Lem144

the 330 doesnt have LEDs....Ive read reviews of the 400h and they write that one way to tell a 400h from a 330 is by the LEDs on the 400h. The IS doesn't have LEDs.

Lem144

Maybe the Euro models have LEDs. In fact they do. Check Lexus.co.uk and youll find this under the IS250 SE-L
"LED rear lamp and stop lamp"
This is listed under standard equipment.


After some hard searching, I found this:
EXTERIOR FEATURES
Overall Exterior Styling/Body Design
• Standard 17" 10-spoke aluminum wheels
• Optional 18” split five-spoke aluminum wheels
• Color coordinated front airdam with low grille
• Foglamps
• Projector bulb headlamps
• Optional High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps with Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS)
• LED brake, tail and license plate lamps
• Color-keyed outside rearview mirrors
• Puddle lamps (mounted on underside of outer mirrors)
• Dual polished stainless steel exhaust pipes
• Top shade/tinted glass on front windshield
• Ultraviolet and infrared ray reducing glass on all windows
• Optional body kit and rear spoiler

Now, why don't they list them on the website under the specs?

Bichon

After all that hard searching, you couldn't post the link?

I'll have to get someone to step on the brake while I stand behind the car. Pressing the lock button on the key fob flashes the turn signals, and it seems pretty clear by their slow ramp up/decay that they are conventional bulbs.

Wonder why they wouldn't use LEDs in the turn signals?

STIG

yeah it has LED but those are only 2 big LEDs on each side just for the break light.

Lem144

Sure. Go here - it's the second link on this page:

http://pressroom.lexus.com/Releases?p=2&criteria=%2BIS

Bichon

Great sleuthing! They should call you Dr. Google!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

400h has different wheels also

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Sure they do. The RX330 uses a combination LED and 5W standard bulb in the center.
I as well as others proved it in the RX330 forum. I took off my tail lights and took picures. If you don't want to look for the post and trust me, I'll just say I can clearly see the clear LEDs mounted to the circuit board, I can see a separate plug powering this circuit board with the LEDs on it, and the back of the tail lights have a stamping that say "LED". There are also a bunch of reviews that mantioned the RX330 LED tail lights as well.

Lem144

From automobilemag:

"

Reviews: SUVs
Review: 2006 Lexus RX 330/400h

Get Discount Invoice Pricing Find a Local Car Dealer

High-tech crossover engineered to pamper
By IntelliChoice



Introduction

Lexus changed sport/ute form and function forever when it launched the original RX 300 in March 1999, merging car-derived mechanicals with SUV ride height and versatility. Factor in luxury features and aggressive pricing, and the pioneering RX was a game changer that created the so-called "crossover" vehicle.

Introduced as a 2004 model, the second-generation RX has furthered the notion of affordable luxury crossovers, growing incrementally in size and raising the bar on refinement and content. The first Lexus built in North America (with some units also imported from Japan), the current RX launched again as a one-flavor for all vehicle, now with a 3.3L V-6 powerplant, choice of 2WD or AWD, and healthy roster of standard equipment. The options list enable buyers to select from among the most premium SUV features on the market, giving the RX more technical cachet.

For the 2006 model year, the RX became the first vehicle line to offer a luxury hybrid variant. And Lexus used this technology to create not simply a fuel-efficient iteration, but to treat the RX 400h hybrid as the step-up model with more content and performance, just as Honda had done with the Accord Hybrid.
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Exterior

"The 186.2-inch RX is wrapped in smooth, cladding-free bodywork. Its decidedly Japanese shape conveys luxury in the delicate attention to detail, with the fine-lined grille, jewel-like headlamps, and tasteful body lines, with the rear evoking both the 2005 IS SportCross and the GX 470. The RX 400h is distinguished from the 330 by a revised grille, front fascia, foglamps, LED taillamps, and 18-inch aluminum wheels, in place of the 17-inch fitment. The coefficient of drag is 0.35 on both models. "



Again, from the Lexus Press Release:
RX330:
Overall Exterior Styling/Body Design
• Sleek, clean overall look with no cladding
• Pronounced wheel wells give rugged stance
• Large headlamp housings raked back into hood
• Standard integrated black rear spoiler
• Black privacy glass
• Rear taillight housings merged with back window glass
• Water-repellant front door glass
• LED brake lights
• 225/65R17 SR rated M+S tires (Optional 235/55R18 VR rated M+S tires)

RX400h:
Overall Exterior Styling/Body Design
• Sleek, clean overall look with no cladding
• Pronounced wheel wells give rugged stance
• Large headlamp housings raked back into hood
• Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS) that improves road visibility in turns
• HID headlamps with auto-leveling
• LED brake and tail lights
• Rear tail light housings merged with back window glass
• Standard integrated black rear spoiler
• Black privacy glass
• Water-repellant front door glass
• 235/55R18 VR-rated M+S tires with graphite polished aluminum alloy wheels


Looks like we're both right. Brake lights are LED, tail lamps are regular.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Just trust me. I took the time when this discussion came up a few years ago in the RX330 forum to take apart my tail lights to prove it has LEDs. It does. The combination LED tail lights use 5 clear LEDs with a single 5W wedge bulb in the center surrounded by a red cylinder. This can clearly be seen from the outside. Only, you can't see the LEDs, but you see 5 multi surface diffusors surrounding the 5W wedge bulb. Behind those diffusors which some thought were reflectors sit the LED bulbs. The only way you can see the LED bulbs is to take the tail light off the car, and peek into the access holes behing the tail light where you can make out some (Not all) of the LEDs that are mounted on the circuit board. On the tail light housing, this area is stamped a LED. The simple test is to just watch how quickl;y the tail lights/brakes lights light up and turn off. The turn signals are regular bumbs though. The RX400H uses an entirely redesigned LED set up which is clearly visable from the outside, but eitherway, both still use LEDs.

Gojirra99

Love the IS tail lights the first time I saw them,distinctive & aggressive

Lenscap

Yes it does. The specs posted above from the Lexus/Toyota pressroom prove the IS has LEDs. Further, if you check back to the weekly Q&A Car & Driver.com (I think that was the site) had with the IS engineer you'll see someone asked if the IS has LED taillights and the answer from Lexus was yes.

Lem144

I called Lexus parts and they are NOT LEDs! WTF. Did Lexus decide to just not put them in, after they spec'd the car? Maybe the supplier fell through? I don't understand why a 35k lexus doesnt have LEDs but at 13K Civic does!

UGH!