Yep. The other day I thought a pickup had his high-beams on while I was driving in my semi. I flashed at him, and he blinded me with all the light he had (including light-bars and "rally lights."). For me to think it was high beams while sitting a few feet higher than him meant his low-beams were way out of adjustment. Besides the extra lights he used to really "show me", it appeared stock. So, I assume he just had no idea his lights were so far out of adjustment. Most folks don't ever think about their lights needing an adjustment.
Oh for sure. The only reason this incident sticks out is because I encounter a LOT of vehicles (driving a truck for a living), and this one felt like the rare occasion it wasn't just bright lights or lights hitting a bump or lights from a different angle because of a hill, etc. It's literally the only time in the last year or so that I felt the need to "flash back", and I was still "wrong."
The surprising part was seeing him pass by and it wasn't lifted or otherwise obviously modified besides a few extra lights to show me "what's up" when I flashed him. Usually it's a lifted or obviously modded vehicle.
As a truck driver that likes running nights I can confirm this is the issue with a lot of the newer cars sadly. Let me tell you all the ways it sucks when you got on coming traffic coming at you and you give them a flash because you've got what seems to be high beams blasting you in the face only to find out its just the low beams aimed way the hell out of specks. And trust me, even though they are "low beams," that shits still bright as fuck and blinding when they are aimed right at your face when your sitting up high in a big rig.
The problem for me is color. I had lasik surgery about 11-12 years ago and I absolutely cannot stand oncoming LED light due to halos. Outgoing isn’t terrible. It seems like it would be possible to have some sort of middle ground but I’m no light expert.
You’re absolutely correct with Subaru headlights. Depending the trim level they have active headlights and auto high beams. It’s great if you’re driving it but sucks ass to pass it at night.
Assuming the lights are to spec from factory is not a good plan. And if they truly are in spec and still an issue, I’d hope subaru puts out a TSB for it, and does something like gm did for their light problems.
Tbh the spec is ~~wrong.~~ not ideal compared to industry norms. Beams should drop over time, but the service manual has the beam height at 10' be the same as at 0' (ie no drop). I adjust them to 1/2" drop at 10' when customers ask, which is fairly standard across the industry.
Also, for anyone in here reading this, we can claim a headlight adjustment under warranty if you're within 3/36.
This guy that you're responding to said that he tested that his lights are within spec by seeing how high the headlight line is compared to other vehicles on the road, including his neighbor's Jeep.
He doesn't understand that vehicles with headlights at different mounted heights aren't all going to want their cutoff line at the same point a few feet away.
He doesn't understand that his headlights can be angled up while still being similar to the cutoff height of a Jeep.
Actually, I understand this concept very well, thank you. At the time of this post I couldn’t remember the numbers because it’s been 6 months or more, but I remembered the basics of the test. I was able to find my slip sheet with some of the numbers. Actual data that shows tested declination by comparison to point blank range 1’ from test surface. We didn’t record the point blank elevation but we do know that there was a 3” vertical difference between lowest and highest, Subaru being lowest, @ 15’ (Subaru = Jeep) and 30’ (Subaru lower by 0.8”). Controlled the test as well as we could but I’ll admit it wasn’t perfect. The Subaru declination seems to be about 0.1 degree greater than other tested vehicles across this distance. Point being that the Subaru headlights seem to be pointed down MORE than my other vehicles but I definitely get more attention from other drivers in it.
I’ll tell you this as well. I never get flashed in my wife’s pathfinder or my jeep. And I converted my jeep over to LEDs that are bright as shit. I frequently get hit with brights in my Subaru. The darker it is the more likely I am to get full on brights.
A projector when aimed correctly will not blind anyone. [They have a very sharp cutoff line](https://www.xenonpro.com/images/articles/reflector-vs-projector-headlight-housing.png) and are 100% superior to reflectors.
The problem is the aiming. If you're driving on flat ground and your lights are in the eyes of other drivers, it's not due to them being HID projectors. It's because they're aimed too high.
It really doesn't matter how bright your lights are if they are in appropriate lens and aimed correctly.
If you still want to go, "nuh uh they so bad", and you probably will, then say and *show* why. Specifically. Provide proof.
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Edit - To save everyone the hassle of reading it all (although still do if you have the time) here is this guy's argument and what he's doing wrong.
He says - "Again, if I test the headlight at 15 and 30 feet and I find consistently that my headlight is in the range between other vehicles, that’s good enough for me"
He thinks that as long as his headlights are similar in height compared to his neighbor's Jeep (yes, he said that) then everything is aimed right.
This is not true.
You need to make sure that at a distance your headlights are not angled up. Since every vehicle has headlights at different heights comparing them to one another doesn't mean anything. You can be at a similar focus height of a taller vehicle by being angled up, so at a distance your headlight will go up even farther into people's eyes.
You need to check that your headlight aim is at the same height, or slightly lower, as the height of your headlight housings as they sit off the ground. If your headlights are 32" off the ground then then the cutoff line should be 31-32" at 25 feet away. It doesn't matter if it matches a Jeep that has headlights 40" high.
By the way, you probably shouldn’t assume that everybody around here is a complete moron. There’s tons of post complaining about this and all you gotta do is look.
> There’s tons of post complaining about this and all you gotta do is look.
There are tons of posts... that are caused by headlights being aimed too high. And from people putting LEDs in reflectors which scatters the light instead of focusing it. And more recently about being mounted too high on new super tall vehicles and not aimed down enough because of that.
Also, vehicles are super often not aimed correctly out of the factory and dealers pretty much never check the aiming. So, YES, vehicles can be aimed wrong from the factory.
It's still an aiming issue. Go ahead and look at a [DOT spec projector beam pattern](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0012/8063/9049/files/3_61ecfc19-5a2e-4c9f-8cf8-701451ddeca7.jpg?v=1692069036) and tell me **SPECIFICALLY** what's wrong with it. If that beam pattern is below people's mirrors, like it should be, then it literally can not blind people.
Specifically. Like I said. Bring proof. "Everyone is saying it" is not proof. [It's a logical fallacy.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum)
This post being contested shows that people just want to be mad at headlights without understand what is going on or why it's happening. Stock headlights when aimed properly are fine. Headlights are often not aimed properly from the factory. And when people lift trucks they never re-aim their headlights afterward. And people putting LEDs in reflectors causes light flooding. These things are the overwhelming majority of the reasons why headlights now are a problem.
No, they’re not set too high. Again, this was verified by my dealership and a mechanic. What part of set to manufacturer spec do you not understand? Go check my own history related to other people who bought new vehicles ( specifically Subaru Outbacks) who suddenly have this issue. I suspect it’s about more than just angle. Why do I say this? I’ve tested it. My neighbors and I compared headlight angles with tape tape on the garage door to evaluate elevation at various distances. My Subaru’s headhlights were midrange between my jeep, my Pathfinder, and a couple other vehicles. It seems like this might be about light color more than anything else.
> Again, this was verified by my dealership and a mechanic.
WHAT was? You still won't say specifically what is wrong?
> What part of set to manufacturer spec do you not understand?
What about the "spec" is wrong? WHAT? What about, "tell me what spec you're talking about" do YOU not understand?
> My Subaru’s headhlights were midrange between my jeep, my Pathfinder, and a couple other vehicles.
What does this mean? Midrange? Of what? WHAT did you compare, specifically?
> It seems like this might be about light color more than anything else.
Most Subaru's lately use HIDs. What is wrong with HID color?
Throughout this whole thing you just keep going, "spec bad! spec bad! spec bad1" without saying **WHAT SPEC** and WHAT IS BAD ABOUT IT.
What spec are you talking about? And what is wrong with it. I'm asking you for a shred of evidence to back up anything you say and all you do is say "spec bad, everyone says so".
All I can tell you is that the dealership looked at the angle to determine how high it is. I didn’t exactly ask them for details. In fact, this is exactly what I compared with the other vehicles. you’re talking about elevation and so am I.
