2023 Honda Ridgeline Headlight Problems

Mileage when the problem started

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2023 Honda Ridgeline owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owns a 2023 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the high-beam headlights illuminated extremely bright, causing a blinding affect for other drivers. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the camera sensor was faulty, causing the high-beam headlights to fail to deactivate. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50.

I have a 2023 Honda Ridgeline RTE excellent condition! Driver side headlight has moisture in it. There is a bulletin from Honda TSB23-024 titled moisture in headlight with a date of 3/3/2023. It involves the ridgeline 2017-2023. The summary says "moisture in the headlights. The headlight seal may become damaged from a miss adjusted Hood. Damage to the headlight seal may lead to moisture condensation building up in the headlight. Replace the headlight(s) with moisture condensation buildup and readjust the hood stoppers." I called Honda Eastgate at [phone]. They stated it was not a recall and that it would be an out-of-pocket cost. They want to charge a diagnostic fee of $250.00 and then charge to replace the headlight. I asked them if having moisture in the headlight would be a safety problem and they said yes if the light went out. Why in the world is this not a recall. …

I have taken my car to the dealership of three separate occasions with respect to the Automatic High Beam Option which at best works inconsistently on the back rural roads where I live. They adjusted this option on two occasions, and the service advisor took my vehicle home - driving it at night. In his words, he indicated, "Given the technology within this vehicle, we did the best we could." I know for a fact the automatic high beam option technology exists as I have another vehicle with the same option that works flawlessly and as intended; a 2024 Subaru Forester. In multiple correspondences with Honda's Customer Service Division, they stated, "At this time, the trained technicians at Middletown Honda have confirmed that your vehicle is operating as designed. …

While driving home on 2/21/26 at night in light sleet/snow conditions, I noticed a dramatic decrease in headlight effectiveness in my Honda Ridgeline. When I stopped to check the headlights, they were coated with ice that needed to be scraped off. This is my first vehicle that has LED headlights so this was unexpected. I never had this issue with my previous vehicles that used incandescent /halogen headlights. I suspect this snow/sleet buildup is due to the fact the LED headlights, by their nature, are much more thermally efficient and generate less than 10% of the heat of an incandescent light source. As a result, LED headlamps do not generate enough head to melt any snow/sleet accumulations on the headlight lens. While this might not be an issue in southern states, it is a significant safety and visibility issue in areas where winter snows are the norm. …

The auto high beam system on my 2023 Honda Ridgeline frequently malfunctions. It prematurely dims the high beams when approaching reflective road signs or street lighting, even with no oncoming traffic present. More concerning, the system immediately reactivates high beams afterward - sometimes directly into the eyes of oncoming drivers, creating a blinding hazard. This behavior has occurred multiple times during rural and suburban nighttime driving. Honda offers no way to adjust the system's sensitivity, even the one in the dask computer dont help and dealerships confirm that no fix or update is currently available. The system appears to be functioning "as designed," but the result is erratic and unpredictable headlight behavior that undermines safety. I am submitting this report to document repeated false activations and to support investigation or revision of this feature.

There is constant water intrusion on the driverside headlight causing poor headlamp performance. I have reported the issue to a dealer for a warranty claim and was told that it is normal for water to be inside the headlight housing. If this is the case than I believe there is potential for a safety hazard. Issue was escalated to Honda Customer Service who initially offered to help get the repair done under warranty and then changed their tune and told me they wouldn't intervene and my only other option was to take it to another dealership to get a second opinion. I believe than based on Manufacturer Communications on this website (11000278 & 11000270) that this is a known issue and owners are being gaslighted into thinking its normal.

The auto-dimmer function does not work. On high-beam there is no automatic dimming; on low-beam the high beam automatically and randomly flashes on for a couple seconds, then off. In the latter instance, oncoming traffic gets hit with a sudden blinding flash - creating a hazard. My understanding is that this has been a problem for several years even before we bought the vehicle new and the company misled us into believing the function was available on the vehicle. The company also simply ignoring and not trying to fix it. Given the false advertisement of the functionality in the vehicle and hazard to oncoming traffic when it is on, one might reasonably expect a recall to be issued.

The "auto dimmers" do not work. I have had it to the deal several times and they admit that Honda has a problem with them. They tell me they are working as designed and it is not the best design. The service team is now going to switch out vehicles with me to see if they are working 'as designed". The service team has told me to just turn them off and do it manually. To me that is NOT the solution. But they were totally honest with me, telling me they do not work but not until after I purchased the Ridgeline. If I knew this I would have went to another manufacturer. Very disappointed in Honda. And equally disappointed in the service saying just turn them off.

Auto high beams do not work properly. When activated the high beams engage and disengage erratically. When cars are passing by as well as when you come up to a vehicle from behind, the high beams may or may not disengage. On approaching vehicles, faulty auto high beams could possibly blind, them causing an accident, or they respond by turning on their high beams blinding me. This is a known problem within the Honda Ridgeline community. This situation has happened multiple times prior to my filing this report.

Automatic high beams don't work fluidly. This is a safety issue because they are sensitive to the point where it seems you are "high beaming" oncoming traffic. This problem has been confirmed by several legitimate websites and by myself. All components are in working order. There are no warning lamps as this is the way the vehicle was intended to operate by the manufacturer. Honda let it slip past and it should not have. This problem needs further review by NHTSA for safety purposes. Thanks

Headlight complaints in other Ridgeline years