2009 Toyota Tacoma Exterior lighting Problems

Headlight shows visible signs of over heating of the amber lenses on both driver and passenger side. Amber lenses are melted, obscured, burned through and causing additional discoloration to the clear lens of the headlight itself. This creates a safety issue for both driver and passenger side headlights and amber lights not illuminating properly but also reducing the reliability and longevity of the lighting systems themselves.

NHTSA ID

11566610

Incident

Jan 31, 2023

The daytime driving lights are too hot causing the plastic housing to melt, crack and, in some cases, break. My research has found that this is a common problem in Toyota Tacoma trucks from 2005-11. In April 2015, Toyota replaced the headlight assemblies with a supposed "redesigned" assembly to address this issue. However, now in April 2021, the "redesigned" assemblies have again melted, cracked and broken due to the daytime driving lights being too hot and too close to the light assembly. Nothing was redesigned in 2015. Whatever safety or fire hazard in the owner or operator that caused Toyota to replace the headlight assemblies in 2015 still exists today. I have contacted Toyota and my dealer and they have offered no assistance or remedy.

NHTSA ID

11419375

Incident

Apr 13, 2021

THERE IS AN ISSUE ON DRIVING AMBER SIGNAL LIGHTS LOCATED ON FRONT OF VEHICLE. BULBS ARE TOO HOT, AND HAVE MELTED AND CRACKED THE LENSE COVER ON THE INSIDE OF THE HEAD LIGHT ASSEMBLY. IT IS HAMPERING LIGHT OUT PUT, AND COULD FORM A HOLE IN THE FUTURE WHICH WILL PROVIDE A HIGH BEAM OF LIGHT TO ON COMING TRAFFIC. ALSO, IT COULD IGNITE DUE TO HEAT AND PLASTIC MELTING. REPORTS OF THIS OCCURING ON TOYOTA VEHICLES HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS WITH NO RESOLVE. MIND YOU, THIS IS A ENGINEER OR MANUFACTURING MISHAP AND ERROR AS THEY FAILED TO CONSIDER AT THE MOMENT OF DESIGNING /MANUFACTURING, AND NOW THE RESULTS ARE MORE THAN EVIDENT. OTHER TOYOTA VEHICLES ARE NOT HAVING THIS ISSUE WHICH MEANS THAT SOMEONE FIGURED OUT A RESOLVE ON THEIR FUTURE PRODUCTION IN ORDER TO AVOID BAD PUBLICITY. IT IS FAIR TO SAY, THAT TOYOTA SHOULD REPLACE SUCH A DEFECT, OR REIMBURSE ITS CUSTOMERS WHO DECIDE TO REPLACE THEM DUE TO SUCH A DEFECT. THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING THE VALIDITY OF THIS MANNER!

NHTSA ID

11389155

Incident

Jan 1, 2015

RUNNING LIGHTS ARE MELTING THE HEAD LIGHT CLEAR ASSEMBLY...THIS IS THE SECOND TIME FOR THE RUNNING LIGHT BULBS TO MELT THE HEAD LIGHT ASSEMBLY..THE HEAT IS 233 DEGREES USING A DIGITAL HEAT READER...THE YELLOW BULBS ARE 24 WATTS..

NHTSA ID

11306835

Incident

May 6, 2010

Mileage

60 mi

BURNT HEADLIGHT LEN. THE RUNNING LIGHT LENS IS BURNT AND CRACKED DUE TO OVERHEATING. WHEN I TRIED TO CONTACT TOYOTA'S RECALL PHONE NUMBER, AFTER OVER A DOZEN ATTEMPTS, THE NUMBER WAS ALWAYS BUSY.