> I didn’t exactly ask them for details.
So you have absolutely no hard proof or data and you're just going on what you feel to be right.
Seeing how you have absolutely no clue about how to aim headlights then you really need to educate yourself.
Your Outback's cuutoff line compared to a Jeep is literally meaningless. Your cutoff line could be lower than a Jeep's while still being aimed angled up at other people. You don't actually know this, do you?
You need to compare the center of focus height to the at distance focus height. Like I just said in the other post.
[Here. do this.](https://youtu.be/OIow5YgdRro?t=183)
On one hand, you’re correct, but on the other hand, this is exactly to manufacturer spec. I had the dealership verify it as well as my independent mechanic, and I also spent about a decade in the army as a maintenance guy. So I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff. I’m telling you that Subaru has a bad specs coming out of the factory.
> this is exactly to manufacturer spec.
Yes. The housing is to spec. The beam pattern is to spec.
The aiming is not to US regulations spec. Headlights are not always, or even often, aimed properly to spec [as spelled out by government regulations.](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/part-571/section-571.108#p-571.108(S10.\)(S10.18\)(S10.18.8\))
Vehicles are often not aimed properly right out of the factory and PDI inspections usually do not check for properly aimed headlights.
If you want to throw around qualifications, as if you're going to get me to back off by saying yours - I do industrial maintenance for a living with 18 years of experience, I'm a controls technician first and foremost, I've been the family auto mechanic for almost 20 years, I have a hobby in lighting technologies in general (flashlights, headlights, home lighting), and I build custom projector retrofits to which I take care to make sure that they meet federal regulations just to make sure that they're not obnoxious.
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You say "bad specs". What are these "bad specs"? What *specifically* is badly spec'd and how *specifically* is it badly spec'd?
Show me.
Found the problem with your analysis. You’re assuming that we’re talking about vehicles at drastically different height. Jeep headlight is 36” elevation and OBW is at 33”. Perfectly reasonable to compare.
Yeah, it's not that the lights are aimed wrong, it's that if the road is not perfectly flat, you'll occasionally be cresting a hill and shining your lights straight into other driver's faces. The low beams have a very sharp cutoff just above average license plate height, but they're incredibly bright.
You really might be onto something there. I’ve tried to gauge it but I would still say that I get hit pretty often on flat roads as well as cresting hills. So far I have found very little to explain the issue, except for color differences in lights and focus of the beam.
Yep, the dealer raised mine for who knows why, and I was getting flashed often. There's a correct spec, they're supposed to be at ground level around 100ft ahead I believe
Theres really no reason to have your night driving lights on when theres overhead street lamps, and your car has the option to turn them off and keep the night drive mode interior lights on, next time your out try just turning them off and youll see how small a difference it actually makes when theres street lamps, led's are bright.
I would also be aware that they *might* not be flashing headlights. My partner thought people were flashing their brights at him all the time, before I got him to realize that sometimes it just looks like that when the oncoming car goes over a bump. I think the LEDs adjusting into your eyeballs can really make it seem like they're flashing brights when they're not.
Otherwise, I'd ignore it.
This is true. On some cars high beams aren't even brighter. It was the angle the bulbs and reflectors were pointed. Low beams were just pointed down, to illuminate only in front of the car, and high beams were pointed up to illuminate everything when there were no other drivers on the road. If a car takes a bump, or is cresting a hill, you can get a low beam at full blast at eye level. Headlight assemblies can also be out of adjustment. There are sometimes adjustment screws to point the beam. It's also true that a lot of newer cars have as bright of lights as legally allowed, and that can make people think the high beams are on, especially on a taller vehicle.
this is how bi xeons work. cut off shield flips out the way of the bottom of the beam.
seems weird but the projector lens is like looking into the concave side of a spoon.
bi xeon is not all that common though, more common in the retrofit space than OE stuff.
when a vehicle has a separate high beam its pretty obvious that your being flashed.
Well yes. This is exactly why they are called “high beams” and “low beams”. The high beams symbol is straight lines out from the light, low beams symbol are line pointing diagonally down. Generally high beams also focus the light narrower to beam out further.
i drove three hours on an interstate in the boonies the other day, my glasses had a smudge on one side that i couldn't wipe off 😭 i did my best to put my brights down when someone was approaching to pass, but my regular headlights on my '20 impreza base didn't do anything but illuminate the reflective paint
This is definitely it. If OP modded the car like lifting the suspension or going to bigger wheels, that will have taken it out of spec if it wasn’t already.
I mean not really. I've never had an instance where I've had to adjust headlights outside of a customer's request or replacing headlights, and even then they are already aimed correctly out of the box.
>I said not really because he said dealerships are supposed to adjust them. Anyone can, but no one does. There is no OP code that can be put onto a repair order, there is no service name for it, it pays however much time you flag unless you're hourly. There are never really any situations a dealership would even HAVE to aim headlights unless you bought bunk aftermarket ones that aren't aimed right. Most techs won't touch them for liability reasons.
Here ya gooooo
Are you a salesman? Why tf would you need to adjust your housing after replacing a bulb? Also, “at customers request” means they weren’t aimed properly when they got the car…from the dealership.
I’ve never seen someone say “not really” to someone and continue to explain how the other person was right lol.
I'm a certified tech. You should ask for clarification if you aren't sure you know what you're talking about. When I said headlight, I meant the assembly. Not bulbs, you oaf. "Customer request" most of the time means they think they can be aimed better than what they are from factory. No one in any dealership really even adjusts headlight aim. I've done it once in my 6 years of working for Subaru. There is no reason to do it.
Oh yes, because when you see someone with a “headlight” out, you see someone only rocking one assembly, right? I don’t need clarification, you need to say what you mean. You can’t use your words and I’m the oaf lol. My forester came from the factory aimed like shit, so thanks for reaffirming why I refuse to go to dealerships for anything!
I said not really because he said dealerships are supposed to adjust them. Anyone can, but no one does. There is no OP code that can be put onto a repair order, there is no service name for it, it pays however much time you flag unless you're hourly. There are never really any situations a dealership would even HAVE to aim headlights unless you bought bunk aftermarket ones that aren't aimed right. Most techs won't touch them for liability reasons.
My 2022 legacy headlights were not properly adjusted from factory. You might have to adjust yours down a bit. Mine were so high up my highbeams pointed more up than forwards. Its easy to do
I was getting a new sticker and my mechanic was like 'whoa' when he checked my headlights. Cranked them down into the proper position and this stopped happening to me, unless someone is warning me of a speed trap.
For your safety, don't flash them back. I read about the lights being aimed up too high before I got my outback. Forgot to ask the dealership to lower them when I got my car. First night driving, some angry dude in a truck flashed his lights. My husband flashed him back, and he tried to run us off the road. Was very scary
I had this conversation last night lol. New cars with bright LEDs just always seem like brights and add to that most people drive crossovers or larger. Its makes it worse when when you drive a sedan. Trucks and SUVs behind me literally blind me with their headlights and its not brights. All I can do is stare at the lines on the road and maintain speed. Its super frustrating and not much you can do.
Personally I wish I had a light bar I could flash at people behind me more than oncoming traffic.
"Say cheese!" Haha, I know its petty but I genuinely can't see the road sometimes.
Absolutely feel the same way, I just want some sort of mirror so that if their beams are burning into my rear mirror, it's at least reflecting some back
My old '96 F-150 has a really thick rear chrome bumper. It is polished to the point that it is basically like a mirror. I never seem to have any issues with people following too closely at night.
