I love having that little light there. Our old Volvo had no indication that the lights were on and I went driving with the parking lights on more than a few times because of that.

There is a light! You've posted a pic of it!!

 

On the switch not the dash display, just like my 1980 Marina then. Other models in Skoda range have one but the Octavia doesnt

 

Not easy to see during the day at all as my pic shows

To the OP

The settings in the car menu are useless, the lights will turn on IMHO to early (middle of the day, little bit cloudy, 1 cloud in a crystal blue sky :-) and they are on!)

So far nobody has found a way to decrease the light level trigger point for the auto lights, I did look through the settings where you changed the windscreen glass type and under testing this decreased the trigger point by xxx lx level.

 

Unfortunately in practice it made no difference and they still came on to early.  I just leave them in off, and switch them on when it starts to get dark and I need them, I will continue to investigate though as I want them to trigger later.

To the OP

The settings in the car menu are useless, the lights will turn on IMHO to early (middle of the day, little bit cloudy, 1 cloud in a crystal blue sky :-) and they are on!)

So far nobody has found a way to decrease the light level trigger point for the auto lights, I did look through the settings where you changed the windscreen glass type and under testing this decreased the trigger point by xxx lx level.

Unfortunately in practice it made no difference and they still came on to early. I just leave them in off, and switch them on when it starts to get dark and I need them, I will continue to investigate though as I want them to trigger later.

Let me know if you come up with somethinG.

They trigger way too early.

But perhaps Thats the way it must be for them to trigger early in tunnels.

I set it to the late setting when I got the car and have been mostly happy about when they decide to turn on. The only situations where they've turned on prematurely have been when parked under a canopy.

your nav light setting options:

Day - always in daylight colours

Night - always in night time colours

Auto - changes between day and night colours, depending on your headlight status.

Light indication is on the switch itself. It is clearly obvious in the day or night. Day = switch position. Night = illumination of switch markers.

It seems time of day matters as well. Drove this evening at 9 o'clock. Bright as day, but overcast. Main beams lit up.

In the UK we are recommended to use dipped headlights during the day when the weather is overcast. Yours appear to be working as expected.

In the UK we are recommended to use dipped headlights during the day when the weather is overcast. Yours appear to be working as expected.

They probably do. Im just trying to work out the exact conditions that makes them light up. They just seem a bit more sensitive than on some other brands, wich I find is a good thing.

I wasn't expecting to get automatic headlights, but they were a free upgrade on the SE last month, so I will be interested to see how they work when I eventually get my car. Erring on the side of caution would see them coming on earlier in the evening than is strictly required, but I would prefer to have a more obvious indication that they are on than the little light on the switch. Something in the instrument cluster would be nice.

The lights behind the speedo and rev counter will also light up when main beams are on, so its not really a problem to see when they are on.

The lights behind the speedo and rev counter will also light up when main beams are on, so its not really a problem to see when they are on.

Thats right. Your dash lights up when you lights are on. Lights off...only the needles are lit up. I dont see the need for an indicator on the dash.

Thats right. Your dash lights up when you lights are on. Lights off...only the needles are lit up. I dont see the need for an indicator on the dash.

thats not entirely true, there is an ambient sensor in the rev counter, if the light level inside the car drops the instrument lighting can come on without the headlights.

thats not entirely true, there is an ambient sensor in the rev counter, if the light level inside the car drops the instrument lighting can come on without the headlights.

That can be changed to, the instrument cluster can be fully lit (needles and clocks) all the time, this is independent of the exterior lights.

Of course we're talking about dipped beam, not main beam here folks ;-)

 

The lights actually use two sensors, one out and one inside.  They compare the two.  This is how the car can tell when there is low level sunlight therefore still requiring dipped beam to be on.

 

Why is being visible such a problem?  I drive over 30K miles a year in mine, and the headlamps really aren't an issue in comparison to other rubbish things on the car.

So main beam is the same as high beam, or?

I might mix up whats what in english..

So main beam is the same as high beam, or?

I might mix up whats what in english..

It's not a problem, we know what you mean!

 

But yes, over here we consider high beam to be main beam (the one where you pull the indicator stalk toward you for instance).  The standard lighting you drive with we call dipped beam, as it is in fact dipped toward the road so that it doesn't dazzle oncoming drivers.

It seems time of day matters as well.

 

I forgot to mention, this seems unlikely, at least for cars without GPS, because they don't know where in the world they are and can't be sure of knowing what time it is (although they could get the time from an FM or DAB radio station it couldn't be relied on).

I forgot to mention, this seems unlikely, at least for cars without GPS, because they don't know where in the world they are and can't be sure of knowing what time it is (although they could get the time from an FM or DAB radio station it couldn't be relied on).

That is a valid point. But it just seems that no matter what kind of lightconditions it is, the dipped beam always turns on around nine.

That is a valid point. But it just seems that no matter what kind of lightconditions it is, the dipped beam always turns on around nine.

 

Isn't that because where you live on the clearest the light level is at the point where they switch on?

Isn't that because where you live on the clearest the light level is at the point where they switch on?

I dont think so. This time of year its hardly any difference between night and day. And in a couple of weeks there wont be any difference at all.

I wasn't expecting to get automatic headlights, but they were a free upgrade on the SE last month, so I will be interested to see how they work when I eventually get my car. Erring on the side of caution would see them coming on earlier in the evening than is strictly required, but I would prefer to have a more obvious indication that they are on than the little light on the switch. Something in the instrument cluster would be nice.

So long as you have satnav, then when that switches to night mode, then the lights are on dipped.

The auto lights trigger in high ambient light conditions too to try and improve visibility of the vehicle in v high light/hazy conditions.

They dont typically work in fog though which is a bit of a nuisance....that said by turning on front fogs whilst in auto setting would trigger dipped beams anyway.

So long as you have satnav, then when that switches to night mode, then the lights are on dipped.

The SE doesn't come with satnav as standard and I wasn't about pay an extra £750 for one which isn't as good as that built into my £200 phone.