# Headlight beam



## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Is it normal for the Beetle headlights to shine like this on the road? The light only goes out about 10 feet and anything past that is completely dark making driving at night unsafe for us. The VW service department says it’s within spec but I just don’t see how. Plus the jagged edge on the right side just doesn’t seem correct to me.


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## Rtcook (Aug 4, 2018)

Do you have the adjuster wheel to the left of the steering column to adjust the headlight beams?


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Rtcook said:


> Do you have the adjuster wheel to the left of the steering column to adjust the headlight beams?


I did not realize that’s what that was. It was on 3 and turning it back to what I think is 0 really helped, thank you! I thought that was the brightness setting for the ambient lighting. 

There’s still a dead spot on the left side but with the way the beam goes out now, it makes it much safer to drive at night. My wife feels more comfortable driving it at night now since she took it for a test drive after I moved the adjuster wheel. Hopefully the VW dealer can fix the issue with the blind spot. Any idea what’s causing the blind spot? It’s the same as in the picture still but now the beam is out much further. I honestly don’t know why the service tech couldn’t tell me about that adjuster wheel. 

Thanks again for the tip!


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## ribbit (Jun 4, 2012)

It's possible he didn't know . It's amazing how much the average guy working in cars knows about some of the details. They know to plug the car in and if nothing comes up it's within specs. You should see what happens when the average young tech sees a V-10 TDI Touareg. lol


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## Rtcook (Aug 4, 2018)

Glad it worked out for you. Let the dealer sort out the dead spot.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

The dealership service department shop foreman is telling us that the headlights are designed that way. If that’s the case then Volkswagen of America will be contacted as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration here in the States. 

When we were driving around our neighborhood last week a lady walked out into under street on the front left side of our car and I didn’t see her until she got into my field of view on the left side and I had to slam on my brakes. Had she been on the front right side I would have seen her in plenty of time. I told the shop foreman this and said I’ve never driven a vehicle that had this “notch” in the headlight beam and it makes driving at night unsafe. Right now the Beetle is back at the dealer to fix a rattle on both sides of the vehicle that only happens when it’s really warm outside and I asked them to please take a look at the headlight issue. I sent the service advisor that picture to show them what we were talking about. 

We really love the car overall; just need to get the headlight issue fixed and hopefully those rattles.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> I did not realize that’s what that was. It was on 3 and turning it back to what I think is 0 really helped, thank you! I thought that was the brightness setting for the ambient lighting.
> 
> There’s still a dead spot on the left side but with the way the beam goes out now, it makes it much safer to drive at night. My wife feels more comfortable driving it at night now since she took it for a test drive after I moved the adjuster wheel. Hopefully the VW dealer can fix the issue with the blind spot. Any idea what’s causing the blind spot? It’s the same as in the picture still but now the beam is out much further. I honestly don’t know why the service tech couldn’t tell me about that adjuster wheel.
> 
> Thanks again for the tip!


It is so strange. My base 2012 Beetle Turbo (one of the first built) had the very rare "xenon light and 19" wheel" package which was a tack on that ultimately became part of the Beetle "Sun Sound Nav" fully loaded trim about half way into the production cycle. At that time, my xenon lights were auto-levelling and would go up and down upon startup and would level based on the load. 

The first Beetle in the US to offer the manual leveling lights was the 2016 Beetle Dune. At that time, all the other Beetles with xenons had auto-level, but within a year, they all switched to manual leveling. What is strange, is that in EU, these lights require auto leveling as it is the law. I wonder if they tried to cut costs by taking out the auto-leveling sensors and module. 

Regardless, this is a perfect example of a bad way to do things as people in the US are very unfamiliar with these rotary knob adjustment systems- as they are designed for halogen lights in the EU, not xenons lights in the US. 

In the early 2000s, a few japanese companies offered this feature when you ordered xenons. Infiniti and Mazda were two examples. They no longer do this and I am not sure if there are any cars other than the Beetle that had this functionality in the US as of 2019.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

It’s still in service with them working on both of the rattles/tapping we told them about. They were able to hear both sides doing it. Regarding the headlight I was told they made an adjustment on the left one but both are still within spec. I have a loaner Tiguan and of course like our other vehicle which is also an SUV the headlight beam is normal. I am hoping to have the Beetle back soon. We both miss driving it. 