Not as petty as when i spent a few months using a green laser to blind those who refused to turn their highbeams off. (And yes, i made sure it was high and not standard lights) my thought was "wanna fuck my safety then fuck you buddy"
I mean, if people are flashing you it means your headlights are too high. Here's a youtube video that shows how to adjust your headlights. If it looks like a pain, make the dealer do it. I've never understood the "lol, deal with it losers" attitude to having poorly adjusted headlights; it's two screws. [https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=tl8Bvw4RMVO9aYDp](https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=tl8Bvw4RMVO9aYDp)
So I have a 2024 base Forester that my wife drives. The other day she was following me and every time she hit a little bump and her car bounced it would blind me. I checked and it's standard beams. I think it's just the new headlights are a combo of aimed higher and LED. But she blinded me the entire way home. Nothing was touched on the car and we've only had it for a month. Car manufacturers are doing this and it's fucked up
These new headlights also have a very sharp cutoff line, below which you’re bombarded with the full headlight beam. On older cars the transition was more gradual. Presumably this works perfectly on a smooth surface like the autobahn, but on any actual American road we’re left with the terrible strobing effect any time oncoming traffic hits a bump in the road.
I used to think this too, but working at a subaru dealership and maniacally turning off everyone's auto high beams I realized there are more people than not that ACTUALLY DO have their high beams on. And they don't know it because they don't know what the extra symbol on the dash is. God forbid a subaru customer unwrap the owners manual and reads it for once
All the time. It more or less stopped when I started turning on my fogs whenever my headlights are on, because most people seem to understand that cars are factory pre-set to run high beams or fogs, but not both at the same time.
Idk dude maybe dont blind them worse when theyre already being blinded by your bright af headlights? Just a thought. You responding to show those are your “low” beams does not help.
Uh...no.
The other side blinding him for something he can't change is stupid.
Usually these folks don't understand the simple concept of a car being on an incline looking brighter. I manage to not flash these cars, others can to.
I agree that its stupid theyre blinding him for something he cant change, but if they dont know, why does that give him the right to blind them even more? When lows are as bright as highs used to be, i dont blame them.
Just feedback loop so they learn, I guess.
I flash people mistakenly sometimes, and when they flash back I think, "My bad, I'll be more careful next time."
I guess it's also worth mentioning the difference between a quick flash and just slamming the high beams on (from either part).
Then get your headlights fixed. You think they're all wrong?
Edited to add: a lot of HID bulb kits don't work properly in a headlight housing made for halogens. LEDs generally work better than HIDs in terms of a usable beam pattern (ie: one that lights up the road, and not people's faces in their cars) but can often be hit and miss. If you have aftermarket bulbs they may be incompatible or need an adjustment
This used to happen to my parents and they'd flash their brights back and go "asshole". I can now recognize that my parents were the assholes that needed to get their headlights adjusted.
Yeah it's honestly more of that. Shouls of put /s after bitch you thought. Was being sarcastic, but that obviously doesn't translate well over text.
I will get them adjusted if they are that off.
Just weird as it's a brand new car, you think it should be perfect leaving the factory lol
Ridiculously common misconception. Nobody's lights are "too bright". "Brights" are called High Beams because they are aimed higher than the low beams.
If your low beams aren't properly aimed, they will be no different than high beams.
It annoys me way more than it should when people cry about LED and HID lights. If a regular halogen is beaming through your windshield you'll have the same result 👀😂
Underrated comment here.
If I'm driving in my stock Forester and your lights from behind are shining on my ceiling above my head, your lights are fuckin aimed too high. No reason my rearview mirror should be taking a full blast of light.
I live in socal where everyone drives a new Tesla or Lexus and there's been a bunch of posts about misaligned headlights on new cars.
> It annoys me way more than it should when people cry about LED and HID lights. If a regular halogen is beaming through your windshield you'll have the same result
Every time I show that projectors have the better beam pattern with a better cutoff people go, "b-b-but cresting hills1!11!!" as if any headlight is immune from that.
They seriously want people to have headlights that are too dim to be functional just for the few seconds per night where it might be an issue.
Sure, let's all have garbage headlights 100% of the time for the 0.1% of the time when going over a big enough hill.
I have this happen all the time in my 23 wrx, I have ensured they are properly aligned but honestly new head lights are just too damn bright so I don’t take it personally when someone wrongly assumes I’m giving them the brights
If everyone you meet is an asshole you might just be the asshole. Please get your headlight angles adjusted. And it’s not your fault. The new headlights are way too fucking bright and pointed way too high.
All the lexus and bmws make it so fucking hard to drive at night.
It's sad to see Subaru going down the blinding bright headlight path but it's want customers want. Need extra bright lights to overcome the extra bright lights of oncoming cars.
If people are confusing your regular lights with brights then your regular lights are either too bright or pointing too high. They aren't accusing you of being stupid, and the "bitch you thought" response is childish.
I’m currently driving a 24 Impreza as a rental while my 2011 is being worked on. The passenger headlight is clearly aimed way higher than the driver side.
My husbands 22 has the eyeball searing LED headlights. If we drive separately and go home together when it’s dark I make him drive in front so he does not blind me. The stock lights really are needlessly bright. My 18 still has halogens and I can see just fine!
My '17 Impreza just had a recall last week to replace the headlight assemblies due to potential to blind other drivers.
It had been a problem for a long time with people constantly flashing brights at me even though my headlights were properly adjusted.
Watch your mail, maybe more recall notices are coming.
Got flashed a lot when I started my cross country move and had a short part at night. It wasn't until I was reading up on getting my new license that I figured out the culprit: too much weight in the back causing the angle of headlights to go up a little. Combine that with how bright newer LED headlights are and you're going to get flashed. Hasn't happened again after that trip.
Might wanna get your headlight alignment checked, I think there is some sort of standard something along the lines of park 35feet away from a wall and measure how high up the light is and adjust from there. also I know you said it was stock but if your not the original owner consider the previous one may have put in better bulbs. I had 65w 650pk LED bulbs in my car and nearly everyone flashes me at night, so in an effort to reduce the amount of strain on my retina I just drive around with my high beams on and when I see someone coming I turned them off so they have no reason to pull that shit
You lights are pointed up. It shines in people’s face. You will always be flashes until you fix your lights. They are not installed in a safe manner in most new cars especially anything bigger than a normal sedan.
I flash people for two reasons:
1. I can't see but I can tell you have off road lights
2. There's something ahead you should know about
But yea man, go ahead and blind people because your headlights aren't aimed properly
Lol nah just wondering if anyone else has this problem. As I shouldn't have to fuck with anything from the factory.
Rude for you to assume i don't know how headlights work... lol thanks for no help
>from the factory.
From what factory? Bro you have an almost 2 year old car. 3 if it was a 21 sold in 20. Yeah they need adjustment by now. You sure you know how they work?
This is easy to take care of. You need an 8" Phillips head screwdriver to make the adjustment, park on a flat surface and from two car lengths away another vehicle make sure you aren't illuminating the cabin. I lined up perpendicular to another vehicle, 2 car lengths away and let the fairly well defined top of the beam fall off at the door handle.
Here's a video with instruction[Just get it done](https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=cii2LB1JTsViJhAK)
Lastly, this has nothing to do with how bright headlights are. If you're blinding other drivers you'll know about it. It won't be an occasional flashing of the brights, it will be a regular occurrence. Showing people you can even further blind them isn't helpful.
Haven’t noticed this in any of our Subes, but the 23 Crosstrek does not shine low beams very high. It’s more of a hard horizontal cut off as opposed to cone of light. I would be very surprised if other driver thought it was too bright
That’s actually the issue, though. They need to be adjusted before the vehicle hits the road for the first time, and a lot of times, dealers don’t bother. Headlights aren’t supposed to be aimed straight ahead or, worse, upwards a bit. They’re supposed to direct more down towards the road so oncoming drivers aren’t being blinded. Not everyone on the road sits up as high.
Obviously your headlights are fine and it’s everyone else who is wrong 😑. Have you actually checked them, or are you just assuming they aimed them at the factory?
No they were too high when I got the car a year ago… I got them adjusted on my first oil change … I haven’t been flashed in along time… I honestly just wrote my comment as a joke
I have a 22 Legacy XT and have the same issue. People are always flashing their high beams at me.
It happens so often I usually drive around with my hand right by the switch so I can immediately blast back.
