I bought a car from a car yard yesterday but when it got dark I went to turn on the headlights and there only seems to be high beam. The other light has no power, ie I cant see anything on the road, and it appears to be just the parkers. The normal light seems to be missing.
Is this an expensive issue to fix?
You done know the answer so why comment?
In the 5% chance it's a legit question then we couldn't possibly tell you. Could be anything from a fuse to bulbs to relay to switch to needing complete rewiring. Take it back to the yard and ask them or get a mechanic to diagnose it.
Could also be user error…
Either way, go back to the dealership
How old. You may have 3 months warranty
You buy a lot of cars with issues Pam.
As hybroid said above - it's next to impossible to diagnose over a forum as the variables are great and your mechanical knowledge isn't.
Grabs more popcorn for Car Yard from Hell - Round 2.
Should take it back. Very bad of the car yard.
And what if it is user error?
We had an older guy come into our workshop not long ago screaming the walls down and on a very thin edge of having the police called all because of something similar. Claimed that after a service that we broke his car to get him to come back and spend more money. His son was there screaming and yelling… His complaint was that at night, he couldn't see and that we did something to the low beam lights…
After a 5 min inspection, we could find no fault. Lights were working as intended. We spent another hour making sure all the plugs were ok, tight and not damaged. We went around and cleaned and checked all the earth points. No fault. We even went and checked the alignment to make sure they were not pointed to far up or down and the lumens to make sure they were bright enough. Next morning was a really angry phone call and yelling at our phone girl.
I actually went over to his place that night in my own time to see if it was an issue that only happened at night. He took me for a drive at night (approx 8pm in winter, so it was dark). I asked him to dip the lights to low beam as they were on high and he said he cant because they will go out and he wont be able to see… I finally got him to dip the lights to low beam and he said "see, they are out! no light at all" but from my perspective, they were fine. He was swearing black and blue that the low beams were blown and there was no lights on when I could clearly see down the road with them on.
Turns out, the old guy was going blind and didn't want to accept this and that it was a fault with the car because his eyes have been alright for the last 70 odd years…
I am not suggesting this is the case with OP, but you can not just say "BaD CaR yArD!!!" because there could be any number of reasons why the lights are not working, and trusting Pam with telling the truth or giving a detailed explanation is not going to happen any time this side of the heat death of the universe. I am also not saying that the dealer is without fault, as plenty are, but Pam is known to be a bit dramatic and the dealer may be totally unaware this has happened and may be all too willing to help.
Sorry my comment was meant to be sarcastic. This is a HelloPam post after all.
Turns out, the old guy was going blind and didn't want to accept this
Who said you couldn't diagnose faults over the internet with minimal information and a range of variables …
The car yard paid for an extended warranty, I just checked it and it pays $350 for electrical. I dont know if there is any excess on that
You also paid for it in the sale price Pam. It was not a freebie but you would know that already.
they said on their website a 6 month warranty, so I brought that up, and he gave me 1 year
You screwed them over well and good. They are probably out of business with that transaction so won't be able to help you with your headlights.
Need model, year and photo of headlight switch/stalk
its a 2004 Corolla Ascent
3 steps - Off, next one is park lights, top one is headlights
Top one isn't high beams, you'd need to pull the stalk toward you or away from you for high beam
I tried every combination. I might drop in mechanic on Monday, I have a good reasonable mechanic that might take a look
@screensaver: try pulling the stalk towards you.
if the stalk is pushed away from you, it locks itself on highbeam
Need to top up headlight fluid, don't use blinker fluid as they aren't compatible.
thanks for that, never heard of that
Hahahah. Got @screensaver good!
Perfection
A lot of Toyota cars only seem to have high beam. It's not a fault with the cars.
Yes, not a fault. If you simply must have low beam you let some air out of the two front tyres. It’s in the user manual. If only more Toyota owners would read the damn thing instead of always dazzling all oncoming drivers.
My car has the same problem. Looking online suggests replacing the head light bulb. The bulb has both a high beam and normal beam filament. The normal beam always gets used which is why it goes first. Haven't bothered to change it yet as it's just one side. Strange that it's both sides.
Great idea, continue to drive around with only one headlight working 🙄
Certainly not the brightest idea. Oh well, never too light to learn
Also, to be fair - you are in WA so 99% of us don't care that you drive around with one headlight.
The likely causes for this issue are, a fuse, bulb(s), headlight relay, headlight switch, dimmer switch or a wiring fault. About the only cause that is an easy fix is a blown fuse. Consult your owner’s manual to locate the main fuse for the low beam headlight circuit and replace that fuse with one having the same amp rating
Proper functioning of the headlights should have been checked as part of the RWC?
there only seems to be high beam
The car could be high. When it calms down, it might go back to normal. /s
It might help to check all the lights work before paying… remorse now…
I asked to check the lights, wipers, locks, the guy had a thick swiss accent, owner had to run to rta office, We did check but didnt feel satisfactory check, couldnt communicate
Are you sure it was Swiss? Coulda bin Liechtensteinian, or maybe even Austrian at a stretch.
Start by checking the low beam globes, then move on to fuse, then check if there is power and earth, then check the switch.
And for gods sake don’t drive at night until it’s fixed.
But I see people driving at night with no lights all the time!
You are supposed to take your sun glasses off at night.
That’s cause they’re wuckfits.
Just goes to show how retarded driver training in this country is.
“What do you do after you start the car at night?”
‘Drive it like I stole it?’
And then when I try to gesture to them to let them know, they look at me like I'm the idiot! 🤷🏻♂️
our car had a similar issue a while back. No low beam. Bit of head scratching late on a school night dark. Eventually worked out both globes were blown for low beam. Still don’t know if both globes went at the same time or one had been out and didn’t notice until both weren’t working. Ended up driving home cautiously using just fog lights or high beam where possible.
Just recently another low beam blown.
No light usually means globe blown but could be a fuse or other wiring issue as well. Globes and fuses are cheap and relatively to replace. Random wiring issues are harder to diagnose and will cost more in labour (time) to track down a fault.
It could be that the suspension is set too high, locking out low beams. If it has adjustable suspension put it in low mode and try the low beams again.
Or, turn the headlights to the on position.
Cars sold through a car yard have warranty; just claim it now if its bought in QLD. I got my brakes done and several small fixes all done under mine!
https://www.qld.gov.au/law/your-rights/consumer-rights-compl…
NSW https://www.mtansw.com.au/consumer-advice/motor-vehicle-warr…
Of course you checked all lights and controls before final signatures and driving off…. Well…didn't you….. What?
Of course the common sense course of action as to return to the car yard…….
Of course not….what am I thinking….common sense!
But to your question, between $0.00 & thousands……. sorry but my crystal ball is away being used by a wombat today.
You cant tell in the daylight, the actual headlight has light, but in the dark it doesnt shine on the road at alll
Go to Supercheap and buy 2 new globes, $30 to $100 depending on model of car. Low beam usually die before high beam. Can be easy to change depending on model of car. Ask them nicely at Supercheap.
My mechanic, although very busy, took a look. It was the globes, he replaced them. Thank goodness, not expensive
Surely you've been here long enough Pam to know better than asking generic questions with no details whatsoever. Unless it's intentional to get a reaction.