The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the driver’s side headlight failed to provide adequate illumination. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the driver’s side headlight assembly. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 6.
2023 Toyota Corolla Cross: headlights failing or too dim
10 of the 177 complaints about the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross describe headlights failing or too dim.
- owner complaints
- 10
- of this car's complaints
- 6%
- recalls
- 0
Headlights failing or too dim by model year
- 20251
- 20242
- 202310
What owners say
Dark spots on the road with the LED headlights on low beam. This is very distracting and causes me to focus on the dark spots. Very dangerous when driving on winding roads at night. A lot of deer on and on the side of the rural roads and the dark spots take my focus away.
There is an issue with the head lights. There are shadows in the lenses or covers that create a distraction while you are driving. I was told that Toyota did it not to have lights go into on coming cars but they make it hard for the driver to see also because it makes it look like something is in the road. I feel that they should change this cause it's a not to good of a design and it could cause a accident. Thanks
Toyota is aware of the situation. Dark shadows and cloud markings appearing only on left side of the vehicle when driving at night. Videos and pictures were given and shown to this Toyota service department this being done after an employee at the Toyota at the avenues driven with me at there closing time when it was dark stated this is a defect that Toyota is already aware of and other customers have had the same issue. Vehicle left at Toyota for five days. Stated was test driven, had removed the left led light for inspection. And Toyota inspector and GM got involved for evaluating the situation. Per the Toyota documentation state. “Headlights are within factory, spec and black spot seen is from the LED projector, normal operations when compared to other vehicles, no cases currently out for any repairs or replacements.” Ends statement. The Toyota dealership at the Avenues has acknowledged and is aware of the current situation of there 2023 vehicles. The Attorney General as been notified. This website will not allow uploads of pictures or documents.
When driving at night the illumination from the headlights is very poor. I can only see about 1/3 of the way up on the windshield and only a short distance in front of the car. Everything else is black. I am leasing the car for three years but I can't drive it at night it's too dangerous. Even if I use highbeams it is difficult to see. Both of my adult children have driven the car and come to the same conclusion. I brought it back to the dealership and they said the lights were adjusted properly to pass inspection. The only solution they had for me was to find someone to put in different bulps. They said they could not do it and if I did not buy it at the end I'd have to put the old bulbs back in. I have seen several other people on the internet that have exactly the same problem.
Driving at night with low beam headlights there is a very distinct shadow that shows up especially on curves. The shadow moves back and forth on the curves. Dealer says that is normal but it's really scary when it happens
When the headlights are on Low, not High beam, there is a dark horizontal and vertical streak (shadow) in the illuminated area in front of the vehicle. The dark area looks like an L turned on it's side to the right. It is the same for both right and left headlights. This shadow area prevents full illumination of the roadway ahead of the vehicle. This also is a distraction and causes the driver's eyes to drift to the dark areas and further degrades nighttime driving safety. Per Toyota Corolla Cross Forum, this problem is across the board for the Cross vehicle, not just mine. When the lights are on Low and you hold a paper in front of either light, the dark streak is easily seen.
It was a rainy day, the first rainy day that I drove this car in. I had my windshield wipers and headlights on, and I've always kept my auto start/stop setting on for this car. At one point within 5 minutes of my destination, I pulled up to a left turn lane at an intersection. I slowed to a stop, with my auto stop engaging (as intended). At this moment, my engine stalled, my turn lights on my dashboard shone orange nonstop, and a constant beeping sound started. On the dashboard in front of me, following message was displayed: Press brake firmly to restart engine, Low steering power. I attempted to follow the instructions and pressed the brake as firmly as I could, but the warning and long beep continued and the car would not budge. It was getting dangerous because I was in the middle of a lane and blocking traffic. After a few attempts to follow the directions, I resorted to putting the car in park and manually completely shutting off the engine, then manually starting the engine. This worked and I was able to continue driving. Though this same situation happened again the same night in the same conditions: rainy, auto stopped in a left turn lane, windshield wipers on.
The headlights of the 2023 Toyota Corolla cross have a major defect, in that the bulb element casts a big shadow in the head light spread causing a huge distraction while driving. I personally have swerved to avoid colliding with an object just to learn it is said shadow. When taken to the dealership for inspection, the invoice states "inspected and verified concern. Dark spot being seen is normal condition, it is the element of the bulb casting a shadow. No repair required." This is unacceptable. Off paper the manager also made the remark that other owners have made the same complaint. Again, this is completely unacceptable.
Twice while I was on a roadtrip this past weekend when I was stopped, I got an error that said "Steering Power Low." The first time I was in bumper to bumper traffic in the Bronx. My phone was plugged into the vehicle to use Android Car Play. It was drizzling off and on, so my wipers may have been on, but if so, they were on intermittent. To my recollection, I was not using other electronic components at that time. The second time I was at a stop light. It was a long light, but not unreasonably so. It was raining, so my headlights and windshield wipers were on. I was using Android Car play via bluetooth connection. Both times I had to put the car into neutral and restart it. The automatic start/stop feature was on both times because I have not figured out a way to permanently turn it off.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross headlights
Is headlights failing or too dim a common problem on the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross?
10 of 177 owner complaints about the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross (6%) 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 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross
Wipers 58Check engine light 31Start-stop 28Stalling 23Warning lights 8Won't start 7Steering lock-up 6Engine failure 5Loss of power 5
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