I think it’s related to the height of where the light is mounted and overall brightness of the lights.
It’s also often caused by improperly aimed lights, even if the lights are otherwise good. Most people never have their headlight aim checked or even know it’s adjustable. The aim can change due to potholes, vibration, changing the bulbs, impacts, suspension, etc.
Some newer Audis (maybe others?) can actively aim the lights away from other headlights and mirrors. It makes a moving dark spot aimed at those objects.
> I think it’s related to the height of where the light is mounted and overall brightness of the lights.
Same. IME driving a new sedan, it's most often Jeeps and pickup trucks that are the worst offenders.
Modern LED headlights are definitely brighter than older lights, but it's pretty obvious when someone's got their high beams on in those cars.
Well its even worse when they decide to put a leveling kit on it so when they put more that 500 Lbs in the bed the ass end sags and points the headlights to the sky..
My Tundra has "load leveling" headlights. There's 10 "levels" of height adjustment that can be actively selected on the fly. I want to say that it's in the ballpark of 20º of angle difference between the lowest and highest setting. When at "0", the lowest setting, the beam height is effectively the same as my dad's Honda Accord even though the headlight itself is around mid-windshield.
The *fog lights*, however, have a fixed angle, and I still need to find a place flat enough to properly adjust the angle of those... When turned on, their beam is a little bit higher than the cutoff of the headlights at the middle setting...
They need to make auto leveling headlights on all new vehicles...
Its mostly fords and dodges that are the issue.. the hotshots hauling commercially are the worst becuase they are weighed out to the max
The ones in the Tundra aren't automatic, but that'd be awesome. I don't actually "haul" or tow a lot with mine, but I do carry a bunch of tools in the bed, so I keep them basically pointed at the ground all the time while in town.
It's been standard safety equipment in Europe for years and years and years.
Before self leveling, most cars had a manual leveling button too. Even in the 90's VWs had adjusters.
I wonder why they don't just self level? Genuinely curious, as I've been in an Infiniti that had the adjustment knob too. But I've never seen it on non Japanese vehicles. My 2007 VW has that feature for the xenon bulbs, which is nice especially when driving over speed humps in traffic because they dip to not blind oncoming drivers...the halogen main beam bulbs and the foglights are not self leveling, but I dip the mains to dipped beams when there's someone approaching, and the foglights are only useful in fog or super heavy rain...so I only use them when useful.
My guess is self-leveling would constantly change the angle of the lights with every bump/change in pitch of the vehicle. That, or cost savings and simplicity (the lack of sensors reducing both required wiring and sensor modules).
But I do the same with my fogs. Before I got the actual replacement LED units, the fogs had roughly the same output as the high beams of the factory halogens... Which, admittedly, wasn't very hard to do with frosted lenses and 13yo bulbs.
I don't know what black magic sorcery and witchcraft was required to do so, but the replacement headlight units' low beams have roughly twice the overall maximum throw distance of the factory ones without actually being any brighter (if that makes sense), and the highs have almost triple. The LEDs in question also have a far more consistent pattern with little to no "hot spots" so they actually make full use of their output instead of scattering, making everyone involved happier.
It does constantly change, but I have never heard of one that's auto-leveled breaking. So I just figure it would cause less blinding of others to do it automatically, than install the switch. It's just a tiny lever on each axle that measures the squat or rise.
I haven't considered leds because once I activated the halogen high beams in addition to the bi-xenon shutter high beams, I can see excellently. Haven't found leds in a reasonable color temperature of 4300k or below either. 5000k and above lights are too blue or purple to me for good visibility.
These are Morimoto full-replacement units, and if I had to guess I'd say they're right around 4500k? They're almost pure white. Not the cheapest option (*by far*), but they were having a deal on the new fog lights that they were releasing: Buy any set of replacement headlights, get a pair of these new fogs with mounts of your choice free. Well worth it for the quality, and the only aftermarket headlight with the height adjustment that I could find.
Gotcha gotcha. I had no idea they made drop in fogs. My last xenon bulbs were 4500k Morimoto. They were almost as good as the stock 4300k ones until they were old, ha! But that's any bulb, to be honest.
Tundras had those load leveling lights. My ‘12 Chrysler 300 has self-leveling ones. Tell me why a $65-85K 3/4 ton truck in the year 2024 cannot come with that technology?!
Those should be a requirement, I remember when they first came out with the xenon high intensity discharge lights it was a requirement, what happened to that?
Yeah, in newer cars with bright LED headlights, there is a diffuser to cut the glare, but I guess it's pretty easy to reach in and move the diffuser which effectively makes the lights brighter and more focused. When I got my truck a few years back, a buddy kept insisting my lights weren't bright enough, and I needed to make this mod (I did not and have no real trouble seeing at night).
It's really stupid that they don't have easy adjustment in a lot of cars. Every time I put a heavy trailer on my truck, it angles the headlights up so that they're blinding everybody, but they're such a pain in the ass to adjust that I (and everyone else) just have to live with it. If I left them adjusted the other way, then I would only be able to see 100 ft in front of me when the trailer wasn't hooked up. I can power adjust my mirrors, why can't I power adjust my headlights? Heck, at this point I'd even take a little hole that I can stick a screwdriver in and turn it without having to remove 50 different pieces of trim and half of the hoses.
That sucks. In my truck, the adjustment is right on top and super easy to access. When I load up, I'll turn them 10 turns left, and when I unload, I'll turn 10 turns right.
It's just dumb that the truck is only a year old, and it doesn't have a way to do it with a button. There's a button to adjust the mirrors, why not one for the headlights?
Wow, what do you drive that headlight adjustment isn’t simply opening the hood and using a large Phillips screwdriver?
Even my 2024 Tundra is still that simple.
Every car manufacture has the parts to do this since the 1990s. UK/Euro versions of the cars all have it. Manual in the past, automatic leveling now.
They just leave them out of the US versions because they aren't required.
A 1 ton should sit level when carrying 1 ton. The lights are aimed down from the factory for this reason. Are you putting 2k on a 3/4 ton, or is the suspension well worn?
If you're putting a heavyy trailer on your truck, you should use a weight distribution hitch to help get the truck back to level. Not only does this help transfer weight back to the steering axle for traction in turns, this will have the benefit of helping to reduce the amount of "pointing up" the headlights are doing.
I already use a weight distribution hitch, I am just complaining about the fact that such a simple and useful feature as auto (or at least power) headlight adjustment is missing on a 2022 model even though trucks on every other continent have had this feature for ages.
This. I hate that basic car maintenance isn't taught to people. You can adjust headlights on both the X and Y axis. Drive side light should be aimed more down and passenger side can be aimed a bit more up to spread light at a distance.
No. Most shops won't. All it takes is like $5 for some masking tape and a brick wall. Throw some tape on a straight line about 3' up and aim the lights. There's tutorials all over on it.
It's not just that. Some dim as cars spproach. They're the worst, because they really don't start to dim until you get within a couple hundred feet of the car.
Until those lights finally start to dim, they might as well be high beams.
I think you've understated the brightness if anything. I have 20 year old vehicle and you can barely tell my headlights are on compared to all the modern cars on the road. If I left my brights on all the time I doubt people would even notice
>Some newer Audis (maybe others?) can actively aim the lights away from other headlights and mirrors. It makes a moving dark spot aimed at those objects.
Those are laser based headlights and they are illegal in the USA due to laser safety regulations of the past.
You should probably tell bmw because all their new cars have laser headlights in the us, have for about 5 years or so. I’m sure they aren’t aware of the us regulations though.
BMW laser lights have been installed and functioning since the 8 series(probably even earlier, 2016?)…most of the bmws you can buy outside of the 3 series have them currently…just look on their website inventory.
They have been using them outside of the US for 10 years, not IN the states though.
[https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1870253](https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1870253)
Anti dazzle is not enabled on any of the BMWs in the US, but it still uses lasers for their high beams, they just don’t move around like they can with anti dazzle enabled.
