Exterior Lighting Problems of Honda Ridgeline - part 1

Automatic high beam headlights fail to work properly most of the time will not go back to low beams when a vehicle is in the opposite lane also will not go to high beams when no vehicles are in sight very frustrating and dangerous.

See all problems of the 2025 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Auto high beams are not working.

03/09/26 driver side headlight assembly filling with a lot of water when driving in wet conditions. Headlight has a significant amount of water and condensation inside. It is very noticeable. I can see a slight difference in positioning of the driver side headlamp vs the passenger side. Driver side looks slightly misaligned on the part closest to the midline of the truck. Available to inspect upon request. Called dealer to bring it in to inspect immediately. They told me to come in without an appointment bc they said I didnt need one for this issue and I can come right in. I drove all the way there and was told they couldn't help me bc they were to busy now. Scheduled service with dealer on 3/23/26. They were unable to take me earlier and told me that it's not an emergency and that I can drive the vehicle saftely until the 23rd, in wet or dry conditions. I inspected light and took photos. Was told by local mechanics that a dealer would need to inspect it for defects / warranty repair. Dealer will be able to see the water and condensation throughoyt the entire headlamp as soon as they look at it. You can't miss it, it looks ridiculous. Ive noticed my day time running lights aren't working consistently since the water has been in the headlamp. Also, they will be able to reproduce the water flooding into the headlamp with no problem. If they run it through a carwash, water will hemorrhage into it. No symptoms or warning indicators / messages prior to part failure. I've attached photos and have more upon request. The photos show the water in the headlamp is now frozen over the inside of the headlight. This is affecting visibility and I am concerned about this damaging other components / electrical systems.

See all problems of the 2023 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Automatic headlights have a delay in turning off the high beams that causes oncoming traffic to be subjected to high beams until they are way too close.

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline has an unsafe, faulty, improperly designed auto headlight system. Oncoming headlight detection is delayed by several seconds, or non-responsove at all. This creates s situation where my vehicle's headlights "automatically" blind oncoming traffic with high beams. This causes frustrated oncoming drivers to turn on their high beams, blinding me. This happens every time I turn on my auto headlight feature. I am a member of the facebook group "Honda Ridgeline owners club", with 18,000 members. Dozens of members there have confirmed that their later model Ridgelines experience the same safety issue. They claim that this started when Honda redesigned their front-facing detection camera a few years ago. Please look into this, and press for a recall. Honda has created a very unsafe situation with their faulty automatic headlight design.

While driving home on 2/21/26 at night in light sleet/snow conditions, I noticed a dramatic decrease in headlight effectiveness in my Honda Ridgeline. When I stopped to check the headlights, they were coated with ice that needed to be scraped off. This is my first vehicle that has led headlights so this was unexpected. I never had this issue with my previous vehicles that used incandescent /halogen headlights. I suspect this snow/sleet buildup is due to the fact the led headlights, by their nature, are much more thermally efficient and generate less than 10% of the heat of an incandescent light source. As a result, led headlamps do not generate enough head to melt any snow/sleet accumulations on the headlight lens. While this might not be an issue in southern states, it is a significant safety and visibility issue in areas where winter snows are the norm. Nhtsb should consider requiring a wiping mechanism (as is done on Volvo headlights) or implement a defrost mechanism into the headlamp assembly or lens of vehicles with led headlamps.

Lighted running board lights continuously quit working. Honda has a technical service bulletin issued but this is a known problem.

See all problems of the 2024 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Automatic headlight dimming mechanism does not work well. Sometimes they do not dim to oncoming traffic. When they dim, they do not return to high beam even after returning to highway speed and no oncoming traffic.

The auto high beams (ahb) fail to work correctly. When set to on, they will come on for maybe 3-4 seconds then turn off, and maybe repeat the next time. The bigger issue is they fail to turn off many times when approaching oncoming traffic. The feature is dangerous by not turning on when they should and not turning off when they should. This is a widespread problem reported by many. The Honda dealer said they adjusted the sensitivity of the ahb when in fact there is no such adjustment. There is clearly something wrong with the implementation on the Ridgeline as other same year Honda models (we have a 2924 crv) do not have this problem.

