I’ve had my 2019 ES 350 F Sport for a couple years and last year at about 42,000 miles I noticed moisture in my passenger triple beam headlight assembly. About 3 months ago my driver side headlight also started to get moisture in it after going to the car wash. I checked with the dealer and since it’s out of warranty it would cost about $7,500 to replace. Has anyone else had issues? Besides replacing them is there any way to re-seal them? Someone mentioned that this happened to them, is it a common issue? We just had a heavy rain and this is what the inside of the light look like. Thanks

Moisture inside headlight

Moisture inside headlight

 

Rather than spend $7500, I’d think I’d trade up to a newer model.
Goodness, these can be expensive cars to own…

 

Only solution outside of replacement is oven bake the headlight, remove the lens then re-seal. Assuming the lens can be removed without damage.

This is fairly common unfortunately.

 

Purchase part yourself and replace...will be more reasonable.

For Lexus ES300H ES350 2018-2021 LED Headlights Upgrade to Triple Headlamp | eBay

 

They are $3500 each, so your dealer is not far off for both of them. To fix it, you have to remove the LEDs, create a positive air pressure under water, then see where the bubbles are. then inject resin.

You can also buy the part off a wrecker, but it will probably have scratches etc. on it and you have to recondition the plastic.

https://parts.lexus.com/p/78455767/81185-33F61.html

 

Those are cheap after market Chinese clones and not OEM. Would not recommend them. Inferior quality all around and may not even meet spec. Usually overly bright and off axis - blinding other road users.

 

There is certainly a question of the quality of the headlights on the car. Maybe they are made in China too. Both failed is not common on cars. I am 61 years old and that's my life experience. I was a mechanic on cars 4 years and airplanes 11 years.

PS 9 out of 10 times I prefer Toyota/Lexus parts but these headlights seem to have issues not performing well.

 

These headlights are made in Japan by Koito.

 

I have had an OEM taillight leak so these things happen rarely.

But seems odd for both yours to leak. Are you sure they are OEM and not aftermarket Lexus imitation since you were not the original owner?

 

I’m sure the car was on the accident and both of them are cracked.

 

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and can replace them myself, but at my stage in life, I bought a Lexus thinking I wouldn't have these issues and was looking forward to having a car I wouldn't need to work on. I did buy it used and checked the Carfax report and checked for indications of an accident and didn't see any red flags, but it certainly is possible that the lights where added later or an accident not reported or repaired at a body shop that doesn't report on Carfax. I've recently talked to a couple other owners and a few of them have had the same issue on one headlight, maybe I just got lucky having two bad headlights (haha).

 

They look like original Lexus headlights from your pictures. I have read a few concerns on this and feel it is a concern on this model. I also have these headlights but my car is still very new.

 

How exactly are the lights sealed? Are they even sealed in an "IPxx" sense, or are they just enclosures with openings at the rear? They must have to vent out heat, so there must be some opening to outside air.

I wouldnt be surprised if you couldn't just take these out, open them up completely, let them dry out, then reassemble. It wouldnt prevent it from happening again, but maybe avoid that car wash place also. Those undercarriage washes can put out a LOT of water.

 

The heat is generally "let out" through externally facing heat sinks which interface directly with the LED.

As for the light yes a DIY fix is possible. It will take some careful examination though so you're not stuck in an all day cycle chasing down additional leaks. You're probably better off buying used. I've seen these on ebay for $1500 last time i checked.

But yes it can be disappointing because the entire point of such a car is to never have to touch it. Lexuses 10 years ago didn't have such fancy headlights. Now they do, among other things. This is the way of the world for any car using modern stuff. Expensive!

 

Agreed.

Out of curiosity, is this issue associated with all headlights, or just the triple beams? Even if the standard lights differ in terms of plugs and cables, they must still fit into the same body space, so they probably have the same shell geometry - and thus the same water permeability. True?