Nissan Leaf ZE1 Park Lights - how to turn on when the car is parked?

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tripper1000

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#322690 12-Sep-2025 12:01

Good morning everyone.

Does anyone know how to make the park lights stay on, for a 2018 ZE1 Jap import Leaf?

I've searched google and read the (USA) owners manual but no joy.

Problem is that as soon as I lock the car, the park lights shut off. They work fine right up until locking the car (also headlights shut off if turned on - but that makes sense). Seems like Leaf park lights are for decoration not parking?

I know on some cars (BMW?) you have to also select the indicator wand left or right, but this doesn't help on the leaf.

(Land Transport Act requires park/head lights be on when parked in certain situations, so it seems my Leaf may not be legal).

(I would have posted this in the Nissan Leaf thread but it is locked).

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#3414181 12-Sep-2025 13:52

Asking the obvious question, does this happen when you turn the car off and _then_ move the headlights to park?

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Jase2985

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#3414182 12-Sep-2025 13:52

It doesn't appear there is a way to do this, and it seems like its a common behaviour with EV's due to not wanting to drain the 12V battery. i dont think the Land Transport Act has kept up.

I had a look in leafspy pro and there is no setting to change that behaviour.

The lights are more like daylight running lights rather than park lights.

(I would have posted this in the Nissan Leaf thread but it is locked).

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Jase2985

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#3414183 12-Sep-2025 13:53

BlakJak:

Asking the obvious question, does this happen when you turn the car off and _then_ move the headlights to park?

when you press the lock button on the remote, or the button on the door handle the lights turn off

BlakJak

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#3414185 12-Sep-2025 13:57

Ok. I'm explicitly asking about the car potentially recognising a deliberate move to turn the lights on after it's fully off (but not locked) as something that should be kept.

But perhaps not. Admittedly I havn't tried to do this in my (Toyota) but I suspect when locked, my car does the same thing.

Preserving the 12v battery is indeed a likely justification.

The Law requires:

8.7 Use of motor vehicle lights on parked or standing vehicles

(1) A driver must not park or leave a motor vehicle on any roadway during the hours of darkness unless—

(a) it is illuminated from an artificial source so that it is visible; or

(b) it displays light from the rearward-facing position lamp or, if 2 rearward-facing position lamps are fitted, from both rearward-facing position lamps, and from either the forward-facing position lamp or dipped-beam headlamp on the side of the vehicle that is closest to the middle of the road.

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tripper1000

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#3414280 12-Sep-2025 16:13

BlakJak:

Asking the obvious question, does this happen when you turn the car off and _then_ move the headlights to park?

Yes. Initially they went off so I unlocked, fiddled with the switch, got them back on (without starting the car) and they went off again as soon as I locked the door. I then tried headlights with same result. I'll try the reverse - set the park-lights before turning car off since I can't be sure the car was still running the first time.

Jase2985:

when you press the lock button on the remote, or the button on the door handle the lights turn off

I was using door handle button. I didn't think the remote would be different, but it might be as you suggest. (It was getting aggravating & dangerous so I had to walk away - I was standing on a dark road trying not to get run-over/crashed into).

What I found out from google mostly related to DRL's and was:

1) It changes country to country - so in Scandinavia DRL are mandatory so you can't (easily) turn them off, but elsewhere you can - so the answer might be unique to JDM.

2) There could be "cheat code" to do it - eg DRL in Scandinavia could be turned off by (re?)setting the park brake before starting the car (or some similar sequence).

3) Park lights are called other things elsewhere - like corner lights or marker lights.

4) DRL's and park lights are similar but different on the ZE1 Leaf. Mine doesn't have DRL's.