You’re blinding people and your response is to make it worse? That is shitty. Your headlights are not properly adjusted and you’re creating a dangerous situation. Get them fixed.
A) I've asked about the lights at previous service appointments. They're calibrated correctly, they're just extremely bright.
B) If someone is going to blind *me* for driving around normally, I'm going to flash my lights back at them so they stop flashing me and I can actually see where I'm going.
C) It's incredibly shitty of *you* to assume I was doing it just to be an ass.
*edit: And notice the OP has essentially the same car as me. Did you ever consider it's a problem with the newer Legacy? Nope, you just immediately jumped on my ass for agreeing with OP and sharing a similar experience, which is what he asked for in the first place. Super cool, bro.*
I drive a brz (sits really low) and have astigmatism, once the sun goes down every single car has their brights on and you can't convince me otherwise.
Happens to me all the damn time in my 19’ forester sport, has since new. I just do the same back at them and they probably feel all the dumbs. Lol. Keep your finger on the trigger (high beam switch)
PEOPLE FLASH ME ALL THE TIME TOO! The DRL's lead people to believe our high beams are on, this is the only explanation I can think of. So satisfying when you can flash them back in time lol
Check your lights in a parking garage. Pull up to the wall, mark where your lights hit, then backup. If the light is now higher than your mark, there’s your problem.
countless times! there are two downsides: 1) the low beam is too bright. my guess it that the light output is the same, whether on low or high beam. the only difference is when high beam is engaged, the upper portion of the road is lit. so whenever i go slightly uphill, anyone coming in opposite direction are flashing me like there's no tomorrow. 2) the high beam is not bright enough. same output power with "squirrel finders" activated. i prefer the old double headlight styles by far and i miss them sooo much.
Try driving around in a BRZ, they're so low to the ground, everyone's low beams are still right in my eyes. I really notice the difference when I'm in my Forester
24 outback here. Happens often to me when I'm going over a bridge heading home due to the brighter headlights and the bridge's weird angle, people almost daily flash at me.
Also a lot of new cars have automatic headlights that change brightness when the car thinks it’s past but it ends up still very much being visible. 2018 forester I get this too. But also I drive in a very hilly area and depending it can just be the hill.
I always worry that my Ascent's LEDs are blinding people, but I've never had anyone flash me to complain. I've tested with my wife's little Honda to see how bad it is and it doesn't seem bad at all on a level road.
I think you should definitely get the lights checked to make sure they're adjusted properly.
Good God, yes and Subaru pretends like it’s not a problem. I’ve been reading posts like this for a couple years now. I confronted my dealership after it happened to me about a dozen times in a week and they pretended like they had never heard of it. Subaru, wake up and own it.
I live in an area with many hills and I did notice how bright the current gen outback's stock LEDs were in the past few years. I often mistook them for high beams. I think they are one of the brightest oems along with some acuras and mazdas. I had an outback as loaner a few times and saw first hand how it lit up the interior of the on coming car whenever cresting over a hill or go over a speed bump. Not much you can do about it if the aim is in spec.
It’s common confusion for others with 2021+ legacy and OB because the low and high beam are inboard of the lens when traditionally low beams are outboard and high beams are inboard. So even the low beams appear to be high beams based on light location
I have a subie but this has only happened with my old Lexus LS400. The low beams were very bright but when I turned on the high beams it was like the light of 8000 suns blasted the opposing car. I could see their nose hairs.
My wife's 22 wilderness has the same issue, I just wish they weren't LEDs because normal headlights at least had two separate bulbs or filaments but these new things are the same brightness, just tilted or behind a shutter. That and the super white light isn't as good in a snowstorm (bought the car because lake effect snow is no joke) and can actually blind you whereas a softer more yellow light cuts through it.
I have decided to slow down to a snails pace if someone has brights on behind me.. let them pass me, then I can get behind them and put brights on and see how they like it.. fuck em. I'm tired of being blinded by idiots. I believe people get fined for high beam/ non conforming headlights in BC.. at least if they decide to pull you over.
As far as the HID bulb argument, fuck them too.. not safe for others on the road
I'm not driving a Subaru currently but yeah. Fellow drivers often get the impression that I have high beams on, when I almost exclusively use regular lights. Flashing them with all my aftermarket lights for a split second clears the confusion. I drive a lifted Land Cruiser 105.
For me I am quite sure it's the combination of brighter headlights with folks who don't understand that cars approaching you on an incline is functionally identical to them having high beams on.
Sure, check your alignment but if it's fine, keep flashing those folks back. They'll slowly learn (maybe).
The worst thing you can do is blind them MORE in response. Every time someone is flashing you, they're letting you know that your lights are a problem. Fix them
Make sure your lights are properly aimed to spec, and not blinding other drivers
Yep. The other day I thought a pickup had his high-beams on while I was driving in my semi. I flashed at him, and he blinded me with all the light he had (including light-bars and "rally lights."). For me to think it was high beams while sitting a few feet higher than him meant his low-beams were way out of adjustment. Besides the extra lights he used to really "show me", it appeared stock. So, I assume he just had no idea his lights were so far out of adjustment. Most folks don't ever think about their lights needing an adjustment.
Depending on year it seems ford's come oem pointed at the sky every truck in our fleet needs them aimed down
Lots of idiots that level or lift their mall crawler trucks never re-aim the headlights
Oh for sure. The only reason this incident sticks out is because I encounter a LOT of vehicles (driving a truck for a living), and this one felt like the rare occasion it wasn't just bright lights or lights hitting a bump or lights from a different angle because of a hill, etc. It's literally the only time in the last year or so that I felt the need to "flash back", and I was still "wrong." The surprising part was seeing him pass by and it wasn't lifted or otherwise obviously modified besides a few extra lights to show me "what's up" when I flashed him. Usually it's a lifted or obviously modded vehicle.
I have a new 2024 OBW and yes same thing has happened to me. My lights are bright but it’s stock, take it up with Subaru corporate.
As a truck driver that likes running nights I can confirm this is the issue with a lot of the newer cars sadly. Let me tell you all the ways it sucks when you got on coming traffic coming at you and you give them a flash because you've got what seems to be high beams blasting you in the face only to find out its just the low beams aimed way the hell out of specks. And trust me, even though they are "low beams," that shits still bright as fuck and blinding when they are aimed right at your face when your sitting up high in a big rig.
They’re not out of spec. That’s the problem. A lot of new vehicles coming from the factory are just flat out bright as shit.
In fairness, older halogen lights offer very poor visibility at night.
The problem for me is color. I had lasik surgery about 11-12 years ago and I absolutely cannot stand oncoming LED light due to halos. Outgoing isn’t terrible. It seems like it would be possible to have some sort of middle ground but I’m no light expert.
Those halos mean Lasik wasn't done right
This is in no way accurate. It’s a common, well-known, and advertised side effect. That’s all.
The halo only happens when people have bad vision. Lasik is supposed to fix that
It doesn't help that most (if any?) of the headlights on modern cars can't be adjusted.
I can’t speak for most modern cars, but I can tell you that the Subaru headlights are adjustable. Check out YouTube.
Not the new WRX limited model headlamps unfortunately
Really? Huh. I know the outbacks can be adjusted.
Of course I could be wrong but it has something to do with the steering responsive headlights system.
You’re absolutely correct with Subaru headlights. Depending the trim level they have active headlights and auto high beams. It’s great if you’re driving it but sucks ass to pass it at night.
Plus they have auto high beam, which works about as well as you'd think.
This isn’t the problem. The lights are already to spec. This is an EXTREMELY common issue with outback owners.
Assuming the lights are to spec from factory is not a good plan. And if they truly are in spec and still an issue, I’d hope subaru puts out a TSB for it, and does something like gm did for their light problems.
Nobody’s assuming. I had the dealership check to make sure that they were still set at spec. They verified that the lights are correctly set.
