I have been wondering about something, I know we aren't supposed to turn these lights on and off too much, so my question is:

Would leaving the lights in auto mode negatively effect the lifespan of them with the car being parked in a garage? I would in essence be turning the lights on for about 5 seconds then right back off (after pulling into the sunlight) a couple times a day.

 

um yeah man...thats the worst thing you could do to xenons...I have an 05 TL so I don't have the Auto option but we do have the option of leaving the lights on ON position and they will turn off automatically when we lock our cars. I don't like to do this though, because If I forget something in the car, when you go to unlock your car the xenon lights will come on again, only to then turn off once you lock the car again. I have heard from a lot of people that constantly allowing this to happen will KILL the life of our xenons...

On my 03 Maxima I do have the AUTO option (and the xenons also) and I try to keep it on OFF because I don't want them coming on unnecessarily. Like sometimes when I have left it in AUTO, I'll put the sun shade on and that will cause the xenon lights to come on, only to turn off a few seconds later when I lock the car. Also when driving sometimes if you drive under a bridge or something that can cause them to come on only to turn off automatically a few seconds later once sunlights hits sensors again. It's your call...but most of the time I keep it on OFF, ocassionally I'll leave on AUTO though.

 

what about driving with your lights on for safety all the time?

 

I haven't used the auto option yet for fear of the constant on and off. I was just wondering if I am worried over nothing and missing out on a convenience. Sounds like my fear was correct. Although, I bought the car used. It was in auto mode when I got it, so I'm sure it has been abused for a few years already.

 

Won't hurt a thing and may keep you from getting run into.

 

you are better off turning them on yourself once you get moving and leaving them on for the entire trip regardless of the time of day, than constantly turning them on and off for very short spans.