What's up with the reverse lights on GM cars?

[Nick1994]

It's perimeter lighting, doesn't bother me when I see them. When they're on the brake lights aren't on so obviously they aren't in reverse. Quite simple really. If you see brake lights and reverse lights then the car is in reverse.

I have it set to 180 seconds (maximum time) on my grandparent's Trailblazer so they have good lighting at night when getting out of the car.

 

[bvance554]

Shew.... Its rough out there. Be careful folks.

 

[daves87rs]

Wow....

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: DevilsRule
Thus is seriously ridiculous. The lights are adjustable. You can shut them off. Oh such poor engineering. If you see a car with it's back up lights on but the brake lights aren't on........chances are they are not backing up. Its a helpful feature that I value especially when walking to your car at night. This is just another GM bashing thread by a bunch of people that hate no matter what they do. Get a life

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
No one shuts them off though so that doesn't even matter. Yeah, the brake lights are a tell, but its still enough to make me pause at times.

Im a hater by profession.

Most drivers know that the vehicles in parking can back out anytime, the only sign distinguish a park vehicle and one about to back out is the reverse lights, it's on that vehicle is about to back out regardless brake lights on or off, it's off no worry about it. Now they need to look at both brake lights and reverse lights and do some quick thinking/calculating: Both are on => about to back out, both are off => had been park for a while, brake lights off but reverse lights on => A GM vehicle just parked few seconds, don't worry.

Too much work/think for average drivers, they may confuse.

To implement the lightning surrounding the car after parking at night, Mercedes turns on parking lights and fog lights for about 20-30 seconds after you turn off the headlights when you came to a stop, take off the key and exit the car.

Reverse lights should be on only when reverse gear is engaged. GM implementing of this reverse lights as surrounding lightning is pure stupid.

Instead of spending R&D money on improving driving experience such as better engines, better transmission, better ride quality and most of all better/longer lasting quality parts, they decided to spend money on gimmicks.

 

[B320i]

So are U.S. cars still using the brake/indicator lamps as Reverse lights? Illuminating just the brake lamps would be sensible for a setup that lights everything up via the keyless entry system.

I find it interesting that many U.S. vehicles seem to not have separate indicators, instead flashing the brake light.

 

[david_ES2]

So annoying, reverse lights are reverse lights, means youre in reverse and about to back out. when i see the brake lights off with reverse lights thats telling me the drivers foot is not on the brake pedal and is backing out immediately ,but nope you have been fooled, the owner is barely walking to the vehicle and is no where even close to moving. I wonder what moron chief engineer approved that one, every time i work on a gm vehicle i find more reasons to hate them more than anything else.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: B320i
I find it interesting that many U.S. vehicles seem to not have separate indicators, instead flashing the brake light.


They have separate indicators, they are just red as opposed to amber.

Some come with amber lights on the rear, some don't. My Envoy and Explorer have amber lights on the rear, but my Expedition and Grand Marquis don't. There's also no requirement for a separate indicator on the front fenders/wings or low mounted fog lights on the rear.

 

[SZR48207]

There's a valid reason to not like this feature since it completely goes against the very purpose of reverse lights.

Folks who know that the features on a car have a specific purpose will find it irritating that GM has the audacity to think they are somehow above the playbook when it comes to auto mfg.

The ones who don't care probably aren't very engineering minded in the first place.

 

[edwardh1]

ford is just as bad with the "LETS BLOW THE HORN" when you lock your door with the remote .
Toyota and most others have a nicer quieter muted short quiet beep.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: donnyj08
Originally Posted By: eljefino
RKE and it should be illegal.

This is the same half witted engineering that leads drivers to turn on their fog lights with low beams then never turn them off. They hide the switch and obfuscate its purpose so the car looks cool just like all the others.


I'll admit I'm guilty of driving with my fog lights on pretty often especially on dark rural roads and highways. It really helps light up the front corners of the vehicle. It really helps spotting deer and animals on the edge of the roadway.


So long as it isn't affecting on coming traffic, i see nothing wrong with having more oem light on the road in front of you at night.

 

[sprite1741]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
ford is just as bad with the "LETS BLOW THE HORN" when you lock your door with the remote .
Toyota and most others have a nicer quieter muted short quiet beep.


I hate remote alarm confirmations beep or horn, especially horn. I turned mine off as well as the perimeter lighting. It's just stupid.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: CKN
I am not surprised some find this stupid here on BITOG. Since some also feel ABS, lane departure warnings, etc., are stupid as well.