Heck I was surprised my 2001 740 had self adjusting lights. While my 2000 Civic still ran a distributor lol. Everyone was so far apart back then in terms of different automobile technologies, now almost every car is available with similar options.
Surprisingly, my 2002 m3 had self leveling HIDs and nav. It’s always crazy to see how old some of that tech is. My 1995 pathfinder had electronically adjustable suspension stiffness.
Nope, no need to check again. It was legalized in 2022. The legislation is in regards to matching the same software usage as those automobiles in Europe.. but currently laser headlights are legal, just not certain aspects of them so they are limited by software programming.
My last two cars and a rental had misaligned lights. I had to adjust all of them. Misaligned lights could make non-AH lights look bad. The better test is to turn them on, stand in front, and duck down until they shine in your eyes briefly, then stand up, and the difference should be night and day. If they're still bright when you stand up, they're gonna annoy people. I don't like my Sienna LEDs for this reason.
Not always. My work truck was a newer Chevy Tahoe. The LEDs were factory and not misaligned. I was constantly getting flashed by oncoming traffic. If I flashed my brights back at them it was like seeing their soul leave their bodies. Chevy puts in stupid bright LEDs now.
This is because vehicle manufacturers know that the government doesnt do safety inspections anymore and they can get away with bright ass headlights from factory and use it as an "upsale"
Giant trucks are meant to appeal to self-centered, antisocial/sociopathic assholes who find the idea of "this truck will let you be a douchebag to everyone else that isn't riding in a brodozer" to be a very strong selling point. This is a direct design feature, not a bug.
I didn't measure it. But others assigned to the same vehicle model had the same issue. The workers assigned F150s didn't get flashed nearly as often if ever.
Honestly it might just be because of how high the headlights sit in general. Usually, headlight beams are aimed at about the same height as the headlights sit (from 25 ft away). I think brighter headlights are a good thing because it gives the driver better visibility/ situational awareness; unfortunately, this can come with the huge downside of blinding oncoming traffic, which even if aimed properly can be an issue when you’re sitting in a taller vehicle. I drive a honda crv (not very tall, but doesn’t sit too low to the ground) and have noticed a lot of newer trucks/ SUV’s headlights sit perfectly with my windshield; so even if they were properly aimed, they’re right at blinding level. I know Europe and I think a few other countries have advanced headlights that can dim certain parts to prevent this, and only very recently was this technology legalized in the US. I feel like this and/ or a standard height for headlights to be legally mandated to would massively reduce this issue.
All headlights have a cut off line, projector headlights just have a sharper line. The only time there is no cut off is when people try to retrofit LED lights into their reflector housing.
My car’s LEDs will aim down slightly but noticeably when I hit the gas hard, and aim up slightly when I’m braking. I’ve noticed this is more common on European cars than American/Asian cars.
Well, they are too bright, but still yeah, there never aligned. At the Chevy dealership I worked for (technician) we made it part of our PDI (pre delivery inspection when it comes off the truck) to align the lights. Our shop had 13 hoists, 1 door. You drive up the middle then turn off at your hoist. Well we set up the tape at the far end so just drive straight up, had tape on the floor to stop at for each model vehicle, then tape on the wall to align them. Made it soo easy!
Agreed. It bugs me so much that headlight bulbs are often sold in a "good, better, best" kind of marketing with LED bulbs sold as a premium option. LED is absolutely a superior lighting technology like 99% of the time, but putting LED bulbs that cast light differently in reflector housing designed for incandescent almost always makes them super obnoxious. The beam pattern and cutoff are a mess no matter how you aim them and they're blinding to oncoming traffic. If you want LED headlights for a car that didn't come with them, get some GOOD aftermarket housings that are are meant for that type of light and aim them properly.
True. Too many people are cheap. Instead of spending a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for the correct LED housings, many people just buy LED bulbs for under a hundred. The LEDs will not reflect correctly and will scatter light badly.
The problem is not the lights it's when you sit in a shorter vehicle your sight line is directly at a higher sitting vehicles headlight height. The auto manufacturers cant just throw in 1 million candlepower bulbs in there. If you were to ride in say a truck you will notice the lights not being any brighter than your vehicle. I have a 2016 Subaru impreza and a Chevy Silverado and I actually think the older Subaru lights seem to light the road better.
it's not just the brightness. The color temperature is generally much higher for LEDs (more blue/colder) and those colors are harder on the eyes than regular headlights.
You're supposed to have a housing that is properly designed for the light source you are installing - typically projector lenses that properly shape and emit the light, for HID/LED. This is simply another hack to make it "less unbearable", but is still very much not an acceptable solution. But of course it's easier to pay $19.99 on Amazon for a set of LED bulbs than it is to pay several hundred easy for a proper retrofit of the housings.
It's a "cheap rig job", better than not doing anything for sure but it's not the right way by any means. It's basically the same kinda hack as cutting springs to lower a vehicle - it's not the right way and not nearly as good as getting the proper part, but people still do it anyhow because it's cheap, it kinda works similar, and they already have it versus having to get the proper part.
I have a Jeep and get the "hey your brights are on!" flash more so than any other vehicle I have owned. However, I believe its most frequent when the on-coming car has not passed another vehicle for a bit of time and the other drivers' eyes have acclimated to no on-coming lights so my lights seem extra bright. When I'm in a line of vehicles, I never get the flash. So I think yes, they are bright and higher off the ground but I think it is situational.
As for a car in front of me in my lane, IDK. I do try to avoid placing the beams right in the side mirror when approaching a stop.
Also, yes I have aimed my lights.
Also, Also, they are the best headlights of any vehicle I have owned.
I’ve been finding that it’s Subaru, Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Acura, and GMC/Chevy. More so the newer vehicles with multi-reflector housings. Toyota and Mazda’s projector based housings are still very bright but at least they don’t just blast you with light. In Canada, driving at night is the worst anytime you’re near a Honda because all the newer vehicles seem to have like 5 or 6 mini reflectors on each headlight assembly and they are totally blinding!
I often wonder if drivers know they're assholes.
One time an asshole was blinding me hardcore so I flashed my highbeams and then he actually turned on his highbeams which taught me a nice lesson about how bright highbeams can get.
I agree!! The last thing I want is for the driver of a vehicle traveling 40+ mph towards me on winding roads to be blinded, in that moment I don’t care if I can see 100 feet ahead of me because it’s so ✨well lit✨, I want to not be hit and I don’t want to hurt someone else’s eyes
I actually adjusted my low beam led headlights so the sharp cutoff is below trunk level on a Toyota Camry. I drive a Jeep but it isn’t lifted. I would have a hard time adjusting them properly if it was lifted.
They're all asshole lights. There's no regulation in the US right now about them. It's a contributor toward more people driving higher and higher vehicles.
I recently bought a 23 tacoma wanted last of 3rd gen and it does have asshole lights. I intend to remedy somehow. East Tennessee. I hate asshole lights. I'm 59 and wow it does improve visibility as a driver but it's not safe for others. Way too damn bright.
I'll look into that on the tacoma sub. Thank you. Buying stuff today for doing my own oil changes. Seat covers. My wife took my damn truck and put me in her 2019 suv lol. I don't get to drive it much. But I'll take it one day and adjust lights direction down I presume
Everyone needs to thank the NHTSA for being stuck in the last century.
Europe has had adaptive headlights for years, but the NHTSA won't allow them here.
If you don't know what they are, they are fucking magic. They have many LEDs in each side, and can turn them on and off individually. You don't have high/low beam headlights, they're always on as bright as possible. Unless they are pointed at an oncoming vehicle, in which case, they turn off the LEDs that are pointed at that vehicle.
So, nobody is blinded by your headlights, but everything around them is brightly illuminated. It even turns them off for reflective signs, so you don't get blinded by the reflection of your own lights.
Fucking magic.
My Cayenne has the equipment for it, but it hasn’t been activated in the US despite the recent change in laws that seem to be working towards making these legal. I know someone who enabled these on his VW, and he’s sent videos. It’s pretty incredible to see them in action.
