Ok if you are old and blind like me and can't find the garage door buttons in the dark I came up with a quick (but a bit cheezy) fix.
I went to Radio Shack and purchased a key chain LED light (about .75 x 2.5 inches). I took the bottom key ring assembly off.
Open the cup holder door and take out the divider piece. Just glue the light (LED facing up of course and button to the outside) to the side of the divider. Use hot glue, silicone or similar to remove the light later if necessary.
Put the divider back in when the glue is dry and you are all set. This thing is so slim it won't even interfere with 2 cups in place.
So when it is dark, open the cup holder, push the little button and the overhead console gets flooded with light.
Works for me!

 

I was just thinking the other day about why Lexus did not light up those buttons. I feel that is a design flaw. Thanks for sharing your invention!!

 

I wonder if opening the garage door could become a voice command in the future?

 

what a smart idea!

Heh... House, (or rather garage), open!
<door opens>
"welcome home, xxxx!"

 

I'm glad to hear that it's not just me who can't find these buttons in the dark! On our previous car (Avalon) the buttons were on the drivers side visor and were raised, making it very easy to feel/find without having to look for them. I too think it's an ergonomic oversight from Lexus.

 

I agree, this was a design oversight that leaves us in the dark.

Ingram4868's idea of voice recognition for the garage door is an excellent one that I hope Lexus implements. Why haven't the car companies thought of this? It's such a great idea!

Good workaround, PDG810810. Clever, too.

As far as modding the overhead itself, I've pulled out the overhead and looked inside it for places to install an LED. It looks promising, but it's too far down on my priority list right now to get to anytime soon.

 

I have tried to get the overhead unit out but have been unsuccessful. What is the trick besides taking out the screws in the sunglass holder area?
Lining the button area will foil and putting an LED in there sounds like a pretty easy deal if I can find a good power tap.
I like the VR garage opener idea. Probably a standard feature on the 460!

 

got pics????

 

Like most everything else, it's a snap connection. There are two () shaped plastic retainers in the corners at the edge nearest the back of the car.

After removing the two screws in the sunglass compartment pry the overhead unit's rear (of the car) edge down until you can get a finger hold on it. It just pulls straight down and takes a fair bit of force. An L-shaped metal tool comes in handy here.

After you get it out, disconnect the wiring harness and unscrew the back from the unit. You'll see all the compartments for the various buttons, some with more covers that need to be unscrewed.

I don't think you'll need to line anything with aluminium foil. If you use a sufficiently bright LED or LEDs you should be able to wire it into the backside of the button or buttons and have the light leak through the spaces around the buttons.

I haven't found and don't think there is a switched power source that you can tap into where the LEDs will be on only when the driving lights are on. Maybe not even only when ACC is on. There is of course power you can tap into (7th from bottom left on the harness is power, 5th from top right on the harness is ground). Sorry, I don't remember the wire colors. Even with the very tiny power draw though, I personally wouldn't want an LED on ALL the time.

Aesthetically, it shouldn't be a problem leaving, say, a white LED on all the time as you shouldn't notice its presence around the buttons during the day. But at night you should see the outline of the buttons and thus have the illumination you want.

At least that is my theory. I haven't gotten around to playing with it yet as the overhead unit has a lot of LED mounting work to do to test it. At least you can work on the overhead unit away from the car and take it inside a closet or dark room with a battery to test out your LED placement.

If you futz around with it let us know what you come up with.

 

Yeah, I can't really understand the reasoning behind that either; is Lexus following GM's "decontenting" philosophy by "nickel and dimeing" in leaving out the small stuff in order to maximize profits? The funny thing about that is that on my '04 GMC Yukon XL Denali, the Homelink buttons are backlit; Lexus is supposed to be better than GMC, yet for whatever reason they chose not to backlight the Homelink buttons on the ES350? I mean, c'mon--I could see GM going the cheap route, but Lexus? Also--and I find this a bit surprising, considering that it's a Lexus--the ES350 Homelink buttons look pretty "cheap" compared to those on my GMC (small plastic ones on the ES vs. relatively larger rubberized ones on the Denali).

Here's another example of Lexus "cheaping" out--what's even more odd is that GM can offer a tire-pressure monitor system that can tell you exactly which tire is low on air, but the system on the ES350 apparently can't do the same? Sheesh--a car that has auto rain-sensing wipers (I guess Lexus must really think some folks are that clueless not to know when to turn on the wipers?), but can't tell you which tire is low on air?

Don't get me wrong--the ES350 is a great car, but it would seem apparent that Lexus has removed/left out a few small details...all in the name of maximizing profit. Another case in point--no wood trim in the glove box/passenger air bag area, unlike previous-gen ES models; why else would Lexus choose not to have any, if not to save costs on their end?

 

Not sure... I know Toyota did on the Camry. The Gen 5 Camry's Homelink buttons were nice rubber ones. The Gen 6 Camry's Homelink buttons are flimsy plastic ones that are 10x the size of the rubber ones. Why increase the size?