Dealer refusing to disable DRL's?
 

Has anyone had trouble getting the dealer to disable to DRLs? When I brought it in for my first routine maintenance and asked for them to be turned off, he told me it was a Federal Safety requirement and he couldn't. Anyone else had this happen to them?


**I realize this is probably the wrong section to post in, but I did it for the exposure views - so mods feel free to move.

I think there's a diy tutorial somewhere on the forum.

Cost a couple bucks, but buy a horn relay for the vehicle. Remove DRL relay. Install horn relay, done. You will now have DRL disabled and high beams will function normally.

This is the least intrusive way besides disabling through dealer scan tool options.

I'm a service writer for a Toyota dealer near Philly. I love it when I get to say this:

Your service writer is wrong.

We will disable them on request, but will have a service manager and the customer sign duplicate paperwork saying the customer is asking us to perform the service and the dealership is not to be held responsible if the driver is issued a ticket for any reason related to the lights. We keep a copy and provide one for the customer. This is more of a CYA move for us, just in case.

As far as I am aware, disabling DRLs is not against federal law in the USA because they are not mandated. You can't break a law that isn't there. They are required in Canada, if I am told correctly, and the main reason you see them on USDM cars is due to cost savings for all North American models.

It's for that reason that Toyota even made available updated ECM's for the early launch FR-S models because you COULDN'T turn them off.

Some states may individually fail a vehicle for inspection if you disable, change or obscure certain lights on a vehicle. That may be the case in Texas, but it's not a federal safety requirement preventing them from shutting them off. A phone call to your state's DMV, or the inspection guideline book (if your state even has safety inspections) will answer that question.

Try calling another dealer, or talk to a different ASM at the one you frequent.

It may also be that your writer is poorly informed about a dealership policy of not disabling "safety equipment" like seatbelt chimes, lighting equipment, etc due to the potential of frivolous litigation. I do know of dealers that have such policies for potential liability reasons.

Am I the only one who keeps my headlights (low beams) on all the time in my cars?

No. I disabled my DRLs and usually have my low beams on all the time. Always have. No idea why, to tell you the truth.

show them the TSB and they will have to comply

most service tech dont know about the TSBs

Take that idiot and sit him in a brand new Camry, and point out the "DRL OFF" on the headlight switch.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzM4WDQ1MA...id=8800005007;

They don't HAVE to do anything, and if the vin is outside of the first 1500 or so cars (can't remember the exact number) it doesn't even apply.

TSB's are just the most common fix(es) to common customer presented issues to aid the techs in their diagnostic steps, and how (or even if) it is covered by any particular warranty. They are not recalls, and just because a TSB exists does not mean it applies to every single car.

The prime example is taillight condensation. You can wave that TSB in my face all day long. If the car doesn't have leaky tails, I can't replace them per the guidelines.


On reflection, this post came out a bit snarky and condescending. I don't mean for it to come out that way, sorry.

my post was based on experience ;)

I still don't understand why people want them turned off? You can't even tell they're on when you're driving...

I don't doubt it. There's a lot of people in this business who just don't know, care, or care to know. They give some of us a bad name.

This. Never understood why people find a safety feature so offensive. I wonder if Audi owners post how to disable the led strips...?

Because they're ugly first of all.

I make fair amount of use of handbrake on hills and people wonder why I'm flashing my lights at them

I guess I don't find a dim light where the highbeams are ugly, especially when I never see it unless I'm parking in front of a plate glass window...

I also don't care if people wonder about the lights at intersections on hills. They can deal haha. Although, I rarely if ever actually use the handbrake for hill starts.

Nathan

As a driver..and mostly motorcyclist I love DRL. They have been standard here in Canada for well over 10 years and you can clearly see cars coming at you from far far away. There's always that idiot that forget to put on it's headlights in the evening - kind of keep you safe from other idiots and it's much easier to spot cars when you need to pass on a 2 lane... I guess most people that think DRL are disruptive must be the younger guys...so sensible to how you look eh? LOL

Ugly? I don't know what's so ugly about them.

True. But what it should tell them is that it is OK in fact to turn them off, since there is a tab regarding an issue with disabling them (whet here his car falls under the tab doesn't really matter)

I just prefer my lights on at night and off during the day. I'm not one of the idiots that ever forgets to turn them on so there's no issues there.

I just don't like the look off lights on during the day.

Kinda off topic, but it they had install LED strips on these cars I would have figured out a way to turn those off. I think they are the WAY uglier than DRL's....but that's my opinion. (:
Oh, and my dealer turned off my DRL's no problem.

exactly :thumbsup: i was driving the other day and i was going to make a left turn while i was in the center lane and saw a motorcycle with his DRL bit far but i waited for him to pass couldnt really see if he didnt have his DRL on.. he gave me a :thumbsup:... plus i didnt want to pull in and cut him off or i would of got my front bumper all jacked up from the curb bottoming out..:bonk:

just not digging the yellow pee color on my DRL need to change it asap... plus my car is white peral that you can see in daylight

Kudos! Motor cycles are usually way closer than they look, its an optical illusion that gets a lot of people hurt.

I don't like DRLs because they were originally made for motorcycles only to make them more visible. Now that most cars come with them from the factory it really makes the MCs stand out way less. I guess that's why I don't like them, and I always turn my headlights on if it gets cloudy even, don't want them on when it's sunny.

