Headlights Problems of Toyota RAV4 - part 1

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the illumination from the headlights was poor due to scratches inside the headlight housings. The contact stated that the illumination made nighttime driving difficult. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 53,000.

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Headlight water condensation. . . . In made in japan model. . . . My headlight got water condensation looks worst over the time. . . I look on internet n found that's Rav4 assembled in japan has specific with headlights. . . . Read more...

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Auto-high beam doesn't function normally at times. Auto-high beam icon goes off at random, even though the lever is pushed forward and the headlight stalk is in the �auto� position. This causes the high beams to be inoperable when the headlights are set to �auto. �.

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The halogen bulbs in the Rav4 le are substandard and present a safety hazard. After a dealer upgrade to some brighter bulbs, there is still very little spill to the sides of the road. This prevents me from seeing potential hazards like deer while driving at night. I have had several near misses with animals and even one with a pedestrian inside the city limits because I simply couldn't see them. Headlight aim has been verified as correct so that's not the issue either. This is a dangerous situation waiting to happen.

This is an addendum to complaint #11268870, concerning a headlight problem with our 2016 rav 4 le. The curtain of darkness created by the low beam headlights moves up and down with the movement of the car as the vehicle adjusts to the vagaries of the road. It becomes a dangerous distraction because you are trying to see what is in front of you, which is impossible past about 60 feet. So you are dealing not only with limited sight distance and an ominous curtain of darkness, its difficult to drive safely because the darkness continues to move up and down as you drive causing a serious diversion of concentration. Putting all the factors together creates a very stressful, annoying and dangerous situation.

When driving at night with the low beams on the visibility distance is limited to about 60 feet. After that all that you can see is a black veil like a curtain hung over the lights. Nothing can be seen or detected in the darkness beyond where the light abruptly ends presenting a very dangerous driving experience. The condition is amplified on dark country roads where there is no street lighting or other ambient light. Driving on high beams is the only safe option, but even then the high beams conflict with each side and there is no peripheral vision making turning a safety issue as well. Searching the internet about this problem brings up a number of similar complaints not only for the 2016 rav 4 le but through 2018 as well. Driving under these circumstances is a very dangerous commute, and some of the complaints include hitting deer, driving off the road while turning, and not being able to detect any movement or obstacles in the curtain of darkness that these headlights create. Statements in the complaints mention that the dealerships say they cannot fix the problem because it is a manufactured problem and they can only adjust to Toyota's specs. The headlights are extremely small on this vehicle so I'm not sure what the solution is. As far as I know no one has been seriously injured because of this flaw, but perhaps it is only a matter of time before that occurs, unless this very dangerous problem can be corrected. It is impossible to drive safely in this vehicle with the low beams on. And to drive with only the high beams at all times presents another hazard to oncoming traffic. This problem has to be addressed by Toyota manufacturing before the worst happens because of it. I am attaching pictures taken out of the windshield that shows the limited sight distance and the curtain of darkness that falls beyond the light.

Auto dim headlights work when they want to it has been an ongoing problem for many months.

Purchased 2019 Rav4 hybrid 4/2019. On winding roads using low beams, lit up distance is abruptly and severely shortened as the roadway dips and turns. These headlights are unsafe, in my opinion. Santa cruz,CA has many such roads, incl. Hwy. 17, and using high beams is not always an option. It was unnerving driving this vehicle the first night that I owned it, and still is.

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I have a new xle and the headlights are dangerous. These are projector headlights that cast a very focused beam forward. It is frigtening when you drive in some roads without a lot of ambient light. With the low beams on, it is like someone painted the top half of my windshield black. There is little peripheral illumination, so I can see what is directly in front of me, and nothing else. Where the road inclines down, the illumination cuts out just a few feet off the ground, below the level of things like stop signs. There is absolutely no peripheral illumination right at the front of the car, so when I turn, I can't see what I'm turning into until it's directly in front of my car, like pedestrians. To make matters worse, the dealership told me not to use led bulbs, because it could cause electrical issues with the car.