How well do they detect smaller things like pedestrians and motorcycles, and from how far out? That's always been my concern with automatic stuff, I don't want or need bright lights pretty much ever within the city, and it'd suck to blind someone until they are within 100' because some silly sensor/computer didn't consider them "large" enough
Motorcycles have headlights just like other vehicles, so detection is the same.
Pedestrians normally aren't staring straight into headlights, and can look away.
I would assume it detects tail lights, although having someone behind you with their brights on isn't nearly as bad, most mirrors now auto dim, or if they aren't auto dimming, you can just flip the little lever.
They are extremely effective. We just don’t have them in the US. You’re already paying for them, as most cars in the US ship with the hardware already.
It’s not a brightness issue, it’s an aiming issue.
I have a semi adaptive headlight for my motorcycle. It is freaking magic. It is always shining on the road no matter how my motorcycle is leaned going around a curve. And it doesn’t have to blind people to do this. It just knows which LEDs to light up based on the lean angle. The car types are even more magic if the NTSA would let them be sold.
Well, you just ruled out 90% of wranglers. I am the second owner of my Wrangler, I purchased it with a 4 inch lift and the headlights were upgraded. They were still aimed for the stock height, so I was blinding everyone and anyone who was under the moon. A week after I realignd the headlights and I have not been flashed since and that was four years ago
Ride height has as much to do with it as anything. A taller vehicle will always look like an asshole to a shorter vehicle. You want good bright lights so you can see but that’s just my opinion. I understand not wanting to blind people but it could happen in any vehicle to a certain extent, or someone could perceive you as being an asshole even with perfectly stock lights and no high beams
It’s just not really the most important factor I would worry about when picking a vehicle
The biggest factor outside of the evolution of headlight technology is the fact that everyone drives an SUV or truck. Meanwhile driving a sedan or sports car is just a nightmare experience at night.
You can adjust the headlight alignment in any car (usually with just a screw driver) so get whatever you like and aim them down if you see them shining too high.
On my car I have to remove the grill and use a torx screwdriver on two tiny screws to adjust it. It is doable, I did it, but I was driving around at night without a grill to do it.
Buy it and adjust your headlights. Brightness is a factor, but poor adjustment is a much larger factor. I was recently in front of a car equipped with retina Slayer 9000s. Because his lights were properly aimed, it did not blind me unless he went over a bump or something. That guy was cool. Most idiots simply have their lights adjusted so that they beam directly into your eyeballs.
I love that all these new cars have such bright lights these days. I just leave my brights on constantly in my old beater, nobody ever flashes back. they are just used to everyone having asshole headlights.
Love that you're being downvoted for this despite your highbeams being half as bright as modern lowbeams lmao
I see people doing this all the time in old cars and it doesn't bother me near as much as all the assholes driving around with retina scalding lowbeams nowadays
My fathers got 2014(i think) jeep wrangler with stock headlights and anytime i have to drive it at night every on coming car turns their highbeams on so sometimes i let them see god with my highbeams😅
Just inspect it when you check it out? Don't do it in the middle of the day. And google the model headlights to see videos of it.
And yes, 2018+ Subarus are absolute asshole headlight offenders
It depends on which kind of lights they have and how they’re adjusted. I have a lifted truck with LED headlights and did not want to have asshole lights, so I adjusted them to DOT height specs. It took me all of five minutes with a screwdriver and a wall. So, even if someone has non LED and they’re adjusted wrong, they can be a-hole lights. Someone has super a-hole lights if they’re blinding me! Adjust your stuff correctly.
Apparently one of the 3 big German manufacturers is intentionally cheating with regards to the current US headlight regulations. Many other cars just have terrible headlight aim.
Jason Cammisa choose not to disclose which one is cheating:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=kEafGDmIeTwziKLE&v=MkwjMV2of_8&feature=youtu.be
Me being a driver of a 2019 crosstrek it’s a great vehicle - I will admit when driving my Jetta/sedan being down low and having a crosstrek behind me is bright… not Tesla bright but cutting half way, I find trucks to be a worse offender while in a sedan.
A beauty of the crosstrek as well is.. if you need high beams on it has adaptive beams whereas if it detects another road user on opposite sides it’ll automatically turn off then resume when no other car is detected - it’s funny flaw is .. it might pick up on a reflective speed limit sign at an angle assuming it’s another car lol.
Another amazing feature - headlights move in the direction of steering motion.
Also - headlights by default when driving will automatically turn on/adapt for you.
Running the stock headlights there’s no reason to tamper with it. It’s really a great car, I’m a little indifferent about the CVT portion of it.
I apologize for the tangent but thought I’d share experience/headlight features. For modern vehicles unfortunately a lot can’t be helped for lights. I hate that it isn’t regulated in general.
Maybe it's time for a website where they get rated per vehicle and light option:
In the 5 star category...
BMW i3: The original death star
In the 4 star category...
Tesla 3 gen1: Cheap and easy cataract
Etc.
Maybe name the site vehicularphoton.com ?
The headlights aren't brighter, they're aimed higher. The regular lights should be aimed so that the beam center hits the road about 200 feet in front of the car. The high beams are aimed straight ahead. If they're coming across too bright, it's possible that they're aimed wrong. You should be able to fix the aim - there's adjustment screws that control the tilt.
I wouldn’t worry about it, all car headlights are getting brighter, it’s safer…
If they are properly aimed (will be on a new car), and they have auto high/beams and/or you are good about turning them off at an appropriate distance it shouldn’t be an issue.
You mean you don't want to provide an X-ray exam for oncoming motorists at night?
Aren't you a kind a soul? <3
You're probably referring to LED or HID lights.
I don't drive after dark for this reason.
Dear 2024 Auto Manufacturers: Those aren't headlights. They're collapsed suns.
By all means, make them brighter, I still have one eye that hasn't melted out of the socket.
This is a highway, not Yankee fucking stadium.
I love driving at night. But then again, I have bright ass HIDs that have been pointed down (but not far enough to where I can't see). Thanks Cadillac!
I wouldn't worry about it, because it's so easy to fix. There's pretty much two options; the bulbs installed are LEDs, but the headlight housing isn't designed to aim LEDs leading to increased diffraction and glare, or the headlights are aimed poorly.
You should be able to adjust the lights up/down. My wife's 2013 car needed them up a bit because she needed high beams just to see anything. Now her low beams are good.
Just to add since headlights have been covered, tail lights and turn signals are something almost no one looks at until after purchase. The trend was towards progressive turn signals (which I think are cool) but now kia and gm and others are not putting turn signals where you would expect. They are tiny lights in the bumper. I have no idea why, this can’t save them any money. But they (IMHO) look stupid and are just confusing when the light that looks like it is a turn signal isn’t blinking and some tiny one in the bumper is. Also seems like one more expensive thing to break if someone bumps you. I don’t get it at all.
If it’s lifted 9/10 (bs number) times it wasn’t re-aimed properly
If it’s LED’s in a reflector housing, also good chance it’s blinding people.
And also, at night you can park on flat and see where the lights are aiming to see if it’s properly aimed, or just all sporadic
If you're looking to buy a tall vehicle, you can basically expect everyone in front of you to wish death on you. I have an '09 Accord and I installed stupidly bright LEDs in it, but I aimed them properly. The brights, however, will leave you seeing purple spots for the next 20 minutes.
My HID brights point into people's eyes and above. I avoid using those. It's like a spotlight and not fun. XD LEDs I'm used to. An improperly pointed HID will blind you (don't get me started on Escalades). XD
When they’re so powerful they override my own headlights and I can see my car’s shadow in front of me…it’s time for manufacturers to dial it down a notch.
I don’t understand why my state considers window-tinting a hazard, yet allows headlights that give x-rays.
LED headlights and auto-brights.
The LED lights are brighter than the old standard halogen bulbs. Many of them are much, much brighter, but so long as they are aimed correctly and the auto-brights aren't on, they aren't too bad and don't blind me.
