I have a 59 reg Octavia Elegance - whilst out driving on saturday afternoon, I noticed, reflecting on the rear of the car ahead of me, that I had some lights on, even though the switch was off. I called at the shop we were heading for, stopping the car and turning of the iginition, but didn't give a thought to the lights. Drove home and checked the car before turning of the ignition and the two small, outer bulbs in the bumper were lit, i.e., not the headlights, not the parking lights, not the fog lights, and there were no rear lights illuminated either. turn the ignition off and they went out.

I've done a couple of trips in the car since, and they haven't come back on.

Are they DLR's, if not what are they and what made them come on, or what has turned them off again ?

I have a 59 reg Octavia Elegance - whilst out driving on saturday afternoon, I noticed, reflecting on the rear of the car ahead of me, that I had some lights on, even though the switch was off. I called at the shop we were heading for, stopping the car and turning of the iginition, but didn't give a thought to the lights. Drove home and checked the car before turning of the ignition and the two small, outer bulbs in the bumper were lit, i.e., not the headlights, not the parking lights, not the fog lights, and there were no rear lights illuminated either. turn the ignition off and they went out.

I've done a couple of trips in the car since, and they haven't come back on.

Are they DLR's, if not what are they and what made them come on, or what has turned them off again ?

Can you post a pic on where these lights were illuminated?

Yes, they are DRL's...

They will illuminate as long as the engine is running. As soon as you move the headlight switch from '0' to sidelights or dipped headlights they go out.

Edited 1 November, 201015 yr by silver1011

They will illuminate as long as the engine is running. As soon as you move the headlight switch from '0' to sidelights or dipped headlights they go out.

Thank You, Silver, it was the DRLs that were on.

So how come they were on for those two journeys to and from the garden centre on saturday afternoon, but haven't been on since - I've just been down and checked - run engine, light switch at 0, no DRLs ?

Thank You, Silver, it was the DRLs that were on.

So how come they were on for those two journeys to and from the garden centre on saturday afternoon, but haven't been on since - I've just been down and checked - run engine, light switch at 0, no DRLs ?

Well - I'll go to the foot of our stairs. Not only are there instructions in the manual, but they do actually work !!!!

turn in ignition, pull back light stalk and indicate right for 3 seconds !

Edited 3 November, 201015 yr by gwm97e

Well - I'll go to the foot of our stairs. Not only are there instructions in the manual, but they do actually work !!!!

turn in ignition, pull back light stalk and indicate right for 3 seconds !

Hang on - this can turn on/off DRL's? Interesting

Yes, the method of activating and unactivating the DRL's via the indicator stalk is really for car's without Maxidot.

Those equipped with Maxidot can also turn them on and off via one of the menu's / settings.

I'm going to check this on mine now... I noticed a FL vRS the other day without its DRL's on!

Be careful, it’s not as straight forward as you think.

Some Octavia's haven't had their DRL's activated from new. This is because they are not required by law until early next year.

This may mean that your dealer (or a friendly member with VCDS) will need to first enable them. Only when they have been enabled can you turn them on and off at your discretion using the methods above (Maxidot / indicator stalk).

It seems completely random too, some UK cars have them already turned on from the factory some don't. Some owners can use the above methods to activate them, some first need to visit their dealer. Some dealers say it can't be done, some can and are happy to do so!

The vRS is slightly different. Unlike the non LED DRL's used on all but the vRS Octavia's when you select sidelights on a vRS the DRL's dim instead of turning off completely. Unlike the non vRS models the DRL's double up as sidelights.

I'm not sure if the option to turn off the vRS's LED DRL's is present, but if so I am assuming that the redundant 5W sidelight bulb in the main headlight will therefore act as the sidelight? This may explain why Skoda still fit this bulb on the vRS despite the fact that when the DRL's are used for the sidelight function it will never be needed.

Thanks Silver for this info, but I have tried it and can activate or de-activate them useing the indicater stalk method!

I'll be leaving them on though as I think they look good on, on the vRS.

Cheers

I agree, the LED DRL's on the vRS make the car for me!

Just out of curiosity, if you deactivate them, then select side lights, do the LED DRL's light up but dimmer than normal, or do the DRL's remain off and the 5W bulb in the main headlight cluster light up?

the DRL's light up dimmer, as they do when the headlights are on.

Cheers Charles

I guess the question of why the vRS still has the 5W side light bulb in the headlight cluster remains!

Maybe as the headlight itself is the same as the rest of the range it's easier / less expensice to just leave it in and for it to never work!