Just got my Diamond White Pearl MDX SHAWD with Tech package yesterday, and wanted to post this question: Can the headlights be turned off? When I moved the light control to the OFF position, the headlights did go off. The control indicator went back to the AUTO position. When I put the MDX in DRIVE, the headlights came ON? Is this normal for the control to NOT stay in the OFF position?

Thanks.

 

Is that the daytime running light that's actually ON?

 

No, the headlights for nighttime. I get up early in the morning and don't want the headlights shining as the master bedroom is above garge and don't want to disturb my wife.

 

Does anyone's headlight switch stay in the OFF position when you turn the control to the OFF position? Or does the switch spring back to the AUTO position?

 

If I am not mistaken, I don't think there's a way to turn the headlights off during night time. I think the best you can do is to switch it to DRL when you leave in the morning. You will still have lights on your headlight but it won't be as glaring. Or you can hold the Off position until you have backed out completely.

 

Ok, DRLs won't be as bright. Guess I won't be able to go into stealth mode at night time. Ok, make this one bad idea from Acura. What's the benefit of this feature?

 

If you don't want to disturb your wife in the mornings... why don't you just park facing out?

 

there's an old trick with cars that have DRL's that might work on newer vehicles. it doesnt hurt to try.

before turning off the car at night, push the emergency brake pedal. then turn off the car.
in the morning, when you turn on the car, the DRL's should be off.

again, old trick for older cars with DRLS.

 

The headlight switch on the stalk is designed to be spring to Auto as the default - but to achieve what you're looking for you can adjust the auto headlight sensitivity in the vehicle settings menu - iirc you can set it to 'off' for auto as well, mine is set on 'min' so that they only come on when it's really late dusk outside.

Also the confirmation that your lights are on is the green 'headlights' icon on the speedo cluster (speedo dial), otherwise it's drl's.

 

Thanks, I didn't see anything in the Vehicle Settings that allows you to turn auto to 'off'. Is there a page reference to the manual?

Thanks.

 

Page 109 let you set the "Auto Light Sensitivity". It can be set to Max/High/Mid/Low/Min, no off.

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

 

Spring loaded switch that defaults to auto. You can momentarily turn them "off" but then they will reset and go back to on, if that setting is changed (i.e. you turn the lights to On then back to Auto) or vehicle restarted.

No reason to have them off, it's the new default and the auto sensor takes care of the rest.

 

I have a reason that came up just a couple weeks ago. I was taking my family through a drive-through holiday lights event and, to better enjoy the Christmas lights, you are supposed to turn off your headlights. This is also a courtesy to everyone else in the park, who are also trying to enjoy the lights. Well, my 2016 RLX SH-AWD doesn't have any way to turn off the headlights at night, as noted in this thread. I felt bad for the other patrons, but there was little I could do. It would be nice if Acura had enough faith in its owners to allow them to actually turn off their lights if they REALLY want to.

 

Thank you for this

I also wanted to turn the headlights off for this reason.... wish it was possible to go stealth

 

I went through a drive thru holiday light event, best you could do is flip the switch forward one and front headlight will stay in DRL light mode during night. It's still better than having headlights on. The off switch will only work while in park, it will turn headlight and DRL off during the day, but as soon as you put it in drive, the DRL will come back on.