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Auto-Headlights turning on in the middle of the day....

19K views 42 replies 16 participants last post by  Marcii 
#1 · (Edited)
So this started in my Arteon two days ago, and no idea why. With the light switch set to Auto, no matter how bright it is, the car turns on the lights as if it was dark out. There's nothing covering my light sensor and I have no idea why this is happening. You can see in the pic below. I'm in direct sun light, the lights are all on, and the NAV screen goes to dark mode. This isn't temporary. They stay on all the time. Any ideas?

 
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#2 ·
The right shadowing can cause this to happen, even in sunlight or in what looks like sunset in your case if the shadows fall in the right spot on the sensor your lights turn on. I’ve had this happen on our Chevy Equinox, Volvo S60 and my VW Tiguan.


Sent while on the run
 
#11 ·
That's all I've got. Mine are set to medium without any issues. Did they do anything with your windshield like tape over it or something when the body work and paint work was being done? Have you looked at the rain/light sensor below the front facing windshield camera?
 
#9 ·
Nothing like that on mine so far - though honestly I don't keep mine in Auto mode. I tried it today when I went out for a drive to the wetlands - bright Florida sun, but then turned into heavy overcast - lights never came on. I think mine were on Auto when I bought it, but I switched it to off, and like to control it manually myself.
 
#15 ·
can you try and read codes?

Maybe the wire loom broke and the default is for the lights to come on all the time, rather than never come on at all.

What about auto wiper function, does that still work?
 
#20 ·
Set it to late. Works much better.

I’ve actually done that with every car owned that lets one adjust it.

My ‘12 Maxima was the worst. Even on late it was worse than my other car brands on early. I started watching other Nissan and Infiniti cars on the road and quickly realized Nissans setup was terrible. I caught myself subconsciously turning the switch to off whenever going under certain long overpass and then back to Auto after clearing the overpass.


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#22 ·
I thought that was the purpose of DRL? Inherited from Sweden. Volvos had them first in the late 70’s.

My headlamps have been on all day long in bright sunlight - maybe its a sensitivity calibration issue. I switched them to “late” and they are off now, so problem solved, but reason not understood:).
 
#24 ·
Same Issue

I brought it to the dealer recently for some minor fixes. Less than stellar experience from the start (on a brand new car go figure) and I noticed the headlight issue after I dropped the car off and picked it back up. Possible dealer messed with it? Some sort of Vagcom setting or something they can do to screw it up?
 
#25 ·
I brought it to the dealer recently for some minor fixes. Less than stellar experience from the start (on a brand new car go figure) and I noticed the headlight issue after I dropped the car off and picked it back up. Possible dealer messed with it? Some sort of Vagcom setting or something they can do to screw it up?
Can you imagine how tired the service departments get in having to deal with the whiny, clueless owners? They should be candidates for sainthood.
 
#29 ·
Does anyone know if this may have to do with speed? I have seen that mine turn on while I'm driving on the toll road averaging ~85mph (Thank you Texas!) when I get to that speed, I notice the headlights turn on. And then after about 10 minutes of below 60, they'll turn back off. Or do you think it's too fast for the sensor to see something?
 
#36 ·
Scoured my 09 admap and not seeing anything with the word Autobahn [emoji20]


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#38 ·
Mine shows as not active, will enable. Also underneath I see Exterior_light_on_rain is not active.


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#39 ·
Exterior_light_on_rain is not active, does anyone know if this is different than lights coming on with wipers?
 
#40 ·
Well turned on the “autobahn” on my vehicle and at 90 mph today, nothing. So going to pop it off.


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