NHTSA ID

11252528

Incident

Aug 19, 2015

Mileage

120,000 mi

HEADLIGHT LENS GET HOT MELTED LENS, LIGHT BULB PLUG IS ALSO BURNED READY TO CRACK THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE

NHTSA ID

11187394

Incident

Mar 15, 2019

FRONT HEADLIGHTS HAVE YELLOW SIGNAL AND DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS THAT ARE ALWAYS ON AND THE LIGHT BULB HEAT UP CAUSING THE PLASTIC TO HEAT AND MELT AND STILL FEEL HOT WHEN USING ON A LONG DRIVE. I WORRY ABOUT MY CAR CATCHING ON FIRE

NHTSA ID

11183962

Incident

Mar 4, 2019

2009 TOYOTA TACOMA. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO BUBBLE AND CRACK IN PASSENGER FRONT TURN SIGNAL. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE DEALER REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE DUE TO THE EXPIRATION DATE FOR THE REPAIR TO BE MADE ENDED IN 2015.*JS

NHTSA ID

11122568

Incident

Aug 28, 2018

THE RUNNING LIGHTS MELT THE PLASTIC HEADLAMP COVERS AND LITERALLY MELT THE PLASTIC, THIS IS A PICTURE OF MY SECOND SET THAT ARE ALSO MELTING

NHTSA ID

11058589

Incident

Jan 1, 2012

Mileage

70,000 mi

HEADLAMPS DRL BULBS BURNED THROUGH LENS. TOYOTA WILL NOT COVER EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS RECALLED PREVIOUSLY. THE DESIGN OF THESE HEADLIGHTS IS FLAWED!

NHTSA ID

11024696

Incident

Sep 20, 2017

DAY TIME RUNNING LIGHTS MELTED HEADLIGHTS

NHTSA ID

10993102

Incident

Apr 7, 2017

PARKING LIGHT ASSEMBLY BUILT INTO HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY HAVE BROKEN AND LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE READY TO CATCH FIRE. SPLIT IN TO CAUSING LENS TO BLACKEN

NHTSA ID

10826160

Incident

Feb 15, 2016

Mileage

83,000 mi

DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS HAVE BURNED AND CRACKED LENSES. TOYOTA CORPORATE SAYS THE RECALL IS OVER. THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED--REPAIR COSTS OVER $500. PLEASE HELP--

NHTSA ID

10824547

Incident

Feb 4, 2016

BOTH HEADLAMP ASSEMBLIES INNER LENS DISTORTED/BUBBLING, AND ONE SIDE IS CRACKED WITH THE INNER LENS SEPARATED

NHTSA ID

10823195

Incident

Jan 22, 2016

FRONT AMBER TURN LAMPS BUBBLED, LOOK VERY HOT ON PLASTIC LENS, BURNT THROUGH, COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE FIRE? LENS CRACKED. *TR

NHTSA ID

10694228

Incident

Mar 1, 2012

Mileage

15,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SIGNAL LIGHTS STARTED TO SEPARATE FROM THE VEHICLE AND THE LENS LOST COLOR. ALSO, THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS WERE DIM. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000. ...UPDATED 04/08/15 *BF UPDATED 4/13/15*CN THE CONSUMER STATED THE SIGNAL LIGHTS ARE HOUSED IN A HEATED LAMP MODULE AND THEY CONSTANTLY BURNED OUT/ THE MELTED THE SIGNAL LENS INSIDE THE HEAD LAMP ASSEMBLY AND CRACKED THE PLASTIC AND NOW THE SIGNAL LAMPS ARE FOGGING UP INSIDE THE LENS OF THE HEAD LAMP ASSEMBLIES. UPDATED 04/21/15*JB UPDATED 10/22/2015*JS

NHTSA ID

10690733

Incident

Jul 30, 2011

Mileage

60,000 mi

DRL BURNING LENS. AFRAID IT WILL CATCH ON FIRE. *TR

NHTSA ID

10680123

Incident

Aug 6, 2010

Mileage

40,000 mi

AT APPX. 24,000 MILES, I NOTICED THAT MY 'DAYTIME' RUNNING LIGHTS WERE CLOUDY AND THAT BOTH LENSES WERE CRACKED. I NEGLECTED TO TAKE IT IN FOR THIS, SINCE I WAS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENGINE HESITATING ON ACCELERATION. WHEN I FINALLY REMEMBERED TO TELL/SHOW THEM, THEY WEREN'T CONCERNED, BECAUSE THE WARRANTY WAS OUT. THEY DID OFFER TO SPLIT IT WITH ME. MY COST WOULD HAVE BEEN $492.00. SCREW'EM... THIS IS CLEARLY A FACTORY DEFECT. ESPECIALLY WITH AS MANY OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS I HAVE FOUND FOR THIS. YOU'D THINK THE DOT WOULD DO SOMETHING. *TR