I did not know that about the headlight level being automatic for the xenons. I mentioned the knob to our service advisor and sales guy and neither knew about it.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> I did not know that about the headlight level being automatic for the xenons. I mentioned the knob to our service advisor and sales guy and neither knew about it.


Yes it was auto level xenon from 2012-2016. My car had no adjustment dial and the lights would go up and down when you started the car to show the leveling system (if they were turned to on as the lights were not automatic back then). 

Now they all have the adjustment knob if they have the xenons, and none auto level which is a big mistake imo as people are not familiar with the functionality in this country.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Thank you for your insight. I don’t know of another vehicle in the US that has this. 

I’m hoping our Beetle will be out of the shop tomorrow. We miss driving it.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

The rattles and tapping are gone. The headlight issue is still there. They raised the left beam 3 degrees up and it made the beam pattern worse. The “notch” is still there. I may go to the dealership tomorrow evening and take a look at another Beetle with the xenon lights. There’s no way this is normal.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

So now I’m being told that the “notch” is due to the lights being HIDs and there’s nothing they can do. Is there any way to convert these to LEDs?


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Took a look at another Beetle on the lot with the HIDs and the headlights look normal at night so it’s an issue with our particular car. Our sales guy and the manager both immediately saw that it wasn’t right and will have a tech work late for us early next week to compare our car with the other one and see how they need to fix it.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> Took a look at another Beetle on the lot with the HIDs and the headlights look normal at night so it’s an issue with our particular car. Our sales guy and the manager both immediately saw that it wasn’t right and will have a tech work late for us early next week to compare our car with the other one and see how they need to fix it.


I believe there is a manual leveling adjustment that can be done to the headlights with a special tool. Then from there, you use the dial on the dash to adjust up or down. It's the same thing with auto-level lights. You have to set the initial level point with tools before they can do their auto adjustments correctly. My bet is they were set wrong at the factory. 

Atlases were just recalled because the adjustment knob on the back of the headlight was supposed to be capped off so that it could not be changed. That is what triggered this in my mind.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Our Beetle has been at the dealership since Oct 11th. They’ve opened a tech ticket with VW and I’ve opened a case with WVoA. I really just want it fixed but as of today they are waiting for the next step from VW on what to do. My wife really hates being without her car. I hate that we are paying for a car that has now been with the dealer for over 18 days combined between the different service visits.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

So we were told that VW doesn’t have another “like for like” vehicle to compare it to. The other Beetle the dealership had with HIDs looked completely normal and didn’t have the issue but it has since been sold. So right now we are stuck waiting for VW to determine the next step. 

We never had to wait this long with GM to fix any issues with our SUV, and GM is notorious for being a pain to deal with. VWoA is dropping the ball on this. I understand the dealer’s stance; they can’t do any warranty work without WVoA approval. 

Tomorrow will make day 13 without our car. My wife doesn’t even want it anymore; this issue and the dragging of a repair has killed it for her.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

So VW corporate doesn’t see an issue. How do I go about trying to make the adjustment myself?


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## b04e (Jul 9, 2019)

Depending on what state you live in there may be a way to motivate Volkswagen with the threat of lemon law. Unfortunately The Beetle is done and it would be a shame to loose the opportunity to own last of the last in a lemon buy back.

That said the bulbs and motors are the same on both sides. First thing I would try would be swapping those from side to side. It's either a design problem, a bad housing, or a bad bulb or motor...

Best of luck and thanks for keeping the thread updated.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

I’ve thought about invoking the lemon law in my state but with VW holding firm that it’s not an issue I don’t know how successful it will be. 

I’ll definitely give the bulb swap option a try since that’s the easiest. Thank you! I’m not a fan of the HID bulbs. 

My wife is conflicted on this. She loves the Beetle but the headlight beam issue is killing it. I chatted with my salesman when I went to pick it up and he told me that service didn’t know what else to try. I told him while they had the other Beetle with HIDs on their lot they could have swapped the headlight housings around since apparently it’s really easy to pop them out. Either that or swap the bulbs out. Either option should pinpoint the issue. Apparently they have to get VW approval to do anything. Even GM isn’t this incompetent.


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## b04e (Jul 9, 2019)

Where and how Lemon Law may help you depends on the state you live in?

I'd start with the bulbs and then move to the motor. And maybe try playing around with the adjustments yourself. It's been my experience that a person thinks they are correct but in the end they just didn't read the manual. In which case https://erwin.vw.com will be the best $35 you'll ever spend. Set aside a couple hours and download anything that seems relevant.

