without the rest. Like it if I have it, but don't care enough to rule out a car based on it!

Special Circumstances

Saw an awesome feature on an A4 this morning, reverse lights on when going forward. Certainly helped me pick him out in the traffic.

Cork selfbuild

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Find this really irritating on the Superb, have it on the is250 and both mirrors drop down a fair distance for great visibility, on the Superb the passenger just drops a tiny useless amount. Also, find the auto wipers aren't as good. Slow enough to come on and then I find that the speed is often poor for the conditions and end up changing it manually. I've never had to touch the Lexus's wiper controls.

I found with the mirror, there is a sweet spot, it might be in relation to your seat height / position, but I find it gives a good kerb view from its starting position...

Sometimes i do flick the adjuster but not that often tbh, I'm trying to remember it versus the Volvo, and I remember thinking it was better in the Superb after changing cars.

Oafley Jones wrote: »

The Superb is a better car than the Megane Estate it replaced, but the auto folding mirrors are on thing I miss one the older car.

Actually, the whole keyless entry business was easily the best we've had. The Superb seems to be playing mind games with me. I genuinely hate it's keyless entry and it's the one thing I loathe about the car. It's seems completely random.

It'll happily allow the tail gate to open, but then won't open the doors, other times it's the opposite. Some times it'll open the passenger door and not the drivers, next time it'll change this up - this with my keys in my pocket. It's just erratic and with baby in tow it's a ****ing pain in the arse.

The Megane was great. All doors and tailgate would open when approached. Walk ten feet from it and it'd beep, lock and fold in the mirrors.

Thankfully mu Superb doesn't have the keyless entry - which I wouldn't like at all! The mirrors do fold in mine when locking with the key, but needs button held for locking 2 seconds rather than a click...

Falcon L

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Saw an awesome feature on an A4 this morning, reverse lights on when going forward. Certainly helped me pick him out in the traffic.

Bloody French cars are all the same... Oh, Wait...

Special Circumstances

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I don't really get the "just another thing to go wrong" argument against technology such as this. The reality is that an external light sensor is extremely unlikely to go wrong since there are no moving parts, and it's basically the same as any other electronic component.

Automotive is a pretty tough environment on electronics. I agree the actual light sensor itself is unlikely to go wrong but if something was to go wrong back at the control unit and the feature couldn't be over-ridden and started causing weird knock on effects... $$$

Tea1000 - Developing/Manufacturing/Testing components for automotive use is actually very very strict in terms of quality. "Zero defects" or "<1 ppm failures" is what the module manufactures would aim for from component suppliers (within warranty period haha). They will make your life hell if failure rates start creeping up.

Special Circumstances

Falcon L wrote: »

Bloody French cars are all the same... Oh, Wait...

Haha my thoughts exactly. I did also see a peugeot with the third brake light strobing in time to the indicators though, just to confirm everything hadn't gone completely topsy turvy in automotive electrics...

creedp

Falcon L wrote: »

Once you get used to automatic stuff, it can de hard to get usd to not having them. Agreed on the replacement windscreen stuff. You need to make sure the fitters use the proper stuff when refitting, otherwise the auto wipers can act up.

Quick question about auto wipers ... I always turn mine off during the winter as I'd be worried that the motors could be damaged if I switched on the ignition and the windscreen was frozen.

Other than that I leave them on all the time and find them very useful. As others have said they don't deal very well with fine mist/road spray so have to manually intervene. Its a bit of a pain as this requires regular pushing down of the wiper stalk as no manual intermittent option.

As for auto lights .. I have them but never used them. I prefer to turn on/off my own lights.

Bigcheeze

creedp wrote: »

Quick question about auto wipers ... I always turn mine off during the winter as I'd be worried that the motors could be damaged if I switched on the ignition and the windscreen was frozen.
.

Mine have to switched on every time the car is started for this reason and also to prevent them coming on in a car wash.

mickdw

I've auto lights and wipers. I find them both fantastic. I never have to turn on or off my headlights and they behave very well in terms of how they operate.
The wipers never really have to be touched. They really are a godsend. The only issue with the wipers is that they don't begin until the car starts moving when beginning a journey so very occasionally, I would have to manual wipe. Having said that once barely rolling they kick into action.
I'm also half looking at fitting an upgrade that gives auto dipping function on my car. I just need to change the rear view mirror and a control module then some basic coding. By all accounts it works quite well.