NHTSA ID

10637073

Incident

Sep 1, 2010

Mileage

12,000 mi

AMBER INSIDE TURN SIGNAL LAMPS ATTACHED TO FRONT HEADLIGHTS ARE SCORCHING INSIDE LENS OF HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. *TR

NHTSA ID

10621143

Incident

Aug 1, 2014

Mileage

96,000 mi

THE RUNNING LIGHTS MELTED THE LENSES AT 35000 MILES AND I TOOK MY TRUCK BACK TO TOYOTA AND THEY REPLACED THE LIGHTS, SAID THEY PUT BULBS IN THERE THAT WOULD NOT GET AS HOT. NOW AT OVER 80000 MILES THEY HAVE MELTED AGAIN, THE PLASTIC IS TURNING BLACK, LOOKS LIKE A POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD. I HAVE SEEN THIS SAME ISSUE WITH OTHER SIMILAR MODELS. TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, NEEDS TO RECALL AND PROPERLY FIX! *TR

NHTSA ID

10619534

Incident

Aug 7, 2014

Mileage

80,000 mi

MY AMBER DRIVING LIGHT LENS WITHIN THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES ARE BURNED, ONE HAS BROKEN IN HALF. *TR

NHTSA ID

10618415

Incident

Aug 2, 2014

Mileage

40,000 mi

DAYLIGHT HEADLIGHT BURNED AND BROKE IN TWO PARTS. *TR

NHTSA ID

10615674

Incident

Jul 2, 2013

Mileage

20,000 mi

AIR BAG LIGHT ON, TOYOTA FOUND DTC S B1785 OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION SENSOR FRONT LEFT COLLISION DETECTION, B1650 OCCUPANT SYSTEM MALFUNCTION, ZERO POINT CALIBRATION AND SENSITIVITY CHECK DONE BUT TOYOTA HAWAII SAYS WE NEED TO REPLACE FRONT RIGHT SEAT SENSOR MAT ASSY. IS THAT A SAFETY ISSUE AND IS THIS A MANUFACTURE DEFECT? TOOK TO TOYOTA 3 TIMES NOW FOR THE SAME ISSUE OF THE AIR BAG LIGHT COMING ON. PLEASE ADVISE, THANK YOU! BOTH LENS BULBS MELT INNER SIDE OF PLASTIC PARTS ON THE HEADLIGHTS. PLEASE ADVISE IF THIS IS ALSO A RECALL/DEFECT. *TR

NHTSA ID

10607942

Incident

Jul 2, 2014

Mileage

55,046 mi

THE DTRL AMBER BULB HAS MELTED BOTH LENS DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT FROM BULB.THE LEFT/RIGHT LENS ARE CRACKED AND FALLING APART. *TR

NHTSA ID

10594993

Incident

Sep 24, 2011

Mileage

32,000 mi

THE BULB TO THE DAYLIGHT RUNNING LIGHTS MELTED THE LENS IN FRONT OF IT AND BROKE IT IN TWO PIECES. THIS IS FOR BOTH LIGHTS. THIS BULB IS TOO CLOSE TO THE LENS, PROBABLY A DEFECT IN ENGINEERING OR DESIGN. THESE LIGHTS ARE CONSTANTLY ON AND THERE IS NO WAY TO TURN THEM OFF. I'M AFRAID SOMETHING WILL CATCH ON FIRE. I CALLED TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THEY COULDN'T FIX IT BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE EXTENDED WARRANTY. I CALLED CORPORATE OFFICES AND WAS TOLD I WOULD HAVE TO GET VEHICLE DIAGNOSED AT COST OF $150 BEFORE THEY CONSIDERED TAKING ANY ACTION. AND IF IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT WAS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAN I WOULD HAVE TO PAY HALF OF THE COST OF THE NEW HEADLIGHTS, WHICH WOULD BE AROUND $300, PLUS THE $150 FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST. TOLD THEM OTHERS HAVE HAD THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM, TO NO AVAIL. THIS IS NOT FAIR AS IT'S OBVIOUS THIS IS DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT/DESIGN. THANK YOU. *TR

NHTSA ID

10587526

Incident

Feb 3, 2014

Mileage

38,500 mi