Headlights problems of the 2012 Ford Taurus

The headlights have a very definite line between the lit and unlit area of the roadway and surrounding areas. This makes for a very dangerous situation where in my and other posters opinions creates a very dangerous situation whenever driving at night.

Tl the contact owns a 2012 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at night, the headlights failed to illuminate. The vehicle was driven to the residence using the high beam headlights. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 118,136.

03/24/2012. 1st failure mileage approx. 1,450: driving on I-95s at approx. 70 mph, raining condition, wipers in use, headlights on. Suddenly the instrument panel lights went dark, wipers stopped in the middle of windshield, engine cut off. Was able to steer car from middle lane to road side and braked. Put car in park, lights still out, engine would not start. In less a minute, on the middle instrument gauge a green lighted message displayed: "power accessories. . . " for a very short time. Then car restarted. Ford services could not find any problem or error code. 08/04/2012. 2nd failure mileage approx. 5,360: nice hot day of summer. After stopping at a travel center parking lot, drove about 25 yards in the parking lot at approx. 10 mph, the instrument panel lights went out and the engine cut off. Car would not start in "neutral" but started in "park" position right away. Ford services could not find any problem or error code. In both incidents, the passenger was accessing the "multi-media console" for radio station or gps.

2012 Taurus the headlights on the 2012 Taurus have a very sharp short cutoff that limits visibility greatly. This can only be experienced on a highway or back road where there is no back lights or other vehicles present. The cutoff projects a black line that floats up and down on the windshield that is hypnotic. If there was a bike or person walking ahead on the shoulder you would never see them in time. This problem is caused by an eyelid that drops down over the bulb when in the dim mode. When using the brights, the lights are fine. Because of oncoming traffic you cannot always use your bright setting. This problem is especially bad in the following situations: downhill; on curves; in deer country; this makes driving the arkansas mountains extremely dangerous at night.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the headlights were not bright enough while driving at night. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The dealer stated there was nothing they could adjust to brighten the headlights. The contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. The failure mileage was 7,800. . . . . Updated 03-28-13 the consumer stated the headlights have a very sharp short cut off that limits visibility greatly. The cut off projects a black line that floats up and down on the windshield that is hypnotic. The failure is with the dim lights. Updated 04/18/2013.

Headlight system is poor on low beam. There is a horizontal line making definite division in visibility that extends across the complete horizontal line of vision. Going to high beams stops this. I nearly had an accident as I cannot see well on low beams, upper gazing area. The same thing is reported by many owners. I stopped at the dealer, we looked at it, tried the lights and I find there is what appears a door to shield some of the upper area of the light bulb so that it is darker at the top. I assume it is to not blind oncoming drivers while on low beams. My wife constantly complains of this too, that she flat cannot see on low beams. In reality, if you were driving along the road and a deer was on the road with its head up looking at you, there would be no "deer in the headlights look" that you could see. This low beam headlight system just plain rots.

The headlights do not produce a complete and full light field in front of the vehicle. There are several distinct "finger shadows" present throughout the entire light field, resulting in very poor night vision. This is compounded by the very distinct upper horizontal "cut-off" of the projected light beam. The visibility problem is even worse during rainy nights. Local Ford dealer replaced entire headlight assemblies under warranty, problem still persists.