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Tl the contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the high beam headlights were faulty and would not operate when activated. The contact drove the vehicle to don joseph Toyota (1111 w main st, kent, OH 44240, (330) 673-2200), but the failure could not be duplicated and no failure codes were found. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired four times within six months for the same failure, but the failure continued. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the regional team was responsible for handling the situation. The failure mileage was 10,000.

Auto light feature does not work properly: on many occasions (about 2-3 times per week), while car is in motion early in the morning and at night, with the headlights in the "auto" mode and the automatic high beam feature enabled. When starting the car, the auto light function seems to be delayed. It does not work initially but starts working after the car is in motion for several minutes. The auto light feature is not staying on after car is in motion at night, lights turn off by themselves for a few seconds causing me to drive without lights before they turn themselves back on. Luckily I was driving slowly, otherwise it could have caused a serious accident. I took the car to the dealer a few times to fix the issue but they couldn't figure out the cause of the problem. No solution. They sugguested that I manually operate the lights. I do not think that I or any other car owners should pay money for a brand new car that offers convenience features that do not work. I was told that there is a mechanic at this particular dealership that owns the same car model and is having the same issue with his car. This issue is new and to my knowledge, there is not a technical service bulletin. Also, there are times that I smell gas in the car while the car is in motion. The dealer couldn't find any gas leaks when checked.

There is not particular incident to report. The headlight beams are to low on low-beam use, with a hard edge at the top so it is impossible to see far down the road. The high beam setting it too high, so the light goes 30 feet above the roadway, and does not illuminate the road further ahead. This is a faulty design. I was able to adjust the bulb housing to lower the high beam so it actually showed more road , and the problem of deer on the roadway in the mountains. There should be separate adjustments for high/low beams, and the lower beam should show more roadway ahead.

I have complained about the headlights from day one. The dealership said the headlights are adjusted properly. Since then my wife has hit a deer because she can not see more than one car length in front without the high beams on. Now she always drives with the high beams on. Thisorning she was verbally accosted from another driver for driving with her high beams on. We live in a more rural area with very few street lights. Get a rav 4 put it in a totally dark area and turn on the head lights. Measure the distance between bumper and end of light. Then you will see the issue. The lights might have the square footage requirement meet but the square footage goes left and right and not forward while driving.

Purchased 2018 rav 4 adventure three day's ago and it is impossible to drive at night on a road with no other available lighting. Extremely dangerous. It appears as though a veil covers 1/2 to 2/3 of windshield making visibility nearly impossible. The beam angle of the headlights barely cover the road in front of you and nothing above the height of the vehicle hood. You can see nothing in front of you and even less on the sides of the road. Changing the setting from auto, on and high beam to not change result. I want to return the vehicle. There is no point in having a vehicle you can only drive during the day. Extremely dangerous and very disappointing! I hope no one suffers injury or death as a result of this poor design.

Dangerous to drive at night due to projector headlights beam pattern cutoff. While driving with low beam headlights on at night, top part of light beam pattern is a straight line left to right across field of vision with zero liight above midpoint field of vision bottom (road) to top (sky). Especially dangerous when decending hills in dark and road ahead is flat (or horizontal) as well as decending a dip which climbs back up. Nowhere near enough light above mid field of vision. Requires highbeams selected which cannot always be selected due to oncoming traffic or following someone where it would blind them. Higher model Rav4 trim levels have led headlights which toyoa should retrofit onto xle, le, and any other models affected. Worried about wife driving with kids. 6 months into a 3yr lease.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. While driving at night or after dusk, the headlamps provided insufficient illumination to operate the vehicle safely. The contact was concerned that the failure was due to a feature on the vehicle where the headlights dim when approaching oncoming traffic. The vehicle was taken to uebelhor Toyota (located at 788 w 12th Ave, jasper, in 47546, (812) 482-2222) to be diagnosed and they stated that the vehicle performed as intended. Additionally, the contact stated that the illumination was inadequate in rural areas, but was not affected in an urban setting. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 4,200.

