tripper1000:

...And the indicator self-cancel mechanism on a hair-trigger drives me nuts...

mudguard: I've been thinking about this but can't figure it out. How come you want the park lights on once the car is locked? I'd say 99% of modern cars will shut everything down once the car is locked. 

 

For context:

1) 4 lane road, 2 lanes in each direction.

2) Just around a bend.

3) Next to no street lights due to being semi-industrial, and trees overhanging the footpath and road, shading what little light there was.

4) Left lane is a clear-way (until 9am, this was 8pm at night).

5) I was the first car parked in the clear way, so very real potential of approaching cars being surprised. e.g. 2 cars coming around the corner side-by-side (or that rare kiwi that knows the road-code and actually keeps left).

6) Was nipping across the road to pick-up takeaways. Was only stopping for 10 minutes so zero concerns about a flat battery. (Leaf has (some?) LED's so probably could run for many hours without flattening battery). 

7) Might not strictly be legally necessary, but free to do and a good idea for safety. Primary concern was avoiding getting smashed. Looking out for fellow drivers - not concerned with a ticket (since the road code is rarely enforced in this country).

BMW's (older ones at least) you could select indicator wand left or right to have park lights running on just one side, halving the lights running and doubling the battery life. 

This is the first car I've owned where the park lights wouldn't stay on (hence confusion). Other cars I've owned were 1x ford, 3x toyota, 1x nissan.  

Scott3: Work around I found was to:

 

 

1. Turn off the car, leave the park lights on, and Lock the car with the manual backup key fob. Central locking still works, and all doors lock, but lights stay on. Can be unlocked with the remote (unlike if use the backup key to lock the still running car - useful if you want it to stay air-condoned while parked), or:
2. Turn off the car, leave the park lights on, open drivers door, lock drivers door on interior, pull the exterior door handle so it is fully extended. Hold fully extended while you shut the door. Release handle when door is fully shut (either timed so the release is just when the door is fully shut, or by pushing the door in so it stays shut while releasing. (same deal as above, can unlock with the key).

 

Perfect - simple and it works! Just confirmed it works on my Leaf. 

Cheers, I thought someone here would know.

jlittle:

tripper1000: ...And the indicator self-cancel mechanism on a hair-trigger drives me nuts...

me too...

@jlittle - I disabled it. Fully reversible. I opened the indicator mechanism (3 screws and 2 plugs to get it out), and pulled out a little lever that senses the steering wheel turning. Yes, I have to manually cancel the indicators, and yet it has reduced effort and distraction (and swearing) by reducing the hand-time-on-wand by about 80%. I set it once and cancel it once per turn. No more set, reset, re-re-set but this time hold it in the on-position and steer with non-dominant hand. 

Also good for parallel parking. 

jlittle:

tripper1000:

...And the indicator self-cancel mechanism on a hair-trigger drives me nuts...

me too...