Falcon L

Auto dipping for oncoming cars is grand, but wouldn't you still have to dip the lights approaching the rear of a car in front?

franer1970

Falcon L wrote: »

Auto dipping for oncoming cars is grand, but wouldn't you still have to dip the lights approaching the rear of a car in front?

So that's why those Audi/BMW/Merc driving pr!cks are always blasting me from behind with high beams :pac:

MuppetCheck

Falcon L wrote: »

Auto dipping for oncoming cars is grand, but wouldn't you still have to dip the lights approaching the rear of a car in front?

It can pick up rear lights too of the car in front but in my experience it's less reliable than with oncoming traffic.

Gwynston

We have these on both our cars:

2011 Mk5 Golf: Auto lights are good because it also has DRLs.

2008 Ford S-Max: Doesn't have DRLs, so I find that I'm better off manually switching on lights because they don't automatically come on soon enough for my liking.

On both cars the auto wipers aren't very good with light rain or mist. Either they don't come on often enough or do so too much. I would prefer a manual intermittent rate setting.

The S-Max also has parking sensors and the rear ones are often unreliable, with the beeper on constantly when nothing's behind. Dirt? Weather? I've never been able to work out as they suddenly start working correctly out of the blue.

Both cars also have an auto-dimming rear view mirror which is great, but neither have that feature on the wing mirrors, which is not great...

Tea 1000

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Automotive is a pretty tough environment on electronics. I agree the actual light sensor itself is unlikely to go wrong but if something was to go wrong back at the control unit and the feature couldn't be over-ridden and started causing weird knock on effects... $$$

Tea1000 - Developing/Manufacturing/Testing components for automotive use is actually very very strict in terms of quality. "Zero defects" or "<1 ppm failures" is what the module manufactures would aim for from component suppliers (within warranty period haha). They will make your life hell if failure rates start creeping up.

Not at all. You'd think that the standards would be high but they aren't. A few of my mates have worked or work in companies who produce various components for the manufacturers. Some are strict, like Porsche, others just have a set of guidelines like VW, and others like Renault will accept what ever crap is left over.
Some even accept failure rates that are shockingly high. The quality is dropping big time. These companies are contracted to produce a part for a manufacturer because they were the lowest bidder. In circumstances like that, quality usually goes down constantly to the point where it's a headache for the manufacturer. Only then will they do something about it.

Special Circumstances

My experience is different... there's no such thing as a "small issue" or "be grand like" when you are supplying the well known module manufacturers. Maybe their relationship with the car manufacturers is different. Obviously the push for <1 ppm at component level is so they can have a low but not 1 ppm rate at the module level, multiplying up again for system level.

Falcon L

MuppetCheck wrote: »

It can pick up rear lights too of the car in front but in my experience it's less reliable than with oncoming traffic.

Surely you would have to be right behind the car in front for the back lights to activate auto-dip. On a country road you could have a car a few hundred meters away and still be blinding them in their rear view.

bazz26

I have adaptive headlights which includes high beam assist. There is a small camera built into the windscreen behind the rear view mirror. This camera detects either light or heat from vehicles on the road ahead in order to activate/deactivate the high beams. It's pretty accurate and the range is good, the only time it really doesn't react fast enough is if a car is out of range, coming over a hill or there is a dip in the road. Doesn't really matter whether the vehicle is travelling ahead or towards you either.

RandomAccess

My old car didn't even have an intermittent wipe setting. You had to do it yourself.
But then you soon get used to it so it becomes second nature and it was certainly less of a distraction than fiddling with the intermittent setting on a night where the rain keeps changing.

I had a car on Hire a while back with most of the mod cons,
Auto Headlights,
Auto Wipers,
Hill Hold,
Auto Stop Start,
Keyless entry & start

They were all very good implementations and never really felt I had to intervene with any of them, maybe once the wipers were confused by large raindrops when parked under a tree but fine otherwise. Keyless entry, start and locking was the most useful of the lot.
Overall I would rather have them than not, as long as they are well implemented.

But then its simple things like one touch open on an electric window that you miss when you get into a car that doesn't have it.
I think this one didn't but that is probably a rarity now.

Mc Love

The only issue is possibly the auto wipers as many have said before with certain conditions but the auto lights are fantastic.