Last year, Lamborghini found that 4,796 Huracans were sold without blanking caps over their headlight adjustment screws. Today, the NHTSA has announced that all of those vehicles are subject to a recall that will see the caps installed. Owners will, of course, receive the new parts at no cost.
At the heart of the recall is human error, says Lamborghini which uncovered the error itself during a routine internal audit back in early 2020. On February 26th, 2020, they officially determined that the absence of the blanking caps over the headlight’s horizontal adjustment screw wasn’t in compliance with a Federal Safety Standard.
On March 4th of 2020, they notified the NHTSA of the issue, and later that same month they applied for a petition for “Inconsequential Noncompliance”. Now, nearly two full years later, the NHTSA has finally ruled on that petition. Their decision to deny it led to the recall itself.
They argue that without the caps in place ” The horizontal aim adjustment of the subject beams is possible due to the absence of a blanking cap over the beam horizontal adjustment screw. The customers can reach the horizontal adjustment screw and make the horizontal adjustment by themselves.”
If this sounds strange to you don’t worry, it does sound a bit odd considering that most vehicles allow for headlight adjustment. In the case of the Huracan, that beam is supposed to be set by the factory and then left alone though.
The actual statute from the NHTSA says ” S10.18.9.2 Horizontal aim, lower beam. There is no adjustment of horizontal aim unless the headlamp is equipped with a horizontal VHAD. If the headlamp has a VHAD, it is set to zero.” VHAD is short for “Vehicle headlamp aiming device” and since the Hurcan has no such technology, access to the vertical aiming screw wasn’t supposed to be accessible to customers it seems.
To further clarify the danger, the NHTSA describes the safety risk as ” Improper horizontal aim may result in glare to other motorists/road users, reduced visibility on one of the sides of the road, and reduced down-road visibility. Increasing the risk of a crash.” So if you have a Huracan get ready to take it into the shop so that they can cap off your headlight adjustment screws.
Keyword: Lamborghini Recalling Thousands Of Huracans After NHTSA Says Exposed Headlight Screw Is Unacceptable