Tl the contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact complained about a design flaw with the vehicle. While driving in the fog, the low beam headlights reflected light back, which blinded the driver and made it impossible to see at night. The vehicle was taken to Toyota of poway (858-486-2900, located at 13631 poway rd, poway, CA 92064) where the lights were checked. The technician stated that no adjustment was needed and that the vehicle was performing as designed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The failure was not remedied. The failure mileage was approximately 7,000.

Toyota's headlights are terrible and make it hard to see at night. They are using the same 9012 bulbs used on the GMC sierra before you guys issued a safety recall for the sierra's headlights. . Read more...

I purchased a 2017 Rav4 le in December 2017. After driving it in the dark, I realized how horrible the headlights are. I had them adjusted on may 5, 2018, but little difference was noticed. Those that buy the high end models of the Rav4 get better headlights. And they cannot be retro fitted into the le model. Driving at night scares the bejezzus out of me. My parents live in montana (lots of wildlife), and hitting a deer is not my idea of fun. I drive high beams as much as possible, but don't want another car to wreck due to my headlights. I can't even see across the street with the headlights on low beam. I can't believe Toyota has not remedied this issue. Driving in the rain on November 23, 2018, was horrible! I couldn't even tell if the headlights were on. I went to the Toyota dealership on November 24, 2018, and gave the salesman a piece of my mind. I will not buy another Toyota as long as these headlights remain an issue. This is extremely dangerous and puts people at risk of their lives if driving at night. I will see what they come back with after my discussion the other night. I wasn't able to drive most of 2017 due to medical issues, so I didn't realize this problem. Toyota is better than this and should be embarassed by the situation. I've spoke with them several times about this problem and they know who I am when in the dealership. The next step is to write to the Toyota corporation about my specific complaint. I had a 2009 Rav4 and did not have this issue. A huge black eye for Toyota.

The car is equipped with auto high beams. Which do not function properly. On Monday, March 26,2017, my wife was driving to work in the early morning. She had the auto high beam setting on and the headlights flashed from low to high and back several times, while she was following a car. The sensors did not recognize there was a car in front of her. At other times, while driving with the auto selection on the indicator on the dash just vanishes and will not reset unless you manually turn on the high beams, then turn them back to auto. This was one of the selling points of the car that Toyota advertises, but it does not work as it should. Unfortunately in this day and age, this may cause a road rage incident, if the driver in front of the vehicle gets agitated. I contacted Toyota corporate, but I feel as if this was a waste of my time. The dealership thinks the setting is too sensitive, but there is no way to adjust the sensitivity. So basically I was told don't use it. It was set when I left the dealership yesterday and the auto indicator just vanished from the dash.

The illumination provided by the headlights on the 2018 Rav4 xle I purchased on December 28, 2017 is dangerously unsafe to drive on unlit rural roads. See attached letter dated January 6, 2017 and pic. I have more pics and several videos, if needed.

Road visibility at night using low beam headlights. When low beams are used at night there is a define dark portion of the windshield about center (horizonally) the area below the line is lit but the area above is completely black. The distance you can see is less than 300 ft and reduces down to 50 75 ft when going down hill. Every thing above the lit line is completely black. The lighting system is halogen and is completely unsafe to drive at night without using the high beams. . Dealers have refused to address problem with other owners.

Output from the low beam headlights is terrible. Low beams are so dim that it's often times hard to see at night, making it hard to see pedestrians and animals. This is unsafe I believe. . Read more...

This windshield is called the windshield of death online!the headlights of the arc only light up part of the windshield. As you can see from the reflection, the top half of the windshield is black. It is alarnming. The nights were raised a slight amount by the dealer but visibility is still not up to par-- going around corners is dangerous. It seems tat the halogen bulbs do not give enough light.