Abs and lane departure warnings dont inconvenience other people around you.
+1

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: B320i
So are U.S. cars still using the brake/indicator lamps as Reverse lights? Illuminating just the brake lamps would be sensible for a setup that lights everything up via the keyless entry system.


No, they are separate lights. Typical white lenses.

Which is the point of contention--the reverse light is on, thus the car must be backing up, right?

Quote:
I find it interesting that many U.S. vehicles seem to not have separate indicators, instead flashing the brake light.


Yeah, I dislike that too. I wanted to change to amber turns on my Jetta, couldn't justify the cost at the time. Then when I had some money burning a hole in my pocket I couldn't find the housings like I could when I first bought the car!

I know every bulb invites a new area for failure, but I've seen way too many vehicles of late with 2 brake lights out. Sometimes I suspect it may be a controller or wiring issue (say only the center mount brake is coming on), but...

Then again, does it really matter? it's not like many bother using directionals any more, you are stuck with decoding their actions and going from there.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: supton


Then again, does it really matter? it's not like many bother using directionals any more, you are stuck with decoding their actions and going from there.


Now, that bothers me.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's perimeter lighting, doesn't bother me when I see them. When they're on the brake lights aren't on so obviously they aren't in reverse. Quite simple really. If you see brake lights and reverse lights then the car is in reverse.

I have it set to 180 seconds (maximum time) on my grandparent's Trailblazer so they have good lighting at night when getting out of the car.


a manual transmission can be in reverse, with no brakes and not moving...

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: supton

Yeah, I dislike that too. I wanted to change to amber turns on my Jetta, couldn't justify the cost at the time. Then when I had some money burning a hole in my pocket I couldn't find the housings like I could when I first bought the car!

I know every bulb invites a new area for failure, but I've seen way too many vehicles of late with 2 brake lights out. Sometimes I suspect it may be a controller or wiring issue (say only the center mount brake is coming on), but...

Actually, I think you're more likely to have 2 brake lights burned out if you have separate bulbs for turn signals. (And just about every vehicle that I see with 2 brake lights burned out have separate turn signal bulbs.) The problem is not a failed module, it's from people never checking to see if they have any bulbs burned out. So one brake light is burned out for months, and eventually the other one burns out. Now there are two bulbs burned out. The reason why it's more common on vehicles with separate turn signal bulbs is because on vehicles that use the same bulb for brake and turn signal, the turn signal will flash rapidly when the bulb is burned out, which alerts the driver. On cars with separate turn signal bulbs, the brake light burns out but the turn signal bulb still works, therefore there is no rapid flashing and therefore the driver is oblivious that none of his brake lights work.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: Jetronic
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's perimeter lighting, doesn't bother me when I see them. When they're on the brake lights aren't on so obviously they aren't in reverse. Quite simple really. If you see brake lights and reverse lights then the car is in reverse.

I have it set to 180 seconds (maximum time) on my grandparent's Trailblazer so they have good lighting at night when getting out of the car.


a manual transmission can be in reverse, with no brakes and not moving...

Yeah but manual transmissions are practically extinct. Have you ever seen a Trailblazer with a manual transmission?

 

[Quattro Pete]

nm

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: supton

Yeah, I dislike that too. I wanted to change to amber turns on my Jetta, couldn't justify the cost at the time. Then when I had some money burning a hole in my pocket I couldn't find the housings like I could when I first bought the car!

I know every bulb invites a new area for failure, but I've seen way too many vehicles of late with 2 brake lights out. Sometimes I suspect it may be a controller or wiring issue (say only the center mount brake is coming on), but...

Actually, I think you're more likely to have 2 brake lights burned out if you have separate bulbs for turn signals. (And just about every vehicle that I see with 2 brake lights burned out have separate turn signal bulbs.) The problem is not a failed module, it's from people never checking to see if they have any bulbs burned out. So one brake light is burned out for months, and eventually the other one burns out. Now there are two bulbs burned out. The reason why it's more common on vehicles with separate turn signal bulbs is because on vehicles that use the same bulb for brake and turn signal, the turn signal will flash rapidly when the bulb is burned out, which alerts the driver. On cars with separate turn signal bulbs, the brake light burns out but the turn signal bulb still works, therefore there is no rapid flashing and therefore the driver is oblivious that none of his brake lights work.


Hmm, fair point, hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure how many OEM's are still using the mechanical flasher unit, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was still widespread.

 

[Jetronic]

even if they don't us it, they still mimic this behaviour... Hyundai does anyway