I have rain sensing wipers on my A3 and in the two months I have had my car now, it has rained a few times here in Houston. And almost every time I forget to turn off the wipers when I reach my destination. A couple of times I have even gone a few days without realizing that my wiper was ON the whole time!

Do you guys think I may have done some damage to the wiper motor with it being continuously on for a couple of days?

Any ideas on how I can prevent this from happening again apart from being more diligent and remembering to turn off the wipers when I park?

 

I had the auto rain sensor on my Jetta and I left the wipers on 24/7 and never had a problem. It was nice because as soon as it started to rain I never had to worry about the wipers they would automatically turn on. Very nice!

 

I think the whole point of the auto-sensing wipers is to leave them in the "on" position so that they are in fact automatic when you need them! To me it would not make sense to have to switch on my automatic wipers when I need them.

Am I wrong on this?

 

It seems to me that this is no different than the auto light sensor that turns on the lights at dusk. It seems to me that both are included in the Tech Package.

TPE_A3 is correct.....or they would be called "manual" wipers.

 

Since we are on the topic of Auto-sensors.....

This has occurred to me....does it hurt HID lights to leave them on auto when they periodically light when you pass through tunnels or enter parking garages? Does this cause damage or wear and tear on the bulbs or lighting mechanism?

 

I seriously doubt that either auto (rain-sensing) wipers or auto headlights would be damaged by doing what they're supposed to be doing - actively operating when needed. Yes, they are subjected to additional "on" time, but cutting back on that to increase their life (by a tiny increment) also means that you may be failing to use them when safety is affected.

You're more likely to do damage by operating the manual switches more often, or with wipers, running them when they aren't needed (on a dry windshield). The wiper motor is not sitting there in some sort of standby "on" mode when the switch is in the intermittent/auto position.

I leave both headlights and wipers in their auto-on settings continuously. And I really appreciate that I no longer have to think about the opposite wiper-on switch direction compared to my wife's Mazda.