Headlights problems of the 2014 Ford Explorer

The headlights on this vehicle are terrible. They barely illuminate the road in front of me. I find it unsafe to drive at night. On city streets at night the problem isn't as apparent, but when I'm traveling on the interstate or any other road without street lighting, if I'm approached by an oncoming vehicle it's as if I don't even have my headlights on. Side lighting is also an issue when turning at night as its nearly blind. It's a vehicle I really enjoy, but I'm considering selling because I find it completely unsafe for night driving.

I have a 2014 Ford Explorer. The headlights are so poor in operation that it is unsafe to drive the car at night. Upon going on the internet, I found numerous complaints for the same exact problem of consumers not being to see safely when the lamps are on in the evening. The Ford dealers say that the car meets Ford specs and the Ford CO customer service dept confirms that they had numerous complaints and that Ford has no fix. This is indeed a safety issue and a fix and recall is essential.

The headlights on my 2014 Ford Explorer sport do not safely light up the road at night on a road with no street lights. The low beams project a black line from left to right approximately 6 inches above the dashboard. There is also no light on either side of the vehicle when making a right or left turn. Last week I almost ran into a ditch because I did not have enough light to see the road. I spoke to my Ford dealer and they responded they know of the problem but Ford has not sent out a maintenance bulletin or a recall. I called Ford customer service and they responded they would make note of this issue and would use it to enhance next years model. I responded that they need to fix this years model. The headlights this year (2014) are new. They use a projector system which is not working. I believe this is a major safety concern and a recall should be issued to convert the new lights back to the old style lights.

The headlights on the 2014 Ford Explorer do not illuminate the road when turning, esp to the right. The driver turns into darkness. Therefore if you are turning right at night, the driver can not determine if a pedestrian is in a crosswalk or if the lane he/she is turning into is obstructed or compromised in any way. This has been a problem with this vehicle since I got it but I was able to limit my night time driving until recently. Now I have come to realize how dangerous the inability to see into the turns you are making is. In October 2015, I was turning right on to a busy state highway at night. Because the headlights do not illuminate the road through the turn, I could not see where my lane was, overestimated the distance and then realized as I straightened the vehicle that I was in the lane of oncoming traffic traveling at 60 mph from a distance of about 1/4 mile! if I had not quickly moved into the correct lane, many people could have been injured or killed. This incident prompted me to realize how dangerous these headlights are and to formally report the problem here and to the Ford CO. After this incident,I took my Explorer to my Ford dealer who checked the headlights and told me that there was an "engineering/design flaw" that the service department could not fix. I then filed a safety complaint with the Ford CO. A representative called me within 48 hrs. She explained that she had talked to my Ford service department who told her that there was a headlight illumination problem. She also stated that as of this time, Ford considers the headlights to be working within acceptable level. She stated that I needed to file a complaint here and that Ford would not consider this a problem until enough people file complaints through your agency and the Ford CO. . I am fearful that I will injure or kill someone before this is remedied.

Headlights don't illuminate far enough in front of vehicle and aim down into the road. When making a turn the headlights do not reflect to the edges of the road limiting your vision. We have to stop when making a turn to point the headlights in the direction we want to go because there is no side vision. These headlights are not safe to drive with at night. It's like driving with two flashlights for headlights! this has limited our driving at night. We have been to the dealership to try to resolve this and since found out that there have been numerous complaints for the past two years! will you please contact me and let me know how Ford plans to resolve this safety hazard.

When driving on rural unlit roads, the headlights at times light up less than 3 vehicle lengths and or blind oncoming drivers when using low beams. The issue appears to be associated with the recent headlight design which uses a "projector style" lens incorporating a "high beam" bulb and a shutter to create the low beam by cutting off the top portion of the beam. There is "no" light above the cut-off line so when driving down an undulation and/ or during braking, the light beam aims down relative to the road. When going up an undulation, the beam cut-off moves up and shines the uncut-off beam into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Additionally, the headlights have no light onto the shoulder above headlight height so roadside traffic control signs and pedestrians are not illuminated. Situation has been observed by dealership salesman and technician who expressed disbelief. Dealership management and manufacturer customer assistance center have advised condition is "normal and acceptable" even though they have not observed the condition and have refused to do so. No service actions are to be performed per the technical hotline. Other conditions presented by this design are also present creating additional lesser issues. Condition is ongoing since first being observed on first night drive.