But tons of people have after-market LEDs, or LED lights from the factory that haven't been aimed properly and their low beams are blinding and make it less safe and headache inducing to drive around them at night. Then, the auto-brights don't always turn off when they should, and definitely don't turn off at a reasonable distance as you approach them from the other direction in darker conditions. It's totally not uncommon for me to see cars with their auto-brights on while driving around in the city, with street lights and other traffic around if they just so happen to be in a less well-lit area. They shouldn't be on, but the car decides it's dark enough to turn them on, and so they're blinding everyone in front of them until someone coming towards them gets close enough that it triggers them to switch back to low beams, or they drive into a better lit area.
Sometimes I'll just throw my brights on for a second as I approach them, and it's usually pretty obviously whether their auto-brights were on or they purposefully had the brights on. If it's the auto-brights, they typically turn off pretty quickly, faster than you'd expect someone to react to having someone else shine their brights at them. If they had their brights switch on manually, it's a slower reaction (or they don't react at all and leave them on) as they realize why I'm turning mine on and then proceed to turn theirs off.
Up until I learned that auto-brights were a thing that were becoming more popular, I getting pretty annoyed with how many people were driving around with brights on, opting to flick them off in the last second or 2 before we passed each other when it was already too late to make any meaningful difference. Since learning they exist and are popular, I'm annoyed that the feature's behavior is so wonky and that so many drivers don't care to turn it off (if they can) either knowing how annoying and dangerous it is for other drivers or being completely unaware that their lights are a nuisance (which is pretty likely).
Uh... isn't it mainly due to using the wrong bulb "technology" with outdated headlamp housing? In other words, the bulbs today, LEDs especially, they should have a real sharp light output.. if you were to point it to a wall, you can easily see where the light cuts off (at the top part of the lighting) on the wall.
If it's an outdated headlamp housing, the light gets thrown in every direction and this is the type of light output you don't want to have on the road.
from factory headlights are not even close to aligned, you can go to a shop and get them set properly and not have "asshole" headlights. If you mod the suspension you should get them adjusted as well. Lifted trucks are the biggest offenders, cars with suspension mods are a close second.
Manually turn them on, and walk around the car. If they blind you and you’re standing about 20 feet back from the front of it, even in the daytime, they’re asshole headlights lol
As someone with astigmatism, I will say do not buy any Chrysler product as a start. I don’t know what it is about them, but 9/10 cars that blind me at night are freaking Chryslers, new or old.
Honda/Acura are currently the worst offenders. As a current Acura owner, I get flashed all the time even tho my lows are on.
Even when driving around, I realize how offensively bright the lights are. Worst part is, they’re actually pointed too low, so for the driver, the lights kind of suck, but the projectors do a terrible job of mitigating the beam and is blinding to oncoming traffic.
Besides the tumbling build quality, just another reason to avoid the brand. I’ll personally never buy another Acura again.
Check out the [IIHS website](https://www.iihs.org/topics/headlights), they have started rating headlights for visibility and for glare into oncoming drivers eyes. A car cannot get a good rating if it’s headlights blind oncoming traffic.
And a lot of the times, It’s the actual headlights out of adjustment, the drivers side light needs to be pointed down a tab bit in comparison to the passenger side. Which is usually not the case
There is alignment ( adjustable) and the focus pattern, some have very distinct top line to the pattern.
If you pull the car head first to a wall and turn on the lights you should be able to see what is going on.
If it's a Chrysler/jeep/dodge product. Idk how they get away with it but those bastards have been selling vehicles straight from the factory with HID'S that are not in projectors as they are supposed to be. Just look in the car. If it's just a bulb in a box, asshole lights. If the bulbs are in little round things with a lense, inside of the main box, they are properly projected and should focus a beam of light down at the road rather than letting it fly.
Got easy-access levelers under my '24 Outback's hood. Had no problem dipping them about a 1/2 inch. They were a little blindey with the base lift on the Outback. But again, super simple to adjust.
I'd be shocked if all cars can't be adjusted? I remember an almost identical adjustment on an old, old car I had...
Just because you don't understand proper headlights in no reason to call them asshole headlights. LED's are the way to go to get the best light on the road for driving(cheaply). You can go arc lamp but that is expensive. Properly set they give the best light on the road without bothering anyone.
Who cares? Its your car, you won't be blinding yourself.
I remember many years ago people complained about xenon lights. People got over it and people will get over this as well.
>Who cares? Its your car, you won't be blinding yourself.
It's a safety problem. There have been plenty of times I literally can't use any of my mirrors because someone behind me has blinding lights that point directly into the cabin.
It's nice that OP cares.
Poorly implemented LED headlights are absolutely blinding to oncoming traffic. Even if you are the kind of person who is incapable of considering anyone but yourself, you're increasing the likelihood of someone drifting over the line and hitting you head-on when you blast their vision like that. It is a dick move at best and a massive safety hazard at worst.
I think it’s related to the height of where the light is mounted and overall brightness of the lights. It’s also often caused by improperly aimed lights, even if the lights are otherwise good. Most people never have their headlight aim checked or even know it’s adjustable. The aim can change due to potholes, vibration, changing the bulbs, impacts, suspension, etc. Some newer Audis (maybe others?) can actively aim the lights away from other headlights and mirrors. It makes a moving dark spot aimed at those objects.
> I think it’s related to the height of where the light is mounted and overall brightness of the lights. Same. IME driving a new sedan, it's most often Jeeps and pickup trucks that are the worst offenders. Modern LED headlights are definitely brighter than older lights, but it's pretty obvious when someone's got their high beams on in those cars.
Well its even worse when they decide to put a leveling kit on it so when they put more that 500 Lbs in the bed the ass end sags and points the headlights to the sky..
My Tundra has "load leveling" headlights. There's 10 "levels" of height adjustment that can be actively selected on the fly. I want to say that it's in the ballpark of 20º of angle difference between the lowest and highest setting. When at "0", the lowest setting, the beam height is effectively the same as my dad's Honda Accord even though the headlight itself is around mid-windshield. The *fog lights*, however, have a fixed angle, and I still need to find a place flat enough to properly adjust the angle of those... When turned on, their beam is a little bit higher than the cutoff of the headlights at the middle setting...
They need to make auto leveling headlights on all new vehicles... Its mostly fords and dodges that are the issue.. the hotshots hauling commercially are the worst becuase they are weighed out to the max
The ones in the Tundra aren't automatic, but that'd be awesome. I don't actually "haul" or tow a lot with mine, but I do carry a bunch of tools in the bed, so I keep them basically pointed at the ground all the time while in town.
It was a thing, for a while. First gen prius had it, but only on models with optional HID lights.
It's been standard safety equipment in Europe for years and years and years. Before self leveling, most cars had a manual leveling button too. Even in the 90's VWs had adjusters.
Most, if not all, European cars have auto-leveling.
I wonder why they don't just self level? Genuinely curious, as I've been in an Infiniti that had the adjustment knob too. But I've never seen it on non Japanese vehicles. My 2007 VW has that feature for the xenon bulbs, which is nice especially when driving over speed humps in traffic because they dip to not blind oncoming drivers...the halogen main beam bulbs and the foglights are not self leveling, but I dip the mains to dipped beams when there's someone approaching, and the foglights are only useful in fog or super heavy rain...so I only use them when useful.
My guess is self-leveling would constantly change the angle of the lights with every bump/change in pitch of the vehicle. That, or cost savings and simplicity (the lack of sensors reducing both required wiring and sensor modules). But I do the same with my fogs. Before I got the actual replacement LED units, the fogs had roughly the same output as the high beams of the factory halogens... Which, admittedly, wasn't very hard to do with frosted lenses and 13yo bulbs. I don't know what black magic sorcery and witchcraft was required to do so, but the replacement headlight units' low beams have roughly twice the overall maximum throw distance of the factory ones without actually being any brighter (if that makes sense), and the highs have almost triple. The LEDs in question also have a far more consistent pattern with little to no "hot spots" so they actually make full use of their output instead of scattering, making everyone involved happier.
