Please reply if you are experiencing this!

I bought a CT200H in December and I noticed during lowlight and nighttime driving, lights (headlights, taillights, street lamps, and traffic lights) triplicate--one light above and below the actual light. It is really distracting and dangerous especially when I have to watch for oncoming traffic--it can be blinding. For a while, I thought something was terribly wrong with my vision! I took my car to the dealership, the shop foreman was able to duplicate the condition with my car AND his own CT200H! I specifically asked for a CT as a loaner to see the same thing would happen, and although it was less severe, the distortion was still there. The dealership had no solution and sent me away to talk to corporate. Corporate called it a "characteristic" and not a defect, and there was nothing they could do. After much deliberation, Lexus agreed to replace my windshield with the loaner I took home since I said it had less distortion. I think this is unacceptable because I have never had this "characteristic" in my previous car or in the cars I've ridden. I have read numerous accounts of people having the same issue with the Prius, but nothing with the CT200. If anyone out there is experiencing this, please reply so that at the very least, I am not alone on this. Thank you very much in advance.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about that. I can say that this is definitely not a normal "characteristic" of the CT200h in general. Maybe there was a bad batch of glass used for a certain subset of cars? Not sure. I drive on a 2-lane country road every morning in the dark so I have oncoming headlights on me the entire time and I have nothing of the sort.

 

After reading this post, I noticed the effect the OP is experiencing. Prior to reading this thread, I didn't think this effect was distracting. After reading this thread it still doesn't affect me. I only notice it if I'm paying very close attention to the lights while driving at night.

Anyhow, I guess it happens because the windshield consists of three layers: a layer of clear acoustic insulation sandwiched between two layers of glass (see this article: http://pressroom.lexus.com/article_d...rticle_id=2079). I suppose the triplicate image you see is the result of refraction from the three different layers in the windshield.

It's not a defect, but I wouldn't pass it off by calling it a characteristic, either. I don't think you can get around this other than replacing your windshield with glass that does not include the acoustic insulation.

 

No ghosting from my CT and it's over 2 years of ownership.

 

I noticed this effect last night when driving my 2013. The "triplicate--one light above and below the actual light" effect is quite obvious when the light is 1 to 2 cars away and less obvious when it's close. Especially thos LED dot type tail light or traffic light, I can see many dots above and below.

Wonder any of you went to Lexus and got it resolved?

 

Here's the news coverage
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ide&id=9008629

 

Is this happened on Toyota and Lexus only?

Will this affect the normal vision or just oncoming headlights?

 

In the end, because I told Lexus Corporate that the loaner was better, they agreed to do as "one- time courtesy," replace my Lexus windshied with the loaner's after market windshield. I figured that since all the Lexus windshield were going to be nuissance to a certain degree, I agreed to this offer, except I suggested that I drive all the loaners until I found the best one. Suffice it to say, Lexus was not happy about this, as if I was pushing my luck. Anyway, the dealership was much nicer and accommodating about my suggestion. They listed all their loaners and let me drive as many as I needed/wanted until I found the best windshield. Once I picked the best loaner, they had replaced my windshield with a brand new version of the loaner's windshield. Because it is an after market windshield, I asked the dealer to compensate me for the loss in value. They offered 2 free service credits-- even though the aftermarket is probably half the value of the OMD.. at this point, I was just over it. The replacement no long triplicates lights, so I guess the problem is now taken care of...

 

I don't drive much at night so I guess I haven't noticed this effect. Makes me want to go out tonight and see what all the hub-bub is about.

 

Don't be complaining about increased wind noise now.