2017 Toyota RAV4 Exterior Lighting

Even when properly aimed, with new headlight bulbs, visibility is poor at night. I recently had an incident while driving in town at less than 25 miles hour where I almost hit a deer that I could see on the side of the street, and this is actually not the first of many such incidents. I feel unsafe driving the vehicle at night due to the poor amount of light put out by the headlights. Toyota should offer to retrofit these with LEDS for people with issues. It's downrigtht scary, especially on poor lit streets or driving on the highway.

This and other year model RAV4s have a known and reported issue of the tail light lenses not being properly sealed with and connected to the tail light housing. This is allowing water intrusion into the tail light and electrical system and vehicle body. This is the case with both of my tail lights on my 2010 RAV4. Water has been entering the tail lights where the lens is not sealed to the housing. The lack of plastic welding / sealant can be seen at the lens and housing. Water is intruding corroding the electronics and electrical connectors as well as portions of the body. The lenses are becoming deteriorated and discolored due to the water intrusion diminishing the effectiveness of the rear lighting. Of course, this is a safety issue as well as the corrosion of the electrical connectors and electronics within the tail light that may cause them to completely fail. Toyota knows of these issues but refuses to address them.

Discoloration/fogging of tail light lens on driver side. Picture uploaded.

ALL EXTERIOR LIGHTS: HEADLIGHTS, FOG LIGHTS, BRAKE LIGHTS TURN SIGNALS ETC. HAVE ALL BEEN REPLACED AT LEAST TWICE IN LESS THAN 4 YEARS AND 75K MILES OF USE. I WAS TOLD THAT PERHAPS THE PROBMEM IS THAT THE AREA AROUND TBE BULBS IS TOO SMALL CAUSING THEM TO OVER HEAT, WHICH COULD BE DANGEROUS

VEHICLE HAS BOTH EXTREMELY POOR DOWNROAD AND SIDEROAD ILLUMINATION. VERY HARD TO SEE ANIMALS STANDING BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AT NIGHT, RESULTING IN SEVERAL NEAR MISSES WITH LARGE DEER. UPGRADING THE FACTORY BULBS MADE LITTLE TO NO DIFFERENCE.

AUTO-HIGH BEAM DOESN'T FUNCTION NORMALLY AT TIMES. AUTO-HIGH BEAM ICON GOES OFF AT RANDOM, EVEN THOUGH THE LEVER IS PUSHED FORWARD AND THE HEADLIGHT STALK IS IN THE 'AUTO' POSITION. THIS CAUSES THE HIGH BEAMS TO BE INOPERABLE WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS ARE SET TO 'AUTO.'

THE HALOGEN BULBS IN THE RAV4 LE ARE SUBSTANDARD AND PRESENT A SAFETY HAZARD. AFTER A DEALER UPGRADE TO SOME BRIGHTER BULBS, THERE IS STILL VERY LITTLE SPILL TO THE SIDES OF THE ROAD. THIS PREVENTS ME FROM SEEING POTENTIAL HAZARDS LIKE DEER WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL NEAR MISSES WITH ANIMALS AND EVEN ONE WITH A PEDESTRIAN INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS BECAUSE I SIMPLY COULDN'T SEE THEM. HEADLIGHT AIM HAS BEEN VERIFIED AS CORRECT SO THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE EITHER. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION WAITING TO HAPPEN.

ABH (AUTOMATIC HIGH BEAM) SYSTEM DISCONNECTS RANDOMLY AND SHUTS DOWN THE HEAD LIGHT HIGH BEAM. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE ABH INDICATOR ON THE DASH GOES DARK. ABH MAY OR MAY NOT COME BACK ON AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS. THIS HAPPENS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WITH NO OTHER VEHICLES OR LIGHTS AROUND. THIS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE THERE IS NO QUICK WAY TO GET THE HIGH BEAMS BACK ON. THIS HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE CAR WAS ABOUT 2 YEARS OLD.

