Lights so Bright - Getting flashed 75% of the time

[XCeilidhX]

The most likely explanation is that they are not properly aimed. It's possible they are defective or damaged, although that's relatively low probability compared to improper alignment. I mean, since other motorists flash you "constantly" I can only assume there is something non-conforming about your car's lighting at night. Ignoring the constant flashing is not the smartest thing to do for a number of reasons.

It’s not that i ignored it. I just checked with the service center (twice) when i first got the car (people didn’t do that to me with the kia sportage i traded in for the model S) and again after i had to replace the headlights about 3-4 years ago. Both times they were aligned properly and in all cases I still get flashed more often than would be common driving other vehicles. My wife has had a similar experience in her Model 3 per her report.

My experience is that the low beams seem to be a bit brighter than other manufacturer’s low beams and it isn’t a problem with the lens or the aim / alignment of the lights. We may have drivers around us that are more sensitive to it because we are on tight curvy mountain roads at night a lot. Not sure what the deal is so I can only speculate. Again, that’s my experience. I’ve checked everything you can check and in 11 years and 132k miles plus a total change out of the headlights i have a consistent experience of people thinking my high beams are on when using my low beams.

FWIW

Cheers

Sponsored

 

[HaulingAss]

It’s not that i ignored it. I just checked with the service center (twice) when i first got the car (people didn’t do that to me with the kia sportage i traded in for the model S) and again after i had to replace the headlights about 3-4 years ago. Both times they were aligned properly and in all cases I still get flashed more often than would be common driving other vehicles. My wife has had a similar experience in her Model 3 per her report.

My experience is that the low beams seem to be a bit brighter than other manufacturer’s low beams and it isn’t a problem with the lens or the aim / alignment of the lights. We may have drivers around us that are more sensitive to it because we are on tight curvy mountain roads at night a lot. Not sure what the deal is so I can only speculate. Again, that’s my experience. I’ve checked everything you can check and in 11 years and 132k miles plus a total change out of the headlights i have a consistent experience of people thinking my high beams are on when using my low beams.

FWIW

Cheers

The quality and knowledge of employees at Tesla Service Centers (and all auto shops, for that matter) will naturally vary widely. They all have different levels of experience. Most are probably not experts at headlight aiming, they probably just checked them out and give them a pass if they seemed close.

It could also be that your service center has less than perfectly flat test area (which can provide false results).

All four of our Tesla have very well-defined (sharp) low beam cutoffs and have the brightest part of the beam right under the cutoff (because that is the portion of the beam that has to travel the greatest distance and light diminishes with the square of the distance). This means they are more sensitive to proper aim than many lower performance headlights, but when aimed properly have lower than average levels of glare.

I would suggest your headlights are probably just aimed slightly too high, otherwise you wouldn't be constantly flashed by other motorists. That will put the brightest part of the beam in their eyes. Aiming headlights well requires them to be correct both in altitude and left/right (because the cutoff dips a bit on the left to accomodate other drivers).

 

[HaulingAss]

UPDATE: Moving the left headlight in and down did the trick. No more flashes.

That's good to hear. Too many people ignore the left/right aim, but that's really important to keep the light out oncoming motorists' eyes. At the risk of stating the obvious, non-conforming headlights might provide the offender with a great view of the road ahead, but it's not necessarily safe to be blinding oncoming traffic that has an approach speed of 100 mph. Bad things can happen with little time to react.

 

[REM]

When I first got my truck I though they were aimed way too high as well, until I noticed a > shaped dark pattern between the light beam. When approaching other vehicles from the rear, you should notice that most of their car isn't directly illuminated, and mostly in the dead zone of the beam pattern.

Terrain also is a consideration, since YMMV if you live in super hilly terrain vs dead flat.

Sponsored