DRL Activation by dealer?

[candyland]

Skoda UK told me the software was now available to activate the DLR's in the foglights and the master technician at my local dealer may be able to activate. Dealer had my octavia for an hour but couldn't activate the DLR's, they claimed the wiring was missing but I find that unlikely given the bulbs are there and the manual talks about how you turn them on and off?

Standard elegance spec, 2011 car without maxidot. What now?

[Gizmo]

Standard elegance spec, 2011 car without maxidot. What now?

Find someone with VCDS?

[eccleshill]

Standard elegance spec, 2011 car without maxidot. What now?

Easy! Forget the DRLs! They are a pointless waste of fuel.

[ChrisRs]

Easy! Forget the DRLs! They are a pointless waste of fuel.

They dont waste fuel at all...

Personally if they improve road safety, embrace them rather than dis them!!

[Tech1e]

Do you not just pull the indicator stalk towards you and up for three seconds?

[candyland]

Do you not just pull the indicator stalk towards you and up for three seconds?

Yes, that's what the manual says but it does not work, which why I contacted Skoda UK. They told me the software was now available and they could be sctivated by a dealer, I'm really interested in people who have done this on an early 2011 car.

Once activated I understand you can turn them on or off as you want with the indicator stalk. Personally I think the DRL's are a good idea and as they are fitted it's frustrating that I can't use them.

Not too keen on Vag-Com solutions in case it goes wrong!

[Gizmo]

Not too keen on Vag-Com solutions in case it goes wrong!

VCDS is 100% save in the right hands, do a scan & save it, write down any code you are about to change so if things do not work as expected simply change them back.

[HotRod]

Sorry - a Skoda tech can't activate DRL's on a 2011 Octy Elegance?? Find another dealer who know's what they are doing.

I managed it with VCDS and the warning "Save all codes before you edit them", on my 2010 Elegance Combi.

I agree - VCDS could be dangerous (as a friend of mine proved when he enabled transport blocks on his Audi S4), just make sure you find someone who has some experience and save the config first before making changes, that way if you do mess it up you can revert to a previous working state.

Activating DRLs is a dead simple task, I'm sure there are dozens of people on here who can help.

[DevonDave]

I have a 2010 Elegance with Maxi-Dot. My dealer activated the DRL's for me, despite originally saying it couldn't be done. However, when I collected the car from them I found that instead of the lights in the foglight housing being on, they had actually activated the headlights to be used as DRL's. When I queried this they said it had to be that way because I have Xenon lights. Does any one know if that is correct? I am concerned that there will be additional wear & tear on the Xenons by continually starting the engine when they are already on.

[eccleshill]

They dont waste fuel at all...

So where does the energy come from to power them? The fairies?

Tiny amount of fuel for one car - especially the VRS with its LEDs but the Elegance has 21W filament lamps (x2 = approx 0.05% of the engine output being used to power them). Multiply up all the lights on all the cars and you have a lot of fuel wasted - for every 2000 cars you have added an extra engine. The increased fuel usage (and hence increased emissions) for a dubious safety gain has been a major factor delaying the introduction and in many countries not making them compulsory. The long introduction notice period was to allow manufacturers time to design in dedicated DRLs instead of using dipped beams which would waste even more fuel and generate even more emissions.

Another serious design error on many cars (not Skoda!) is that the DRLs are too close to the indicator and make it very difficult to spot.

And what is the point of them? If you can't see a 1.5 tonne lump of metal out on the road in broad daylight unless it is lit up like a christmas tree then you shouldn't be driving. Different issue in Scandinavia where the sun is very low but not here!

They are not activated on my Elegance and that is how they will stay!

[alberg]

I have a 2010 Elegance with Maxi-Dot. My dealer activated the DRL's for me, despite originally saying it couldn't be done. However, when I collected the car from them I found that instead of the lights in the foglight housing being on, they had actually activated the headlights to be used as DRL's. When I queried this they said it had to be that way because I have Xenon lights. Does any one know if that is correct? I am concerned that there will be additional wear & tear on the Xenons by continually starting the engine when they are already on.

No that´s not true, the dealer should be able to set on the foglights.

The dealer I bought mine from also set on headlights but asked them to turn it off.

Went to another dealer and did the job. Then have on maxi-dot the option to turn off/on the DRL.

[HotRod]

So where does the energy come from to power them? The fairies?

Tiny amount of fuel for one car - especially the VRS with its LEDs but the Elegance has 21W filament lamps (x2 = approx 0.05% of the engine output being used to power them). Multiply up all the lights on all the cars and you have a lot of fuel wasted - for every 2000 cars you have added an extra engine. The increased fuel usage (and hence increased emissions) for a dubious safety gain has been a major factor delaying the introduction and in many countries not making them compulsory. The long introduction notice period was to allow manufacturers time to design in dedicated DRLs instead of using dipped beams which would waste even more fuel and generate even more emissions.

Another serious design error on many cars (not Skoda!) is that the DRLs are too close to the indicator and make it very difficult to spot.

And what is the point of them? If you can't see a 1.5 tonne lump of metal out on the road in broad daylight unless it is lit up like a christmas tree then you shouldn't be driving. Different issue in Scandinavia where the sun is very low but not here!

They are not activated on my Elegance and that is how they will stay!

So why not buy a Greenline if you're concerned about wasting fuel? Seriously - 2 DRL's on a car is not going to make that much of a difference.

Hasn't it already been proven that you notice the vehicle better if it has lights on? This is why motorcycles ride around with them on.

[kalpat]

Skoda UK told me the software was now available to activate the DLR's in the foglights and the master technician at my local dealer may be able to activate. Dealer had my octavia for an hour but couldn't activate the DLR's, they claimed the wiring was missing but I find that unlikely given the bulbs are there and the manual talks about how you turn them on and off?

Standard elegance spec, 2011 car without maxidot. What now?

When I rang Skoda UK late last year they told me the same thing, but when I went into the dealers they took the car into the workshop, plugged in the black box and hey presto 5 mins later DRL's in foglight housing working. They then showed me how to activate/deactivate using the indicator stalk. The cost - nil pounds.

[HotRod]

When I rang Skoda UK late last year they told me the same thing, but when I went into the dealers they took the car into the workshop, plugged in the black box and hey presto 5 mins later DRL's in foglight housing working. They then showed me how to activate/deactivate using the indicator stalk. The cost - nil pounds.

Now that's service..

[DevonDave]

No that´s not true, the dealer should be able to set on the foglights.

The dealer I bought mine from also set on headlights but asked them to turn it off.

Went to another dealer and did the job. Then have on maxi-dot the option to turn off/on the DRL.

Thanks alberg. I'll go back to the dealer and get them to change from headlights to foglights. It seems to me that most Skoda dealers are extremely helpful but they just don't have the product knowledge.

[colsay]

My car is May 2010. DRL activated by Dealer in September 2010 and works perfectly. Also this upgrade added a new menu item in Maxidot so I can easily turn them off if I want.

There are many posts on this subject in this forum and one thing is clear; the response (and ability to sort it) from Skoda Dealers varies enormously.

[ChrisRs]

So why not buy a Greenline if you're concerned about wasting fuel? Seriously - 2 DRL's on a car is not going to make that much of a difference.

Hasn't it already been proven that you notice the vehicle better if it has lights on? This is why motorcycles ride around with them on.

Quite...A quite rediculous argument IMO against them eccleshill.

I like them, feel safer with them and dont worry about the energy loss.. not that I believe makes any difference in the slightlest.