Topic: Auto dimming mirrors. Useful?

[Squishy]

Our MDX has one, along with an on-off button where the manual toggle switch would go.  Since our hatch window is tinted, I have never seen it activate.  I do not use the manual ones either, as I find it makes everything too dark.  I would rather squint my eyes a little than have hardly anything visible behind me.

[wing]

I've noticed that any of the new cars I've driven/looked at do not have this manual feature.  Some of them have the option of the auto dimmer....does this even work in the big SUV tailgating scenario? Curious.

 Just curious what cars you've looked at that didn't have dimming mirrors? When I was looking at new cars last July and August, I never encountered any that you couldn't flip to dim glare

I have to admit its been a while but the 08 Civic, 09 Corolla, 08 Mazda3, 08 Lancer GTS, 08 Accord doesn't have it...

Unless I was missing something.  I have to admit I wasn't looking too closely but I was configuring a 09 Corolla on the Toyota website last night and I came across this again.  Curious if its worth getting installed or if its usually not that useful.  The compass isn't a bad little side feature either but I have an excellent sense of direction so its rarely needed and if I really needed a compass then I've got those too.  But I was curious.

EVERY car as a manual dimming mirror.  Unless you mean those cars didn't have auto-dimmers.  Sure -- it's usually a luxury option.

[johngenx]

I can reach up and dim the mirror myself.  If a car comes standard with it, so be it, but I wouldn't pay extra for it.

[safristi]

 My eyes are dim,
 I can not see,
 Wing and FOG_LITE wallahs
 Must be followin' me.....................

[Ice]

I've noticed that any of the new cars I've driven/looked at do not have this manual feature.  Some of them have the option of the auto dimmer....does this even work in the big SUV tailgating scenario? Curious.

 Just curious what cars you've looked at that didn't have dimming mirrors? When I was looking at new cars last July and August, I never encountered any that you couldn't flip to dim glare

I have to admit its been a while but the 08 Civic, 09 Corolla, 08 Mazda3, 08 Lancer GTS, 08 Accord doesn't have it...

Unless I was missing something.  I have to admit I wasn't looking too closely but I was configuring a 09 Corolla on the Toyota website last night and I came across this again.  Curious if its worth getting installed or if its usually not that useful.  The compass isn't a bad little side feature either but I have an excellent sense of direction so its rarely needed and if I really needed a compass then I've got those too.  But I was curious.

EVERY car as a manual dimming mirror.  Unless you mean those cars didn't have auto-dimmers.  Sure -- it's usually a luxury option.

I can say for almost certain that the 08 Accord and 08 Civic do not.  I'd have to take a much closer look at the others as those were only test drives.

[wing]

Sorry, there is no way a modern car would not come with a dimming mirror.

Here's a picture of an '08 accord that I took you can clearly see the little flippy thing for the mirror.

[sailor723]

I have to agree with wing....I don't know of a modern car that doesn't have a dimming rearview mirror. If it doesn't have the little lever it must be auto dimming.

[carcrazy]

05 Mazda3 GT Sedan and 07 Outlander LS both have it. I never used this feature though. I tried it out once and never used it again.

[gosteelerz]

Absolutely hated it on when driving my dad's TL.  It would almost be a deal breaker if it couldn't be turned off.

When my kids were infants I used to have the mirror set-up in reverse so I could flick it down to check on them.

[barrie1]

My old Caddie has a autodmming type with 3 seperate settings on it. Seems to work really well as I like it quite a bit. It works by distance which can be quite helpful on occasion.

[Ice]

I have to agree with wing....I don't know of a modern car that doesn't have a dimming rearview mirror. If it doesn't have the little lever it must be auto dimming.

I'll go and check it ...let you guys know! Maybe I'm just off my rocker

[Wetson]

It sure would not  be a be a must have option
I usually find the reflection for the side view mirror to be worst then the rear view mirror

I agree 100%

[dr_spock]

Personally I'd rather dim the mirror myself.   There was one in my FIL's Maxima when I was driving it across a province or two.   It wasn't as fast as me flipping the lever on a manual one.

[rrocket]

Had it on my Lexus GS, and Import Queen on her IS.  I really liked it.  It's a convenience option that I miss now.  Sure, it's not hard to flick it yourself, but the Lexus unit reacted very quickly and darkly to headlights.  Wish I still had it...

[gta_driver]

I have auto dimming in my Saab. Before I installed a dark tint, it worked well. Now I really don't need it. The rear tint filters out any annoying glare.

[Zombie]

I have to agree with wing....I don't know of a modern car that doesn't have a dimming rearview mirror. If it doesn't have the little lever it must be auto dimming.

All the cars that I have driven in the past have all had this feature as far back as can remember, 80's cavalier, 90's swift, 92 civic, 00 civic, 03 civic, 08 WRX. Its not like it is new technologies.

[ghost]

Manual is better. And yes all rearview mirrors can "dim" with a flick of the tab. 
Auto dimmers can be fooled if the ambient lighting i still bright but the jackace at the back is on high beams at you.

[dorin]

Absolutely hated it on when driving my dad's TL.  It would almost be a deal breaker if it couldn't be turned off.

  I totally hate auto-dimming mirrors.  I find they have weird colour rendition even when they're not dimming and I prefer to decide for myself when I want my mirror dimmed (for example, all the auto-dimming mirrors I've been exposed annoyingly dim at night in town whenever someone is behind however I find that street lights in town provide enough ambient light that I don't need to dim the mirror just because of some headlights behind).  Auto-dimming mirrors could be a deal-breaker in some cars.

[Ice]

Yep, I'm off my rocker

08 Accord definitely has one.  Its much less obvious a switch than on some of the other cars I've been in.  Probably the same for the others.

Still an interesting discussion about the electrochromatic.  I think I'll probably just leave it be and not get one.