Background: Nothing failed or malfunctioned. There is no incident. This reports describes a design defect that puts the driver at risk. The dealer has acknowledged that the cars performs this way and says it cannot be fixed. Toyota customer service says this is how the car operates and short of a recall will do nothing about it. Problem: When the headlights are turned on, the dash and screen become so dim that they are only visible at night. If it is necessary to turn the lights on during the day, the screen and dash are too dim to read. There needs to be some way to set the brightness such that it overrides the nighttime setting. Driving with the lights on all the time is considered safer (and it is the law if it is raining out). This defect means the driver has to choose between having the lights on and being able to consistently see the dash and screen.

- Lexington, MA, USA

There is a safety design flaw with the dash lights. If the headlights are ON The dash lights are turned down to a significantly lower illumination automatically and cannot be turned back up to full brightness. This is a big issue when driving with your head lights on during daylight rain/fog. The dash lights won't turn up to full brightness and are very difficult to read, especially for anyone over 50 years old when the head lights are turned on. Alabama law requires head lights be on, not just DRL, but head lights. The dash is VERY dim. This has never been an issue before with any car I have owned.

- Huntsville, AL, USA