Nissan does strange things (with lights and switches) so this doesn't surprise me. The stupid way the cabin light goes at 1/2 brightness some of the time is pointless. The stupid overhead 3-way rocker switches they put in the ZE1 compared to the more practical buttons in ZE0 and AZE0's (and did they got back to incandescent map light in the later model - what the heck?). The stupid way 1 of 4 electric windows work after you turn the car off and not 4 of 4 windows. The lack of back-lighting on the window/mirror controls. The way it can remember the steering wheel heat button setting but not the outside beeper button setting right beside it. The way it immediately switches back on disabled parking sensors as soon as you change direction and the way those mute the stereo - F#$K! And that stupid remote with the raised buttons so they activate the whole time the key is in your loose jeans pocket - I've never flattened so many remote batteries (not to mention that door locks must be wearing out from constant locking and unlocking in my garage). And the indicator self-cancel mechanism on a hair-trigger drives me nuts - now I know why so many Leaf's don't indicate and are stuck in the slow lane - the driver tried indicating to get in faster lanes but the car said "nope - indicating is not permitted".

tripper1000

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#3414283 12-Sep-2025 16:36

Jase2985:

...I don't think the Land Transport Act has kept up....

[playing devils advocate]

...kept up with night vision improvements in cars and humans? 😀

[/playing devils advocate]

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richms

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#3414289 12-Sep-2025 17:02

Usually for modern cars you push the indicator stalk to the side that you want to have the lights on after turning the car off.

Richard rich.ms

BlakJak

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#3414319 12-Sep-2025 21:59

Just for kicks I tested my Prius tonight.:
- If the power is on, the lights are going, and you turn the power off - all lights turn off.
- Once the power is off, turning the lights on to park, activates the park lights (and the reminder beep)
- Stepped out of the car and locked with the remote, the park lights stayed on.
Toyota > Nissan?
NB my car was JDM as well.

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Jase2985

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#3414464 13-Sep-2025 09:58

BlakJak:

Just for kicks I tested my Prius tonight.:
- If the power is on, the lights are going, and you turn the power off - all lights turn off.
- Once the power is off, turning the lights on to park, activates the park lights (and the reminder beep)
- Stepped out of the car and locked with the remote, the park lights stayed on.
Toyota > Nissan?
NB my car was JDM as well.

In the leaf, the lights stay on when the power is off, they only turn off when the car is locked. When you unlock the car they stay off until you open the drivers' door (didn't try any other door)

richms:

Usually for modern cars you push the indicator stalk to the side that you want to have the lights on after turning the car off.

Which cars are these? Never heard of this before.

Bung

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#3414472 13-Sep-2025 11:02

It might be the result of Euro or UK regulation. I think I remember Mk3 Cortinas having parking lamps selectable by indicator stalk.

tweake

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#3414524 13-Sep-2025 13:22

one way around this that i've seen used, not may not be legal, is to use a separate light. some locals here use a small battery powered led on the rear window, just make sure you turn it off before driving. seen a few cars will illegal fitted and operating 3rd rear park/brake light. same with a few trucks who have a flashing rear park light.

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BlakJak

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#3414528 13-Sep-2025 14:17

There's a specific regulation for flat-bed vehicles and having a light visible from the rear. See here for an example description. The indicator-stalk example is typical for vehicles likely to require this, particularly heavy vehicles, but i've not seen it on cars before as a routine thing.

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Scott3

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#3414536 13-Sep-2025 14:59

Just had a go on our AZE0.

Seems basically whatever you do, the parking lights turn when if you lock the car with either the key button or button on the exterior of the drivers door. Tried shutting down the car, turning the lights off, turning them on again etc. Quite a contrast to my lexus that will turn off the lights when you open the drivers door for the first time after turning off the car, and can be manually turned back on at that point.

Work around I found was to:

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 - usefull if you want it to stay air-condoned while parked), or:
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).

mudguard

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#3414545 13-Sep-2025 15:52

tripper1000:

Good morning everyone.

Does anyone know how to make the park lights stay on, for a 2018 ZE1 Jap import Leaf?

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.

BlakJak

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#3414550 13-Sep-2025 16:04

Because they're literally called park lights? Have you even read the thread?

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