The auto high beam features turns on and off indiscriminately, often going off on a dark section of road or staying on with oncoming traffic. This is dangerous as I lose clear vision of the road or the oncoming driver could be blinded by the light. The dealer admits that the feature, which is listed on the car sticker and in the manual, effectively does not work. Honda will say that it works as designed. In which case it is a faulty design. My Subaru outback has the same feature that works flawlessly, so I do understand what proper operation is. Additionally this and other safety features are suppressed under 45 miles an hour. Typically the safety features are most valuable on single lane roads where the speed is less than 45 mph.

There is constant water intrusion on the driverside headlight causing poor headlamp performance. I have reported the issue to a dealer for a warranty claim and was told that it is normal for water to be inside the headlight housing. If this is the case than I believe there is potential for a safety hazard. Issue was escalated to Honda customer service who initially offered to help get the repair done under warranty and then changed their tune and told me they wouldn't intervene and my only other option was to take it to another dealership to get a second opinion. I believe than based on manufacturer communications on this website (11000278 & 11000270) that this is a known issue and owners are being gaslighted into thinking its normal.

Auto dimming headlights, regardless of any changes settings will only engage the high beams a few seconds at a time regardless of current lighting conditions or light on the road. Even in the total lack of any extension light source the lights will change to high beams and a few seconds later revert to low beams.

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the automatic high beam headlights were activated, but failed to illuminate as needed; however, the high beam headlights illuminated when there was oncoming traffic, affecting the vision of the oncoming driver. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the vehicle was performing as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 500.

When the automatic dimming headlamp is turned on, the headlamps do not perform as expected. When the bright lights finally did turn on, they didn't dim with an approaching vehicle. I reported it to the dealer, and they told me of a fix but that was for turning the headlamps on at dusk not dimming the headlamps.

Auto high beams constantly tun on and off due to reflections from road signs. Other times when cars are coming at you, and they should turn off, they stay on blinding the oncoming drivers.

Automatic high beams will not work. A safety hazard. A multitude of owners say they are worthless, to give up and use the manual dim/bright feature. Those few who say theirs work say the system is overly sensitive - turning on or off the high beams at random times. Sometimes blinding other drivers, other times not providing enough light when needed. Multiple owners said they have submitted complaint to NHTSA with no assistance, to date.

The high beam lights cycle on off constantly when on auto approximately every 5-10 seconds even when there is no oncoming traffic.

Automatic high beam function: does not work properly, most road signs turn the high beams off, sometimes the high beams turn back on when another car is approaching. They don't activate at all until you speed reaches 45 mph. This is the same issue I experienced with my 2021 Ridgeline. The only difference is that on the 2021 model the function activated at 35 mph. This feature is basically useless and Honda should not be permitted to advertise this feature until corrected on all affected years.

Using the automatic high beam system, the high beam may come on even if a car is coming toward me. Sometimes, the high beam will not transition to low beam until the incoming car is real close to me. The incoming car would put his high beam on to warn me. As well, the high bean can randomly transition to low beam for no reason. And a second after, come back to high beam. Really dangerous. I had other cars with this system and never had that kind of problems.

The auto headlights do not come on and if they do they almost always turn off immediately. The will not come on at speeds under 25 and this is too slow. To cap all of this they randomly come on when cars are driving towards you even though I have tried to disable this feature totally. They are a safety hazard and used to work on older models flawlessly.

Their is an issue with the headlight assembly where condensation gets in obscuring headlight clarity and potentially damaging the head light assembly electrical components. My vehicle is only 3 years old, never been in a front end accident, and out of warranty and the dealer quoted $1,655. 86 to replace it.

