# Are modern vehicle headlights adjustable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556 "2025-12-09T15:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556/21 "2025-12-11T15:51:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > One would be hard pressed to own a car, drive it after dark, and not be aware it does that. > How could you not see the lights in front of you moving?!? Right here, me. I owned the car for at least a couple days & nights before becoming aware that it _wasn’t_ just my eyes and it only fully clicked when I read the description while searching the manual for something else. There were other new-car distractions to play with at the time, too, but I do think it’s pretty subtle. Thinking a bit more now, I tend to notice the feature at low speed & close quarter turning (& dark, of course) like in an alley & public garages, drive-thru?, automated entry gates that I don’t use every day. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556/22 "2025-12-11T17:05:16Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Thinking a bit more now, I tend to notice the feature at low speed & close quarter turning (& dark, of course) like in an alley & public garages, drive-thru?, automated entry gates that I don’t use every day. That’s where it’s obvious. Unless you routinely drive on twisty unlit mountain roads at night you’d otherwise never notice it while driving in rectilinear suburbia or on a freeway, where the movement is extremely subtle to non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556/23 "2025-12-11T17:25:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My, how late 1990s of you. Almost certainly not true on a post-2020 car. They exist on my 2023 Ford C-max. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556/24 "2025-12-11T17:27:01Z")
Hmm. Time for more research at my end. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556/25 "2025-12-11T23:52:22Z")
So, as it turns out, when I replaced my headlight lamp a few months back, I did NOT get the socket locked back into place in the headlight assembly. When I went to go take a look at it this evening I noticed right away that it was loose. I got it locked back into place nice and tight, then turned on the car so I could check how the lights hit the garage door. Much better! They’re both pointing straight ahead now. Apologies to all the people I’ve been blinding on the highway! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-vehicle-headlights-adjustable/1025556.md?page=1)