is hid headlights a standard option on a 14 es 350?
if not, is there a way to find out without seeing the car?

 

No, and you could ask the seller.

 

HID low beam headlights were a $565 option in 2014. I dont know of any way to tell if they are HID's without seeing the car or some detailed pictures of the front end or engine compartment showing the power supplies.

 

if i can only see the headlights on a photo, would the bulbs look different?

 

I have a 2013 with HID's and the only way I found out that I had them was to listen for a humming sound when they were turned on. I don't think you'll be able to discern by a photo...

 

Is the car a UL? If so I think they are Standard on the UL's?

 

not a ul
in fact it is a base
but hids can be added as an option on any trim. correct?

 

On the 2013 to 2015 ES you can absolutely tell by a photo but only a photo of the rear of the housing under the hood, not the exterior. I have posted photos here in CL.

 

The headlight housings are different for the HIDs and they require matching ballasts, so you cant just change the bulbs. Not sure if you need a different wiring harness for the base trim ES (non-factory HID)?

 

I made the mistake to just assume they were standard on Lexus models by now as I had a 14 year old Lexus that had them, but they aren't.

You almost have to turn them on or look behind the headlight housing, the exterior lenses look the same (at least to me).

IMO, it's chintzy on Lexus to not just make them standard equipment, for a luxury car it seems pretty basic to me. LED running lights but halogen headlights.

 

I hear the HIDs were phased out on 2016 ES models and replaced by LED low beam headlights. High beam LEDs are also optional.

 

I much prefer hid over leds. Led's just aren't bright enough. Just looks nice but not much output vs HIDS

 

+1

When I traded my 2013 ES with HIDs for my 2017 ES with the bi-LED lights, driving it home from the dealership after dark on unlit and unmarked country roads, I immediately noticed that the low beam LEDs on the 2017 did not seem to illuminate as far out as the HID low beams on the 2013, and the LED high beams on the 2017 did not seem to illuminate out as far as the halogen high beams on the 2013.

At first, I wanted to believe that I was only imagining the difference, but after doing some reading, I was able to confirm that LEDs, while they look nice and while they seem bright at their source, do not project out nearly as far as HID headlights or even halogen headlights. If you check the headlight ratings at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website, you will find that, across most, possibly all, vehicle models, LED headlights get poorer ratings than their HID or halogen counterparts.

For those who primarily drive in well lit urban areas, they probably won't notice the difference, but, for those of us who drive primarily away from urban areas and on unlit and unmarked roads, the difference is quite noticeable, and that shorter projection distance could potentially make the difference between being able to see a deer or other animal soon enough to be able to avoid hitting it or not being able to do so.

The advantages of the LED headlights are less power consumption and longer bulb life, but they just don't function as well as HID headlights.

 

I don't think LEDs are the greatest thing either.

My LS430 had them for the tail lights, and when one burned out (I thought they were never supposed to burn out?) it was like an $800 replacement for a whole new assembly whereas the earlier model it would have been like 75 cents to replace the bulb.

 

One often hears the argument that LED bulbs are better because they last "forever" but in reality they fail nearly as often as the old style bulbs and the reason they fail is because of all the additional circuitry needed to run the LED bulb. The more components, connectors and solder joints there are, the more likely a failure will occur. I vaguely recall studying this in one of my engineering classes many years ago and Im fairly certain there are failure analysis experts that do this for a living.