My mechanic was looking at my car and discussing the climate control and he made a comment that makes me wonder.
He said that when in auto mode, even when the A/C button is not illuminated, the car will automatically activated the A/C to meet the desired cabin temperature. he says even if the light is not automatically flashing on and off as the A/C cycles on and off, the car is in fact cycling the A/C. I didn't think he was right, but then again I'm not a mechanic. Do you guys normally drive around with the A/C button usually lit, or do you only turn it on when you want the car to cool down?

 

I can beleive that, most cars will run the AC when you set the windshield to defrost, but don't always indicate it via the A/C indicator. If you are asking the car to automatically regulate the temp it has to do what it has to do to get it to that temp.

 

I think whenever the A/C in our cars is on, the light will definitely be lit. For some reason, I try to minimize using A/C, but will not hestitate to use it when it feels hot and/or stuffy.

 

In our car the light for A/C automatically turns on when we defrost the front windshield.

I don't believe that's true. When you get in your car on a warm day and the interior is hot, I don't think the car is cooling very much in auto mode when the A/c button is not lit up.