2017 Toyota Corolla: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Feb 25, 2020 · Lights · 35,000 miles · KY

Headlights are inadequate, even dangerous. You can see a distinct "horizon line" in front of the car which has a sharp cutoff above which there is no illumination. In spite of their extreme intensity, these headlights illuminate everything but the road ahead. Makes me feel like I am driving without headlights. I thought they were not aligned properly but dealer says they look ok. I have since observed many similar complaints on various web sites for the corolla over several model years. Here is one of many similar complaints found on the web: "the main front LED low beam is a problem on all trims of this current generation. It is too bright and blinds oncoming drivers, there is also a hard cutoff line in which you can't see anything above it. They also poorly light the road. The beam goes everywhere but the road. It seems they are incorrectly aimed." "when did this happen?" only allows for a single date. This is a continuous problem. Which occurs anytime you try to drive at night.

Filed Feb 22, 2019 · Lights · 20,000 miles · WA

After being blinded by ridiculously bright headlights on newer toyota vehicles the last couple years, I recently rented a toyota corolla. I was horrified that the headlights on this car are legal. Not only do you blind oncoming vehicles, but you can't see safely! The brightness of these headlights is such that anything reflective blinds yourself! (road signs, etc.) yet, somehow they don't ,in my opinion, light the road ahead adequately. They do seem to light the trees and things on the side of the road pretty well, but not what needs to be seen. Also the high beams are worthless, as the just seem to light the trees more. All of this was observed while driving in the desert of new mexico and texas on two lane highways. I am convinced americans are dying because of the inadequacies of these headlights.

Filed Dec 9, 2018 · Lights · 28,000 miles · OR

The auto high beam headlights will dim for an oncoming car and quite often not go back to bright for quite some time (minutes/miles). When driving dark, two lane roads I have to turn my headlights off of auto setting, thus completely switching them off as I twist the knob forward to on instead of auto. Then I have to flick the high beams on manually. This process takes a few seconds while driving at 55+MPH which is very dangerous. The auto high beam indicator also completely disappears when this issue happens even though the light is toggled forward to the high beam setting.

Filed Nov 6, 2018 · Lights · 3,000 miles · NC

The automatic high/low beam headlight system intermittently stops working. With the switch in correct position, everything is working as expected, then the auto indicator on dash goes off and the lights stay on low beams, even though there is no oncoming traffic or tail lights ahead. This may only be for about a minute to several minutes. With the auto indicator off, I am stuck on low beams. When the auto indicator comes back on, the system functions normally. During the time the auto indicator is off, I cannot get high beams unless I turn the headlight switch from auto to on. This is dangerous because I have to manually change the switch setting and the lights go off while the switch is moved. This has happened several times with the last time being 11/5/2018.

Filed Nov 19, 2017 · Airbags, Body · 1,711 miles · OH · crash

I was driving home on hamilton road, in columbus, ohio, at 535pm. I noticed that my headlights weren't on, when other drivers were trying to worn me. I set my headlights on automatic when I first received the car. I finally found the switch to turn my headlights on manually. Then my car started to brake 10-15 feet from the car in front of me, my tires were squealing. My foot was not on the brake pedal it was still on the accelerator. It was too late I hit the SUV in front me. My air bags didn't deploy. The accident avoidance system didn't activate until to late. It is clear that the car responded after the headlight switch was manually turned on instead of being in the auto position. It was suggested at a dealership earlier that cycling the navigation system on the car could inadvertently disarm it. If that were the case and it was off accidently why did the car try to brake at the last second on its own by turning on the headlight switch. This car was purchased for the driver for the very reasons of its safety features unfortunately this car completely failed to protect the driver. That is why I feel like this should be looked at immediately to see if this is a mechanical issue, program issue, or simply driver error, which I do not believe at this point. I have photos of vehicle and interior which I am unable to upload on this site, they are available upon request.

Filed Sep 17, 2017 · Electrical, Lights · 10,000 miles · TX

Was driving my car home from work and about 5 minutes after I started it and began to drive, I went over a speed bump going 5mph and suddenly my theft alarm system starts going off and incessantly honking. My hazard lights also began to blink and my high beams turned on. I pulled over and pressed my smart key alarm multiple times until the alarm stopped. Every time I would hit any sort of bump or use my turn signal switch, the alarm and headlights lights would start going off. I took it to toyota and they can't figure out what's wrong. They said it is an electrical issue, but not a toyota one. That doesn't make sense since toyota engineers the electric components.