See all problems of the 2022 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Automatic headlight dimming system malfunctioning. Headlights randomly activate to high beams and dim under all low light conditions. The system is unsafe as it blinds oncoming traffic under all conditions and the driver in particular in fog. It continually intermittently cycles up and down between low and high beam while driving. The Honda dealer replaced the system sensor but the problem has continued. The dealer said don’t bring the vehicle back as there was no use in continued troubleshooting or repair. The older Honda year model auto headlight systems worked well. The Honda on-line users forums are filled with similar complaints about this newer headlight system failures. I have submitted a complaint to Honda USA. We need Honda to develop a fix for this system.

Auto-dimming headlights do not work properly, not always dimming for oncoming traffic, and/or randomly switching between high and low beams without cause. This blinds and confuses oncoming traffic.

The auto dimming feature for the headlights is ineffective & dangerous. It goes off & on constantly without oncoming vehicles or headlights & also the bright headlights remain on at times with on coming headlights. This happens with all sensitivity setting. The delayed turning off even causes drivers in the other direction to flash their high beams headlights back or even turn their high beams on and leave them on. There is no way to manually dim them when this happens & it happens all the time. Honda appears to ignore this known issue! no adjustments or bulletins on this issue.

The auto high beam system on my 2023 Honda Ridgeline frequently malfunctions. It prematurely dims the high beams when approaching reflective road signs or street lighting, even with no oncoming traffic present. More concerning, the system immediately reactivates high beams afterward — sometimes directly into the eyes of oncoming drivers, creating a blinding hazard. This behavior has occurred multiple times during rural and suburban nighttime driving. Honda offers no way to adjust the system’s sensitivity, even the one in the dask computer dont help and dealerships confirm that no fix or update is currently available. The system appears to be functioning “as designed,” but the result is erratic and unpredictable headlight behavior that undermines safety. I am submitting this report to document repeated false activations and to support investigation or revision of this feature.

Auto high beam turns off and on on dark country road repeatedly with no other cars or light present . This means I lose highbeams when needed the most for animals in road. Also, the system goes from low beam into high beam when a car approaches in opposite lane blinding them. In short , is dangerous to use this safety feature!.

The auto high beam function on this vehicle is absolutely useless. It dims when it should be on. It dims needlessly for highway markers and road signs. The constant on and off of the high beams on a dark road with no other cars is dangerous. This system on the Ridgeline is dangerous. I have the system on other cars and it works almost perfectly but not in this vehicle.

I have taken my car to the dealership of three separate occasions with respect to the automatic high beam option which at best works inconsistently on the back rural roads where I live. They adjusted this option on two occasions, and the service advisor took my vehicle home - driving it at night. In his words, he indicated, "given the technology within this vehicle, we did the best we could. " I know for a fact the automatic high beam option technology exists as I have another vehicle with the same option that works flawlessly and as intended; a 2024 Subaru forester. In multiple correspondences with Honda's customer service division, they stated, "at this time, the trained technicians at middletown Honda have confirmed that your vehicle is operating as designed. We truly regret that the outcome does not meet your expectations, and we want to assure you that your dissatisfaction has been noted on our end. " clearly, and I understand, that for this issue to be resolved, a recall of this vehicle specific to this issue would have to take place. I have read on numerosu blogs and Honda forums that this is and has been an issue with this current model dating back to the 2020 model, as owners of the models predating this year did not find this option as an issue. So, clearly something in the engineering of this option post 2020 changed. As I had indicated to both Honda's customer service and the dealership personnel I have spoken to, I will no longer utilize this option as it is dangerous and will, on the rural roads I drive on, cause a vehicular accident.