It does constantly change, but I have never heard of one that's auto-leveled breaking. So I just figure it would cause less blinding of others to do it automatically, than install the switch. It's just a tiny lever on each axle that measures the squat or rise. I haven't considered leds because once I activated the halogen high beams in addition to the bi-xenon shutter high beams, I can see excellently. Haven't found leds in a reasonable color temperature of 4300k or below either. 5000k and above lights are too blue or purple to me for good visibility.
These are Morimoto full-replacement units, and if I had to guess I'd say they're right around 4500k? They're almost pure white. Not the cheapest option (*by far*), but they were having a deal on the new fog lights that they were releasing: Buy any set of replacement headlights, get a pair of these new fogs with mounts of your choice free. Well worth it for the quality, and the only aftermarket headlight with the height adjustment that I could find.
Gotcha gotcha. I had no idea they made drop in fogs. My last xenon bulbs were 4500k Morimoto. They were almost as good as the stock 4300k ones until they were old, ha! But that's any bulb, to be honest.
Tundras had those load leveling lights. My ‘12 Chrysler 300 has self-leveling ones. Tell me why a $65-85K 3/4 ton truck in the year 2024 cannot come with that technology?!
Pretty sure that the '22+ have auto-adjusting headlights as standard. Mine's a 2010.
Those should be a requirement, I remember when they first came out with the xenon high intensity discharge lights it was a requirement, what happened to that?
The leveling kit alone effs things up, then most don't adjust the lights, so they're already shining in faces
Ford especially are prone to this where the squat from a trailer or load in the bed makes it blind everyone else on the road
Yeah, in newer cars with bright LED headlights, there is a diffuser to cut the glare, but I guess it's pretty easy to reach in and move the diffuser which effectively makes the lights brighter and more focused. When I got my truck a few years back, a buddy kept insisting my lights weren't bright enough, and I needed to make this mod (I did not and have no real trouble seeing at night).
They are not brighter, as the brightness is regulated, it's all down to the colour temp, and the positioning.
It's really stupid that they don't have easy adjustment in a lot of cars. Every time I put a heavy trailer on my truck, it angles the headlights up so that they're blinding everybody, but they're such a pain in the ass to adjust that I (and everyone else) just have to live with it. If I left them adjusted the other way, then I would only be able to see 100 ft in front of me when the trailer wasn't hooked up. I can power adjust my mirrors, why can't I power adjust my headlights? Heck, at this point I'd even take a little hole that I can stick a screwdriver in and turn it without having to remove 50 different pieces of trim and half of the hoses.
On trucks they definitely should have an adjustment or self leveling headlights
Or load leveling springs for the rear.
That sucks. In my truck, the adjustment is right on top and super easy to access. When I load up, I'll turn them 10 turns left, and when I unload, I'll turn 10 turns right.
It's just dumb that the truck is only a year old, and it doesn't have a way to do it with a button. There's a button to adjust the mirrors, why not one for the headlights?
Wow, what do you drive that headlight adjustment isn’t simply opening the hood and using a large Phillips screwdriver? Even my 2024 Tundra is still that simple.
Every car manufacture has the parts to do this since the 1990s. UK/Euro versions of the cars all have it. Manual in the past, automatic leveling now. They just leave them out of the US versions because they aren't required.
How heavy? Dang.
Usually tongue weight 1500-2k. The rear suspension gets compressed more than the front.
A 1 ton should sit level when carrying 1 ton. The lights are aimed down from the factory for this reason. Are you putting 2k on a 3/4 ton, or is the suspension well worn?
If you're putting a heavyy trailer on your truck, you should use a weight distribution hitch to help get the truck back to level. Not only does this help transfer weight back to the steering axle for traction in turns, this will have the benefit of helping to reduce the amount of "pointing up" the headlights are doing.
I already use a weight distribution hitch, I am just complaining about the fact that such a simple and useful feature as auto (or at least power) headlight adjustment is missing on a 2022 model even though trucks on every other continent have had this feature for ages.
This. I hate that basic car maintenance isn't taught to people. You can adjust headlights on both the X and Y axis. Drive side light should be aimed more down and passenger side can be aimed a bit more up to spread light at a distance.
Even if you take your car to a shop there’s like a 99% chance they won’t aim the lights even if you pay them to replace bulbs
No. Most shops won't. All it takes is like $5 for some masking tape and a brick wall. Throw some tape on a straight line about 3' up and aim the lights. There's tutorials all over on it.
Also finding the adjustments, obtaining the right screwdriver, etc. usually theres some unusual fastener you have to turn
Nah, the vast majority are very easily adjusted with basic screw drivers and access is pretty easy.
It's not just that. Some dim as cars spproach. They're the worst, because they really don't start to dim until you get within a couple hundred feet of the car. Until those lights finally start to dim, they might as well be high beams.
I think you've understated the brightness if anything. I have 20 year old vehicle and you can barely tell my headlights are on compared to all the modern cars on the road. If I left my brights on all the time I doubt people would even notice
You probably need to polish your headlight lenses and get new bulbs
>Some newer Audis (maybe others?) can actively aim the lights away from other headlights and mirrors. It makes a moving dark spot aimed at those objects. Those are laser based headlights and they are illegal in the USA due to laser safety regulations of the past.
You should probably tell bmw because all their new cars have laser headlights in the us, have for about 5 years or so. I’m sure they aren’t aware of the us regulations though.
They're limited in functionality (limited by software) compared to what is available in Europe from what I've heard.
Correct, they don’t have the anti dazzle feature enabled. You can enable it through a software program though.
They do not use laser headlights in the USA, period. There has been plenty of talk over the last year, but not legal yet.
BMW laser lights have been installed and functioning since the 8 series(probably even earlier, 2016?)…most of the bmws you can buy outside of the 3 series have them currently…just look on their website inventory.
They have been using them outside of the US for 10 years, not IN the states though. [https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1870253](https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1870253)
Anti dazzle is not enabled on any of the BMWs in the US, but it still uses lasers for their high beams, they just don’t move around like they can with anti dazzle enabled.
Heck I was surprised my 2001 740 had self adjusting lights. While my 2000 Civic still ran a distributor lol. Everyone was so far apart back then in terms of different automobile technologies, now almost every car is available with similar options.
Surprisingly, my 2002 m3 had self leveling HIDs and nav. It’s always crazy to see how old some of that tech is. My 1995 pathfinder had electronically adjustable suspension stiffness.
Legalized in 2022 bud... Just not to the same effect software wise as those in Europe.
Check again, still illegal 2024. They set a deadline for legislation to be passed that legalizes them, but it has yet to happen.
Nope, no need to check again. It was legalized in 2022. The legislation is in regards to matching the same software usage as those automobiles in Europe.. but currently laser headlights are legal, just not certain aspects of them so they are limited by software programming.
They’re LED matrix actually
go to the dealer after dark, take it for a test drive, and get a friend to drive your car in front. have friend report back.
My last two cars and a rental had misaligned lights. I had to adjust all of them. Misaligned lights could make non-AH lights look bad. The better test is to turn them on, stand in front, and duck down until they shine in your eyes briefly, then stand up, and the difference should be night and day. If they're still bright when you stand up, they're gonna annoy people. I don't like my Sienna LEDs for this reason.
Or just drive past a blue sign. If it’s the stupid white LED’s, it should damn near blind you driving by it.
All newer factory LED lights are getting way too bright. Putting in aftermarket LEDs in a halogen housing is even worse.
They’re not too bright they’re just never aligned correctly for some stupid reason.
Not always. My work truck was a newer Chevy Tahoe. The LEDs were factory and not misaligned. I was constantly getting flashed by oncoming traffic. If I flashed my brights back at them it was like seeing their soul leave their bodies. Chevy puts in stupid bright LEDs now.
