Just as headlights can really make a total vehicle design, they can also break it. And, because headlights are one of the first parts of a vehicle that everyone sees, it’s not that difficult to get the wrong first impressions of any vehicle, even if it turns out to be quite good.
In contrast to last week’s article, this week, we are looking at the 8 worst headlight designs currently in the automotive industry.
Hyundai Kona/Santa Fe/Venue/Chevy Blazer
The 2014 Jeep Cherokee KL is to blame for ruining some potentially awesome SUVs. In fact, its front end design, led by its strange headlight setup, was met with so many mixed reviews that Jeep did away with the look altogether just a few years after it came out.
Apparently, not everyone hated it that much. Hyundai especially has embraced the strange headlight design with the Chevy Blazer joining in on the action.
At first glance, it looks like the headlights are placed near the top of the grille, extending to the side of the vehicle with fog lights underneath those. In reality, the “headlights” that look like headlights are just turn signals and running lights. The real headlights are where the “fog lights” are and the fog lights are just lower down on the body.
Fiat 500
The regular Fiat 500 doesn’t quite fit on this list as it is small, cute, and functions as an homage to the original 500. In other words, whatever the Fiat 500 has, fits.
Rather than sticking with one model, Fiat decided to make several versions of the 500, including an SUV version and four-door hatchback version. This makes sense to compete in the market, but the headlight design doesn’t translate too well into the larger, taller 500 offerings.
They are very similar to the regular 500 in that they are rounded for a retro look, but this also makes the larger variants look dumpy and awkward. Being much larger vehicles than the 500, the 500L and 500X just can’t make the original headlight design work, and it really sets the unfortunate tone for both vehicles as a whole.
Acura TLX/RDX
Like the Lincoln Continental from the “best headlight designs” list, the Acrua TLX and RDX both use the jeweled headlight design. Unfortunately, their headlight styling takes the jeweled approach in the opposite direction.
Combined with the oddly-shaped grille, the headlights get larger as they expand to the sides of the vehicles. This is unbecoming of the individual LED lights within the headlight housing itself as there is just too much headlight housing to go around the smaller projectors.
A sleeker, thinner design would probably have been able to tone down the large grille and overly large Acura logo, but their strange shape takes the headlights out of contention for being attractive.
Nissan Frontier
I love the Frontier, and I’m all about older, simpler designs in vehicles. I also know that a lot of other people don’t share the same sentiments. And, for most people, the Frontier is a design dinosaur that hasn’t changed since 2005. Its headlight design just suffers from age just like the rest of the pickup.
The design is simple. It is generally boxy with a singular point at the bottom of each light toward the grille. The outside of the lights border the flared fenders. It lacks projector beams, something nearly unheard of in a vehicle that can cost upwards of $36,000.
Though their boxy shape lends to a masculine presence, looking at the truck head on gives the impression that it is slightly cross-eyed. If you can get over the way it looks, you will actually be purchasing a solid vehicle with some serious off-road capability.
Dodge Grand Caravan
The Grand Caravan is another vehicle that suffers from its own lack of relevant updates. Like the Frontier, the headlights aren’t the only thing which get pulled into its dated design elements, but it is a good place to start.
The whole van is just bland, and its headlight design follows suit. Unlike the Fiat 500 models, they fit the overall design of the van, but there is nothing particularly interesting about them at all. That may be alright though as minivan sales have taken a hit to SUVs.
Most people don’t buy minivans because of the way they look. They are primarily for functional purposes. With that in mind, there isn’t really anything wrong with the Grand Caravan’s headlight design, or its design in general. All other things considered, they are underwhelming at best.
Toyota C-HR
The C-HR is Toyota’s offering for the increasingly popular subcompact SUV segment. Unfortunately, it looks not very… Toyota-y. This is because it was originally designed to be a Scion before production ceased.
It’s not just the headlights that make this vehicle look goofy but rather the whole design. The headlights are just a good starting point. They are almost as angular and disproportionate as the vehicle itself, and they just don’t look like they fit.
I’m not sure if there could be any restyling modifications to make them look better unless the whole vehicle was redesigned, and until that happens, the C-HR sits squarely on this list.
Nissan Murano
The Murano has never been a good-looking vehicle, even by SUV standards. And, when it got a facelift in 2015, the Murano’s became chiseled and sharp in the midst of its still round profile. The combo doesn’t suit the vehicle.
To be fair, they follow with Nissan’s whole design look, but the Altima and Maxima have moved away from the super sharp edges in the most recent years. The Murano still has them to the point where the headlights almost look like eyebrows.
Some may find the design futuristic and stylish, but I just think it looks like a hodgepodge of design elements trying to combine the Nissan design philosophy with a futuristic SUV look. It doesn’t work.
Chevrolet Silverado
Of all the vehicle types on the road, pickup trucks are the ones that need the least amount of styling as they are supposed to be the workhorses of the automotive industry. That has changed over the past several years, and not only have pickups become near luxury family vehicles, they have also become yet another show piece to fit into a manufacturers’ lineup.
This is what the Silverado has become. It takes a small page out of the newly restyled Camaro’s book – another car that would go on this list save for the fact that the Camaro’s headlights might look decent on a different vehicle.
The Silverado’s body cladding spills over its split headlight design making it look – for lack of a better description – like it is melting into the grille. As much as I shouldn’t complain about a truck’s styling, I am because it just doesn’t work on any level, even though the lights do look kind of cool at night when you can’t see anything else.
At the end of the day, the way a vehicle looks shouldn’t matter to anybody if it fulfills the purpose for which it was built. That’s not really how we function, though. Most people want a vehicle they find attractive and that fulfills their needs.
That is certainly much more realistic now than it used to be when many normal vehicles were designed to be functional first and attractive second. A big part of a vehicle’s design is their headlights, and recent technology has both improved and made headlights an integral part of a vehicle’s design.
Unfortunately, not every vehicle can be as attractive as the next, and headlight design is at the forefront of that end of the spectrum. For as many cool, beautiful, or handsome vehicles as there are on the market, there are just as many that don’t fall under the aforementioned categories, especially when it comes to the focal part of their design: headlights.