No shit? That is an excellent piece of evidence, thanks.


When you enter your vehicle do the wipers start wiping the window? Does your A/C automatically start up even though you know you aren't going to use it? Is your radio always on by default?

Some of us just prefer to be the "master of our domain". We don't need electronics telling us when to do things.

TPMS sensors too, just another feature for the 21st century brainless people we are breeding en masse. What's next, windshield washer low light? Just fill the damn thing with regular water when you are checking your tires that you had no clue were low because of the lack of a TPMS.

More shit to break, more shit to fix.

Sadly, my Mini Cooper had this.

I just put yellow bulbs in mine. I wanted to retain the DRLs for safety, but get some style! Anything that helps protect my FR-S from idiot motorists is a good thing!!!

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...psedc74fab.jpg

DRL's = Make vehicles more visible = I like

Being visible and aware of your surroundings is one of my top priorities in road safety as I ride a motorcycle as well.

In Ontario, nearly all cars have DRL's, when I drive in the states, I find it a bit more difficult to judge the speed of a car or determine if the car is moving if there is a car in the distance on a side street.

If you're making a quick glance to check if the road is clear, your brain will register the existence of a car with DRL's on faster than one without.

Also, crown vics are way easier to spot with DRL's :D

U know what? My car can actually do all that. It has auto sensing wipers. Temp controlled ac
Ofcourse u can turn it off but its nice to have...

They should make drl mandatory here in the states. Its a good safety feature imo

I personally wish DRLs were mandatory in the states. It's SO much easier to spot a car that is running vs a parked car. I commute through SAn francisco everyday. people are driving in all lanes, making their own lanes, late merging, passing in the parking lane, etc. i can't count how many times I see a guy in the parking lane turn out to actually be driving or trying to make a right turn. Well, if they had DRLs I would know if they were actually running.

Plus, with all the jaywalking pedestrians and crazy bicyclists, everybody should have DRLs or low beams on whenever possible so they actually notice cars coming. Crazy homeless guys just love walking into the middle of the street right in front of my car.

I actually think the DRLs look pretty cool, especially if you can get it like 4300-6000k white.

it's not mandated federally, but what about by state?

Yea, I really like the look of yellow bulbs. Which ones did you go with?

From the IIHS:

Laws in Canada and many European countries require vehicles to operate with lights on during the daytime. Canada requires vehicles made after Dec. 1, 1989, to be equipped with DRLs. The European Union requires DRLs for new cars and small vans under a law that took effect in February 2011. New trucks and buses in the EU must have DRLs starting in August 2012.

No U.S. state mandates DRLs, but some require drivers to operate vehicles with lights on in bad weather.

Incidentally, the US cars have DRL mostly because of a big push from GM back in the 90's whereby the petitioned the US to allow but not require DRL's so that they wouldn't have to re-tool their assembly line for North America (since it was already required by Canada).

I guess you'd love an airbag button also so you can pop it on command when you crash instead of automatically opening, right?

I hardly find DRL's a good "safety" feature. Proper driver education is the key. If the conditions are horrible, turn on your headlights. Pretty simple right?

There are far too many idiot drivers driving at night with just DRL's on.

Why do you use your handbrake on hills?

Not on the BRZ!

*runs*


;)

I presume it's for starting on an uphill incline. Unless your MT car is equipped with one of those newfangled devices that apply brakes when you're starting on an incline, you have two choices: the correct and proper method of applying the handbrake with the button pressed, giving it some gas, easing off the clutch, and lowering the handbrake in a balancing act that belongs in cirque du soleil, or the incorrect method of riding the clutch, or gunning it real fast and dropping the clutch so you catch it in time before you slam into some guy riding your tail behind you.

The "manual" airbag comment from a previous poster is excellent, but how about you also disable your fuel gauge, power steering/power brakes, get rid of that starter and get a crank. (True story this is the first car I've had that did NOT have a washer fluid light - even cars from the 80s had it).

DRLs don't impede you in any way (some try to argue bulb life or fuel economy, both work out to pennies a year) - and they are a safety feature for you and other people on the road. YOU might think conditions don't warrant the lights on, but other drivers might benefit from the improved visibility of your car.

It's like the 3rd brake light. Doesn't hurt you in any way, and either is neutral or an improvement for drivers behind you. Yet people fought and ranted about them when they came out.

Tinted head/tail lights, tinted windshield, giant windshield banner/sticker, running bald tires, disable ABS, disable DRL, removing airbags : lumped in the same camp I'm afraid.

They did it to me and service rep said ECM didnt have to be replaced. Guess what happens now? When I hit the high beams the DRLs come on.....was reported to the service manager and he called me back 2 hrs later saying they ordered the ECM....

Would love to see some actual data to prove "DRLs" make you and others around you "safer". I bet the difference in actual "safety" (however you choose to quantify that) is negligible. Cars have been without DRLs for decades upon decades, and the fact that they are now mandating it is an annoyance for some. Personally I don't like the way they look, its personal preference.

Automakers are putting them on cars now as a potential legal safeguard, but I highly doubt they account for significantly fewer accidents on the road. Would be interesting to see if there is any data that backs me on this.