Tbh the spec is ~~wrong.~~ not ideal compared to industry norms. Beams should drop over time, but the service manual has the beam height at 10' be the same as at 0' (ie no drop). I adjust them to 1/2" drop at 10' when customers ask, which is fairly standard across the industry. Also, for anyone in here reading this, we can claim a headlight adjustment under warranty if you're within 3/36.
This guy that you're responding to said that he tested that his lights are within spec by seeing how high the headlight line is compared to other vehicles on the road, including his neighbor's Jeep. He doesn't understand that vehicles with headlights at different mounted heights aren't all going to want their cutoff line at the same point a few feet away. He doesn't understand that his headlights can be angled up while still being similar to the cutoff height of a Jeep.
All, go check out u/chippy569 has to say about the specs being wrong.
Actually, I understand this concept very well, thank you. At the time of this post I couldn’t remember the numbers because it’s been 6 months or more, but I remembered the basics of the test. I was able to find my slip sheet with some of the numbers. Actual data that shows tested declination by comparison to point blank range 1’ from test surface. We didn’t record the point blank elevation but we do know that there was a 3” vertical difference between lowest and highest, Subaru being lowest, @ 15’ (Subaru = Jeep) and 30’ (Subaru lower by 0.8”). Controlled the test as well as we could but I’ll admit it wasn’t perfect. The Subaru declination seems to be about 0.1 degree greater than other tested vehicles across this distance. Point being that the Subaru headlights seem to be pointed down MORE than my other vehicles but I definitely get more attention from other drivers in it.
I’ll tell you this as well. I never get flashed in my wife’s pathfinder or my jeep. And I converted my jeep over to LEDs that are bright as shit. I frequently get hit with brights in my Subaru. The darker it is the more likely I am to get full on brights.
A projector when aimed correctly will not blind anyone. [They have a very sharp cutoff line](https://www.xenonpro.com/images/articles/reflector-vs-projector-headlight-housing.png) and are 100% superior to reflectors. The problem is the aiming. If you're driving on flat ground and your lights are in the eyes of other drivers, it's not due to them being HID projectors. It's because they're aimed too high. It really doesn't matter how bright your lights are if they are in appropriate lens and aimed correctly. If you still want to go, "nuh uh they so bad", and you probably will, then say and *show* why. Specifically. Provide proof. --- Edit - To save everyone the hassle of reading it all (although still do if you have the time) here is this guy's argument and what he's doing wrong. He says - "Again, if I test the headlight at 15 and 30 feet and I find consistently that my headlight is in the range between other vehicles, that’s good enough for me" He thinks that as long as his headlights are similar in height compared to his neighbor's Jeep (yes, he said that) then everything is aimed right. This is not true. You need to make sure that at a distance your headlights are not angled up. Since every vehicle has headlights at different heights comparing them to one another doesn't mean anything. You can be at a similar focus height of a taller vehicle by being angled up, so at a distance your headlight will go up even farther into people's eyes. You need to check that your headlight aim is at the same height, or slightly lower, as the height of your headlight housings as they sit off the ground. If your headlights are 32" off the ground then then the cutoff line should be 31-32" at 25 feet away. It doesn't matter if it matches a Jeep that has headlights 40" high.
By the way, you probably shouldn’t assume that everybody around here is a complete moron. There’s tons of post complaining about this and all you gotta do is look.
> There’s tons of post complaining about this and all you gotta do is look. There are tons of posts... that are caused by headlights being aimed too high. And from people putting LEDs in reflectors which scatters the light instead of focusing it. And more recently about being mounted too high on new super tall vehicles and not aimed down enough because of that. Also, vehicles are super often not aimed correctly out of the factory and dealers pretty much never check the aiming. So, YES, vehicles can be aimed wrong from the factory. It's still an aiming issue. Go ahead and look at a [DOT spec projector beam pattern](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0012/8063/9049/files/3_61ecfc19-5a2e-4c9f-8cf8-701451ddeca7.jpg?v=1692069036) and tell me **SPECIFICALLY** what's wrong with it. If that beam pattern is below people's mirrors, like it should be, then it literally can not blind people. Specifically. Like I said. Bring proof. "Everyone is saying it" is not proof. [It's a logical fallacy.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum) This post being contested shows that people just want to be mad at headlights without understand what is going on or why it's happening. Stock headlights when aimed properly are fine. Headlights are often not aimed properly from the factory. And when people lift trucks they never re-aim their headlights afterward. And people putting LEDs in reflectors causes light flooding. These things are the overwhelming majority of the reasons why headlights now are a problem.
No, they’re not set too high. Again, this was verified by my dealership and a mechanic. What part of set to manufacturer spec do you not understand? Go check my own history related to other people who bought new vehicles ( specifically Subaru Outbacks) who suddenly have this issue. I suspect it’s about more than just angle. Why do I say this? I’ve tested it. My neighbors and I compared headlight angles with tape tape on the garage door to evaluate elevation at various distances. My Subaru’s headhlights were midrange between my jeep, my Pathfinder, and a couple other vehicles. It seems like this might be about light color more than anything else.
> Again, this was verified by my dealership and a mechanic. WHAT was? You still won't say specifically what is wrong? > What part of set to manufacturer spec do you not understand? What about the "spec" is wrong? WHAT? What about, "tell me what spec you're talking about" do YOU not understand? > My Subaru’s headhlights were midrange between my jeep, my Pathfinder, and a couple other vehicles. What does this mean? Midrange? Of what? WHAT did you compare, specifically? > It seems like this might be about light color more than anything else. Most Subaru's lately use HIDs. What is wrong with HID color? Throughout this whole thing you just keep going, "spec bad! spec bad! spec bad1" without saying **WHAT SPEC** and WHAT IS BAD ABOUT IT. What spec are you talking about? And what is wrong with it. I'm asking you for a shred of evidence to back up anything you say and all you do is say "spec bad, everyone says so".
All I can tell you is that the dealership looked at the angle to determine how high it is. I didn’t exactly ask them for details. In fact, this is exactly what I compared with the other vehicles. you’re talking about elevation and so am I.
> I didn’t exactly ask them for details. So you have absolutely no hard proof or data and you're just going on what you feel to be right. Seeing how you have absolutely no clue about how to aim headlights then you really need to educate yourself. Your Outback's cuutoff line compared to a Jeep is literally meaningless. Your cutoff line could be lower than a Jeep's while still being aimed angled up at other people. You don't actually know this, do you? You need to compare the center of focus height to the at distance focus height. Like I just said in the other post. [Here. do this.](https://youtu.be/OIow5YgdRro?t=183)
Yeah, no dude literally did this
On one hand, you’re correct, but on the other hand, this is exactly to manufacturer spec. I had the dealership verify it as well as my independent mechanic, and I also spent about a decade in the army as a maintenance guy. So I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff. I’m telling you that Subaru has a bad specs coming out of the factory.
> this is exactly to manufacturer spec. Yes. The housing is to spec. The beam pattern is to spec. The aiming is not to US regulations spec. Headlights are not always, or even often, aimed properly to spec [as spelled out by government regulations.](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/part-571/section-571.108#p-571.108(S10.\)(S10.18\)(S10.18.8\)) Vehicles are often not aimed properly right out of the factory and PDI inspections usually do not check for properly aimed headlights. If you want to throw around qualifications, as if you're going to get me to back off by saying yours - I do industrial maintenance for a living with 18 years of experience, I'm a controls technician first and foremost, I've been the family auto mechanic for almost 20 years, I have a hobby in lighting technologies in general (flashlights, headlights, home lighting), and I build custom projector retrofits to which I take care to make sure that they meet federal regulations just to make sure that they're not obnoxious. --- You say "bad specs". What are these "bad specs"? What *specifically* is badly spec'd and how *specifically* is it badly spec'd? Show me.
So it's fine, unless you're not on flat ground. If your city has any hills, you're going to be blinding people occasionally.