Don't give up on the Beetle, I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this. Few vehicles are ever equipped to properly light the road anyhow, this is a great resource on the art and science behind a better experience, https://www.bajadesigns.com/Science-of-Lighting/Lighting-Zones.asp. You can always add more!


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Thank you for this! 

Figuring that I will have to fix this on my own I found the vertical and horizontal adjustment screws and noticed the vertical adjustment screw looks like something ate it.









A Phillips head screwdriver won’t fit anymore.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> Thank you for this!
> 
> Figuring that I will have to fix this on my own I found the vertical and horizontal adjustment screws and noticed the vertical adjustment screw looks like something ate it.
> 
> ...


That adjustment is what you want. Get a special tool to fit a stripped plug. To me that indicates that either the factory or the dealer messed with it, and then stripped it. Unfortunately, in order to go the lemon law route, the dealer would have had to indicate in writing (service ticket) that there was indeed a problem, and from what you've told us, they are claiming it is operating normally, which means come lemon law time- no lawyer would touch your case for fear of losing cut and dry.

I have been to bat with VW group of America twice, and won both times. They are the slimiest corporate entity I have ever had to fight- and the worst part is that they are not only completely separated from the parent company VW AG, they have also split into both VW of America, and VW group of America, so they can hide behind each institution for confusion purposes.

They recently sold us a car that was damaged at the port with a shotty repair which started peeling off the front bumper within a week of ownership. After two months of fighting back and forth, they ended up replacing the car- but at no point felt it was an issue that they sold us a brand new 50k car with undisclosed damage. 

Steer clear of this brand if you know what's good for you. I had 8 new VWs in 8 years, and I will never get or recommend one to anyone ever again. They just don't care about their customer base, yet expect to keep growing as if they are Honda or Toyota. Should be a fun ride for them while it lasts.


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## ribbit (Jun 4, 2012)

I have said this many times before in a number of threads that it's the dealer who either makes your life great or terrible. I have been fortunate with both dealers I have used that helped on numerous occasions to back me up on issues. Unfortunately it's a matter of luck as to who you are dealing with. So far so good for my VW experience. I've had 2 emissions scandals recalls to go through.LOL


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## b04e (Jul 9, 2019)

ice4life said:


> That adjustment is what you want. Get a special tool to fit a stripped plug. To me that indicates that either the factory or the dealer messed with it, and then stripped it. Unfortunately, in order to go the lemon law route, the dealer would have had to indicate in writing (service ticket) that there was indeed a problem, and from what you've told us, they are claiming it is operating normally, which means come lemon law time- no lawyer would touch your case for fear of losing cut and dry.
> 
> I have been to bat with VW group of America twice, and won both times. They are the slimiest corporate entity I have ever had to fight- and the worst part is that they are not only completely separated from the parent company VW AG, they have also split into both VW of America, and VW group of America, so they can hide behind each institution for confusion purposes.
> 
> ...


As previously said, how far you get with Lemon Law is largely dependent on the state you live. If you are in California you likely already qualify, it is not necessary for the dealer to acknowledge the problem. Read about the Lemon Law in your state, knowledge is power. Any attorney worth their salt will evaluate your case free of charge. This is not legal advise.

Corporations will always be corporations. In the end it's a risk assessment and a game of chicken, nobody wants to defend a lawsuit.

As to Volkswagen everyone has a different experience. I'm on my 3rd and plenty happy. Had a different brand in-between and sent it through Lemon Law with success, worst vehicle I have ever owned although that's not most people's experience. I had a friend who kept having problems with a plastic water pump on their Volkwagen, it sucked, but the rest of the car was great. They purchased a metal pump and problem solved, nothing is perfect.

Regarding the stripped adjuster, make the dealer replace it! If they refuse just take them to small claims court for the amount to have another dealership do the work, it's generally an easy win because they won't bother showing up. Again, not legal advise.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

The latest on this is I got a hold of the GM of the dealership we bought it from and he had only vague knowledge of the issue. When I explained the headlight issue and then the adjustment screw being stripped he apologized several times and said he needed to read the notes from service in depth and would reach back out to me. He agreed that if service did this they should replace the headlight assembly. I sent him the pictures as well and he assured me that they want us to have a good experience with the Beetle. He also said service is fully authorized to have a tech stay late and that this was not acceptable that they had our car nearly two weeks and no one looked at it. 

