Looks like the OEM projector stepping to keep your lights from being completely flat. That dip is to not blind oncoming drivers. You are in a high(er) profile car after all. To me it’s not a defect, but If your concerned you have every right to bring it up.


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yeah that looks normal enough, it's to help other people in front of you not be blinded by the bright LED lights as much.

 

You're not alone, many owners have noticed. Unfortunately, t's not a defect per se, but it is a bad (dumb) design. And no, it's not "adaptive" headlights (that guy's an idiot).

The good news is that you do get used to it (the first few times you think an animal is crossing the road).

Here's another thread discussing it.

Distracting headlight phenomenon

I just drove 750+ miles non-stop on pretty dark freeways (CA->AZ on I5 and I10). There's what looks like an intentional 'dark spot' that I found very hard to ignore over on the left side of field of view. I kept thinking something was moving due to the way this dark spot interacted with the...

www.toyotanation.com

 

Here are some better photos from other forums showing the LED connections in better focus.

 

Mine looks exactly the same and I did not even notice it. These are the best headlights I have ever seem and am very happy.

 

I noticed them on my Limited because of this thread; otherwise, I don’t think I would have paid much attention to it. These are much better than what I had on my 4Runner with incandescent headlights and fog lights.

 

I recently purchased the Venza limited and I have the same issue! At first I thought I was crazy, but then I tried to swerve when the shadow moved on the dark winding roads. Definitely a huge flaw in their design.

 

No you’re not. I just purchased a xle and I have the same problem.

 

I'm one of the authors of the 'other' threads on this. I've been driving the car now for 2 months and I am not at all 'used to this' - every time I drive at night I'm distracted by this. I posted this photo in my thread:

This is a photo taken of my garage door, with the car maybe 5-10 feet away from it. These two black spots are what ultimately grow into the big black 'blobs' you are seeing, that make you think something is crossing the road. Do you see this also, when you drive close to a wall or garage door?

I don't think this has anything to do with 'protecting oncoming drivers', and I'm not convinced it's just 'part of the LED pattern'. If you switch from low beam to high beam, the blobs completely disappear. In our headlights, there aren't separate low vs high beams; it's just one light with an overlay that drops down when you go to 'low' beam. The fact that this pattern only appears when you are on 'low' beam tells me this is a problem with whatever 'overlay' method they are using to block out the upper portion of the beam. I've been dealing with other issues but I do plan to call Toyota Customer Service and try to get a formal 'issue' raised about this.

 

I just called Toyota -
800 331-4331
Option 7
Spoke to a helpful guy pretty quickly.
The guy explained that the more people who report this, the more likely Toyota will be to address it. I may also file a safety concern, as others have advised. I was given a reference number to follow up with. He didn't have a means to receive emails from me (with the example photos) but I was able to direct him to this exact thread on ToyotaNation.com, so he was able to see the phenomenon himself.

To re-state something said above - these headlights have an extremely sharp / straight line between 'lit' and 'unlit' areas. This 'lit / unlit' boundary is quite low, and is positioned so as to not blind oncoming drivers (or drivers in front of you in the same direction). So the 'not blinding other drivers' is well taken care of by the sharp cutoff in low-beam mode; this 'dark spot' is much lower than any oncoming car is ever going to be (unless your were driving over a ridge or similar). The very first picture posted by the author of this thread (where the dark-spot is visible on the grass) does a good job of showing where the 'blob' is, and you can see that it is VERY low - much lower than any oncoming vehicle.

To 'Tim.S' - you had mentioned (in another thread perhaps) this pattern is an attribute of the LED design, but I don't understand that - if you turn 'high beam' on, the pattern disappears so this would suggest the pattern is more associated with the high/low beam overlay than the LED design - but I'd be interested in a more detailed explanation.

 

I found a 'trick' to make the 'blob' more visible while stationary. Last night I was in a parking lot that had a convenient wall around it. I pointed the car directly at the wall, about (very roughly!) 30-50 feet away, and got out and took some pics. Accidentally, I stepped in front of one of the headlights, and suddenly the blob was far more visible. The reason is, each headlight 'washes out' the other headlight's 'dark spot' so by standing in front of one of them, you get to see the other headlight's dark spot more clearly. So this is what I saw:

This picture also reinforces just how sharp the 'edge' of the lighted area is! The wall extends about 1 foot above the edge of the lighted area. In the far distance, you can see 'city lights' (this is a grocery store parking lot with a killer view ).

Also worth noting, the two 'dark spots' do converge into one dark spot at some point in the distance; haven't yet managed to spot that in a parking lot though!

 

In all of my many years working with headlight projector equipment, I have never seen anything like that, even with LED projectors. Nothing even comes close. That looks absolutely horrible! What an atrocity

 

How did you get this experience? Regardless ... given my observation that this shadow completely disappears when you go to 'high beam', and that in our cars, 'low beam' is just a mechanical overlay on the light source, would you think this is some attribute of the low beam mechanism? Is all this hidden from the casual user or can it be accessed / seen by removing the bulb from the housing perhaps? I'm tempted to pull mine apart but I've never had the inclination to dig into headlamps before!

 

Will definitely file a complaint with NHTSA and give Toyota Corporate a call. Interesting, read on another Thread that ALL new Toyotas with LED headlights have similar "shadow" issue, including 4Runner. Someone mentioned adjusting the angle of the headlight to perhaps affect the cut-off line in Low beams as a way to have the shadows less noticeable. Just visually looking at actual headlight do not anything physcially hanging down to cause these blobs shadows, but I was also at night and was being blinded by the brightness. I haven't dug into the Manual, there seems to be another Round Led next to the High/Low Led in the headlight assembly, what is that for?

