Here is where it is on my Corolla and my wife’s Sienna: If you don’t can’t find the switch, please consult your vehicle user’s manual. Try turning it up and down to see if that fixes it. Usually, there is a dial on the left side of the dash or on the headlight control switch that sticks out of the side of the steering column. Low dashboard light levels are most often caused by someone accidentally bumping or turning the dimmer switch. But before we go down that road, let’s just try an easy adjustment. The idea behind it is that our vision adjusts to nighttime settings and sees the light better under certain conditions, so your car adjusts for it. Auto-DimmingĪ common reason for dimmed dashboard lights might be that the dimmer automatically reduces the light level in some vehicles when the headlights are turned on. I’ve had this issue before, and it’s rather disconcerting, to say the least. It’s difficult to safely drive when it’s hard to tell how fast you are going. If you find it difficult to see your dashboard alerts and information due to overly dimmed lights, this can be a huge problem.
The rest of this article will help you pinpoint what is causing the dimming so that you can take steps to resolve it. In rare cases, dimming dash lights can be a warning that your vehicle needs maintenance or repair. It could also be on the long switch that sticks out of the side of the steering column. The dimmer switch is usually found on the left-hand side of the dash in the form of a dial but it is sometimes is the same knob that controls the mileage on the instrument cluster (where the lights are). But sometimes it seems as if they’ve hidden it from us. Often it’s some kind of dial near where the headlights are turned on.