Headlight tabs break causing housing to rub against body and crack. Additionally it makes headlights move which necessitates constant readjustment.
Toyota Tacoma headlights problems
147 of the 8,489 owner complaints about the Toyota Tacoma describe headlights failing or too dim, most of them for the 2009 model year.
- owner complaints
- 147
- worst model year
- 2009
- typical repair cost reported
- $1,000
- typical mileage
- 48,057
By model year
Often reported together
Overheating 11Fire or smoke 5Sudden acceleration 2Adaptive cruise 2Fuel gauge 1Door locks 1Check engine light 1
Trouble codes mentioned
B1785 1B1650 1
What owners say
On November 14, 2025, at approximately 0200 hours, in Fresno, California, I was driving southbound on Highway 99 at approximately 70 mph using cruise control. It was raining heavily at the time, and visibility was significantly reduced. I was traveling in the middle lane when I suddenly felt what I believed to be an impact on the driver side of my vehicle. Due to the weather conditions, I was unable to visually identify what struck the vehicle. Immediately prior to this event, I noticed faint headlights in lane 1 (fast lane), but I could not determine whether that vehicle made contact with mine. At the moment of the perceived impact, the side curtain airbags deployed unexpectedly. I initially thought the deployment was a collision with another vehicle because the force felt like a physical impact. Once the curtain airbags deployed, I immediately lost control of the vehicle. Steering became impossible, and the vehicle veered off the roadway, ultimately coming to a stop on an embankment adjacent to the highway. California Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene, took my statement, and inspected the vehicle. They reported no exterior body damage consistent with a collision. The following day, I visited the tow yard and conducted a daylight inspection of the vehicle, confirming that there was no visible impact damage on the body panels or exterior surfaces. After the on-scene investigation, the vehicle was towed, and the responding officer provided me with a courtesy ride. As a result of the incident, I sustained minor injuries, including whiplash, road rash on my left shoulder and upper forearm, and soreness in my neck. This event involved unexpected deployment of side curtain airbags without any confirmed collision, leading to loss of vehicle control, roadway departure, and driver injury. I am submitting this complaint for investigation into potential airbag or sensor malfunction.
I purchased this vehicle in May 2016. The vehicel has the "Super White" paint package. In late May 2019 I noticed the paint was starting to peel off the door frame, above the headlights and above the windshield. I contacted the Toyota Dealership where I purchased the vehicle, Desert Toyota of Tucson) and they told me there was a recall on the paint and that I would be receiving a letter from Toyota USA about this. A year went by and I contacted Toyota USA, and was told there was no recall on my vehicle due to paint peeling. I again contacted Toyota USA in 2021 (Incident # 210719-000344) regarding the peeling paint which was getting worse and was again told no recall due to peeling paint. I have spoken with the dealership several times about this and I keep getting told that I will be receiving a letter from Toyota USA, but there is a backlog. I called Toyota USA again this morning 8/13/2024 and was told no recall on my peeling paint, yet my dealer insists there is one. Toyota USA told me to conatct the federal safety agency about this, so I have.
Rodents ate through eleven soy base coated wires. These wires just so happen to go to the fob, my air conditioning, and one headlight. This is obviously a safety issue. I contacted Toyota and filed my concerns. They told me that there is nothing they could do. I at the least would like a reasonable explanation why they engineered food into their electrical system. Thanks for listening.
Headlight shows visible signs of over heating of the amber lenses on both driver and passenger side. Amber lenses are melted, obscured, burned through and causing additional discoloration to the clear lens of the headlight itself. This creates a safety issue for both driver and passenger side headlights and amber lights not illuminating properly but also reducing the reliability and longevity of the lighting systems themselves.
1.) Headlights are yellowing. 2.) Hard to see at night. 3.) Everyone has the same problem. The government should mandate going back to glass headlights for safety reasons. Buffing them only lasts a short period of time and the elderly can't afford to buy new OEM headlights every 6 years as they are very, very expensive. This is a safety issue, as yellow lenses equal more nighttime accidents, fact. This should have been addressed years ago.
Vehicle is designed in such a way as to allow moisture accumulating in drivers side floor mat and carpeting to wick upward and be deposited on the primary vehicle wiring harness located in the drivers side kick panel. The moisture collected travels down into the backside of the various female connectors and corrodes the conductors and receptacles that result in short circuits between the various vehicle components including the ignition, engine shutoff, temperature sensors, Antilock Breaking, Blind Spot Monitoring, Fuel Gauge, Forward Vehicle Lighting (high and low beam), Security, Traction Control and other critical vehicle systems. On February 5th, 2023 I returned to my vehicle to find the security alarm sounding in the parking lot of a local business, both the keyless entry system and key-fob were unresponsive and would neither silence the alarm or unlock the vehicle. After manually unlocking the door handle the alarm ceased, the vehicle started as normal and then began indicating a failure of the BSM system, while underway the ABS indicated it had also failed and upon arrival at our destination the engine would not turn off even with the emergency shutdown routine prescribed for unintended acceleration cases. In addition, the high beams would be triggered by unrelated button operation occasionally fail to turn off, the fuel gauge, temperature readouts and climate control provided unintelligible values. The vehicle was returned to to dealership where it was determined that water from the floormats was able to contaminate and cause systemwide failure. The repair was to replace the entire wire harness which would not be covered by warranty. On 3/15/2023 I reached out to Toyota Headquarters' Customer Engagement team and was advised that Toyota was aware of the problem and had no interest or obligation in rectifying the situation, regardless of my concerns that this presented a clear safety hazard to both operators and the general public.
Defect in windshield consisting of thousands of tiny bubbles in the laminate which cause the windshield to become slightly opaque in direct sunlight or bright oncoming headlights. Dealer insists this is rock strikes. Toyota says the windshield is out of warranty. This defect began to appear at about 40,000 miles and is getting worse. (Vehicle is now at 54,000 mi.) I have seen other Toyotas (a RAV4 for one) with this defect. A definite safety issue, especially in bright sunlight.
The issue is that I and as well as many others live in cold winter climates. LED headlights do not put off the heat required to keep snow and ice off of them. This is a hazardous and accident causing issue when you can not see any longer. Getting out of the vehicle every few miles poses a hazard in it's own that you are pulling over on a roadway to clear the headlights. I don't feel the manufacturers thought this through and is getting worse that most newer vehicles & all electrical vehicles have LED lighting. There needs to be a heater system or film/built in heat source for the lens.... Also the front sensor for collision detection will freeze over or become snow covered. Thus the vehicle turning it off. Seems it is most needed during this weather condition???
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the driver's and passenger's side headlights were inoperable. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the headlight assemblies were extremely hot and had melted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the driver's and passenger's side headlight assemblies needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 210,000.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Toyota Tacoma headlights
Which Toyota Tacoma years have headlights failing or too dim problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2009 (64 complaints), 2011 (19 complaints) and 2010 (15 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix headlights failing or too dim on the Toyota Tacoma?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $1,000 (median of 8 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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