 

Wouldn't surprise me at all if it was a common problem across all models, and that fact makes it more likely we'll see some resolution. The problem with 'our' Venza is that it's not a hot seller, so very few examples out there; if it's an issue on the Rav 4, that would be great for us! I think the next thing would be for someone familiar with headlight setup to take the assembly apart and see if there's anything visible, and then, see if it's accessible. I'm comfortable ripping many things apart but headlights are not my comfort zone! Not long ago, headlights had bulbs and those bulbs were replaceable, and enthusiasts would go crazy replacing 'this' gas-filled bulb with 'that' gas-filled bulb, but now ... who knows! And I think the issue is not the bulb as such, but rather, whatever overlay method they use to implement low-beam; so it's probably not fixable by changing bulbs. The question is, can that mechanism be reached by the end user and can any changes be made (breaking off the 'tab'!).

 

You would need to adjust lights "up" to avoid shadow, and effectively blind oncoming traffic

 

GF had a 2019 Rav4 Hybrid that she traded in for the 2021 Venza Hybrid. Her Rav4 did not have the Shadows in low beam, straight black demarcation between where headlight would throw and the black above. On the Rav4 note, she had to have her Gas Tank replaced by Toyota bc it wouldn't fill all the way, hope the Venza Hybrid doesn't have the same problem.

 

The 2019 RAV4 is quite a different model, though. We need to talk to someone with the 2021 model. My neighbor's son just bought one, so I will start making inquiries!

 

 

I

[/QUOTE

NHTSA.GOV

Would it be advisable to report this issue to our auto insurance company? Unless I drive with high beams, I am an accident waiting to happen. It’s definitely a distraction and possibly a dangerous one

 

Hello and no you are not. This is horse s$&t. Absolutely terrible and unacceptable. I’ve had the car a month and I’m about to lose it. The headlamps need to be switched out. I recently had made an appointment at my dealer last week for this but now after seeing this I don’t even want to go. Especially after he looked at me like he smelled some bad cheese when I tried to explain this issue. No doubt in my mind there will be a recall but since it’s a low volume seller I can only imagine it will take quite some time for these complaints to accumulate. Hopefully the recall will be sooner than later because I literally want to trade it back in. Also the headlight line is low. Poor design with lights overall. Soooo disappointed because car drives beautifully. Wish I could get back the 2017 rav4 limited I traded in!!!

 

Yes, it's a poor design. The US model for XLE and Limited uses projector headlights with only one headlight per side. So the same LED illuminator is being used for high and low beams. When low beams are operational, there is a shutter that blocks part of the light output and unfortunately, the hinge for this shutter is casting a shadow across the top of the projected output. When you toggle to high beams, the shutter opens and the shadow disappears.

I guess the "fix" would be to have the shutter shield block off the entire top edge of the beam and effectively eliminate the shadow. Incidentally, the LE model uses multi-reflector headlights, so I'm guessing the LE doesn't have this problem (i.e., only and issue on XLE and Limited).

Reflector and Projector Headlight Housings

You need to know which headlight housing your vehicle has before purchasing aftermarket HID or LED lights.

kensun.com

 

Thank you but what are the odds the service department would appreciate a novice like me suggesting that and moreover is that even something in your opinion they would entertain or are even able to do since I’ve seen these headlights are over $500 each and they may be worried they’d cause more harm than good

 

It's annoying they had such a noticeable design miss. The shutter design is nothing new and has been used in the industry for at least 20 years. My 2004 BMW had the same shutter-based system - one xenon bulb, one reflector, and an electronic shutter that controlled low/hi beam.

When the car was old the shutter would sometimes get stuck open on the passenger side, which meant high beams on one side only. It required a nice firm tap on the fender or a pothole to snap it back into position 🤣

 

So are we now at least in agreement that this is not an 'intended design' to address the requirement not to cause glare to oncoming drivers? I keep hearing that as an 'excuse' (explanation). I found two other threads (4-runner, Corolla) where this debate rages on ...

2021 TRD Pro Headlight Dark Spot on Low Beams

Headlight Casting a Shadow

I also bumped into another Venza driver (finally!) a few days ago, and she didn't notice this. Then I noticed, she had the LE model. This confirmed the issue is only with the 'projector' lights of the XLE and Limited.

Now that summer is here, and now that I'm willing to stay in hotels again (covid-related) I find myself driving less at night but when I do, I'm still freaked-out by what appears to be objects in the road!

Do all please fill out the safety reports, linked to further upthread, and report to Toyota. Nothing will happen if it's not reported.

 

 

Sept 18,2021 Just purchased and decided to take a drive tonight. Much to my horror, low beam distortion is unbelievable as well as unacceptable. It’s like someone lowered a dark curtain to just a couple of feet above the road. The only way to avoid the blobs is to use high beams. I can’t drive at night with this issue! Please tell me something has changed.

 

I adjusted my headlamps up just a bit so the “throw” is much further down the road. I don’t notice the shadows as much and the visibility is much better. I tested it with another driver to make sure it wasn’t blinding

 

I am not a mechanic but did notice there was DIY in my owners manual for adjusting headlights. So, it’s going to service tomorrow

 

I read all the good and bad on the Venza before I bought it. Actually took it home at night. Saw this instantly. What a distraction.

 

It’s kinda weird but I have not driven at night for about 10 days. I am hoping that the auto highbeam function gives some relief.