AUTO DIM HEADLIGHTS WORK WHEN THEY WANT TO IT HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM FOR MANY MONTHS

AUTOMATIC HIGH BEAMS (AHB) MALFUNCTION. WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT THE AHB SYSTEMS OCCASIONALLY (EVERY ~10 MINUTES LATELY) SHUTS DOWN AND THE GREEN "AUTO HIGH BEAM" INDICATOR GOES OFF - RESULTING IN TOTAL LOSS OF HIGH BEAMS IN ALL AMBIENT CONDITIONS. THIS USUALLY LASTS ABOUT A MINUTE AND THEN THE SYSTEMS RECOVERS. THERE ARE MANY CASES OF THIS REPORTED ON THE INTERNET - WHICH CAN BE FOUND BY GOOGLING "TOYOTA AUTO HIGH BEAMS MALFUNCTION". THE ISSUE SEEMS TO AFFECT ALL TOYOTA AND LEXUS VEHICLES MANUFACTURED IN THE LAST ~3 YEARS AND EQUIPPED WITH AHB. LEXUS OWNERS SEEM TO BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY FIX THIS UNDER WARRANTY BY THEIR DEALERS - THE FIX IS CLEANING THE CAMERA LENS AND THE WINDSHIELD IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. UNFORTUNATELY IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET THIS ADDRESSED BY TOYOTA. I HAD TWO DEALER VISITS AND TWO CALLS WITH TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE - EACH TIME THEY JUST TRY TO CONVINCE ME THAT "I AM USING IT WRONG". BY THE WAY I HAVE A VIDEO OF THIS HAPPENING AND SHOWED IT MY DEALER BUT WAS DENIED WARRANTY SERVICE NEVERTHELESS. A SIMILAR VIDEO AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE - JUST SEARCH FOR "A_32T4QTX4M" THERE.

WHEN USING AUTO HEAD LAMPS AND ENGAGING THE AUTO HIGH BEAMS (PUSHING THE LEFT HAND SWITCH IN) THEY DON'T ALWAYS TURN ON. SOMETIMES THE GREEN AUTO READY LIGHT WILL NOT COME ON WHICH PREVENTS THE HIGH BEAM (BLUE) LIGHT FROM TURNING ON. I HAD NO ISSUES UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND NOW THE HIGH BEAMS HAVE REFUSED TO TURN ON A DOZEN TIMES. I UNDERSTAND THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT ISSUE, SOME TIMES THEY WORK AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T BUT IT IS VERY DANGEROUS WHEN DRIVING ON UNLIT BACK ROUNDS TO HAVE MY HIGH BEAMS REFUSE TO TURN ON. I BROUGHT MY CAR IN TO ACTON TOYOTA IN LITTLETON MA AND THEY CLAIM THEY COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE AUTO HIGH BEAMS NOT WORKING PROPERLY SINCE 2016. SINCE I DRIVE BACK ROADS EVERY DAY WHICH DO NOT HAVE STREET LIGHTS, I NEED THE HIGH BEAMS TO COME ON RELIABLY WHEN I PULL BACK THE LIGHT SWITCH LEVER. I UNDERSTAND DETERMINING ROOT CAUSE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION ON AN INTERMITTENT IS DIFFICULT BUT, THEY SHOULD BE HONEST WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS AND ADMIT THE ISSUE EXISTS.

