The Clocks Go Back Nov. 1. These Popular SUVs and Trucks Have the Best Headlights

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, everywhere in the U.S. except Hawaii and most of Arizona, and for millions of commuters the drive home moves into the dark overnight. It also lands in the middle of the season when, as deer-vehicle collisions peak, a few extra feet of light can decide whether you brake in time.

That makes headlights the safety feature most worth checking before you buy, and the answer often depends on the trim, not the model. We pulled the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's current headlight ratings for 17 of America's best-selling SUVs and pickups, trim by trim, as of Oct. 25. The short version: seven earn a good rating on every trim IIHS has rated, one is poor on every version tested, and several make you buy a pricier trim to get the good lights.

How IIHS rates headlights

IIHS drives each vehicle at night on a straightaway and on gentle and sharp curves in both directions, with low beams and high beams. Sensors record how far ahead the lights deliver a usable level of illumination, and the same runs measure glare for oncoming drivers. Excessive glare rules out a good or acceptable rating, and vehicles with high-beam assist earn back some credit for weak low beams.

The lights are tested as delivered by the dealer, without adjusting the aim. When a model offers more than one headlight system, each gets its own rating, which is why the same SUV can score good on one trim and acceptable on another.

The payoff is measurable. According to IIHS research, vehicles with good-rated headlights have 19% fewer nighttime single-vehicle crashes and 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than those with poor ones. For the 2026 model year, 46% of the headlight systems IIHS has tested earned a good rating. Its 2026 Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards require acceptable or good headlights as standard on every trim.

Best-selling SUVs and pickups, trim by trim

Ratings below come from each model's IIHS page. The model years in parentheses are the ones IIHS says each rating covers; a rating does not automatically carry over to a redesigned or refreshed model. Prices are manufacturer MSRPs before destination.

The compact SUVs mostly get it right

If you are shopping the biggest segment in the market, the news is good. The RAV4, CR-V, Equinox, and Rogue earn good headlight ratings on every trim, so the base model sees as far as the loaded one. The RAV4 is new to the list: when we first published this guide on Oct. 6, IIHS had not yet posted a headlight rating for the 2026 model. It now rates the LED projectors good across the lineup, with a note that the low beams create some glare. If you are choosing between the two best-selling small SUVs, our Tucson vs. RAV4 comparison covers the rest of the trade-offs.

The Tucson and Sportage are where the trim sheet matters. Hyundai's LED projectors on the Tucson Limited rate good, while the LED reflectors on the SE, SEL, and XRT rate acceptable. On the Sportage, only the two Prestige trims rate good; everything below them is acceptable. Neither is a bad result, but if headlights are your priority, the Sportage's $2,000 step from SX to SX Prestige is a far smaller premium than the Tucson's.

Three-row SUVs: check the build date

The Palisade rates good across the board, and the Explorer rates good on every trim IIHS lists. The Telluride does too, with a catch: the 2027 model earns good headlights only on SUVs built after June 2026. Earlier examples left the factory with lights IIHS rated marginal, and only the later builds qualify for the Telluride's Top Safety Pick+. The build month is printed on the certification label on the driver's door or door jamb.

Toyota's three-rows trail the class. The outgoing Highlander reserves its good, curve-adaptive LED projectors for the Platinum, the most expensive trim, and every other version rates acceptable. The Grand Highlander rates acceptable on every trim, and IIHS notes noticeable glare on right-hand curves. The Jeep Grand Cherokee has a rating only for its Laredo and Laredo X, also acceptable.

Pickups: the cheap F-150 sees farther

Ford's F-150 flips the usual pattern. The LED reflector headlights on the XL, STX, and XLT rate good, while the LED projectors on the Lariat, King Ranch, and Platinum rate acceptable, and IIHS found they throw some glare at oncoming drivers. IIHS lists the Raptor under both systems. The Ram 1500 follows the more familiar script: good on the Limited, Tungsten, and RHO, acceptable on the Tradesman through the Laramie and on the Rebel.

The Silverado 1500 is the outlier. IIHS rates every version it tested poor, from the halogen reflectors on the WT and Custom to the LED projectors on the LT, RST, and LT Trail Boss, and it cites excessive glare from the low beams on both systems. That rating covers 2023 to 2026 trucks, which matters now because dealers are clearing out 2026 inventory ahead of the redesigned 2027 Silverado.

The new truck has LED lighting at both ends, but IIHS has not yet published a headlight rating for it. The Tacoma rates acceptable on every trim, and IIHS has not tested the Tahoe's headlights at all.

Matrix headlights are still rare

Adaptive driving beam headlights keep the high beams on while dimming only the segments aimed at other vehicles. NHTSA allowed them in 2022, but IIHS says the rule restricts how they work and only a few manufacturers offer them. Rivian says its system, launched on second-generation R1 models in 2025, was the first adaptive matrix headlight activated in the U.S., and it offers the technology on the R2. None of the best-sellers above uses it.

Glare is a real annoyance, but the crash data puts it in perspective. In an IIHS study published in October 2025, glare was cited in only one or two of every 1,000 nighttime crashes across 11 states from 2015 to 2023, with no upward trend. Our explainer on NHTSA's rewrite of the lighting standard covers what could change and when.

What we don't know yet

• IIHS has not rated the headlights on the redesigned 2027 Hyundai Tucson, the next-generation Toyota Highlander, or the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Ratings for the 2027 F-150 and Tacoma have not been published either; the current ones apply through 2026.
• The Sportage rating applies to 2026 models only, so it may not describe the 2027 model on the lot.
• IIHS has not tested the Tahoe's headlights or the Grand Cherokee's upper trims, and it does not say which of its two F-150 ratings applies to the Raptor.
• Toyota and Ram price trims, not headlight packages, so the cost of the good lights on the Highlander and Ram 1500 is the full step to the top trims. Check the brands' configurators for current pricing.

Three ways to get more from the lights you have

• Have the aim checked. IIHS tests lights as delivered, and aim alone can change what you see. A dealer can check and adjust it.
• Clean and restore the lenses. Yellowed, hazy plastic scatters light and cuts reach. Restore or replace lenses that no longer clear up.
• Skip LED bulb conversions. In a February 2024 interpretation letter, NHTSA said no LED replacement bulb may be used in a headlamp designed for replaceable bulbs. A conversion also changes the beam pattern IIHS measured, so the rating no longer describes your car. If you have halogens, stick with a compliant halogen replacement, or buy a trim with factory LEDs.

And use your high beams. In an IIHS study around Ann Arbor, Mich., only 18% of drivers who could have used them did so. If your car has high-beam assist, leave it switched on.