forward collision brakes come on when a garbage can in on the curb or going around a curve and a car is coming the opposite way in its lane. Also the automatic high beam goes off if it sees a speed sign or a porch light or other kind of reflection. Sometimes it won't go off when another vehicle comes the opposite way. I wish it would come on at a slower speed instead of 40 mph. It should come on once it senses complete darkness especially on rural roads. It's been doing this since 10-10-26 when I drove it off the lot.
2026 Honda Ridgeline: headlights failing or too dim
7 of the 13 complaints about the 2026 Honda Ridgeline describe headlights failing or too dim.
- owner complaints
- 7
- of this car's complaints
- 54%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
Headlights failing or too dim by model year
What owners say
Honda made a change a couple of years ago from the 2 camera auto dimming of high beams to an all in one camera on the newer models of the Honda Ridgeline. I experienced that the auto dimming of the high beam did not function well on my previous 2024 Honda Ridgeline. And now I have a 2026 Honda Ridgeline Black Edition. It is having the same problem. When driving at night the high beam lights switch on when no on coming traffic. When on coming traffic is seen it is supposed to switch off. I have found that the system switches on and off from road signs and other lights nearby the road traveled. Sometimes it does not switch off with on coming vehicles and they are flashing their headlights at me. It is a safety defect that Honda has known about for a few years, with Ridgeline owners reporting this to them about the malfunction. Honda needs to fix this so that there will not be a safety problem anymore, which could blind on coming drivers to be partially blinded due to the defect. This defect has happened several times when I drive at night.
The auto high beam system does not function correctly. It turns off with speed limit or warning signs and not consistently with oncoming traffic. It also frequently turns on with oncoming traffic. The poor functionality of this system is a dangerous source of driver distraction.
The headlights auto-dimming feature on this vehicle does not work properly. While on during night driving, it will constantly switch from high beam to low beam, back and forth, every few seconds creating a strobe effect. The truck reacts to roadside signs as if they were oncoming cars and sometimes fails to dim light when cars are approaching. I have had it switch from low beam back to high when vehicles are quite close which causes the other driver to switch to high also which means neither of us can see well. Truck was purchased new from Mike Patton Honda, LaGrange, GA in December, 2025. I took it in to see if they could correct the problem and was told by the service guys that I was the only person who had ever complained about such a problem. They checked the truck over and said they could find no problems. A quick search online indicated that this problem began occurring with the 2020 Ridgeline and continues to be unchanged up the present. The puzzling aspect of the problem is that I also purchased a new Honda Accord about a week later and the auto-dimming feature in the Accord works very well with none of the problems that I have in the Ridgeline truck.
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 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.
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
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2026 Honda Ridgeline headlights
Is headlights failing or too dim a common problem on the 2026 Honda Ridgeline?
7 of 13 owner complaints about the 2026 Honda Ridgeline (54%) mention headlights failing or too dim. The model year with the most reports is 2023.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2026 Honda Ridgeline?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
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