I PURCHASED A 2017 RAV4 LE IN DECEMBER 2017. AFTER DRIVING IT IN THE DARK, I REALIZED HOW HORRIBLE THE HEADLIGHTS ARE. I HAD THEM ADJUSTED ON MAY 5, 2018, BUT LITTLE DIFFERENCE WAS NOTICED. THOSE THAT BUY THE HIGH END MODELS OF THE RAV4 GET BETTER HEADLIGHTS. AND THEY CANNOT BE RETRO FITTED INTO THE LE MODEL. DRIVING AT NIGHT SCARES THE BEJEZZUS OUT OF ME. MY PARENTS LIVE IN MONTANA (LOTS OF WILDLIFE), AND HITTING A DEER IS NOT MY IDEA OF FUN. I DRIVE HIGH BEAMS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, BUT DON'T WANT ANOTHER CAR TO WRECK DUE TO MY HEADLIGHTS. I CAN'T EVEN SEE ACROSS THE STREET WITH THE HEADLIGHTS ON LOW BEAM. I CAN'T BELIEVE TOYOTA HAS NOT REMEDIED THIS ISSUE. DRIVING IN THE RAIN ON NOVEMBER 23, 2018, WAS HORRIBLE! I COULDN'T EVEN TELL IF THE HEADLIGHTS WERE ON. I WENT TO THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP ON NOVEMBER 24, 2018, AND GAVE THE SALESMAN A PIECE OF MY MIND. I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER TOYOTA AS LONG AS THESE HEADLIGHTS REMAIN AN ISSUE. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND PUTS PEOPLE AT RISK OF THEIR LIVES IF DRIVING AT NIGHT. I WILL SEE WHAT THEY COME BACK WITH AFTER MY DISCUSSION THE OTHER NIGHT. I WASN'T ABLE TO DRIVE MOST OF 2017 DUE TO MEDICAL ISSUES, SO I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS PROBLEM. TOYOTA IS BETTER THAN THIS AND SHOULD BE EMBARASSED BY THE SITUATION. I'VE SPOKE WITH THEM SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND THEY KNOW WHO I AM WHEN IN THE DEALERSHIP. THE NEXT STEP IS TO WRITE TO THE TOYOTA CORPORATION ABOUT MY SPECIFIC COMPLAINT. I HAD A 2009 RAV4 AND DID NOT HAVE THIS ISSUE. A HUGE BLACK EYE FOR TOYOTA.

TOYOTA'S HEADLIGHTS ARE TERRIBLE AND MAKE IT HARD TO SEE AT NIGHT. THEY ARE USING THE SAME 9012 BULBS USED ON THE GMC SIERRA BEFORE YOU GUYS ISSUED A SAFETY RECALL FOR THE SIERRA'S HEADLIGHTS. SEE THIS FOR REFERENCE: HTTP://WWW.GMCPROBLEMS.COM/TRENDS/TERRIBLE-HEADLIGHTS/ I REALLY THINK TOYOTA SHOULD DO SOMETHING TO FIX THIS. ON RURAL ROADS WITH ANIMALS LIKE DEER I FEEL ITS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS.

WHEN HEADLIGHTS AFTER DARK ARE SET ON AUTOMATIC AND I MEET ON COMING TRAFFIC EITHER BRIGHT LIGHTS MY LIGHTS NOT ONLY DIM AUTOMATICALLY BUT THE AUTOMATIC TURNS IT'S SELF OFF AND WON'T COME BACK ON FOR A GOOD DISTANCE. I HAVE MET VEHICLES WITH EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT LIGHTS AND MY AUTOMATIC NOT ONLY TURNS OFF BUT THE HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF ALTOGETHER AND I AM LEFT WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS. I AM FUMBLING WITH THE LIGHT SWITCH TO TURN THE LIGHTS ON MANUALLY. THIS COULD BE DEADLY.

