Headlights switching

[philpix]

On a recent trip over to France I was pleasantly surprised to see the car automatically switches the headlights over for driving on the right. I'm not sure if this is a feature only for Dynamic Light Assist.

[Gizmo]

I did some VCDS coding on a Kodiaq last weekend and I noticed the clock on the car was set to update via GPS... maybe the lights are connected the same way??

[swissbarry]

On a related issue, I want to buy a new Skoda, with xenon lights, in the UK and then bring it straight over to France and register it in France (where I live). Is anyone able to tell me with certainty that I wouldn't have to change the headlights in order to do this. In other words, would the French registration authorities accept the lights as they stand?

[Gizmo]

I have coded a couple of UK forces guys cars based in Germany and they needed to change the headlights, the ‘flat beam’ tourist setting was not enough for their tests.

[LiviuV]

19 minutes ago, swissbarry said:

On a related issue, I want to buy a new Skoda, with xenon lights, in the UK and then bring it straight over to France and register it in France (where I live).

 

I know that in the UK the Superb is a lot cheaper than it is here in France but I highly doubt that it would be worth it. Just consider the inconvenience when having to overtake someone or when having to pay at a toll booth, not to mention the hassle of getting it registered in the first place.

[swissbarry]

I agree it's a lot of hassle, but I could combine it with seeing some friends in the UK, and also I will probably eventually want to sell the car in the UK, so rhd is essential.

[FRSkoda]

 

On ‎07‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 20:36, LiviuV said:

 

I know that in the UK the Superb is a lot cheaper than it is here in France but I highly doubt that it would be worth it. Just consider the inconvenience when having to overtake someone or when having to pay at a toll booth, not to mention the hassle of getting it registered in the first place.

 I have exported two VAG vehicles to France, and reimported one of them into the UK.

 

There are reasonable discounts available in France, 3 yr 0% finance, and better residuals than in the UK. Also the moment you export your vehicle to the UK you loose the AA breakdown coverage and there is no reciprocal cover in France for exported vehicles. Warranty coverage may also be an issue..

 

Also note that its a lot of hassle registering an imported car in the UK - even if it was first registered in the UK - during the reregistration process you have to store it off-road, you cannot drive it and you have to have ridiculously expensive 'reregistration insurance' covering the car during the process. All the paperwork has to be sent of to Swansea and it took just under 2 weeks for me to register my car. I dread to think how difficult it will be post brexit as European conformity will not be relevant...

 

My advice would be to buy in France.. and sell in France..

[RickTT]

On 2017-5-5 at 19:31, Gizmo68 said:

I did some VCDS coding on a Kodiaq last weekend and I noticed the clock on the car was set to update via GPS... maybe the lights are connected the same way??

 

Would of thought it was set via the cars location via the gps and sat nav map.

[FRSkoda]

The time updates by GPS (ie the time comes from the satellite) but it (rather annoyingly) does not update the timezone - so you have a clock that is perfectly accurate to the second, but may be a hour out - its quite an oversight that the car can recognise where it is and alter the lights (and flag up a screen that tells you the local speed limits) but not update the timezone from GMT to GMT -1 for example

 

[FraggaZagga]

On 05/05/2017 at 19:27, philpix said:

On a recent trip over to France I was pleasantly surprised to see the car automatically switches the headlights over for driving on the right. I'm not sure if this is a feature only for Dynamic Light Assist.

 

We are planning a family holiday to France this Summer, and was wondering if anyone knew if this was the case. However my car does not have the dynamic light assist, just the bi-xenons so does anyone know if mine will still switch over?

[philpix]

Yes you can manually switch the lights 

[FraggaZagga]

5 minutes ago, philpix said:

Yes you can manually switch the lights 

 

Excellent, thanks for that, won't need any of those nasty stick on converters then, happy day 

[blahde2]

On 2017-5-7 at 20:23, Gizmo68 said:

I have coded a couple of UK forces guys cars based in Germany and they needed to change the headlights, the ‘flat beam’ tourist setting was not enough for their tests.

 

Flat beam is now accepted as some brands with LED headlights don't have a standard pattern, just a general flat base beam. TUV accept flat beam, I do not know if its French equal would accept it.

 

The adaptive function of the xenon headlights does not operate when in travel mode (i.e. a UK car in France), you will only get a flat beam. That was how my 2016 Superb's xenon's operated, I can't speak for the new Kodiaq etc.

Edited 11 May, 2017 by blahde2

[philpix]

On my third visit to France in the past three weeks I think the answer might not be the GPS setting but simply the camera detects the road signs on the right. Any thoughts Martin?

[markytop]

Pretty certain it is GPS that determines whether to switch the lights around. I travel from Luxembourg to the UK quite a bit, and all the times it has happened (both in my Octavia vRS before I had my Superb) it has become active once a clear satellite signal is gained. EG if you are in the depths of a ferry, the GPS still shows you initially as one the other side of the channel until you reach daylight getting out the boat, then the satellite picks up the signal, and decides you are in another country. The maxidot says something like lights adapted for left hand driving, while you often get the "here are the speed limits for this magical new country you have just driven into" message on the Columbus screen.

 

I have noticed that sometimes the change isn't picked up on the run, and I have often, after getting off the ferry (or tunnel) had to quickly turn off and on the ignition for the new settings to pick up (more so on the Octavia - the Superb seems more able to handle the change).

 

With regards to buying a car in UK and taking to France, maybe consider buying in Luxembourg - I know the dealer here will supply a RHD car, but if you want a LHD cheaper than France, then pop over the border into Lux and save the few percent VAT at least, but generally there are good deals to be had. Prices seems equal to that after a deal in the UK (I paid just over €43k for a fully loaded L&K 280, so about £36k with current exchange rate)

[philpix]

Yes you are right markytop that does happen after leaving the ferry and before any French road signs appear.

So GPS appears to be the answer, thanks.

[fiki]

If you want to save a few euros,try buying in Serbia. I think you can't really find better deals,here you can get a high spec style package (it is basicly l&k,but withput seat ventilation and those fancy badges,it has blind spot monitoring,4 seat heating,sat nav,18" alloys,leather etc.) with 190 tdi 4x4 dsg for about 32000euros. For a few thousand more you can get a sportline or a l&k (but that one isn't really justifiable here,because the style package is so well speced). And just so you know,280 tsi 4x4 dsg and 190 tdi 4x4 dsg cost the same amount of money (it is something like 200 (two hundred) euro difference). But around here resale value of a petrol engine is rather bad.