Volkswagen of America got back with me the next day and the case worker told me they are still investigating the buyback request. Since the QTM made his report after looking at the car in the daytime and ruling it as normal I asked the case worker to please reach out to the QTM to find out how he could make his decision without seeing the problem first hand. 

A few days after I spoke with the GM a regional manager reached out to me and while describing the headlight issue to him and the stripped adjustment screw he told me that they would eat the cost of replacing the left assembly since they damaged it, but that the beam pattern is normal. The blind spot really isn’t a blind spot (his words) and the notch was normal. He sent me documentation on aiming the headlights and it states that the left one is intentionally aimed 0.7% lower than the right one so that it isn’t blinding oncoming traffic, because as we all know the Beetle sits so high off the ground.... . He explained that there’s a shutter system that comes down to block part of the light since it’s the same bulb for both low and high beams. He thinks maybe the shutter may be misaligned but b doubts it. Our GMC Acadia has the same shutter system and I don’t have this problem with it. The regional manager says this is all by design. If it’s by design then how come the other Beetle they had looked normal? 

Also I did a test of low vs high beam. The blind spot and notches go away with the high beam. They are only present on the low beam. 

Waiting to hear when the left assembly gets to the dealer as that’s what I’m waiting on next.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> The latest on this is I got a hold of the GM of the dealership we bought it from and he had only vague knowledge of the issue. When I explained the headlight issue and then the adjustment screw being stripped he apologized several times and said he needed to read the notes from service in depth and would reach back out to me. He agreed that if service did this they should replace the headlight assembly. I sent him the pictures as well and he assured me that they want us to have a good experience with the Beetle. He also said service is fully authorized to have a tech stay late and that this was not acceptable that they had our car nearly two weeks and no one looked at it.
> 
> Volkswagen of America got back with me the next day and the case worker told me they are still investigating the buyback request. Since the QTM made his report after looking at the car in the daytime and ruling it as normal I asked the case worker to please reach out to the QTM to find out how he could make his decision without seeing the problem first hand.
> 
> ...


Sorry this has been such a nightmare. Have you played with the leveling dial near the headlight switch at all? Maybe once it is replaced you can better adjust the beams using that.


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## b04e (Jul 9, 2019)

harveyfamily said:


> The latest on this is I got a hold of the GM of the dealership we bought it from and he had only vague knowledge of the issue. When I explained the headlight issue and then the adjustment screw being stripped he apologized several times and said he needed to read the notes from service in depth and would reach back out to me. He agreed that if service did this they should replace the headlight assembly. I sent him the pictures as well and he assured me that they want us to have a good experience with the Beetle. He also said service is fully authorized to have a tech stay late and that this was not acceptable that they had our car nearly two weeks and no one looked at it.
> 
> Volkswagen of America got back with me the next day and the case worker told me they are still investigating the buyback request. Since the QTM made his report after looking at the car in the daytime and ruling it as normal I asked the case worker to please reach out to the QTM to find out how he could make his decision without seeing the problem first hand.
> 
> ...


Glad to see they are going to replace the assembly, hopefully that will also replace the shutter system. A couple of thoughts regarding a HID setup... You will always get a sharper edge of light than with a halogen bulb due to their design to prevent glare into oncoming traffic, in this case the shutter system. So the perceptive difference will appear exasperated, think of this like a high contrast vs. low contrast image. The HID setup on The Beetle in Europe uses a automatic leveling system, not ours. I'd be curious if the housing is the same and/or if it includes a shutter system. It may also be worth looking at a HID setup on a GTI or Golf for the presence of the same problem. Best of luck, I add roof mount driving lights before I gave up my Beetle.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

It does have a shutter system. Our GMC has the same system but does not have this blind spot and notch like the Beetle. 

I’m done arguing with VW over it. If it’s still screwed up after the headlight assembly is replaced I’ll just take it to a mechanic that specializes in European vehicles and have the adjustment fixed. We do like the car; just not VW right now.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

harveyfamily said:


> It does have a shutter system. Our GMC has the same system but does not have this blind spot and notch like the Beetle.
> 
> I’m done arguing with VW over it. If it’s still screwed up after the headlight assembly is replaced I’ll just take it to a mechanic that specializes in European vehicles and have the adjustment fixed. *We do like the car; just not VW right now.*


Exactly how we feel about the Arteon. Love the car, hate VW. It will be our last.



b04e said:


> Glad to see they are going to replace the assembly, hopefully that will also replace the shutter system. A couple of thoughts regarding a HID setup... You will always get a sharper edge of light than with a halogen bulb due to their design to prevent glare into oncoming traffic, in this case the shutter system. So the perceptive difference will appear exasperated, think of this like a high contrast vs. low contrast image. *The HID setup on The Beetle in Europe uses a automatic leveling system, not ours.* I'd be curious if the housing is the same and/or if it includes a shutter system. It may also be worth looking at a HID setup on a GTI or Golf for the presence of the same problem. Best of luck, I add roof mount driving lights before I gave up my Beetle.


