Tail/Brake Light 'Burned Out' warning

[Yo'sDad]

23 CX-5 Carbon. Instrument Cluster "B" I think. After searching the interweb, this and other forums and my owner's manual I cannot find any mention of a warning indicator if a tail light or brake light has burned out. Surely Mazda did not omit this feature? Thanks

 

[shooter357]

I don't know of any auto that lets you now if a light is out. Every once in a while I back up to something and step on the brakes or turn the lights on and look to see if everything's OK !

 

[Yo'sDad]

I don't know of any auto that lets you now if a light is out. Every once in a while I back up to something and step on the brakes or turn the lights on and look to see if everything's OK !

My 80 volvo had that feature. And 'believe' several other cars I have owned in the past did also. Yes, I always check my brake lights in the mirror looking at the reflections of whatever is behind me. Just figured I would ask. Thanks

 

[wlong01]

Some older cars used to display a brake symbol on the dash if a tail light was out but haven't seen that in awhile.

 

[stickerbush]

I don't know of any auto that lets you now if a light is out. Every once in a while I back up to something and step on the brakes or turn the lights on and look to see if everything's OK !

my '07 BMW 3 Series does this

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I know the ‘87 Maxima SE I had as a kid had that light for taillights… it might have had one for headlights too… but too many decades ago now for me to remember. I think old Cadillacs used to leverage fiber runs and lights at either front tops of fenders and the rear headliner to indicate if lights were working or not too.

Some older cars used to display a brake symbol on the dash if a tail light was out but haven't seen that in awhile.

 

[yrwei52]

my '07 BMW 3 Series does this

I don't know of any auto that lets you now if a light is out. Every once in a while I back up to something and step on the brakes or turn the lights on and look to see if everything's OK !

Yes my 2000 BMW 528i has that feature too. Currently the car-shaped illustration indicates my right-rear taillight isn’t lit but the light is fine. Must be the sensor to the tail lights itself has problems and I gave up trying to fix it.

 

[Mazdahawk72]

My 2007 SAAB would indicate that I had a bulb out and the location. Sometimes if the bulb was on the verge of going out, the change in resistance was enough to trigger the bulb out notice, even if the bulb was still lit. I can’t imagine that a car 14 years newer wouldn’t also, at least, tell you which bulb was out.

 

[Yo'sDad]

The purpose of my original post was that I all too frequently come up behind a car with no tail or brake lights. On occasion if I happen to come up beside them at a red light I'll ask them to roll down their window and tell them. On all occasions they are happy to be informed. Modern cars are so inundated with electronic 'stuff', I don't understand this not being a mandated feature. Oh well. Thanks to all for replying. Just for kicks I think I will unplug one of my brake lights just to see if I get any warning at all. The old test your reflection on something when you think about it may be all we have, haha.

 

[ceric]

I think it was popular among European cars.. not sure about now.
My '98 540iA had it.

My uncle had a Citroen in the late '80s.
It actually verbally warned him when a brake light burned out.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I had a memory of the dash of my parents former ‘87 Mazda 626 LX (purchased new) dash and it had an indicator for tail and stop out. Found a pic online

Bottom left and right lights…

 

[N7turbo]

I think it was popular among European cars.. not sure about now.
My '98 540iA had it.

My uncle had a Citroen in the late '80s.
It actually verbally warned him when a brake light burned out.

Never seen a Citroen in real life, but in my head I'm hearing

"Pull up"

"Pull up"

 

[cz5gt]

luxury brands have this for ages. guess Mazda is not a luxury yet.
Citroen DS was a luxury. French presidents use to drive it back when each major country had its own brands and flagships.

 

[Yo'sDad]

I did my little experiment (23 Carbon) by pulling the wire connector out of the circuit board on the rear drivers side. I started the car and hit the brake pedal and observed no change or indication anywhere. The left turn signal did blink double time. So assuming you use your turn signals (seems a lot of locals in my area don't seem to do that) a double fast flash time would be an indicator of that bulb (LED) is not working. Routinely, checking by observing the red reflection off your garage door, grill and headlights of the car behind you at a stop light, or my kids used to love looking out the back window at night and seeing the road signs light up if I touched the brakes, is still a proven technique. OK, my work here is done, back to saving the planet. Thanks to all who read and replied.