2012 Ford Taurus: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Jun 18, 2020 · Lights · 118,136 miles · MO

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.

Filed Nov 14, 2016 · Lights · 60,000 miles · LA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle was driven during night time and that the low beams failed to illuminate bright enough to view the road. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the technician, adjusted the brightness according to manufacturer specifications. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on five separate occasions. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Filed Nov 9, 2013 · Lights · 40,000 miles · NC

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.

Filed Aug 8, 2013 · Lights · 1,200 miles · MI

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.

Filed May 13, 2013 · Lights · 300 miles · WI

When driving at night in our ford taurus there is a very noticeable horizontal line across the entire windshield. This divides the windshield in half and looking through the upper half is similar to looking through dark sunglasses at night while the lower half is clear. This makes it extremely difficult to see anything in front of the car, especially someone walking on the side of the road. This occurs on roads where there is no oncoming traffic. If there are oncoming vehicles with lights on this line disappears and the entire windshield is clear. If the headlights are switched to the brights position the line also disappears. This is so disturbing that my wife and I try to limit our nighttime driving to our other vehicle. I have noticed this complaint a number of other times in your database and you can find those complaints here: http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2012/ford/taurus/exterior_lighting/problem.aspx [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 7, 2013 · Lights · 7,800 miles · OH

Tl* 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 *bf 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

Filed Aug 28, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 1,450 miles · MD

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.

Filed Jan 30, 2012 · Lights · 1 miles · AR

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.

Filed Jan 26, 2012 · Lights · 10 miles · MI

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.

Filed Nov 25, 2011 · Lights · MI

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 a 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. Luckily I own another vehicle so I can drive that one at night until ford comes up with fix for this problem.