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Model Year 23/24 Headlights sweating.

ifa

Jul 4, 2024
14
1
Estonia.
Hi, friends.
Sweating headlights is guarantee situation or normal?
Thanks.
 

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Cainy1989

Active Member
Jan 11, 2019
65
28
its normal when its cold out, LEDs don't get hot enough to heat the plastic up significantly so you can get slight condensation on the inside when its cold out. Happened on my Leon from 2016 as well
 
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SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,605
1,449
its normal when its cold out, LEDs don't get hot enough to heat the plastic up significantly so you can get slight condensation on the inside when its cold out. Happened on my Leon from 2016 as well

Agree, it’s normal.

It’s currently happening on my non-VAG car; only very slight misting and it doesn’t affect the headlight performance. The misting soon disappears on warmer days and / or when I park in my garage where the engine warmth seems to be enough to disperse it.
 
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CupForm

Active Member
Aug 26, 2023
141
72
Bucharest, RO
Sweating headlights is guarantee situation or normal?
Sad to say it's a never-ending debate between "normal" and "problem".
I would say that a small amount of condensation on the inside under the "right" temperature/humidity conditions is normal. When it completely fogs up the headlights it's no longer normal. One can find such examples on the "Skoda" forum (and not only), where there are quite a few cases of headlights replaced under warranty; even pictures that showed water drops over the entire inner side of the headlights.
It's hard to say where "normal behavior" ends and where warranty should be activated - that's a dealership decision in most cases. But for a small amount of condensation in the lower side of the headlights they'll never replace them.
 
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Cupra_33

Active Member
Sep 9, 2024
44
7
France
Hi,
I had this on a former Skoda Superb Mk2. The dealer told me it was normal. He even showed me a Technicla Bulletin from Skoda France explaining ot was normal. Thus, no replacement under warranty was proposed.
It actually disappeared when wheather warmed up.
This "issue" is known by all VAG brands for years.
 

CupForm

Active Member
Aug 26, 2023
141
72
Bucharest, RO
He even showed me a Technicla Bulletin from Skoda France explaining ot was normal.
Indeed, as I mentioned above, it is considered normal up to a certain degree... If you search for pictures, you'll find cases where the headlight is completely covered on the inside, not by a layer of mist, but water droplets. That raises a security issue, since the light will be reflected all over the place - there'll be less visibility and oncoming traffic will be dazzled.
At least Skoda (maybe others too) was replacing some headlights under warranty on Octavia mk4 - there are quite a few pictures on the Octavia forum (UK). Also, the dealership plays an important role in this process... some will just send you away invoking the Tech.bulletin you mentioned), others will pay more attention to each particular case.
 
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