Disabling Daytime running lights?

Montanaman

Montana/Arizona
:
2018.5 CX-9 AWD GT
I did a search and found a few posts about people trying to turn off their DRL's but none were for the CX-9. I am contemplating having the dealer do this when the car goes in for service next week. Reason being my 2016 CX-5 had issues with the DRL's ( burned out apparently..one was dead and one was flickering) and both entire headlight assemblies had to be replaced for a cool $2200.00. Fortunately for me it was still under the factory warranty so it cost me nothing but 4 hours at the dealer but still..if defeating them can minimize the chance of that happening I'm thinking of doing it. I just want to be sure it does not interfere with the auto headlights. I don't dispute that it's a safely precaution but I am more than capable of running the headlights when conditions warrant it. Anyone else do it? I thought one of the benefits of LED's were longevity. That was not the case on my CX-5.
 
I did a search and found a few posts about people trying to turn off their DRL's but none were for the CX-9. I am contemplating having the dealer do this when the car goes in for service next week. Reason being my 2016 CX-5 had issues with the DRL's ( burned out apparently..one was dead and one was flickering) and both entire headlight assemblies had to be replaced for a cool $2200.00. Fortunately for me it was still under the factory warranty so it cost me nothing but 4 hours at the dealer but still..if defeating them can minimize the chance of that happening I'm thinking of doing it. I just want to be sure it does not interfere with the auto headlights. I don't dispute that it's a safely precaution but I am more than capable of running the headlights when conditions warrant it. Anyone else do it? I thought one of the benefits of LED's were longevity. That was not the case on my CX-5.

Here in Cda that is not an option as DRLs are required by law - simply for safety. Aside from the requirements of the law my take is the cost to replace (if an when that happens but that's an if) is always much less when factoring in the safety aspect of having DRLs which make your vehicle more visible to others esp from afar.

Yes a $2200 cost to replace LED headlights is expensive and a cost no one would like to bear considering LEDs should last longer than halogens but if you can spend $40-50K on a vehicle surely the $2200 is less than 10% of the cost of the vehicle. If it was my money I would then spend the $2K on getting an extended warranty so should other elec components fail then likely covered by the warranty. Just my 2 cents...
 
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I did a search and found a few posts about people trying to turn off their DRL's but none were for the CX-9. I am contemplating having the dealer do this when the car goes in for service next week. Reason being my 2016 CX-5 had issues with the DRL's ( burned out apparently..one was dead and one was flickering) and both entire headlight assemblies had to be replaced for a cool $2200.00. Fortunately for me it was still under the factory warranty so it cost me nothing but 4 hours at the dealer but still..if defeating them can minimize the chance of that happening I'm thinking of doing it. I just want to be sure it does not interfere with the auto headlights. I don't dispute that it's a safely precaution but I am more than capable of running the headlights when conditions warrant it. Anyone else do it? I thought one of the benefits of LED's were longevity. That was not the case on my CX-5.

It's not really "fortunate" that the replacement was covered under warranty; it's by design of the warranty. Most defective parts will fail during the warranty period. LEDs *should* last for years, and the fact that yours failed so early is evidence of a defective part, not the normal lifespan of an LED.
 
It's not really "fortunate" that the replacement was covered under warranty; it's by design of the warranty. Most defective parts will fail during the warranty period. LEDs *should* last for years, and the fact that yours failed so early is evidence of a defective part, not the normal lifespan of an LED.

It was a known flaw on the last gen CX-5's. Many similar incidents with the DRL LED failing. Probably isolated to that version.
 
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