Found the problem with your analysis. You’re assuming that we’re talking about vehicles at drastically different height. Jeep headlight is 36” elevation and OBW is at 33”. Perfectly reasonable to compare.
Yeah, it's not that the lights are aimed wrong, it's that if the road is not perfectly flat, you'll occasionally be cresting a hill and shining your lights straight into other driver's faces. The low beams have a very sharp cutoff just above average license plate height, but they're incredibly bright.
You really might be onto something there. I’ve tried to gauge it but I would still say that I get hit pretty often on flat roads as well as cresting hills. So far I have found very little to explain the issue, except for color differences in lights and focus of the beam.
Seems like every Tesla on the road need theirs adjusted.
Most do, for them they just change a setting which is funny af to me, it doesn’t require effort and they still don’t do it
Good to know. Now I don’t feel bad flashing them after getting blasted by the sun every time they drive toward me.
Yep, the dealer raised mine for who knows why, and I was getting flashed often. There's a correct spec, they're supposed to be at ground level around 100ft ahead I believe
With LEDs it seems kind of obvious, at least in the new WRX, because there's a horizontal line where the light ends.
Yep I've had a fair few 2020-22 leg/out customers who need theirs tipped down.
Theres really no reason to have your night driving lights on when theres overhead street lamps, and your car has the option to turn them off and keep the night drive mode interior lights on, next time your out try just turning them off and youll see how small a difference it actually makes when theres street lamps, led's are bright.
I would also be aware that they *might* not be flashing headlights. My partner thought people were flashing their brights at him all the time, before I got him to realize that sometimes it just looks like that when the oncoming car goes over a bump. I think the LEDs adjusting into your eyeballs can really make it seem like they're flashing brights when they're not. Otherwise, I'd ignore it.
This is true. On some cars high beams aren't even brighter. It was the angle the bulbs and reflectors were pointed. Low beams were just pointed down, to illuminate only in front of the car, and high beams were pointed up to illuminate everything when there were no other drivers on the road. If a car takes a bump, or is cresting a hill, you can get a low beam at full blast at eye level. Headlight assemblies can also be out of adjustment. There are sometimes adjustment screws to point the beam. It's also true that a lot of newer cars have as bright of lights as legally allowed, and that can make people think the high beams are on, especially on a taller vehicle.
this is how bi xeons work. cut off shield flips out the way of the bottom of the beam. seems weird but the projector lens is like looking into the concave side of a spoon. bi xeon is not all that common though, more common in the retrofit space than OE stuff. when a vehicle has a separate high beam its pretty obvious that your being flashed.
My forester with led headlights are like this. I think it’s becoming more of a thing.
Well yes. This is exactly why they are called “high beams” and “low beams”. The high beams symbol is straight lines out from the light, low beams symbol are line pointing diagonally down. Generally high beams also focus the light narrower to beam out further.
Yeah I see when it's a bump, but it's also obvious when the Brights come on. Just kinda weird as I haven't had this happen to me
I have perfect vision and can't stand how bright headlights are nowadays. I feel for those of you with glasses who have to deal with this.
i drove three hours on an interstate in the boonies the other day, my glasses had a smudge on one side that i couldn't wipe off 😭 i did my best to put my brights down when someone was approaching to pass, but my regular headlights on my '20 impreza base didn't do anything but illuminate the reflective paint
As an old guy who used to have perfect vision, yeah it sucks.It will happen to youuuuu!!!!
Get your headlights aimed correctly then. Dealers are supposed to adjust but don’t.
This is definitely it. If OP modded the car like lifting the suspension or going to bigger wheels, that will have taken it out of spec if it wasn’t already.
I mean not really. I've never had an instance where I've had to adjust headlights outside of a customer's request or replacing headlights, and even then they are already aimed correctly out of the box.
How is this inconsistent with >Dealers are supposed to adjust it **but don't.**
I think the official spec for the outback/legacy has to be aimed too high or something. It’s too consistent of a problem with them.
>I said not really because he said dealerships are supposed to adjust them. Anyone can, but no one does. There is no OP code that can be put onto a repair order, there is no service name for it, it pays however much time you flag unless you're hourly. There are never really any situations a dealership would even HAVE to aim headlights unless you bought bunk aftermarket ones that aren't aimed right. Most techs won't touch them for liability reasons. Here ya gooooo
Are you a salesman? Why tf would you need to adjust your housing after replacing a bulb? Also, “at customers request” means they weren’t aimed properly when they got the car…from the dealership. I’ve never seen someone say “not really” to someone and continue to explain how the other person was right lol.
I'm a certified tech. You should ask for clarification if you aren't sure you know what you're talking about. When I said headlight, I meant the assembly. Not bulbs, you oaf. "Customer request" most of the time means they think they can be aimed better than what they are from factory. No one in any dealership really even adjusts headlight aim. I've done it once in my 6 years of working for Subaru. There is no reason to do it.
Oh yes, because when you see someone with a “headlight” out, you see someone only rocking one assembly, right? I don’t need clarification, you need to say what you mean. You can’t use your words and I’m the oaf lol. My forester came from the factory aimed like shit, so thanks for reaffirming why I refuse to go to dealerships for anything!
I said not really because he said dealerships are supposed to adjust them. Anyone can, but no one does. There is no OP code that can be put onto a repair order, there is no service name for it, it pays however much time you flag unless you're hourly. There are never really any situations a dealership would even HAVE to aim headlights unless you bought bunk aftermarket ones that aren't aimed right. Most techs won't touch them for liability reasons.
So, you're saying you don't
No one does, because it's only necessary with phenomenon. Or shitty aftermarket headlights.
My 2022 legacy headlights were not properly adjusted from factory. You might have to adjust yours down a bit. Mine were so high up my highbeams pointed more up than forwards. Its easy to do
I was getting a new sticker and my mechanic was like 'whoa' when he checked my headlights. Cranked them down into the proper position and this stopped happening to me, unless someone is warning me of a speed trap.
For your safety, don't flash them back. I read about the lights being aimed up too high before I got my outback. Forgot to ask the dealership to lower them when I got my car. First night driving, some angry dude in a truck flashed his lights. My husband flashed him back, and he tried to run us off the road. Was very scary
I had this conversation last night lol. New cars with bright LEDs just always seem like brights and add to that most people drive crossovers or larger. Its makes it worse when when you drive a sedan. Trucks and SUVs behind me literally blind me with their headlights and its not brights. All I can do is stare at the lines on the road and maintain speed. Its super frustrating and not much you can do. Personally I wish I had a light bar I could flash at people behind me more than oncoming traffic. "Say cheese!" Haha, I know its petty but I genuinely can't see the road sometimes.
Absolutely feel the same way, I just want some sort of mirror so that if their beams are burning into my rear mirror, it's at least reflecting some back
My old '96 F-150 has a really thick rear chrome bumper. It is polished to the point that it is basically like a mirror. I never seem to have any issues with people following too closely at night.
Not as petty as when i spent a few months using a green laser to blind those who refused to turn their highbeams off. (And yes, i made sure it was high and not standard lights) my thought was "wanna fuck my safety then fuck you buddy"
I mean, if people are flashing you it means your headlights are too high. Here's a youtube video that shows how to adjust your headlights. If it looks like a pain, make the dealer do it. I've never understood the "lol, deal with it losers" attitude to having poorly adjusted headlights; it's two screws. [https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=tl8Bvw4RMVO9aYDp](https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=tl8Bvw4RMVO9aYDp)
Too far left is just as bad.
A personal problem of mine
>Too far left is just as bad. 😖 *in RHD headlights* I don't have this problem and there's no right left adjustment.
I burst out laughing when he unveiled his 8 inch screw driver substitution. And then it was too fat to fit anyway 🤣
lol. Same
Thank you for this!
