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improvements for LED lights on XLE Hybrid?

6K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  tmel88 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,
I’m new to the forum; but not new to Toyota. I’m going to be buying a RAV4 Hybrid XLE soon with option packages...very excited. My deciding factor was when I watched a YouTube video where the AWD system in the hybrid was able to complete a fairly difficult trail. I have no intention of going off road; but that made me feel confident that with a set of snow tires, I’ll do just fine in the winter weather in upstate NY. I realized I don’t need a full time AWD system like in a Subaru.

My question is, is there any way to improve the ‘19 Hybrid XLE lights? I saw on an IIHS report that the LED lights are considered poor. Is there anything that could be done to improve it? Or, would the lights be improved on the 2020 models? I may order a 2020 if anyone has heard of improvements being made. Good headlights should be mandatory safety feature.

Also, I’m really leaning towards the Lunar Rock color; but I also like the Blueprint. What is the better color in your opinions?
Thanks!
 
#4 · (Edited)
So far I am very pleased with the headlights on my XSE. They evenly and brightly light the road ahead. Perhaps they cutoff a little short? I wish the DOT would allow active matrix lights here in the U.S. but it is what it is. Toyota marketing only allows adaptive on the limited trim for now. I suspect that this feature will trickle down over the next few years.

For color, consider you climate. No dark colors in a warm climate. Red generally fades over time. White is the best color, however, Toyota has had some issues with white in the past 10 years or so. That being said my friends white pearl Lexus looks perfect on the 2008. I chose silver in a hot climate with a black roof, however, I have the Pano roof so most of the roof is glass. I put heavy sealant on the black part of the roof.
 
#6 ·
View the diagrams and descriptions of the comparative edge of the road lighting with the Adaptive lights versus the others. IIHS's view as I recall was that nothing but the adaptive lights would illuminate enough as you round a curve. https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/toyota/rav4-4-door-suv/2019#headlights I wanted to see that deer or pedestrian coming from the edges of my lane.

As to color, only your opinion matters. There are enough around you may see some on the road in your color choices.
 
#7 ·
Hi everyone,
I’m new to the forum; but not new to Toyota. I’m going to be buying a RAV4 Hybrid XLE soon with option packages...very excited. My deciding factor was when I watched a YouTube video where the AWD system in the hybrid was able to complete a fairly difficult trail. I have no intention of going off road; but that made me feel confident that with a set of snow tires, I’ll do just fine in the winter weather in upstate NY. I realized I don’t need a full time AWD system like in a Subaru.
The AWD system in the RAV is fully automatic and is functioning all the time. It's just as "full time" as the Subaru.
 
#11 ·
No, it’s not. What I mean by full time is, it doesn’t constantly send some power to the back wheels. It waits for front wheel slip first; and then distributes power to the rear wheels. The Subaru AWD system is 60/40 for the CVTs. Front bias; however there is a mechanical AWD system that constantly has 40% of the power going to the rear wheels. It is not a ‘slip then grip’ system.
That said, I’m really impressed with the RAV4 Hybrid’s AWD system for what it is. I think for most people; it is plenty capable unless you go off road a lot. Not all AWD systems are the same.
 
#10 ·
I have a 2019 XLE Hybrid in Lunar Rock. The lights are perfectly fine for me. They're so bright I get flashed all the time by people thinking they are my high beams.
 
#18 ·
As an active participant in about 10 automotive related forums (ones I was thinking of buying this time as well brands/models I owned prior) let me assure you that you might never buy another car if you read the forums. Any forum. Just think, 500 parts times 500,000 cars times 10 years and the probabilities add up to lots of random failures even if the cars are darn good cars. Few post just to say how much they love their cars.

The last 6 Toyotas my family has owned have all been good cars. Perfect? No car is. But if there was a bad experience amoung them why would two independent buyers come to the same brand conclusion and buy 3 Toyota's each.
 
