2012 Toyota Camry: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Feb 19, 2026 · AZ

The "incident" is not a fault or flaw of my car in any way, but rather is caused by the auto industry's general shift to LED/HID headlights. In my opinion, they make driving unsafe for external observers because they are too bright and create a lot of glare, so that keeping my eyes focused and perceptive of features I need to see in the road directly ahead of me is becoming increasingly difficult, and therefore, by definition, more unsafe. Technology must be improved so that headlights can alter spectral output according to background illumination (dimmer means cooler,) and light output should have finer, adaptive directional control so that more light gets to objects in front that need to be illuminated, and less to oncoming drivers whose visual contrast range may be overwhelmed. I'm [XXX] , and I have the beginnings of cataracts. Older, halogen-based headlights don't interfere much with my vision, but modern headlights do, and quite badly so. This has to improve! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jun 4, 2018 · 200 miles · NY

At night on hills and curvy roads the top third of the windshield becomes very dark and it is hard to see anything in front of me. I have tried using my brights which helps a little,but when oncoming cars are near I have to switch back to the regular headlights. This has been a problem since I purchased the car in august 2012.

Filed May 12, 2018 · Electrical · 87,900 miles · PA · fire

Driving car and I was stopped at intersection on a foggy morning about 6:15 am. Went to turn right at intersection and saw what I thought was a dense amount of fog flow across the front of my car. As I drove down the road, I smelled something burning, saw some smoke from under the front hood. An alarm went of and my dash displayed the warning hybrid system malfunction. Then fire started coming out from under the hood and up along the front windshield. I was just passing a gas station at the time so I continue to drive down pass the gas station and then pulled the car over to the side of the road and existed the car. The nearest fire company was out on a call, so the car continued to burn for about 30 minutes. As a result the entire front half of the car was completing burnt. Had no problems with the car prior to this fire. In fact, I drove it 176 miles the night before the fire. Learned after I existed the car while it was on fire, that a driver coming up the road behind me after I turned at the intersection, noticed sparks and/or flames shooting out from under my car. She was flashing her headlights at me, but I did not notice her.

Filed May 12, 2017 · Lights · 26,500 miles · CA

The two front headlight covers developed a melted area about the size of a tennis ball

Filed Nov 26, 2013 · Electrical, Lights · 215,346 miles · MN

I was traveling between two major intersections on the outskirts of decora, ia on a four lane road with my lights on dim. I was alone in my lane there was no traffic in front nor behind though there was maybe one or two cars in the lanes coming toward me. Suddenly I saw white on the road in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and turned slightly to the left. At this point I realized the white were deer feet, the deer ran off the road to my right. I only saw the feet move, I never saw the deer in full. My complaint is that the camry headlights do not allow enough light to shine above the pavement to be able to see a threat that is not right on the road. If you bring the camry against a wall you will see there is a line in the headlight shine, above which there is very little light, it is black. The only light that seems to shine above is that which bounces up from the pavement. The headlights do a good job of putting light on the pavement but do not put enough light above the pavement to see anything that is not flat on the pavement. The brakes and tires worked well, they saved me from hitting the deer. This was a very close call. These headlights are a safety hazard.

Filed Apr 12, 2013 · Steering · 11,700 miles · GA · crash · 2 injuries

The vehicle had been steering erratically and pulling to the left primarily. It feels as though the wind is buffeting the vehicle and it is difficult to maintain a steady course. When family have driven behind me it has been noted that the vehicle is all over the road. I was to take the vehicle to the shop for routine maintenance and to have the problem checked out this week but I had an accident. The car pulled to the left and I struck an oncoming vehicle.the day was cloudy but dry. There were no extenuating circumstances. Both cars were totaled. I struck the vehicle left head light to my left head light. The other driver and I were both hospitalized for injuries. We are fortunate not to have been killed. I received a ticket for failure to maintain lane and will go to court in june.this is a dangerous vehicle and I would like to see something done before someone is killed.

Filed Jan 6, 2013 · Lights · 10,000 miles · MA · crash

I purchased my car in july of 2012 and never drove it at night until about a month later. I was shocked to see that when you are driving in an unlighted area there is a very dark shadow that goes across the entire top half of the windshield which inhibits your view greatly. I have complained to the dealership twice about this and they tell me there is nothing they can do. I told them that I can barely see beyond 10 feet of the road unless I have my high beams on and was concerned of having an accident from this. Well I did have an accident the other night and hopefully someone will listen to me now. Someone had left a car illegally parked on an on ramp and when I was driving home the other night I never saw the car parked there do to the poor lighting from my car and as I was trying to merge into the travel lane I slammed into the parked car. Fortunately I was not injured however the next person may not be as fortunate and I cannot ignore this. They have to do something about their headlights on the new toyota camry that causes the windshield to have a dark shadow across the top half at night. Both my husband and close friend have seen what happens to the windshield at night and they agreed it greatly inhibits your view of the road.

Filed Jul 24, 2012 · Visibility · 5 miles · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota camry. The contact stated that when looking out of the rear window, the defrost lines going across the window and the tint caused the contact to see multiple head lights. The contact stated that one headlight would appear as twenty various headlights, disorientating the driver. The contact took the vehicle to multiple dealers and was told that the design was normal. There were no repairs made to the vehicle. The failure mileage was 5 and the current mileage 4,588.

Filed Feb 13, 2012 · Lights · 155 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota camry. The contact was driving approximately 50 MPH at night with the low beam headlights activated and noticed that the headlights inadequately illuminated the road. The failure LED to reduced visibility. The dealer was notified and they stated that the headlights could possibly be adjusted. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 155.