2012-2013 in the US had auto-leveling. I owned a 2012 Turbo with auto-leveling xenons. They even did the up/down sequence when you started the car. They stopped offering these in 2014 with the intro of the dune version. From that time on, they all had manual leveling in the US for some reason (maybe cheaper).


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Still waiting for the new assembly to arrive. I was able to run the headlights with the high beams on the 2 setting and it was much better. No one I passed flashed me so I assume we are okay. I hate running my high beams and I’m still planning in having a mechanic who specializes in European cars fit the aim if the new assembly doesn’t fix it. I filed a case with the NHTSA here in the states so at least it’s documented.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Left headlight assembly is getting replaced now. I don’t have any faith that it will actually fix the issue and if it doesn’t I guess I’ll be looking for an independent mechanic who specializes in European vehicles to fix it. I’ve lost confidence in Volkswagen. 

Still to this day not one service tech, service manager, or regional person has actually seen the problem first hand. Volkswagen already said they won’t buy it back. Either I get it fixed independently at my expense, trade it in, or we just deal with it.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

Still an issue and I’m tired of Volkswagen saying it’s by design. We are going to go look at a Mini Cooper today since that’s my wife’s other favorite iconic car. 

This sucks as we really like the car, but the blind spot in the headlight and the sheer lack of care and support from Volkswagen just kills it.


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## Dan00Hawk (Jun 22, 2013)

Have you checked your headlight pattern on a wall yet? They should look something like these:






















This following general guide for aiming will help ensure your lights are throwing their beam where they should. Since the dealer hasn't apparently been able to address the issue properly, I'd do it on your own or partner up with a local enthusiast shop or friendly neighborhood car guy.
https://www.powerbulbs.com/blog/2016/12/aim-align-headlights


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

I appreciate everyone’s help with this. After discussing the issue with the headlight with my wife and looking at my options we’ve decided to cut our losses now and trade it in on a Mini Cooper S. The only alternative to fixing this was replace with an aftermarket HID setup and this would have required rewiring the harness which I refuse to do on a brand new vehicle. That and the lack of support from Volkswagen gives us no confidence in the car or the brand. Thanks everyone for the help!


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## Dan00Hawk (Jun 22, 2013)

harveyfamily said:


> I appreciate everyone’s help with this. After discussing the issue with the headlight with my wife and looking at my options we’ve decided to cut our losses now and trade it in on a Mini Cooper S. The only alternative to fixing this was replace with an aftermarket HID setup and this would have required rewiring the harness which I refuse to do on a brand new vehicle. That and the lack of support from Volkswagen gives us no confidence in the car or the brand. Thanks everyone for the help!


I tried to get my wife to consider a Cooper S convertible, but she loves her Beetles! It's much more of an enthusiast car, with it's own unique charms and quirks. Hope you enjoy it and looking forward to hearing a comparison. I'm looking forward to the electric version of the Cooper and seeing if it makes it's way to the convertibles, and if VW releases the Beetle again in a few years in electric form (I'm guessing yes...).


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

The drive home with the Mini was already so much better!! No blind spot at all and it felt very safe to drive.


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## b04e (Jul 9, 2019)

Seems like someone always wanted a Mini and found a convenient way to get one.


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## harveyfamily (May 21, 2019)

b04e said:


> Seems like someone always wanted a Mini and found a convenient way to get one.


Not at all. We got tired of not being able to see safely at night and VWs refusal to address it. Trust me we tried. We spent nearly 4 months trying to fix it. Life’s too short to deal with crap like this.


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## Dan00Hawk (Jun 22, 2013)

Would you take a picture of your Mini's headlights at night aimed at your garage door? I'd like to see the beam pattern and cutoff. I would've liked to have seen the one from your Beetle, but too late for that. 

Thanks!


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