#19 ·
My question is, is there any way to improve the ‘19 Hybrid XLE lights? I saw on an IIHS report that the LED lights are considered poor. Is there anything that could be done to improve it? Or, would the lights be improved on the 2020 models? I may order a 2020 if anyone has heard of improvements being made. Good headlights should be mandatory safety feature.
I've had my RAV4 for a couple of weeks now and it's the first car I have owned with LED lights. I'm colour blind which means my night vision can sometimes be poor and I have always minimised night driving for this reason. The lights on my new car are spectacular and a real revelation for me personally, I wouldn't worry about them if I was you.

Hands down this is the best vehicle I have ever owned for driver convenience and technology. :)
 
#23 ·
We got our XLE Lunar rock in May and have 8000 miles already. The lights are great, best I have ever driven with. We love the color. The dealer had to swap with another dealer about 250 miles away. One of our early requirements was no more leather seating, hence we bought the XLE. Our seats are great, but we miss some of the features that would have been on the next level up. There were very few hybrids available in stock in May and we chose a car that didn't have all of the available options. We could have gotten the car with all options had we chosen black or white, but the wife was set on Lunar Rock.
 
#27 ·
So I have had my 2020 XSE for 5 days now and drove it after dark quite a bit. Here are my impressions. I am coming from a 2012 Prius Five with LED low beams and halogen high beams.

- the low beams on the RAV4 seems nicer than the Prius. The spread is wider, I see more in the ditches. The color seems greener than the Prius, which is pure white (not sure if the windshield is greener?). The RAV4’s low beam cut off line has a yellow hue to it, which is odd. When viewed from certain angles the headlights look yellow. Typically the cut off line has a blue hue to it.

- I have to say the high beams are weak and IIHS is right. I think the aim is fine but it does not throw a lot of light into the distance. The Prius has halogen highbeam reflectors with 9005 bulbs, although a more yellowish color compared to the LEDs, seems to give better distant vision. Side note, back in the 90s, I have always preferred quad bulb halogen headlights, over the bi mode two bulb setup. I always felt that the shield and cut off for the low beams compromised the highbeam output, and dedicated reflector and bulbs gave best highbeams.


Overall, it is not bad system. I just want to give my impressions since this is not my first LED setup and I am seeing past the wow [emoji2956] factor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#28 ·
I agree with your statement that the high beams are weak. One the other hand, the low beams are great.

So I have had my 2020 XSE for 5 days now and drove it after dark quite a bit. Here are my impressions. I am coming from a 2012 Prius Five with LED low beams and halogen high beams.

- the low beams on the RAV4 seems nicer than the Prius. The spread is wider, I see more in the ditches. The color seems greener than the Prius, which is pure white (not sure if the windshield is greener?). The RAV4’s low beam cut off line has a yellow hue to it, which is odd. When viewed from certain angles the headlights look yellow. Typically the cut off line has a blue hue to it.

- I have to say the high beams are weak and IIHS is right. I think the aim is fine but it does not throw a lot of light into the distance. The Prius has halogen highbeam reflectors with 9005 bulbs, although a more yellowish color compared to the LEDs, seems to give better distant vision. Side note, back in the 90s, I have always preferred quad bulb halogen headlights, over the bi mode two bulb setup. I always felt that the shield and cut off for the low beams compromised the highbeam output, and dedicated reflector and bulbs gave best highbeams.


Overall, it is not bad system. I just want to give my impressions since this is not my first LED setup and I am seeing past the wow [emoji2956] factor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#29 ·
I recently purchased a19 XSE. I think the headlights are pretty awesome. Very bright and LED. The auto dimming is great too., I see no reason to complain about them.,

the fog lights are another story. Not LED and yellowish in color,. My understanding is that you can switch to LED bulbs for about $20 with much improvement.I haven’t done it yet but will be soon.
Lunar Grey is nice color. Looked at blueprint but not enough color contrast for me and it has metal flake that I did not care for.
I ended up w Silver sky. Because it was readily available and low maintenance
 
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