Hi everyone. Driving along the other evening, I noticed the distinctive lights of a 2nd gen GS in my rearview. I smugly commented to my passenger that it's a GS3 due to the white fogs and halogen main beams. As it passed us by, I was stunned to see the badge say GS400. Can this be??

Aren't yellow fogs standard on GS4s? And assuming that the shield was removed to get the white fogs, aren't HID lights standard on 2nd gen GS4s?? The only thing I can figure is perhaps it was rebadged, but this doesn't seem characteristic of Lexus owners...

I'm obviously no expert--are there body cues or other cosmetic differences between the 300 and 400 that I can look for in the future?

 

HIDs were not standard in 1998 for GS400's, they were optional with the Premium package GS & up. I *think* the yellow fogs accompanied only the HID options, but not 100%. Several GS400 owners have removed the yellow glass tube around their fogs so I can't really be sure what came stock in their rides.

There are also several owners who incorrectly rebadge their GS - I know of one guy here in Charlotte who has GS400 badges on his GS300 I talked to at a gas station once.

 

yes, all yellow fogs only come with gs equipped with hid. for example my 98 gs4, back then hid was sky high expensive, so the first owner didn't get it. therefore the headlights and fogs are both clear. but later on hid got more common and even standard now on all gs430, so yellow fogs seem to be a "must"

and even the new gs300, hid is an option, and if someone order a gs300 with hid, it will come with yellow fogs

 

Yep, our car is a 98 GS4 it came w/ the Yellow Fogs too

 

Thanks for the replies everyone--I knew I'd get my answers here. I guess I learned quite a bit today: HID is optional and not standard on GS4s, and HID is available on GS3s. Funny though, I would figure that buyers of GS4 would have gone that tiny extra bit and gotten the package with the HIDs.

I for one think it's kinda tacky to rebadge cars, especialyl Lexi...people should be thrilled with their cars as it is. Same thing with all the drivers who put 'SiR' or Type R when it really isn't. Me, i like the total debadged look--why advertise? If people don't recognize a Lexus, that's just their loss.

Mike

 

man, thank god i got hid kits on my gs4 already, otherwise you would have thought i am rebadged too j/k. but yes, i believe hid was option on gs4 till 00. and starting on gs430 from 01+, hid is standard now. i am pretty sure hid is still an option on gs3 (maybe becoming more of a standard option?)

i talked to the first owner of my car, back in 98 he got the gs4 for 52k out of the door, and the hid option would set him back for another 2k i believe. it was quite expensive back then i guess

 

What are the pros or cons of having yellow fogs?

 

the idea behind foglights is to penatrate the thick fogs during those driving condition. and a rule of thumb, using the brightest light in fogs is the worst idea (that's why you should NOT use high beam in fogs). hid are very bright light, so they work pretty badly in fogs. on the other hand, yellow lights are much "softer" than white lights, and it penatrates fogs much better. that's why they put yellow fogs together with hid setup

but then in real world, i only recall 2 times ever that i drove in foggy area

 

Nah, I'd just come to this board and ask. 'Standard option'--I like that term.

Traditionally, 'fog lights' have always been yellow to reduce glare and the amount of light that is reflected back at the driver. There are sound physics laws that govern this--please feel free to jump in anyone with a more scientific background.