THE CAR IS EQUIPPED WITH AUTO HIGH BEAMS. WHICH DO NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY. ON MONDAY, MARCH 26,2017, MY WIFE WAS DRIVING TO WORK IN THE EARLY MORNING. SHE HAD THE AUTO HIGH BEAM SETTING ON AND THE HEADLIGHTS FLASHED FROM LOW TO HIGH AND BACK SEVERAL TIMES, WHILE SHE WAS FOLLOWING A CAR. THE SENSORS DID NOT RECOGNIZE THERE WAS A CAR IN FRONT OF HER. AT OTHER TIMES, WHILE DRIVING WITH THE AUTO SELECTION ON THE INDICATOR ON THE DASH JUST VANISHES AND WILL NOT RESET UNLESS YOU MANUALLY TURN ON THE HIGH BEAMS, THEN TURN THEM BACK TO AUTO. THIS WAS ONE OF THE SELLING POINTS OF THE CAR THAT TOYOTA ADVERTISES, BUT IT DOES NOT WORK AS IT SHOULD. UNFORTUNATELY IN THIS DAY AND AGE, THIS MAY CAUSE A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT, IF THE DRIVER IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE GETS AGITATED. I CONTACTED TOYOTA CORPORATE, BUT I FEEL AS IF THIS WAS A WASTE OF MY TIME. THE DEALERSHIP THINKS THE SETTING IS TOO SENSITIVE, BUT THERE IS NO WAY TO ADJUST THE SENSITIVITY. SO BASICALLY I WAS TOLD DON'T USE IT. IT WAS SET WHEN I LEFT THE DEALERSHIP YESTERDAY AND THE AUTO INDICATOR JUST VANISHED FROM THE DASH.

REVERSE LIGHTS ARE 2'X2' TRIANGLE LIGHTS AT THE BOTTOM OF CAR. MOST REVERSE LIGHTS ARE TOWARDS MIDDLE OF PANEL WITH THE BRAKE LIGHTS. NOT VISIBLE TO SOMEONE ELSE POSSIBLE REVERSING AT SAME TIME AND CAN'T SEE BOTTOM OF MY CAR. 2014 MODEL HAD THEM IN MIDDLE. NOT SURE OF 2016 OR 2016 BUT MY 17 AND CURRENT 2018 HAS REVERSE LIGHTS AT BOTTOM. SAFETY ISSUE IF PEOPLE CAN'T NOTICE YOUR REVERSE LIGHTS.

HEADLIGHTS ON LOW BEAM, FORM A LINE ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD. UNABLE TO SEE THE ROAD AHEAD UNLESS HIGH BEAMS ARE ACTIVATED. YOU CANNOT SEE STOP OR STREET SIGNS. UNLESS YOU KNOW THERE IS A STOP SIGN OR ROAD ENTRANCE YOU CANNOT SEE THEM WHEN USING THE LOW BEAMS. 2 OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DRIVEN MY VEHICLE AND COMPLAINED ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE THE ROAD AHEAD. VERY DANGEROUS. I AM NOW LEERY OF DRIVING THIS VEHICLE AT NIGHT.

HALOGEN PROJECTION HEADLIGHTS ARE UNSAFE. THEY DO NOT ILLUMINATE THE SIDES AND UPPER PART OF THE ROAD AND CAUSE A MOVING LINE IN THE CENTER OF YOUR FIELD OF VISION WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS ABOUT THE LINE MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE CLEARLY AT NIGHT USING THE LOW BEAMS. ON A DOWNHILL, THE AREA OF ILLUMINATION IS CUT OFF AND UNSAFE - HAVE TO USE HIGH BEAMS IN ORDER TO SEE THE ROAD. THIS LINE ALSO BOUNCES AROUND WITH THE BUMPS ON THE ROAD AND CAUSES ME TO GET NAUSEOUS WHEN DRIVING WITH LOW BEAMS AT NIGHT. THIS WAS NOT A ONE TIME INCIDENT: THIS HAPPENS WHEN DRIVING THE CAR AT NIGHT SINCE I HAVE OWNED THE CAR. *TR

THIS WINDSHIELD IS CALLED THE WINDSHIELD OF DEATH ONLINE!THE HEADLIGHTS OF THE ARC ONLY LIGHT UP PART OF THE WINDSHIELD. AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE REFLECTION, THE TOP HALF OF THE WINDSHIELD IS BLACK. IT IS ALARNMING. THE NIGHTS WERE RAISED A SLIGHT AMOUNT BY THE DEALER BUT VISIBILITY IS STILL NOT UP TO PAR-- GOING AROUND CORNERS IS DANGEROUS. IT SEEMS TAT THE HALOGEN BULBS DO NOT GIVE ENOUGH LIGHT.