The headlights on this vehicle are not adequate. The low beam headlights do not project far enough down the road to see objects on the road, especially at highway speeds. On the night of September 16, 2017, I nearly hit two deer on the interstate highway because I could not see them.

I have a 2016 Rav4 limited with 12000 miles on it. Nothing happened yet, but the led headlights are obviously inadequate and I'm afraid I might run into an accident due to the poor visibility at night some day. When I drive at night, I cannot see the roads clearly at all. I hope a recall could be set to resolve this issue.

Headlights on low beam, form a line across the windshield. Unable to see the road ahead unless high beams are activated. You cannot see stop or street signs. Unless you know there is a stop sign or road entrance you cannot see them when using the low beams. 2 other people have driven my vehicle and complained about not being able to see the road ahead. Very dangerous. I am now leery of driving this vehicle at night.

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle's headlights became too bright and caused other drivers to flash their headlights, which obstructed the contact's vision. Toyota of nicholesville, kentucky inspected the vehicle, but could not determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,100.

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Rav4. While driving various speeds, the headlights malfunctioned. The contact stated that the headlights did not provide enough lighting to illuminate the road ahead. In addition, the auto high beam headlights were intermittent in illuminating the road ahead. Hoselton Toyota of east rochester, new york was contacted on different occasions. On the first occasion, the dealer stated that the vehicle was designed in that manner and informed the contact to get used to the way the headlights operated. The dealer's regional service manager and technician were contacted a second time and the headlights were adjusted slightly. Hoselton Toyota warned that any more adjustments would blind oncoming traffic. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and stated that there were no recalls. The failure mileage was 6,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the headlights were not bright enough. The high beam headlights needed to be turned on to have sufficient visibility at night. The vehicle was taken to st. Could Toyota (418 2nd st s, waite park, mn 56387 (320) 227-8052). The technician adjusted the headlights and stated that no further action could be taken. The contact stated that the lights were still not sufficient. The stock headlights were still installed in the vehicle and were not removed. The manufacturer was contacted and Toyota stated that the stock lights were designed properly. The failure mileage was unknown.

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. While driving any speed at night, the headlights did not provide adequate lighting. The contact also stated that the headlight beams focused approximately 20 feet above the ground, which made it difficult to see the road. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the bulbs needed to be changed. The contact purchased the after market bulbs, but they performed worse than the original bulbs. The failure recurred and the dealer stated that nothing else could be done. Additionally, while driving at a low speed only, a grinding noise was heard when the brake pedal was applied. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 4,000.

The headlights while driving at night on this vehicle are horrible! it is like you are driving in a poorly lit tunnel with very little peripheral vision. I am constantly having oncoming drivers flash their high beams at me while driving with my lights on low beam, so it must be affecting their ability to see. Very dangerous for both drivers! this is a very poor headlight setup and should be recalled and repaired on all the affected models.

Headlight beams are capped by what appears as a horizontal line in the middle of the windshield as if a shade is halfway down. Limited road is visible below the line and just pitch black above. If the vehicle is pitched down as when going down a hill you can only see about fifty feet ahead. Extremely dangerous. You have to continuously have high-beams on and those are directed to the center of the road rather than having a broad beam. Also, there is no light to the front of either side so turning at night is blind as you make the turn. We need this flaw corrected immediately. What recourse do we have?.

Halogen projection headlights are unsafe. They do not illuminate the sides and upper part of the road and cause a moving line in the center of your field of vision where there is darkness about the line making it impossible to see clearly at night using the low beams. On a downhill, the area of illumination is cut off and unsafe - have to use high beams in order to see the road. This line also bounces around with the bumps on the road and causes me to get nauseous when driving with low beams at night. This was not a one time incident: this happens when driving the car at night since I have owned the car.

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. While driving at night, the headlights failed and impaired the contact's vision. As a result, the contact drove off the road. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 9,800.