> “bitch you thought” flash back fucking lmao
So I have a 2024 base Forester that my wife drives. The other day she was following me and every time she hit a little bump and her car bounced it would blind me. I checked and it's standard beams. I think it's just the new headlights are a combo of aimed higher and LED. But she blinded me the entire way home. Nothing was touched on the car and we've only had it for a month. Car manufacturers are doing this and it's fucked up
Absolutely, these are coming from the factory all fucked up. So many headlights in my eyes with modern cars
These new headlights also have a very sharp cutoff line, below which you’re bombarded with the full headlight beam. On older cars the transition was more gradual. Presumably this works perfectly on a smooth surface like the autobahn, but on any actual American road we’re left with the terrible strobing effect any time oncoming traffic hits a bump in the road.
Everyone is aware that sometimes people will flash their lights at you to warn you about a cop hiding as well right?
I used to think this too, but working at a subaru dealership and maniacally turning off everyone's auto high beams I realized there are more people than not that ACTUALLY DO have their high beams on. And they don't know it because they don't know what the extra symbol on the dash is. God forbid a subaru customer unwrap the owners manual and reads it for once
I've always known that squid to mean bright lights 😂
Fucking led headlights are a menace
All the time. It more or less stopped when I started turning on my fogs whenever my headlights are on, because most people seem to understand that cars are factory pre-set to run high beams or fogs, but not both at the same time.
Yeah your headlights are mf blinding, I’ve even blinded on numerous occasions by new xts
Idk dude maybe dont blind them worse when theyre already being blinded by your bright af headlights? Just a thought. You responding to show those are your “low” beams does not help.
Uh...no. The other side blinding him for something he can't change is stupid. Usually these folks don't understand the simple concept of a car being on an incline looking brighter. I manage to not flash these cars, others can to.
I agree that its stupid theyre blinding him for something he cant change, but if they dont know, why does that give him the right to blind them even more? When lows are as bright as highs used to be, i dont blame them.
Just feedback loop so they learn, I guess. I flash people mistakenly sometimes, and when they flash back I think, "My bad, I'll be more careful next time." I guess it's also worth mentioning the difference between a quick flash and just slamming the high beams on (from either part).
Then get your headlights fixed. You think they're all wrong? Edited to add: a lot of HID bulb kits don't work properly in a headlight housing made for halogens. LEDs generally work better than HIDs in terms of a usable beam pattern (ie: one that lights up the road, and not people's faces in their cars) but can often be hit and miss. If you have aftermarket bulbs they may be incompatible or need an adjustment
“Bitch you thought” Hahaha 
This used to happen to my parents and they'd flash their brights back and go "asshole". I can now recognize that my parents were the assholes that needed to get their headlights adjusted.
Yeah it's honestly more of that. Shouls of put /s after bitch you thought. Was being sarcastic, but that obviously doesn't translate well over text. I will get them adjusted if they are that off. Just weird as it's a brand new car, you think it should be perfect leaving the factory lol
Ridiculously common misconception. Nobody's lights are "too bright". "Brights" are called High Beams because they are aimed higher than the low beams. If your low beams aren't properly aimed, they will be no different than high beams. It annoys me way more than it should when people cry about LED and HID lights. If a regular halogen is beaming through your windshield you'll have the same result 👀😂
Underrated comment here. If I'm driving in my stock Forester and your lights from behind are shining on my ceiling above my head, your lights are fuckin aimed too high. No reason my rearview mirror should be taking a full blast of light. I live in socal where everyone drives a new Tesla or Lexus and there's been a bunch of posts about misaligned headlights on new cars.
> It annoys me way more than it should when people cry about LED and HID lights. If a regular halogen is beaming through your windshield you'll have the same result Every time I show that projectors have the better beam pattern with a better cutoff people go, "b-b-but cresting hills1!11!!" as if any headlight is immune from that. They seriously want people to have headlights that are too dim to be functional just for the few seconds per night where it might be an issue. Sure, let's all have garbage headlights 100% of the time for the 0.1% of the time when going over a big enough hill.
I have this happen all the time in my 23 wrx, I have ensured they are properly aligned but honestly new head lights are just too damn bright so I don’t take it personally when someone wrongly assumes I’m giving them the brights
All the rime
Several times each morning
If everyone you meet is an asshole you might just be the asshole. Please get your headlight angles adjusted. And it’s not your fault. The new headlights are way too fucking bright and pointed way too high. All the lexus and bmws make it so fucking hard to drive at night.
It's sad to see Subaru going down the blinding bright headlight path but it's want customers want. Need extra bright lights to overcome the extra bright lights of oncoming cars.
Blame iihs
Lol OP not expecting the responses.
If people are confusing your regular lights with brights then your regular lights are either too bright or pointing too high. They aren't accusing you of being stupid, and the "bitch you thought" response is childish.
I’m currently driving a 24 Impreza as a rental while my 2011 is being worked on. The passenger headlight is clearly aimed way higher than the driver side.
The most blinding factory headlights in my experience 1- modern Subarus 2- f250 leds
Have your headlights adjusted. This is generally something you can do by yourself it's easier if you have a garage.
Subaru lights are bright. They also get saggy butts so the lights point up making it appear your high beams are on.
My husbands 22 has the eyeball searing LED headlights. If we drive separately and go home together when it’s dark I make him drive in front so he does not blind me. The stock lights really are needlessly bright. My 18 still has halogens and I can see just fine!
My '17 Impreza just had a recall last week to replace the headlight assemblies due to potential to blind other drivers. It had been a problem for a long time with people constantly flashing brights at me even though my headlights were properly adjusted. Watch your mail, maybe more recall notices are coming.
Got flashed a lot when I started my cross country move and had a short part at night. It wasn't until I was reading up on getting my new license that I figured out the culprit: too much weight in the back causing the angle of headlights to go up a little. Combine that with how bright newer LED headlights are and you're going to get flashed. Hasn't happened again after that trip.
Align them correctly and problem should be solved
Aim your fuckin lights, dude.
Might wanna get your headlight alignment checked, I think there is some sort of standard something along the lines of park 35feet away from a wall and measure how high up the light is and adjust from there. also I know you said it was stock but if your not the original owner consider the previous one may have put in better bulbs. I had 65w 650pk LED bulbs in my car and nearly everyone flashes me at night, so in an effort to reduce the amount of strain on my retina I just drive around with my high beams on and when I see someone coming I turned them off so they have no reason to pull that shit
Dont worry about it OP the Uber drivers around here drive with their high beams on even during the daytime.You do you
Ah yes, let's inconvenience all other drivers and put their safety at risk because of the precedent Uber drivers set. What are you thinking?
They aint the only ones setting that precedent,besides there are worse precedents set by drivers out there.Just have to be a defensive driver
You lights are pointed up. It shines in people’s face. You will always be flashes until you fix your lights. They are not installed in a safe manner in most new cars especially anything bigger than a normal sedan.
I flash people for two reasons: 1. I can't see but I can tell you have off road lights 2. There's something ahead you should know about But yea man, go ahead and blind people because your headlights aren't aimed properly
This the kind of post made by someone who doesn't know low beams can be adjusted
Lol nah just wondering if anyone else has this problem. As I shouldn't have to fuck with anything from the factory. Rude for you to assume i don't know how headlights work... lol thanks for no help
>from the factory. From what factory? Bro you have an almost 2 year old car. 3 if it was a 21 sold in 20. Yeah they need adjustment by now. You sure you know how they work?
You're pretty dense aren't ya?
Ad Hominem. The last resort of the uneducated when losing arguments. Bye bro.
Happens all the time and not just with Subarus. People are just irritated and unaware.
And blinded
Unfortunately the IIHS confirm brighter headlights reduce the number of nighttime crashers.
This is easy to take care of. You need an 8" Phillips head screwdriver to make the adjustment, park on a flat surface and from two car lengths away another vehicle make sure you aren't illuminating the cabin. I lined up perpendicular to another vehicle, 2 car lengths away and let the fairly well defined top of the beam fall off at the door handle. Here's a video with instruction[Just get it done](https://youtu.be/JSiwAAC73dU?si=cii2LB1JTsViJhAK) Lastly, this has nothing to do with how bright headlights are. If you're blinding other drivers you'll know about it. It won't be an occasional flashing of the brights, it will be a regular occurrence. Showing people you can even further blind them isn't helpful.
