u/Simple_Community_442

Has anyone else noticed excessive headlight bounce/shake at night on the new 2026 Subaru Uncharted or Toyota C-HR?

After driving mine the night I purchased it, I started noticing that the LED headlights visibly oscillate after bumps instead of stabilizing immediately with the vehicle. Because the projector cutoff is so sharp, it creates a very noticeable bouncing/flickering effect at night that can honestly become distracting while driving.

At first I thought maybe something was loose on my vehicle specifically, but after testing other Uncharted models and seeing similar reports from Uncharted & C-HR owners, this seems more like a platform-wide characteristic rather than an isolated issue.

You can even reproduce it while parked by tapping (simulating a bump on the road) near the front bumper/headlight area while facing a wall or garage door and watching how much the beam pattern continues to shake. Please Give this a try to see if you notice it, once you do, you can’t un-notice it.

I understand some headlight movement is normal with suspension travel, but this feels excessive for a brand new vehicle and noticeably impacts nighttime driving comfort/confidence for me.

I ended up filing an NHTSA complaint so the concern is at least documented and visible if others are experiencing the same thing as well:

NHTSA Vehicle Safety Complaint Form - https://www.nhtsa.gov

Curious how many others have noticed this and whether anyone has received additional feedback from Subaru/Toyota beyond “operating as designed.”

I test drove my new Uncharted during the day yesterday and on my way home last night in the dark, I finally got to experience the headlights. They are bright enough for my needs.

However, they were bouncing a lot unlike any other car I have driven. I've had self leveling lights that angle up and down as I am driving, but these were distractingly bouncy/jittery.

Has anyone else noticed this with their new Uncharted?