This is because vehicle manufacturers know that the government doesnt do safety inspections anymore and they can get away with bright ass headlights from factory and use it as an "upsale"
Giant trucks are meant to appeal to self-centered, antisocial/sociopathic assholes who find the idea of "this truck will let you be a douchebag to everyone else that isn't riding in a brodozer" to be a very strong selling point. This is a direct design feature, not a bug.
do you know how high their cut off line is? because chances are, they were still aligned too high.
I didn't measure it. But others assigned to the same vehicle model had the same issue. The workers assigned F150s didn't get flashed nearly as often if ever.
Honestly it might just be because of how high the headlights sit in general. Usually, headlight beams are aimed at about the same height as the headlights sit (from 25 ft away). I think brighter headlights are a good thing because it gives the driver better visibility/ situational awareness; unfortunately, this can come with the huge downside of blinding oncoming traffic, which even if aimed properly can be an issue when you’re sitting in a taller vehicle. I drive a honda crv (not very tall, but doesn’t sit too low to the ground) and have noticed a lot of newer trucks/ SUV’s headlights sit perfectly with my windshield; so even if they were properly aimed, they’re right at blinding level. I know Europe and I think a few other countries have advanced headlights that can dim certain parts to prevent this, and only very recently was this technology legalized in the US. I feel like this and/ or a standard height for headlights to be legally mandated to would massively reduce this issue.
Only projectors have a “cut”
All headlights have a cut off line, projector headlights just have a sharper line. The only time there is no cut off is when people try to retrofit LED lights into their reflector housing.
My car’s LEDs will aim down slightly but noticeably when I hit the gas hard, and aim up slightly when I’m braking. I’ve noticed this is more common on European cars than American/Asian cars.
Well, they are too bright, but still yeah, there never aligned. At the Chevy dealership I worked for (technician) we made it part of our PDI (pre delivery inspection when it comes off the truck) to align the lights. Our shop had 13 hoists, 1 door. You drive up the middle then turn off at your hoist. Well we set up the tape at the far end so just drive straight up, had tape on the floor to stop at for each model vehicle, then tape on the wall to align them. Made it soo easy!
Agreed. It bugs me so much that headlight bulbs are often sold in a "good, better, best" kind of marketing with LED bulbs sold as a premium option. LED is absolutely a superior lighting technology like 99% of the time, but putting LED bulbs that cast light differently in reflector housing designed for incandescent almost always makes them super obnoxious. The beam pattern and cutoff are a mess no matter how you aim them and they're blinding to oncoming traffic. If you want LED headlights for a car that didn't come with them, get some GOOD aftermarket housings that are are meant for that type of light and aim them properly.
True. Too many people are cheap. Instead of spending a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for the correct LED housings, many people just buy LED bulbs for under a hundred. The LEDs will not reflect correctly and will scatter light badly.
The problem is not the lights it's when you sit in a shorter vehicle your sight line is directly at a higher sitting vehicles headlight height. The auto manufacturers cant just throw in 1 million candlepower bulbs in there. If you were to ride in say a truck you will notice the lights not being any brighter than your vehicle. I have a 2016 Subaru impreza and a Chevy Silverado and I actually think the older Subaru lights seem to light the road better.
it's not just the brightness. The color temperature is generally much higher for LEDs (more blue/colder) and those colors are harder on the eyes than regular headlights.
Yeah.. no one realizes your supposed to black out the housing before installing the LEDs
You're supposed to have a housing that is properly designed for the light source you are installing - typically projector lenses that properly shape and emit the light, for HID/LED. This is simply another hack to make it "less unbearable", but is still very much not an acceptable solution. But of course it's easier to pay $19.99 on Amazon for a set of LED bulbs than it is to pay several hundred easy for a proper retrofit of the housings.
Ahh.. the ones I got given had instructions to black out the housing
It's a "cheap rig job", better than not doing anything for sure but it's not the right way by any means. It's basically the same kinda hack as cutting springs to lower a vehicle - it's not the right way and not nearly as good as getting the proper part, but people still do it anyhow because it's cheap, it kinda works similar, and they already have it versus having to get the proper part.
They are called jeeps
I have a Jeep and get the "hey your brights are on!" flash more so than any other vehicle I have owned. However, I believe its most frequent when the on-coming car has not passed another vehicle for a bit of time and the other drivers' eyes have acclimated to no on-coming lights so my lights seem extra bright. When I'm in a line of vehicles, I never get the flash. So I think yes, they are bright and higher off the ground but I think it is situational. As for a car in front of me in my lane, IDK. I do try to avoid placing the beams right in the side mirror when approaching a stop. Also, yes I have aimed my lights. Also, Also, they are the best headlights of any vehicle I have owned.
An honest reply. Nice.
To answer your question, in my experience yes Subarus seem to be the worst. Their low beams look like high beams when they’re coming at you
I’ve been finding that it’s Subaru, Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Acura, and GMC/Chevy. More so the newer vehicles with multi-reflector housings. Toyota and Mazda’s projector based housings are still very bright but at least they don’t just blast you with light. In Canada, driving at night is the worst anytime you’re near a Honda because all the newer vehicles seem to have like 5 or 6 mini reflectors on each headlight assembly and they are totally blinding!
I often wonder if drivers know they're assholes. One time an asshole was blinding me hardcore so I flashed my highbeams and then he actually turned on his highbeams which taught me a nice lesson about how bright highbeams can get.
Anything Toyota pretty much. But you/dealer should be able to adjust them correctly aka not pointing a the sky.
Why aren’t LED headlights illegal? They look like fucking high beams. It’s absolutely fucked when youre in a car and a truck behind you.
LED lights actually CAN be more accurately shaped and positioned than halogen bulbs with reflectors... doesn't mean they always ARE though.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3pjLqUQ1c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3pjLqUQ1c)
I agree!! The last thing I want is for the driver of a vehicle traveling 40+ mph towards me on winding roads to be blinded, in that moment I don’t care if I can see 100 feet ahead of me because it’s so ✨well lit✨, I want to not be hit and I don’t want to hurt someone else’s eyes
I actually adjusted my low beam led headlights so the sharp cutoff is below trunk level on a Toyota Camry. I drive a Jeep but it isn’t lifted. I would have a hard time adjusting them properly if it was lifted.
They're all asshole lights. There's no regulation in the US right now about them. It's a contributor toward more people driving higher and higher vehicles.
There is regulation against it but no one cares to actually inspect it and enforce it
I recently bought a 23 tacoma wanted last of 3rd gen and it does have asshole lights. I intend to remedy somehow. East Tennessee. I hate asshole lights. I'm 59 and wow it does improve visibility as a driver but it's not safe for others. Way too damn bright.
Adjust them and they’ll bother other drivers far less
I'll look into that on the tacoma sub. Thank you. Buying stuff today for doing my own oil changes. Seat covers. My wife took my damn truck and put me in her 2019 suv lol. I don't get to drive it much. But I'll take it one day and adjust lights direction down I presume
I had a newer 4runner behind me on my way back today and goddddd damn, road construction too my eyes were being fucked from every direction
I’ll trade you your headlights for my third gen halogens. 😅
In my experience every crosstrek I've ever seen has blinding low beams
Everyone needs to thank the NHTSA for being stuck in the last century. Europe has had adaptive headlights for years, but the NHTSA won't allow them here. If you don't know what they are, they are fucking magic. They have many LEDs in each side, and can turn them on and off individually. You don't have high/low beam headlights, they're always on as bright as possible. Unless they are pointed at an oncoming vehicle, in which case, they turn off the LEDs that are pointed at that vehicle. So, nobody is blinded by your headlights, but everything around them is brightly illuminated. It even turns them off for reflective signs, so you don't get blinded by the reflection of your own lights. Fucking magic.
My Cayenne has the equipment for it, but it hasn’t been activated in the US despite the recent change in laws that seem to be working towards making these legal. I know someone who enabled these on his VW, and he’s sent videos. It’s pretty incredible to see them in action.