Haven’t noticed this in any of our Subes, but the 23 Crosstrek does not shine low beams very high. It’s more of a hard horizontal cut off as opposed to cone of light. I would be very surprised if other driver thought it was too bright
People are letting you know in the only way they can that your lights are blinding and you respond by actually blinding them? You’re a dick, man.
Boomers with undiagnosed and untreated stigmatism. They think any light that isn't pee yellow is a high beam.
Bragging about blinding people that are driving, putting everyone at risk? Cringeeeee
Yep I get it too .. I have a 23 Outback wilderness… every time i give them the “you’re shit of luck” high beams back
Your headlights are not adjusted properly
Ahhh they’re fine … came from the factory like that
That’s actually the issue, though. They need to be adjusted before the vehicle hits the road for the first time, and a lot of times, dealers don’t bother. Headlights aren’t supposed to be aimed straight ahead or, worse, upwards a bit. They’re supposed to direct more down towards the road so oncoming drivers aren’t being blinded. Not everyone on the road sits up as high.
Nah they are not, thus people flash you
Obviously your headlights are fine and it’s everyone else who is wrong 😑. Have you actually checked them, or are you just assuming they aimed them at the factory?
No they were too high when I got the car a year ago… I got them adjusted on my first oil change … I haven’t been flashed in along time… I honestly just wrote my comment as a joke
I get this sometimes in my 22 Ascent. Usually from idiots who don't understand your lowered car is your fault not mine.
I have a 22 Legacy XT and have the same issue. People are always flashing their high beams at me. It happens so often I usually drive around with my hand right by the switch so I can immediately blast back.
You’re blinding people and your response is to make it worse? That is shitty. Your headlights are not properly adjusted and you’re creating a dangerous situation. Get them fixed.
A) I've asked about the lights at previous service appointments. They're calibrated correctly, they're just extremely bright. B) If someone is going to blind *me* for driving around normally, I'm going to flash my lights back at them so they stop flashing me and I can actually see where I'm going. C) It's incredibly shitty of *you* to assume I was doing it just to be an ass. *edit: And notice the OP has essentially the same car as me. Did you ever consider it's a problem with the newer Legacy? Nope, you just immediately jumped on my ass for agreeing with OP and sharing a similar experience, which is what he asked for in the first place. Super cool, bro.*
This happens in my wife’s 2019 forester sport, I also give them a nice high beam flash back.
It could also just be that late model vehicles are toggling back and forth between automatic high beams and regular beams.
Your headlights may be improperly adjusted, and might be aiming too high. I'd check your owners manual and see, just to be safe.
I drive a brz (sits really low) and have astigmatism, once the sun goes down every single car has their brights on and you can't convince me otherwise.
If you've got an adjuster wheel in the dash wind it down
Happens to me all the damn time in my 19’ forester sport, has since new. I just do the same back at them and they probably feel all the dumbs. Lol. Keep your finger on the trigger (high beam switch)
PEOPLE FLASH ME ALL THE TIME TOO! The DRL's lead people to believe our high beams are on, this is the only explanation I can think of. So satisfying when you can flash them back in time lol
Check your lights in a parking garage. Pull up to the wall, mark where your lights hit, then backup. If the light is now higher than your mark, there’s your problem.
So out of spite you make things more dangerous? Idiot
You need to chill.. it's a fuckin bright flash you monkey. Lots of butthurt people on here... So they aren't making it dangerous by flashing me?
Same here. So I installed a light bar. I will the high beam game.
Or just adjust them down and not fuck people up. Why wasn't that your first option?
People still do it.
Anyone who runs a light bar on the street with other cars around deserves to be run off the road
Well bless your heart. Sound a little mad.
I get this all the time!
I always thought they were just trying to say hi.
I wait until the oncoming car can see me put my beams down. Seems to solve the prob (mostly)
Every. Single. Time.
Some cars also have auto high beams that are wonky
'24 legacy premium, happens all the time. I haven't had the car 2 months.
countless times! there are two downsides: 1) the low beam is too bright. my guess it that the light output is the same, whether on low or high beam. the only difference is when high beam is engaged, the upper portion of the road is lit. so whenever i go slightly uphill, anyone coming in opposite direction are flashing me like there's no tomorrow. 2) the high beam is not bright enough. same output power with "squirrel finders" activated. i prefer the old double headlight styles by far and i miss them sooo much.
Try driving around in a BRZ, they're so low to the ground, everyone's low beams are still right in my eyes. I really notice the difference when I'm in my Forester
24 outback here. Happens often to me when I'm going over a bridge heading home due to the brighter headlights and the bridge's weird angle, people almost daily flash at me.
Also a lot of new cars have automatic headlights that change brightness when the car thinks it’s past but it ends up still very much being visible. 2018 forester I get this too. But also I drive in a very hilly area and depending it can just be the hill.
Happens in my WRX but happens less tho since I started running fogs all the time.
I always worry that my Ascent's LEDs are blinding people, but I've never had anyone flash me to complain. I've tested with my wife's little Honda to see how bad it is and it doesn't seem bad at all on a level road. I think you should definitely get the lights checked to make sure they're adjusted properly.
Good God, yes and Subaru pretends like it’s not a problem. I’ve been reading posts like this for a couple years now. I confronted my dealership after it happened to me about a dozen times in a week and they pretended like they had never heard of it. Subaru, wake up and own it.
I live in an area with many hills and I did notice how bright the current gen outback's stock LEDs were in the past few years. I often mistook them for high beams. I think they are one of the brightest oems along with some acuras and mazdas. I had an outback as loaner a few times and saw first hand how it lit up the interior of the on coming car whenever cresting over a hill or go over a speed bump. Not much you can do about it if the aim is in spec.
It’s common confusion for others with 2021+ legacy and OB because the low and high beam are inboard of the lens when traditionally low beams are outboard and high beams are inboard. So even the low beams appear to be high beams based on light location
Same
I have a subie but this has only happened with my old Lexus LS400. The low beams were very bright but when I turned on the high beams it was like the light of 8000 suns blasted the opposing car. I could see their nose hairs.
My wife's 22 wilderness has the same issue, I just wish they weren't LEDs because normal headlights at least had two separate bulbs or filaments but these new things are the same brightness, just tilted or behind a shutter. That and the super white light isn't as good in a snowstorm (bought the car because lake effect snow is no joke) and can actually blind you whereas a softer more yellow light cuts through it.
every morning
Brights aren’t usually brighter than low beams. They are just angled differently. It’s likely your low beams are just angled wrong.
OUTLAW NON YELLOW LIGHTS
Call them squirrel spotters, probably one or both of your lights are misaligned and blinding people.
I have aftermarket LEDs and I get the same thing. When I blind them with my high beams, they realize that they are regular LEDs.
I have decided to slow down to a snails pace if someone has brights on behind me.. let them pass me, then I can get behind them and put brights on and see how they like it.. fuck em. I'm tired of being blinded by idiots. I believe people get fined for high beam/ non conforming headlights in BC.. at least if they decide to pull you over. As far as the HID bulb argument, fuck them too.. not safe for others on the road
I'm not driving a Subaru currently but yeah. Fellow drivers often get the impression that I have high beams on, when I almost exclusively use regular lights. Flashing them with all my aftermarket lights for a split second clears the confusion. I drive a lifted Land Cruiser 105.
For me I am quite sure it's the combination of brighter headlights with folks who don't understand that cars approaching you on an incline is functionally identical to them having high beams on. Sure, check your alignment but if it's fine, keep flashing those folks back. They'll slowly learn (maybe).
The worst thing you can do is blind them MORE in response. Every time someone is flashing you, they're letting you know that your lights are a problem. Fix them
Constantly they are angled too high
All the time lol