In my 2000 Max, the instrument cluster lights would not come on until the headlights came on, but on the 2005 Max, they stay on regardless if it's daylight or not. Is this a normal characteristic of the car?

My main concern is having the lights burn out prematurely?

 

It is normal for the cluster lights to be on when the car is running.

 

Just get use to it....

 

the lights are brighter when the headlights are of, when they turn on the dash lights dim. yes it is normal

 

The reason is the Max has electroluminescent instrumentation. If they did not light up in the daytime, you could not see them...(try to look at them before you stick the key in and you will see what I mean).

 

cool, but i'm still concerned about premature failure of the lamps that illuminate the instrument cluster.

 

The instrument panel is lit by LEDs, so they should last many, many years (probably the life time of the car). If you are concerned about them dying prematurely, then do not set the brightness of the instrumentation panel to anything but "max" (via the scroll wheel to the left of the sterring wheel)... this will put the LEDs in "pulse width modulation" mode, whereby the brightness of the panels is determined by the fraction of time the LEDs are on... so basically, they "flash" quickly to vary the overall light output (try moving your eyes quickly while the brightness is set to half way and you'll see what I mean). This is a common trick to vary LED light output, and works well (LEDs are far more resistant to on/off than normal light bulbs, and will last a LOT longer).

 

I didn't know that the instrument cluster was lit by LED's. If that is the case, that makes my question moot.

Interesting that Nissan couldn't have the rear brake lights outfitted with LED's.

 

I am 99% certain that they are LEDs... they certainky behave like LEDs (the PWM thing, etc).

 

You can dim, or switch them off completely, by using the setup mode. There are day and night brightness settings available for the instrument cluster.

Check the owners manual.