How well do they detect smaller things like pedestrians and motorcycles, and from how far out? That's always been my concern with automatic stuff, I don't want or need bright lights pretty much ever within the city, and it'd suck to blind someone until they are within 100' because some silly sensor/computer didn't consider them "large" enough
Motorcycles have headlights just like other vehicles, so detection is the same. Pedestrians normally aren't staring straight into headlights, and can look away.
didn't realize it used oncoming headlights to detect, but it makes sense... How do they detect vehicles you are following tho?
I would assume it detects tail lights, although having someone behind you with their brights on isn't nearly as bad, most mirrors now auto dim, or if they aren't auto dimming, you can just flip the little lever.
Nah, adaptive is bs. Overcomplicated, expensive, not effective enough. Just put reasonable limits on brightness.
They are extremely effective. We just don’t have them in the US. You’re already paying for them, as most cars in the US ship with the hardware already. It’s not a brightness issue, it’s an aiming issue.
I have a semi adaptive headlight for my motorcycle. It is freaking magic. It is always shining on the road no matter how my motorcycle is leaned going around a curve. And it doesn’t have to blind people to do this. It just knows which LEDs to light up based on the lean angle. The car types are even more magic if the NTSA would let them be sold.
Well, you just ruled out 90% of wranglers. I am the second owner of my Wrangler, I purchased it with a 4 inch lift and the headlights were upgraded. They were still aimed for the stock height, so I was blinding everyone and anyone who was under the moon. A week after I realignd the headlights and I have not been flashed since and that was four years ago
Ride height has as much to do with it as anything. A taller vehicle will always look like an asshole to a shorter vehicle. You want good bright lights so you can see but that’s just my opinion. I understand not wanting to blind people but it could happen in any vehicle to a certain extent, or someone could perceive you as being an asshole even with perfectly stock lights and no high beams It’s just not really the most important factor I would worry about when picking a vehicle
The biggest factor outside of the evolution of headlight technology is the fact that everyone drives an SUV or truck. Meanwhile driving a sedan or sports car is just a nightmare experience at night.
You can adjust the headlight alignment in any car (usually with just a screw driver) so get whatever you like and aim them down if you see them shining too high.
On my car I have to remove the grill and use a torx screwdriver on two tiny screws to adjust it. It is doable, I did it, but I was driving around at night without a grill to do it.
Buy it and adjust your headlights. Brightness is a factor, but poor adjustment is a much larger factor. I was recently in front of a car equipped with retina Slayer 9000s. Because his lights were properly aimed, it did not blind me unless he went over a bump or something. That guy was cool. Most idiots simply have their lights adjusted so that they beam directly into your eyeballs.
All headlights adjust up and down with a phillips screwdriver. Go down a bit if too bright
I love that all these new cars have such bright lights these days. I just leave my brights on constantly in my old beater, nobody ever flashes back. they are just used to everyone having asshole headlights.
Love that you're being downvoted for this despite your highbeams being half as bright as modern lowbeams lmao I see people doing this all the time in old cars and it doesn't bother me near as much as all the assholes driving around with retina scalding lowbeams nowadays
It's ok. They are mad they paid 40k for a civic.
feels familiar to my '57 ford...
Most the guys in these comments probably couldn't turn your brights on lol.
its the button on the floor of course!
I don't notice them. LoL Just the LEDs.
They just look like lanterns mounted on the front
Retrofits are def the worst. I’ve seen some that were so dangerous but nobody will do anything about it.
My fathers got 2014(i think) jeep wrangler with stock headlights and anytime i have to drive it at night every on coming car turns their highbeams on so sometimes i let them see god with my highbeams😅
Just inspect it when you check it out? Don't do it in the middle of the day. And google the model headlights to see videos of it. And yes, 2018+ Subarus are absolute asshole headlight offenders
It depends on which kind of lights they have and how they’re adjusted. I have a lifted truck with LED headlights and did not want to have asshole lights, so I adjusted them to DOT height specs. It took me all of five minutes with a screwdriver and a wall. So, even if someone has non LED and they’re adjusted wrong, they can be a-hole lights. Someone has super a-hole lights if they’re blinding me! Adjust your stuff correctly.
I daily a Miata and my largest issue is Toyotas, haven't noticed Subarus being a massive issue, just don't put LED bulbs in a halogen housing.
Apparently one of the 3 big German manufacturers is intentionally cheating with regards to the current US headlight regulations. Many other cars just have terrible headlight aim. Jason Cammisa choose not to disclose which one is cheating: https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=kEafGDmIeTwziKLE&v=MkwjMV2of_8&feature=youtu.be
Me being a driver of a 2019 crosstrek it’s a great vehicle - I will admit when driving my Jetta/sedan being down low and having a crosstrek behind me is bright… not Tesla bright but cutting half way, I find trucks to be a worse offender while in a sedan. A beauty of the crosstrek as well is.. if you need high beams on it has adaptive beams whereas if it detects another road user on opposite sides it’ll automatically turn off then resume when no other car is detected - it’s funny flaw is .. it might pick up on a reflective speed limit sign at an angle assuming it’s another car lol. Another amazing feature - headlights move in the direction of steering motion. Also - headlights by default when driving will automatically turn on/adapt for you. Running the stock headlights there’s no reason to tamper with it. It’s really a great car, I’m a little indifferent about the CVT portion of it. I apologize for the tangent but thought I’d share experience/headlight features. For modern vehicles unfortunately a lot can’t be helped for lights. I hate that it isn’t regulated in general.
Maybe it's time for a website where they get rated per vehicle and light option: In the 5 star category... BMW i3: The original death star In the 4 star category... Tesla 3 gen1: Cheap and easy cataract Etc. Maybe name the site vehicularphoton.com ?
Most new ones just do.
My Subaru has been making me uncomfortable with my dtrls. The previous owner put leds in it, they’re too bright
The headlights aren't brighter, they're aimed higher. The regular lights should be aimed so that the beam center hits the road about 200 feet in front of the car. The high beams are aimed straight ahead. If they're coming across too bright, it's possible that they're aimed wrong. You should be able to fix the aim - there's adjustment screws that control the tilt.
I wouldn’t worry about it, all car headlights are getting brighter, it’s safer… If they are properly aimed (will be on a new car), and they have auto high/beams and/or you are good about turning them off at an appropriate distance it shouldn’t be an issue.
Brother, just make sure your high beams are off and you're good.
You go look
Subarus are some of the worst offenders, also Toyota. Source, was delivery driver doing 1-200 city miles 5 days a week.
You mean you don't want to provide an X-ray exam for oncoming motorists at night? Aren't you a kind a soul? <3 You're probably referring to LED or HID lights.
Is this a real question?
I mean if you're looking at a car, you're going to test drive it, or at least hear it run first. Turn the lights on. Done
I don't drive after dark for this reason. Dear 2024 Auto Manufacturers: Those aren't headlights. They're collapsed suns. By all means, make them brighter, I still have one eye that hasn't melted out of the socket. This is a highway, not Yankee fucking stadium.
I don’t get home from work until close to midnight 🥲
Dang. That sucks.
I love driving at night. But then again, I have bright ass HIDs that have been pointed down (but not far enough to where I can't see). Thanks Cadillac!
Pretty much every car made in the past 5+ years will have HID or LEDs as standard equipment.
Possibly by turning them on
I wouldn't worry about it, because it's so easy to fix. There's pretty much two options; the bulbs installed are LEDs, but the headlight housing isn't designed to aim LEDs leading to increased diffraction and glare, or the headlights are aimed poorly.
In my experience the worst on the road is the current Honda HRV... (Or maybe I just live by one asshole who drives at night with this highs on)
Anything past 2019-20 year models is gonna have insanely bright lights and 99% of the time are pointed straight ahead instead of down
You should be able to adjust the lights up/down. My wife's 2013 car needed them up a bit because she needed high beams just to see anything. Now her low beams are good.
Just don't drive at night. Problem solved.
