2006 Lexus RX 400h: Power Outage

...or why, if the lights are left on, they don't automatically shut off after five minutes like in lots of car cheaper cars...

i'm not sure how many cars actually turn off the lights if "purposely" left on? I know that both my vehicle will turn off the dome light and or map lights if left on for an extended period of time. I have actually gone several days with the map light under the mirror left on because I hadn't driven the vehicle at night for a while and never realized it was on...
 
But I am not sure that the vehicle would shut off the head light or park lights if the switch is left in the "on" position. Both my vehicles have auto lights and so I never have touch the light switch and so I have never actually left the lights on to test if they will turn themselves off.

If you leave the lights on with my Subaru Legacy, they will shut off when you turn the key off.

wow a lexus works just like my sunfire, leave lights on power = no.
 
and a hybrid, I thought those toyota people were smart. The need some vtech shirts too

Another reason I strongly dislike autolighting systems.

as an RX330 owner myself, i can assure you that the lights do turn off after 30 seconds.
 
if they didnt, it means that you left a door unproperly closed. if you want to make sure next time, just push the lock button twice and it turns of off

That does seem pretty odd. My mom owns a 2007 camry with auto headlights, and even when I find that she switched the headlights to the on position accidentally, they shut off after 30 sec. as long as you lock it with the remote key fob.
 
My pontiac grand prix, even though it does have auto headlights, does not offer that convenience if accidentally switched on. Sorry GM :( but I do think you're building great cars now!

My first car, a 1970 Fiat 850, was set up so that if you shut down the car with the headlights on, they'd go off, but if you shut it down with just the parking lights on, the headlights would come on. That actually made sense--it's much easier to forget the parking lights than the headlights.

In my Mini, even if you leave the lights on, as soon as you remove they key they turn off.

I think the problem is that Josh left the PARKING lights on. I know for my Altima, it only auto-turns-off when I have the lights in auto. If I have the parking lights, I don't think it'll turn off.
 
Also, the two batteries work on 2 different voltages, 244.8 and 12. Probably not worth the extra money to add an inverter for the few cases where the 12V dies

Did you have headphones on when you got out? I'm more surprised that it didn't sound the warning klaxon when you opened the door with the lights still on. Also, my 03 Silverado will shut the lights off automatically if left on, I would have thought the big L would do it too. Heck I wanted to tap 12V power in the overhead console and couldn't because all the lighting power comes through the body control computer first.

Audi does a lot of little things right. One of the things that I discovered and am eternally thankful for is that they turn off the interior lights after a while of leaving a door open. I very occasionally take junior out of the car and leave the door open (in my garage) because he's asleep. I fully intend to come back and close the door, but sometimes he wakes up and I forget and/or get distracted.
 
The first time I realized I had done this, I freaked out thinking I had drained the battery (it was left open all night). I was nervous when I went to the car and saw the lights off. Fortunately, it started right up with a full battery.
 
Thank you, Audi engineers!!

@langjie:
 
"Also, the two batteries work on 2 different voltages, 244.8 and 12. Probably not worth the extra money to add an inverter for the few cases where the 12V dies"
 
I think you hit the nail on the head. The RX 400h already costs a pretty penny -- why spend more to enable the battery pack to charge up the auxiliary battery, when that feature would be used so rarely?
 
But I definitely had the same thought when I first realized what was going on. There's all that juice contained within the battery pack -- why can't it send a little the auxiliary battery's way?
 
As for the "lights on" warning chime, yeah, maybe I just missed it. But trust me, in an '06 RX 400h, if you leave the parking lights on, they don't shut off automatically -- and I know I closed all the doors securely, because I had to unlock the driver door manually the following morning when the keyfob couldn't do the job.
 
-Sadlier

I can't believe nobody has told Josh what really needs to be said:
 
"HAH-ha!"
 
OK, I feel better now. :P

well i dont know what to say. im positive the headlights do turn off by themselves after 30 seconds...its so it illuminates the road to your house if you park outside.
 
i guess it doesnt work for parking lights. remember, this car still has 2003 technology :D

I still don't see why the vehicle can't just go. The alternator should recharge the battery after a brief stint. This vehicle can run on full electric, right?

As my mom discovered after having AAA jump hers, the RX400h requires a normalization procedure to reset the power rear liftgate and power windows after a jump-start. Check the owner's manual.

MY 1996 TOYOTA CAMRY TURNS OFF ALL LIGHTS LEFT ON AS SOON AS THE DRIVERS DOOR IS OPEN. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO TOYOTA/LEXUS?

My '05 Ford Fivehundred will turn anything off (interior lights, headlights, parking lights, etc) when they become a strain on the battery. It is a base model without auto headlights. This far more expensive vehicle should too.