2018 Volkswagen Tiguan: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Nov 15, 2023 · Lights · NC

Low beam on Both headlights failed without any explanation. Everything was checked. The bulbs, the fuses, the relay, and the cause of the issue is still not known.

Filed Dec 6, 2018 · Lights · 11,000 miles · PA

The exterior lighting "headlights" are a serious safety hazard considering they provide very poor visibility when driving at night or in rain. I barely missed hitting an object in the street that was less than 30 feet to the right and in front of me. I was driving less than 20 MPH. There is zero visibility when driving in rain at night. I would rate these headlights a 1 out of 10 when moving and a 3 out of 10 when stationary. I feel these headlights are so inferior that they pose a real danger to anyone driving a vw tiguan. The lack of visibility is so deficient in illumination that I am not going to drive this vehicle at night unless necessary. Too dangerous.

Filed Nov 5, 2018 · Lights · 600 miles · CA

Headlight sensitivity when in auto mode is super sensitive. Headlights automatically turn on and off depending on orientation to sun and whether briefly in shade such as driving under a bridge or under trees for even a few seconds. All exterior lights become activated and de-activated by the auto system causing other drivers to misinterpret what the car is doing (I.e. Braking) which may lead to an accident. No method of adjusting auto on sensitivity or delay is provided in this particular car. I noticed this because my android auto navigation kept switching from night mode to daylight mode. This caused me to check the headlight on indicator light which matched the status of the nav system.

Filed Aug 20, 2018 · Lights · 10,000 miles · MN

Lowbeam visibility: driving at night on a highway and noticed my low beams were not adequate for distance with speeds at 65mph, scary situation when you can't see. Was constantly using high beams to be able to see. Found info on the web that said 2018 models made before december 2017 have a poor rating for the headlights. This needs to be recalled as it is dangerous to drive at night with such poor distances for the headlights. Would say the distance was less than 40 feet on low beams.

Filed Jul 18, 2018 · Lights · FL

Bought the car in october 2017, immediately had to have the left rear sensor replaced because it would show that there was a vehicle to the left of me, even when I was in the left hand lane. When the headlights are set to automatic they are always on. They don't turn off when your driving in full sunshine. B pillar rattle has gotten steadily worse on both sides. I just took my car in and the dealership couldn't give me an estimate on when I will get it back. The rattling happens all times of the day and on all road conditions. The temperature doesn't seem to impact the rattling either.

Filed Feb 2, 2018 · Lights · 1,050 miles · IL

This is an update to my earlier report, complaint number: 11065547. The low beam performance is worse than I originally reported. Tonight (feb 2 2018) I took time to look at the range of vision of the low beams. I estimate it at 50 feet. I live on a curved street and as I drove down it, I observed that when the tiguan was pointed at a house, it didn't get illuminated until I was on the property edge. The house has a 35 foot setback from the street and slightly uphill from the front of my tiguan. None of the house was within the range of the headlights. I discussed adjusting the front headlights with my dealership but they didn't know if they were adjustable. I consider this a significant and dangerous situation that needs to be investigated.

Filed Jan 28, 2018 · Lights, Visibility · 500 miles · IL

1) low beam headlights have a very short range, perhaps as little as 100 feet with a very sharp cut-off. Almost hit a deer because although I was driving at 30 MPH, I could barely see the deer as it crossed the road. This was evident on a straight country road with no street lights while the car was in motion driving straight. This is a serious safety issue because it's dangerous to drive on low lit or unlit roads at night. The fix would be a redesigned headlamps (both sides) or a brighter bulbs. The federal safety agency safety rating site shows the problem clearly. It's dangerous. 2) windshield wipers continue to streak although they were replaced by the vw dealer, elgin vw, which did not fix the problem. The streaking creates a blind spot on the right part of the windshield. Unable to see to the right front at intersections.

Filed Nov 20, 2017 · Lights · 2,102 miles · MI

Very dim-invisible head light-lightening during heavy rains or dark street rides. Felt scary while driving. Almost thought that there were no head lights on the car. From that point I was really noticing and this is the rating I give for the lighting the road at night during motion -> 2/10 stationary ->6/10 city street ->6/10 please look into this and for sure you'll find this "defect" in the brightness of headlights.