On several occasions, while driving at night, the auto dimming headlights would not dim. Last evening, on 2 different occasions , on a rural road, no road signs, mailboxs . Nothing that would cause a issues, the headlights would not go from high beam to regular (or low beam. ) 2 different times , vehicles coming at us, the lights would not dim. Time was apx 9pm , not a cloud in the sky. I had all so noticed while driving on a interstate , the same thing would happen, the lights would not dim,, drive maybe 50' or 5-10 seconds later. They would dim. There seems to be no rime or reason of if or when they will dim. We had 18 and 22 outback and they worked perfectly , where the Ridgeline has malfunctions. Asking the dealer they have not heard of anything wrong . . I have not had them to check , but have heard from other owners of the Ridgeline and they are complaining about the same thing. Uptill either the 22's or 23 models the auto dimming worked perfectly . . Then Honda changed either the location of the sensor or changed the software.

Auto high beam. Very sensitive. Sometimes they don't go on when they should and sometimes, they stay on blinding oncoming traffic. I have researched this problem and also have been told this is a known problem with this particular model and year - not just my vehicle.

See all problems of the 2021 Honda Ridgeline 🔎.

Auto high beams redesigned from g2 to g3 models (mine is a 2022). . They do not work correctly. I know Honda had them working on my 2017 ridegeline, but engineering changes have made they inoperative. There is a multitude of complaints by almost every owner as there were none shipped that worked as designed. Honda support simply ask the owner to adjust the light sensitivity setting (low, med,high) but that is not the issue. While adjusting sensitivity may control the point at which the lights sense the brightness of on coming traffic, is does nothing to fix the problems. . 1. ) problem Honda changes from 30mph min spped to turn on automatically to 45 mph. Useless at 45 mph turn on, to many back roads where you need them are under 45 mhp. 2. ) high beams go off when they sense the oncoming traffic lights, but alomost 100% of the time they fail to realize oncoming traffic terribly blinding oncoming traffic. 3. ) they do not reenable themselves , after taking note, they appear to have a timer such that if they go off, for a set number of seconds (way to long) they may and I mean may re-enable themselves, but by the time they do if they do, the distance traveled before being reenabled is unacceptable. 2017-2020's Ridgeline, work as expected, off in oncomng and back on with an sec or 2. 4. ). Worst part, Honda continues and continues to make and distribute later Ridgeline models with the same safety hazzard and selling them defective. Customer support and dealer are well aware of the issue, bug have not offered any fix or software patch for this design flaw. . . Hey my recourse is simply this, if they fail to turn off and a the police are my oncoming traffic and issue a ticket, I sue Honda and second and worst yet if it causes an serious accident possilby because a driver went off the road, I sue Honda. . And your folks for failure to tell Honda to fix this. . Way to long , to may complaints to you and Honda yet nothing 4 years later almost is being done. . . Kinda horrible?.

The auto-dimming bright lights are too sensitive, going on & off so quickly it creates a hazard to the driver & on-coming traffic. It is almost like a strobe light. These trucks have had this very same problem for years. Please force a fix.

The automatic headlight dimmer feature at times doesn’t dim soon enough or at all for oncoming traffic. It will change to dim back to bright or the other way bright to dim for no apparent reason. On very dark roads they do not change to bright at all. It’s been to the dealer 3 times. On first visit they reported no error codes. On the next visit they said sensitivity was adjusted and said road tested. The did not put any miles on the vehicle and when question about the said road test I was told they tested it in a dark wash bay. The vehicle has only 5017 miles when I first reported but has done it since purchased. The dealer says it doesn’t have a problem and Honda America will not get involved.

The auto dimming headlight feature is too sensitive. There is constant toggle of high and low beams when this feature in enabled. Any and all type of reflection from street and traffic signage trigger the lights to dim which causes the constant on and off of high beams. This causes distraction of both the driver of the affected vehicle and drivers of other vehicles in close proximity. Honda service said there is no way to adjust sensitivity setting.

Automatic headlights malfunction causing the high beams to activate when cars are ahead or deactivate when lights reflect off of street signs. This causes road rage by other drivers who think the owner is deliberately blinding them with the high beams. Also with the constant changing between low and high it causes hazards when driving due to inconsistent lighting on the roadway ahead. This condition has been present since purchase in Dec 2022.