I don’t know what you mean by a sensible car. My own car (my wife’s ’06 Lexus IS250) has DRL and the taillights are NOT on. I have to assume that’s true for all Lexus’ sold in the U.S.

 

i used to have DRLs on my 97 Grand Prix and other than the insurance discount, i thought it was pointless (and replacing the lightbulbs every few months made me hate it)

on my altima, and on my G, i just leave the light stalk/fog switch set to auto and just leave it be.

 

Any vehicle with DRL that i've seen doesn't light up the taillights with the DRL's. Why would it? DRL's are for the vehicle to be seen easier by oncoming traffic during the day.

 

Yes, that makes sense. If taillights were to go on with DRL, then it would be simpler to not have DRL at all and just turn on your headlights during the day where the taillights are on. Of course that would mean all the other side and dash lights (with the nav screen dimmed) would also be on unnecessarily.

But I did Google the question and found this to be representative in the second paragraph:

HowStuffWorks-DRL

But to be fair to the other poster, my research suggested that in some foreign countries DRL may come with taillights on.

And as a side issue as the resident nit-picker here, the term "DRL’s" is redundant, as the L for lights is already plural.

 

I bought my G in the US and brought it to Canada sometime ago. I modified the circuitry in the fuse box near the battery and now have DRLs that use the fogs but do not light the tails. If I'm not mistaken, the fogs come on in a dimmer mode as a DRL but I'm not real sure. There are DIYs on how to do this on this site (search will find them). They go off when I turn on the headlights although I can force them on using the stalk control.

I am under the impression the firmware is built into the BCM (body control module) but only the dealers can reprogram them to enable it. Just a guess though. So it would make sense to me that for 2010 year, the dealer can enable it.

 

If you are referring to my post, I said nothing about DRL having your tail lights stay on. I was replying to your post where you said , by leaving your regular lights on, during the day people would not notice when your brake lights came on.

 

Sorry, I was following up on Marc Collins' post regarding taillights being on with DRL.

 

Thanks for the information.
I'll call up the service manager, at the dealership tomorrow and ask if they can do something.

 

Have you been ever pulled over b/c of this? I know you need DLR in Canada but every time I go to Canada (at least 10 times in the past 10-12 years) I never turn on my headlight during the day.

 

In Canada and most parts of Europe that have had mandatory DRL's for years, all cars from major manufacturers associated with safety (Volvo, BMW, Audi, M-B, etc.) use rear lights on with the front DRL's. They usually have brighter rear (red) fog lights, too. There is no issue with not being able to distinguish brake lights from regular rear lights.

 

I've never been pulled over in Canada, but they had no reason to; I always left my lights on in cars without DRL. My Lexus that I drive now (until my G37x comes in in June) has DRL.

 

Your response is a bit cryptic. Are you saying that Nissan and Toyota, the two major manufacturers you did not mention, are not associated with safety and therefore do not have taillights on with DRL in Canada?

 

heres a question that can be answered with a simple yes/no

Can dealers in the US enable DRL at the dealership?

 

I highly doubt a car with US plates would ever get pulled over in Canada for lack of DRL's. Not very good for tourism or PR. Police are well aware that DRL's are not mandatory in the US.

 

Try calling a dealer in Canada. Sometimes people import cars from the US, and they probably know how to turn on DRL.

-Mark