When I turn the headlights on either manually or on auto the full beam on the switch doesn't light up and neither does anything on the dash.

On the Mk2 the switch lit up, but does it do so on the Mk3 as mine currently doesn't and I'm sure it's a legal requirement.

 

A trip to the dealer is probably coming, but it'd be nice to have others confirm I've not missed anything obvious.

Only the sidelight indicator lights up brightly, the O3 has always been like that.

I hate the lack of a 'headlights on' icon on the dash. When I drive SWMBO's vRS it gets on my tits every time. Yes...yes...I know the [insert head unit name here] screen can go dark with the lights on etc, and the Amundsen we have does indeed do this, but I like knowing the status of my headlights with a quick glance at the dash. 

Surely its just a glance at the light switch, if they're on the green light illuminates.  Not as easy as on the instrument binnacle but imho far less annoying as impacts night vision less.

I just leave it on AUTO and worry about more important things

My Amundsen does not dim with the lights on? Nav goes to night mode but everywhere else it stays bright, really distracting if it's on radio or CarPlay.

I just leave it on AUTO and worry about more important things

It's precisely because they're on auto that I want to know whether they're on or off. If I'd switched them on manually I wouldn't need an indication to tell me they were on.

Do you stand by your boiler every day to check your central heating has come on?

The whole idea of Auto is that you just leave alone and trust to the sensor. Have you had instances where you think they should have come on and haven't?

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My Amundsen does not dim with the lights on? Nav goes to night mode but everywhere else it stays bright, really distracting if it's on radio or CarPlay.

 

I think it's a setting in the Amundsen unit for this.

Do you stand by your boiler every day to check your central heating has come on?

The whole idea of Auto is that you just leave alone and trust to the sensor. Have you had instances where you think they should have come on and haven't?

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No, but then having no hot water is better than being rear ended on the way home.

Trusting the automatic features on a car is why so many people drive around with DRL's on and nothing else when they should have headlights and rear lights on.

How many times have we heard "my car has auto headlights therefore I assumed my lights were on"? The sensor is not a new form of artificial intelligence, it is on or off. It can't tell if it is foggy for example, they can fail or simply not work very well.

There are plenty of threads across Briskoda on the odd behaviour of auto lights, coming on when not wanted and not coming on when needed.

The headlight switch on my MkII Octavia is quite easy to see, on my MkII Superb it is angled towards the floor and obscured by the rim of the steering wheel.

 

There have been occasions when jumping in the car the auto lights have turned on straight away, then at some random point during the journey home they turn off when they need to be on (i.e. it isn't completely dark but all other road users have their lights on), so when they turn off all of a sudden I become almost invisible. Having the icon on the dash alerts me instantly to the lights turning off and prompts me to manually override the auto feature.

The on-dash dipped headlight icon is a welcome feature, costs nothing and removing it is a backward step in my opinion.

I pulled alongside a lady the other week queuing in traffic at night with no lights on, spoke to her through the window to let her know and she said "oh, I always leave it in auto, it has been in for a service today, they must have turned the switch to off".

Simply clever? Not this time Skoda, and to assume all of your customers are anymore clever is an error of judgement too  :sun:

 

Edited 23 February, 201610 yr by silver1011

I dont use auto but turn my lights when I feel I need them. I would also prefer having green icon in instrument cluster showing my lights are on. This way I keep looking down left and away from the road at the light switch which is also partially obscured by the steering wheel, depending on how I sit.

Edited 23 February, 201610 yr by toni8b

My auto lights have never failed me during the last two years. Sensitivity is set to medium and dipped beam switches on every time I'd do it myself - in the evening, in tunnels, in fog, when raining... I was a bit paranoid at first too but I've come to trust the sensor. I still check the light switch when I'd normally turn on the lights myself and cannot otherwise see that the lights are on - it has always been already lit.

Let's face it, all we are talking about is the difference between glancing down at the speedo or glancing a bit further down at the light switch.

 

Not much difference perhaps, but surely with all this safety related technology feeding through to cars these days anything to allow the driver to keep their eyes on the road for 1 extra second is a worthwhile feature, especially when it already is fitted to the previous model.

Edited 23 February, 201610 yr by silver1011

No, but then having no hot water is better than being rear ended on the way home.

Trusting the automatic features on a car is why so many people drive around with DRL's on and nothing else when they should have headlights and rear lights on.

How many times have we heard "my car has auto headlights therefore I assumed my lights were on"? The sensor is not a new form of artificial intelligence, it is on or off. It can't tell if it is foggy for example, they can fail or simply not work very well.

There are plenty of threads across Briskoda on the odd behaviour of auto lights, coming on when not wanted and not coming on when needed.

The headlight switch on my MkII Octavia is quite easy to see, on my MkII Superb it is angled towards the floor and obscured by the rim of the steering wheel.

There have been occasions when jumping in the car the auto lights have turned on straight away, then at some random point during the journey home they turn off when they need to be on (i.e. it isn't completely dark but all other road users have their lights on), so when they turn off all of a sudden I become almost invisible. Having the icon on the dash alerts me instantly to the lights turning off and prompts me to manually override the auto feature.

The on-dash dipped headlight icon is a welcome feature, costs nothing and removing it is a backward step in my opinion.