WE RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2017 TOYOTA RAV4 LE. THE FIRST TIME WE DROVE THIS VEHICLE AT NIGHT WE WERE SHOCKED THAT, WHEN USING LOW OR HIGH BEAMS, A DARK AREA APPEARED ACROSS THE ENTIRE WINDSHIELD OBSTRUCTING OUR VISION. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT AND FEEL SAFE. WHEN YOU GO UP AND DOWN SMALL HILLS, THE DARKNESS MOVES UP AND DOWN AS WELL, AND IS VERY ANNOYING. WE CONTACTED THE DEALER AND THEY SAID THIS WAS THE WAY THE CAR WAS MADE. THEY WOULD DO NOTHING AND,IN FACT, TOLD US THAT THEY DIDN'T OWN THE CAR ANYMORE AND THAT WE SHOULD COMPLAIN TO TOYOTA; THAT IF ENOUGH PEOPLE COMPLAINED PERHAPS THEY WOULD HAVE A RECALL. FRANKLY, WE ARE AFRAID TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE AT NIGHT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE HEADLIGHTS MALFUNCTIONED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS DID NOT PROVIDE ENOUGH LIGHTING TO ILLUMINATE THE ROAD AHEAD. IN ADDITION, THE AUTO HIGH BEAM HEADLIGHTS WERE INTERMITTENT IN ILLUMINATING THE ROAD AHEAD. HOSELTON TOYOTA OF EAST ROCHESTER, NEW YORK WAS CONTACTED ON DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. ON THE FIRST OCCASION, THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS DESIGNED IN THAT MANNER AND INFORMED THE CONTACT TO GET USED TO THE WAY THE HEADLIGHTS OPERATED. THE DEALER'S REGIONAL SERVICE MANAGER AND TECHNICIAN WERE CONTACTED A SECOND TIME AND THE HEADLIGHTS WERE ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY. HOSELTON TOYOTA WARNED THAT ANY MORE ADJUSTMENTS WOULD BLIND ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND STATED THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 6,000.

OUTPUT FROM THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS IS TERRIBLE. LOW BEAMS ARE SO DIM THAT IT'S OFTEN TIMES HARD TO SEE AT NIGHT, MAKING IT HARD TO SEE PEDESTRIANS AND ANIMALS. THIS IS UNSAFE I BELIEVE. TOYOTA SHOULD REPLACE THE BULBS JUST LIKE GMC DID HTTP://WWW.GMCPROBLEMS.COM/TRENDS/TERRIBLE-HEADLIGHTS/ IT IS VERY HARD TO SEE LATERALLY AT NIGHT WITH JUST THE LOW BEAMS ON.

THE DASH LIGHTING DURING CERTAIN DAYLIGHT CONDITIONS IS UNREADABLE, OR REQUIRES EXCESSIVE STARING TO DETERMINE QUANTITIES SUCH AS VEHICLE SPEED, FUEL AMOUNT, AND OTHER QUANTITIES ON THE MULTI FUNCTION INFORMATION DISPLAY (MFID). WHETHER IT IS UNREADABLE DEPENDS ON THE ANGLE OF THE SUN RELATIVE TO THE VEHICLE.THE INABILITY TO QUICKLY SEE WHAT IS INADEQUATELY DISPLAYED FORCES THE DRIVER TO EITHER GUESS THE SPEED OR TO STARE TOO LONG IN AN ATTEMPT TO ASCERTAIN THE SPEED. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. (I BELIEVE IT AFFECTS OTHER TOYOTA MODELS AS WELL AS MY RAV4 EV). *JS *JS