Question for 2014 SR5 & TE Owners

[Bimmer-Bob]

I just need one person with an 2014 SR5 or TE (NOT Premium) to confirm something for me. If you turn of the engine off in your truck with the lights on, do the lights stay on even if you double tap the lock button on the key?

Reason I ask is I'm trying to figure out what the "auto on/off" feature that the Premiums are supposed to have is. Toyota's marketing materials use the exact same verbiage to describe the headlights on the SR5 Premium, Trail Premium, and Limited models, yet only the LE's get what I consider to be true "auto on/off" headlamps with an ambient light sensor and "auto" setting on the stalk.

Some have said that the "auto on/off" refers to the headlights going on or off with the engine, which I personally think is pretty stupid, and quite lame if true. So I guess what I want to know is, for folks with a non-Premium SR5 or TE, do your headlights stay on no matter what? Like they will drain the battery if you leave them on overnight?

 

[tr0gd0r]

I have a 2014 SR5 and can tell you for sure that once you leave the car and close all the doors the headlights will turn off within 1 minute of closing all doors. This is with or without locking the doors with the remote or the lock button on the door panel.

You will not drain the battery by leaving them on as they turn off automatically.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bimmer-Bob]

I have a 2014 SR5 and can tell you for sure that once you leave the car and close all the doors the headlights will turn off within 1 minute of closing all doors. This is with or without locking the doors with the remote or the lock button on the door panel.

You will not drain the battery by leaving them on as they turn off automatically.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear. It means that, despite Toyota's marketing materials, there is in fact no difference between the headlamp operation of the SR5 and SR5 Premium.

My personal suspicion is that Toyota originally intended to offer the LE's auto headlamps on the SR5 Premium & TE Premium models, and then at some point late in the game decided to cut the feature to reduce production costs - but then never updated their brochures to reflect the change.

I've gotten in touch with Toyota over the issue, and they've gone as far as assigning a case manager to my complaint and asking me to fax in my window sticker. I doubt the issue will go much further, however, since the option is not itemized on my window sticker (speaking of this, maybe someone with an LE can send me a scan of their window sticker for comparison?). Maybe at some point they'll update their brochures, at least. Either way, I'll post to this thread with the outcome in case anyone is curious.

 

[Bimmer-Bob]

So, I finally got a phone call and a letter in the mail from Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. They acknowledged that their brochure and website are incorrect in regards to the auto on/off feature being standard on the "Premium" trim levels, and offered an apology. They also cited a standard "information is subject to change" disclaimer. I urged them to at least update their website, but as of the time of this posting it is still incorrect.