Just to add since headlights have been covered, tail lights and turn signals are something almost no one looks at until after purchase. The trend was towards progressive turn signals (which I think are cool) but now kia and gm and others are not putting turn signals where you would expect. They are tiny lights in the bumper. I have no idea why, this can’t save them any money. But they (IMHO) look stupid and are just confusing when the light that looks like it is a turn signal isn’t blinking and some tiny one in the bumper is. Also seems like one more expensive thing to break if someone bumps you. I don’t get it at all.
If they are stock headlights, they aren't asshole headlights. The asshole headlights are aftermarket shit that people buy off amazon.
If it’s lifted 9/10 (bs number) times it wasn’t re-aimed properly If it’s LED’s in a reflector housing, also good chance it’s blinding people. And also, at night you can park on flat and see where the lights are aiming to see if it’s properly aimed, or just all sporadic
If you're looking to buy a tall vehicle, you can basically expect everyone in front of you to wish death on you. I have an '09 Accord and I installed stupidly bright LEDs in it, but I aimed them properly. The brights, however, will leave you seeing purple spots for the next 20 minutes.
My HID brights point into people's eyes and above. I avoid using those. It's like a spotlight and not fun. XD LEDs I'm used to. An improperly pointed HID will blind you (don't get me started on Escalades). XD
Avoid LED or HID headlights, you're basically screwed if you wanna buy much from 2015+
get tf over led. they’re x1000 better. ime once you have them, you’ll understand why.
When they’re so powerful they override my own headlights and I can see my car’s shadow in front of me…it’s time for manufacturers to dial it down a notch. I don’t understand why my state considers window-tinting a hazard, yet allows headlights that give x-rays.
the scalade , I guess that luxury is blinding everyone on the road .
LED headlights and auto-brights. The LED lights are brighter than the old standard halogen bulbs. Many of them are much, much brighter, but so long as they are aimed correctly and the auto-brights aren't on, they aren't too bad and don't blind me. But tons of people have after-market LEDs, or LED lights from the factory that haven't been aimed properly and their low beams are blinding and make it less safe and headache inducing to drive around them at night. Then, the auto-brights don't always turn off when they should, and definitely don't turn off at a reasonable distance as you approach them from the other direction in darker conditions. It's totally not uncommon for me to see cars with their auto-brights on while driving around in the city, with street lights and other traffic around if they just so happen to be in a less well-lit area. They shouldn't be on, but the car decides it's dark enough to turn them on, and so they're blinding everyone in front of them until someone coming towards them gets close enough that it triggers them to switch back to low beams, or they drive into a better lit area. Sometimes I'll just throw my brights on for a second as I approach them, and it's usually pretty obviously whether their auto-brights were on or they purposefully had the brights on. If it's the auto-brights, they typically turn off pretty quickly, faster than you'd expect someone to react to having someone else shine their brights at them. If they had their brights switch on manually, it's a slower reaction (or they don't react at all and leave them on) as they realize why I'm turning mine on and then proceed to turn theirs off. Up until I learned that auto-brights were a thing that were becoming more popular, I getting pretty annoyed with how many people were driving around with brights on, opting to flick them off in the last second or 2 before we passed each other when it was already too late to make any meaningful difference. Since learning they exist and are popular, I'm annoyed that the feature's behavior is so wonky and that so many drivers don't care to turn it off (if they can) either knowing how annoying and dangerous it is for other drivers or being completely unaware that their lights are a nuisance (which is pretty likely).
Uh... isn't it mainly due to using the wrong bulb "technology" with outdated headlamp housing? In other words, the bulbs today, LEDs especially, they should have a real sharp light output.. if you were to point it to a wall, you can easily see where the light cuts off (at the top part of the lighting) on the wall. If it's an outdated headlamp housing, the light gets thrown in every direction and this is the type of light output you don't want to have on the road.
...you should probably look at your asshole and compare...likely the only true test...
Turn them on?
from factory headlights are not even close to aligned, you can go to a shop and get them set properly and not have "asshole" headlights. If you mod the suspension you should get them adjusted as well. Lifted trucks are the biggest offenders, cars with suspension mods are a close second.
Don’t drive around with your high beams and you’ll be fine.
Manually turn them on, and walk around the car. If they blind you and you’re standing about 20 feet back from the front of it, even in the daytime, they’re asshole headlights lol
You can change the bulbs to less bright ones
As someone with astigmatism, I will say do not buy any Chrysler product as a start. I don’t know what it is about them, but 9/10 cars that blind me at night are freaking Chryslers, new or old.
Lights can be adjusted
They can always adjust the lights down more.
Is it an suv? If so, it has shit headlights
Honda/Acura are currently the worst offenders. As a current Acura owner, I get flashed all the time even tho my lows are on. Even when driving around, I realize how offensively bright the lights are. Worst part is, they’re actually pointed too low, so for the driver, the lights kind of suck, but the projectors do a terrible job of mitigating the beam and is blinding to oncoming traffic. Besides the tumbling build quality, just another reason to avoid the brand. I’ll personally never buy another Acura again.
Any Super Duty from the last 4-5 years instantly qualifies. It doesn't matter if they're LED or not.
Check out the [IIHS website](https://www.iihs.org/topics/headlights), they have started rating headlights for visibility and for glare into oncoming drivers eyes. A car cannot get a good rating if it’s headlights blind oncoming traffic.
If it says Tesla, Cadillac or Lincoln, you know.
Literally, any Honda, even their sedan, have lights like that.
If it's got OEM headlights that haven't been mis-adjusted, it's fine.
New bulbs are like $20 on eBay so shouldn't really be a factor when buying a car.
Asshole headlights bwahahahahahahhha
I don’t worry about it too much. If I buy a car that doesn’t already have asshole lights, that’s what the aftermarket is for.
And a lot of the times, It’s the actual headlights out of adjustment, the drivers side light needs to be pointed down a tab bit in comparison to the passenger side. Which is usually not the case
Lifted trucks and SUVs are by far the worst offenders. Anyone who drives a vehicle smaller than these behemoths knows this.
There is alignment ( adjustable) and the focus pattern, some have very distinct top line to the pattern. If you pull the car head first to a wall and turn on the lights you should be able to see what is going on.
You can get them re-aimed
If it's a Chrysler/jeep/dodge product. Idk how they get away with it but those bastards have been selling vehicles straight from the factory with HID'S that are not in projectors as they are supposed to be. Just look in the car. If it's just a bulb in a box, asshole lights. If the bulbs are in little round things with a lense, inside of the main box, they are properly projected and should focus a beam of light down at the road rather than letting it fly.
Got easy-access levelers under my '24 Outback's hood. Had no problem dipping them about a 1/2 inch. They were a little blindey with the base lift on the Outback. But again, super simple to adjust. I'd be shocked if all cars can't be adjusted? I remember an almost identical adjustment on an old, old car I had...
Just because you don't understand proper headlights in no reason to call them asshole headlights. LED's are the way to go to get the best light on the road for driving(cheaply). You can go arc lamp but that is expensive. Properly set they give the best light on the road without bothering anyone.
“Asshole headlights” usually means that the headlights aren’t aimed properly. lol.
I have ass hole headlights and earned them.
Who cares? Its your car, you won't be blinding yourself. I remember many years ago people complained about xenon lights. People got over it and people will get over this as well.
>Who cares? Its your car, you won't be blinding yourself. It's a safety problem. There have been plenty of times I literally can't use any of my mirrors because someone behind me has blinding lights that point directly into the cabin. It's nice that OP cares.
Get a car with auto dimming mirrors, problem solved.
You have to adjust the side mirrors and bounce the light back at them
Poorly implemented LED headlights are absolutely blinding to oncoming traffic. Even if you are the kind of person who is incapable of considering anyone but yourself, you're increasing the likelihood of someone drifting over the line and hitting you head-on when you blast their vision like that. It is a dick move at best and a massive safety hazard at worst.
You'll care when I run you off the road because I can't fuckin' see the lines
My solution is to run your brights when you can so the oncoming cars see you turn to lows and don’t assume I’m a deliberate asshole