[vivekz]

Interesting thread!! Honestly, I care for none but if needed to choose, maybe I will go with auto-wipers for myself.

But for a greater good, I wish all cars came with auto-headlamps so that the unaware nincompoops don't continue driving their cars with blinding DRLs after dark. I guess for the masses, auto headlamp with auto-dimmers will help the driving community.

[Apex1815]

I voted for Auto-wipers.

In my vehicle (Nexon XZ) both these options are not available and I never felt the need of this feature until I read this poll.

Now, I hope if Auto wipers were there it would have been an added advantage especially during intermittent rainy weather, where after every few hundred meters we have to frequently switch ON (& OFF) the wipers.

When it comes to Auto Headlamps, it is not really a feature which I cherish.
The top end variant of modern cars (>10~12 Lac Rs range) are already equipped with Safety/Ergonomics features which is more than enough.

Anything more than that is something in the direction of extra premium features like Auo Headlamp, Heads on Display, Voice Assitant AC control etc.

[Blue_Silver]

I can't vote, however I would choose both.
Coming from the days where nothing was automated to nearly everything can be automated i think it is convenient to have both of these on Auto.

Auto headlamps helps for the people who are forgetful and drive their cars unknown that they haven't switched on the lights and driving on bright DRL's only.

As for auto wipers it surely helps in the rainy seasons when its raining intermittently and this takes up the effort of constant switching on and off for Wipers. For heavy rains you anyways would go to higher wiper settings then keeping on Auto as I have faced some issues with non calibrated auto wipers.

(P.S - Given freedom if I can Dictate my terms, I would like the all Manual as it gives a lot of control on things, but that's just wishful thinking :P)

[veedub89]

Not for me personally, but I want all cars to come with auto headlamps.

Sick and tired of some morons refusing to switch on their lights even though it is clearly dark outside and switching on your lights would really help other users spot your car.

Not sure if these people think they can save some fuel by not switching on the lights.

[ArijitGupte]

Would prefer auto headlamps, not just as a convenience but also as a safety. Will hopefully prevent people driving without headlights in dark.

[sanjoyraju]

I would have voted for Auto Headlamps as I find it very useful and have never touched the light stalk yet since purchase.
Automatic wipers should be a boon as well. But if not an intelligent and precise system (In terms of speed being proportional to windshield water accumulation rate) can be a real issue while driving in reduced visibility due to rain.
Can't vote, is there any eligibility for voting?

[07CR]

Originally Posted by Aditya

So, if you had to pick one, which feature would you prefer - auto-wipers or auto-headlamps?

I subscribe to your and GTOs thoughts. Voted for Auto Wipers.

Allow me to explain- I have two cars, Kia Sonet HTX iMT and Ford Ecosport S. The Ecosport has both, while Sonet has only the Auto headlamps. It's incredibly convenient to drive the Ecosport in torrential rains, as the wiper setting is well caliberated, and it's extremely rare where I need to manually use the wiper (1 in 1000 instances). There's also an added safety feature, wherein incase of heavy rains, the auto headlamps (only low beam HID) too switch on for the ecosport.

On the flipside, in the Sonet, I need to constantly keep fiddling with the Wiper setting under varying rain condition and gets irritating.

[Ravi Parwan]

I voted for auto head lamps.

One voting pattern I observed in this thread is that people in locales with higher rainfall have mostly voted for auto wipers. For someone based in North India, where rains are not so frequent, auto headlamps make more sense. In fact, the system should switch on all the lights and not just the headlamps. This is personal experience while driving a Toyota Prius in the US where I had the selector on auto, till someone honked to tell me my tail lamps were not switched on.

Slightly OT, I would also vote for the auto high beam lowering system that dips the headlamps for oncoming traffic. That is a much more relevant feature here in Delhi NCR where everyone likes to drive with their high beams on and do not bother to think about the poor soul bearing the brunt of their LED and Xenon projectors.

[subhro1988]

Voted for auto-headlamps since in my Dzire, the ICE background is synced with the auto-headlamp feature which is extremely useful. Just to give an example, if its raining during the day, the auto headlamp will turn on but the ICE backlight will remain white which is very useful. But if I manually put the headlamps on, the ICE backlight becomes dark by default.
Dzire doesn't have auto-wipers (it doesn't even have varying intermittent settings) but I have never felt the need.

[kushagra452]

Neither. IMO these features are merely gimmicks with no real benefits. How much of an effort does it require to flick on the wipers or the headlamps? On the contrary, with more such "gizmos" installed, the probability of something going wrong ( remember Murphy's law?) only increases. "Keep it simple stupid!" seems to summarize my thoughts.

[Sheel]

Auto wipers any day. My SUV has both, my car has one, auto headlamp, if I could, would trade in for auto wiper.

I recall an incident, a truck was approaching and I couldn’t pay attention to surface thanks to its bright headlights, unknowingly I entered a huge pool of water, water splashed and landed on my windshield, luckily auto wipe function was on and in split seconds, I had my visibility. I couldn’t be faster manually.

On single lane roads, whenever a HCV passes, pools of water land on windshield, auto wiper clears it without the need to intervene. So, auto wipers for me, always.

[car-dent]

From a user perspective, Auto wipers are more helpful, but from manufacturers perspective, Auto headlampos are super cheap and easy to implement as it just needs a LDR- Light Dependent Resistor (Light Sensor) which would be just a few rupees at the max. Whereas Rain sensors would be costlier and needs a control unit to control speed and sensitivity as well. Thats the reason we see auto headlamps in even lower variants of many cars these days. And Auto wipers only in few cars that too in higher variants only. In fact, S cross Alpha variant had Auto Wipers but that is not carried forward in Grand Vitara.

Trivia- While in school, we had made a power cut alarm which involved the use of a LDR(Light dependent Resistor) which if i remeber correctly was about 2-5 rs at that time and the whole project costed about 100-150 Rs.

[tristis2008]

I would like an option "Auto Wipers with Spray".

When manually operating wipers, I prefer to use it along with spray for smooth operation as well removal of any dust from the windscreen before wiping. The auto wipers in my T-Roc won't do that.

I see both features are useful . Nonetheless voted for Auto Lamps.

[amitayu]

Voted for auto wipers.

I see no practicality with auto headlights. I mean, if you need to be reminded to turn on headlights, you better surrender your driving license~!

But auto wipers, oh boy, what a boon! it really takes off a burden while driving in the rains.

[bigben]

I have both- Auto wipers and headlamps in my EcoSport and it is really handy. The lights come on automatically when I enter my basement parking, or when driving through an enclosed area. I dont need to worry about switching the lights on and can drive with absolute peace of mind. The wipers are automatic as well and come on when there is a light drizzle. They are auto activated and speed up with the intensity of the rain and also the faster you drive. It is really convenient and you can focus on the most important thing- the drive!