Shot taken from my camp chair as it was getting dark on a rainy evening. I was just about to going over and say something when lights went off. Woman was in and out of her SUV dozen of times all day long, headlights would stay on and shut off. Also had some annoying chime whenever the power tail gate would open and close each of the dozens of times. I have no idea why someone needed in and out of their vehicle that many times, they were in a hybrid towed by a pickup.
I know this can be annoying, but we are now "those people" with headlights that follow some designer's idea of when they should come on. We try very hard not to have our truck pointing at another site, but sometimes there isn't a perfect angle to park. I've considered making curtains for the headlights, if I could figure out a way to attach them that would be easy, and stand up to heat/cold, rain, and wind. One of my frustrations with this truck is that there is absolutely no way to change settings so that the lights do not automatically come on every time the front doors are opened, when it thinks it's dark. I've asked and searched. It does not matter if we unlock it with the fob or key, or just open an unlocked door. (Yes, there is a way to turn off the automatic headlights - it resets to the default once the truck is turned off.) We keep quite a bit in the rear seat of the trucks, it's one of our main cargo areas, so at times, we're in and out to get to those supplies.
Gotta love all the modern "conveniences"... I especially love (hate with a passion) the power liftgate beepers that can be heard all day all over the campground! I disabled the exit/ approach lighting on my truck (wish I could disable a few more features) because that stuff drives me nuts!!
Yes, there were more gate beepers on this trip than before. Being able to choose which of these "handy" features we want to use, and when, would be a huge improvement.
I love that my Pathfinder has an option to turn the horn off when locking your doors. Hmm it's 11pm, did I lock my doors... No problem because it doesn't honk.
Yes! However, sometimes if you google your vehicles "querks"...there is a way of deactivating these loud safety features. Regarding the headlights...I have my two kids boogie boards in front of my headlights to stop them from shining on the neighbours.
On my GMC I can prevent the lights from flashing when the remote is used to lock or unlock the vehicle. And to prevent a honk, just hit the remove lock/unlock button once; it's the second press that causes the horn to honk. However, I would not blame the engineers who designed the vehicle for someone who keeps flashing the lights cause they have not figured out how to unload a vehicle at one time, and having to do it twenty times in an hour.
^^ Quite true... it would be nice if people could remember they are camping and not in a Walmart parking lot.
Some of the features on new vehicles are very annoying for sure. On my truck, when you unlock the vehicle with the remote the back-up lights go on. It's stupid! And there is no way to disable that feature. At least I can lock it from the button on the drivers door and there is no beep or headlight illumination doing it this way. What I don't understand are the people on camp sites that go in and out of their vehicle a lot and constantly lock/unlock while doing so. CHIRP........CHIRP CHIRP. CHIRP.......CHIRP CHIRP etc. Very annoying.
At least we don't have beeps and bells most of the time. The only locking beep is on the second tap of the remote, as a confirmation, so that's avoidable. However, don't get me started on how we can and can't lock or unlock with keys, fobs, and door buttons. (I threatened to clip wires on our previous TV, but we found ways to keep it from beeping, as long as we didn't use the fob. Now there's an alarm system involved too.) Pulling a fuse is just not practical for us. I've looked for solutions for our "issues" from time to time, but so far, haven't found any. The service guys just looked at me when I asked about it.
I was just thinking this morning that I may need to upgrade my TV soon. After reading this, I may just want to stick to my old one. One where I tell it what to turn on or not. No annoying beeps etc. Because I camp in bear country, I keep everything in the truck. So I'm in/out of it at least two to three times a day. I just usually keep the trunk open unless I'm not at camp. Thankfully no annoying beep etc if the car sat open. Just perhaps a dead battery because I forgot to turn the light off. Which I've done a couple times. Why do manufactures feel they need to baby us, just because of some people who can't be responsible.
Some of my frustration is that we didn't really figure out how many annoying-while-camping things there were until we were actually camping, a couple of weeks after we bought the truck. I'd asked about turning off the automatic lights - "yes you can do that" -in reality, they reset once the vehicle is turned off. The good news is that it tows the Retro a lot better than the 4Runner does.
I help run an annual astronomy event here in WA. If you want to see some upset people when car lights go on after dark, come pay us a visit and do something like that. I can guarantee a verbal lashing like you wouldn't believe being issued at you by some otherwise nice people. The other fun one is people who arm their car alarms or have factory anti-theft systems, which go off at some ungodly hour - when the owner is camped in a tent 5 feet from their vehicle...
Our car beeps when locked from the fob or when you use buttons to open the lift gate instead of doing it manually. I also have a physical switch to take care of my automatic headlights. I've already thought about the neighbors and how to be as quiet as possible with three kids.
I try not to use my suv as a storage space for things that need constant putting away. Once, twice or three times a day is not disruptive in my mind. Ten to twenty times a day is disruptive. Late night or early morning access is disruptive. I usually only go in it on the first and last day of a trip - the FnR is hard sided, so I keep most stuff in it. I will say that my Durango had a way to silence the chirping with the remote - It was the first thing I did when I got it. At about 10 years of ownership, the computer board for the remote died. $600 to replace it. I now unlock the door with the key. A buddy installed back up lights on my clipper . It annoyed him when I insisted that he add an on/off switch for them. I wanted the ability to keep the lights off in a campground if they would annoy others.
Small camp space. Kids next to us. I mean right next to us. Same deal. In and out of car all day. Then they would lock the car. Hello? It’s literally so close it’s in your tent! Besides you are sitting next to it. Why lock it? Then they turn up their lantern so bright at about midnight... my 9 year old says “is it morning?” Hahaha. I opened the zipper and asked if they could turn down the light. No biggie. Just super annoying with beeps. I will never do a small and close campsite again. Lesson learned for me.
