I don't know if anyone has ever paid attention, but there is a LED light underneath the rearview mirror. Does anyone know the reason for this light, I can't say that it really illuminates anything on the center console.

 

The one on the same side as the mirror glass itself. It indicates whether or not the auto-dimming feature is on. This is changed by the button on the mirror.

 

I know about the green indicator light on the front of the mirror, but there is a clear LED light under the mirror, sort of like a mini map light, but its too dim to really be a map light.

 

The purpose of this light is to illuminate the area around the gear shift. It does a very poor job.

 

I agree on both points...

 

guys, it's ambient lighting. It's not meant to 'illuminate' that area, it's just there to help add some dimension by catching some of the shiny surfaces between the console, radio, and shifter areas. It makes it easier to do things out of the corner of your eye so you can focus on the road while changing the radio station, heat/ac, etc.

 

Hell the street lights illuminate the cabin, if that is the case, it's really unnecessary and if it was ambient lighting, why not have it orange like the foot wells.

 

The light in question was relocated to the aft end of the overhead console in, I think, the 2010 and subsequent cars and is described in my 2011's Owner's Manual as "shift lever lighting" and can be illuminated or not depending on the level of the surrounding light when the ignition stop/start switch is in Accessory or Ignition ON mode.

 

There are some places in the world that don't have street lights.

 

If you look at it, the only thing that's orange in the car, lighting-wise, is those footwell lights never really understood that...even the cluster lighting is white, with the only other color being the greenish on the climate and radio controls. My E500 and Murano both had all orange ambient lighting and it was pretty nice at night, not as harsh on the eyes. I do prefer the hyper white in most situations though, so I'll be swapping the footwells to match.

oh come on

 

My 11' Prius had a seriously bright green led in the same place to illuminate the shift **** as there was no other nearby illumination. I was thinking about masking some of it off so it wouldn't be so bright but got rid of it before I did.

I didn't notice the es one at all until I read this thread as it was so dim.

 

I hold a similar view of the Prius to Jeremy Clarkson.

 

[QUOTE=jcat_GS3;oh come on [/QUOTE]

No, it's TRUE! Really! We live 10 miles from town and have NO streetlights in our neighborhood. No sidewalks either. Our road IS paved though. We're about seven miles from the nearest streetlights. Colorado sees no sense in lighting rural roadways that are seldom traveled at night--I agree--why waste the energy & cost.

Hondas use to have orange "ambient lights" in their higher-end models, but have deleted them as part of cost-savings. Their engineers must have the same mindset as jcat & marvinje.

Personally, I like the ambient lights, but I guess I partially explained why.

 

well, if you use your car as a hot-box, you'll definitely notice the ambient light