I pulled alongside a lady the other week queuing in traffic at night with no lights on, spoke to her through the window to let her know and she said "oh, I always leave it in auto, it has been in for a service today, they must have turned the switch to off".

Simply clever? Not this time Skoda, and to assume all of your customers are anymore clever is an error of judgement too :sun:

Sorry, but if it is dark enough to require the dipped beam to be on and you can't tell if your headlights are on or not then your lights need a good clean or a trip to spec savers is on the cards. This is in response to the lady queueing in traffic

In 50k miles in 2 different O3s I have never had an instance where they have not been on when they should have been, including in fog. In fact they behave much better than the O2 ever did.

Admittedly, they have come on at times when I wouldn't have turned them on, but I don't see that as a problem.

If the sensor fails you get a warning message on the maxidot that there is a fault, similar to a bulb out warning.

The sensor itself is not as simple as on or off, it measures the LUX level and the BCM controls the trigger points. The sensor is also configured to indicate when there is a bright sun low in the sky that dazzles drivers and will turn your lights on then to increase your visibility to other road users. And then there is the rain mode that will turn your lights on in rain, but your Infotainment unit will not go in to night mode (unless it is dark of course).

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Edited 23 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

There are DRL's out there that are very bright. I'm not excusing the lady but when you have other things on your mind, the dash is lit up, you can see your lights reflecting off the car in front and the area is well lit then I'm not surprised it happens as often as it does.

 

I've no issue with relying on auto lights, they work well enough most of the time, but on my car not all of the time.

 

For those few instances (as described earlier) a small visual indication in my line of sight is a useful feature.

 

It isn't as if it doesn't already exist, it is there today on my car now, it is Skoda's decision to actively remove it that I can't understand.

 

If I had a pound for every car I see that doesn't have it's lights on when it should I wouldn't be driving a Skoda!

TBH silver1011 I hate to disagree with a local chap but I think differently. seeing cars without lights on appropriately  nowadays is actually quite rare in my experience. maybe due to the plethora of "driving aids". the last 2 times I can remember have both been on very well lit motorways though that doesn't excuse it of course

My lights came on then went off 6 times on the way to work last week through trees / bridge, my OCD just won't allow that :-)

Plus I know to much about vehicles & electronics, constantly igniting HID's and re-igniting shortens the life of the components.

Bright (Led) DRLs! Grrrrr. Another subject yes but they appear to be a fashion statement now rather than primarily a safety aid.

Don't even mention the chasing led indicators as seen on audis and ford's. More blatant fashionable gimmicks but also very very distracting to other drivers.

What is wrong with just being a little bit 'normal' and functionality winning over form.

My lights came on then went off 6 times on the way to work last week through trees / bridge, my OCD just won't allow that :-)

Plus I know to much about vehicles & electronics, constantly igniting HID's and re-igniting shortens the life of the components.

So what's your plan? Switch them yourself... Or recoding?

Do you stand by your boiler every day to check your central heating has come on?

Quite often, yes. The three way valve sometimes plays up.

The whole idea of Auto is that you just leave alone and trust to the sensor. Have you had instances where you think they should have come on and haven't?

Trust has to be earned. I've only done 2200 miles in a car with automatic headlights and most of those were in broad daylight or pitch darkness.

Yes, I have had instances when the lights haven't come on when I thought they should and if I hadn't been watching the indication in the bottom corner of the dashboard instead of the road I wouldn't have known. As a result I have now set the sensitivity to "early" and now they sometimes come on when I don't need them, but that is the better way around.

Sorry, but if it is dark enough to require the dipped beam to be on and you can't tell if your headlights are on or not then your lights need a good clean or a trip to spec savers is on the cards. This is in response to the lady queueing in traffic

Sorry, but this is complete rubbish. Headlights are often needed in conditions where it's not possible to tell whether they are on.

Sorry, but this is complete rubbish. Headlights are often needed in conditions where it's not possible to tell whether they are on.

Drove in such conditions today. Bright light, but it was snowing. Lights didnt come on automagically.

But mostly the auto setting gets the job done.

So what's your plan? Switch them yourself... Or recoding?

At the moment I leave them in auto - when the auto lights switch them off I the turn the switch off.

We're just at that funny time of year where it's dark when I leave the house and light when I arrive, I doesn't last long.

I will look at recoding but until we crack the security access code for the 17 instruments module, I can't have the dials backlit 100% of the time.

Sorry, but this is complete rubbish. Headlights are often needed in conditions where it's not possible to tell whether they are on.

Read what I wrote again. It was quite specific to the example so please stop trolling.

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Quite often, yes. The three way valve sometimes plays up.

Trust has to be earned. I've only done 2200 miles in a car with automatic headlights and most of those were in broad daylight or pitch darkness.

Yes, I have had instances when the lights haven't come on when I thought they should and if I hadn't been watching the indication in the bottom corner of the dashboard instead of the road I wouldn't have known. As a result I have now set the sensitivity to "early" and now they sometimes come on when I don't need them, but that is the better way around.

So the indicator on the light switch has done it's job then, is it just that you would prefer it to be in your line of sight?

I thought the same at first, but after two and a half years I don't have a problem with it being where it is, it is perfectly visible from my driving position and seeing as AUTO doesn't do sidelights only, if it is brightly lit the lights are on. There are other indications such as the backlighting coming on on all of the switches in the centre console and HVAC.

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