Headlight failure or clouding on the 2011 Honda CR-V
Only 2 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When headlight failure or clouding gets reported
There are 2 reports of headlight failure or clouding on the 2011 Honda CR-V, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 35th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 1,050 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $150–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 1,200 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 carries the most reports, with 120; the 2011 has 0. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 honda cr-v. The contact stated the low beams were defective. The low beam do not give enough light and have made it impossible for the contact to drive the vehicle at night. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test and stated that the low beams were adjusted by the manufacturer and they were unable to correct the failure. The manufacturer stated the low beams meet the department of transportations standard and could not be adjusted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 2,000 and the current mileage was 5,000. Updated 11/23/11*bf the consumer stated the dealer has since researched and found a way to fix the problem. Updated 03/08/12
The design of the headlights do not allow visibility on the roadway at night more than about 150 feet. I have changed bulbs several times but that is not the problem. The cr-v housing configuration does not allow lighting to be adjusted for any distance. This problem has been well documented in forums all over the internet for years and nothing has been done. (just google "honda cr-v headlight problem") I own a tundra truck, and a ford escape, and the lighting going down my alley at night is perfect, but when I make the same drive down the alley with the honda cr-v, I can only see 3 houses in front of me! For years I have refused to drive this car at night, and it is about time that honda remedy the headlight design so that one can drive this car safely. I wish I could prove this simple fact to someone, but no one at honda will take me up on this simple test to prove there is something drastically wrong with the headlight design. I have considered aftermarket headlights, but this is something that should be seriously addressed. I really wonder how many accidents and fatalities have occurred from this problem. I have brought this…
Also reported on the 2011 Honda CR-V
Airbag inflator rupture
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other brake problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 2 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 2 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does headlight failure or clouding happen on the 2011 Honda CR-V?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 1,100 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is headlight failure or clouding on the 2011 Honda CR-V?
2 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed