I've looked in the owner's manual, but only find that they exist, no instructions on turning them on. I know I can unlock the doors with the key fob at night and the lights will come on, including the puddle lights on the bottoms of the rear view mirrors. If I touch the door handles instead of using the key fob (my preferred method of unlocking the vehicle), the doors unlock, but the puddle lights do not come on.

I would also like to be able to turn them on when I am getting ready to exit the car, especially so the wife does not step in a puddle.

I can't help but wonder how many even know these little lights exist.

Thanks for your help!

Neal

 

OP, I just went out and played with my 2013 RX450h in my dark (and cold -- just for you ) garage. With the FOB in my pocket, puddle lights come on as I approach my RX (within a few feet), then interior lights come on when I touch my door handle. If I close the door and sit in the car waiting for the lights to go out without turning anything on, all lighting goes out as it should along with my puddle lights. When I open my door (without turning anything on), interior lights come on including the lower one on my door that helps light the ground pretty well as I open the door, but unfortunately for what you want to accomplish, the puddle lights themselves do not come on which would illuminate the area behind the door as you are getting out.

The only customization options to effect lighting on your RX are located at Menu / Setup / Vehicle Customization (be sure to have your truck ON or this option is grayed-out) / Lights Settings -- most are related to the time the lights stay on.

My example above is all without the headlights on, BUT if I do turn my headlights on e.g. by turning on my truck and letting the headlights automatically come on, then turn off the truck and get out -- while the puddle lights do not come on, IMHO the lights from the interior of my RX, the light at the bottom of the door hits the ground pretty well so I know where to put my foot, and my headlights/taillights then do a pretty good job showing the area around the side, front and back of my truck for a time I've set my RX to keep them on after locking. While it won't turn on the puddle lights as you desire, you may want to try increasing one or more of the settings above to keep the lights on a bit longer for your wife when it's dark and she locks the RX, and see if that helps. Good luck.

 

Thanks, Bert. I can almost see your tongue-in-cheek in this reply. I just went out to my (colder than your) garage and tried the lights again. The puddle lights did come on when I walked up to it. I have been using the fob, so I guess I didn't really give them a chance.

I agree that the lower lights in the doors provide fairly good illumination when getting out of the car. It also may very well be that the puddle lights do come on when exiting the vehicle, but I guess I haven't noticed them because the headlights were still on. (Not to mention the fact that those lights are now in front of the door - wonder why I never noticed that?)

I will play with the settings for customization after it warms up.

Thanks for your reply.

Neal

 

After seeing this post, I went outside (colder than both your garages ) and tried an experiment. I can confirm that the puddle lights do indeed turn on after you've initially parked your car and shut off the engine. So they will illuminate as you are getting ready to exit the car.

You are probably not seeing them turn on because of their position below the mirror and as you open the door, any light from them is being blocked by the door itself anyways. Try putting your hand out the driver's window and under the mirror to see the lights turn on.

What I would LOVE to see is if the passenger side puddle light turn on whenever the side-view monitor is engaged. That would throw some light down on that side so the video would be more useful at night.

 

NP, Neal. Lots to digest and many nuances in these vehicles. Yes, a bit of tongue-and-cheek as I thought about the difference how the puddle lights operate if the headlights are not on, vs if they are. In the latter, there is so much more light because of interior/headlight/taillight, while it would be nice I guess to also add the puddle's, my RX does a great job illuminating the area around itself at night after I get out -- and it's subtle "I'm here waiting for you to get in" effect with the lights as the FOB approaches the door is a kick. Play with a couple of those timings and I bet you can sell the "total benefit" of how the RX operates to your wife after she locks it in the dark and the headlights light here way to the house.

 

I get it, but probably not worth holding your breath on that wish, as Lexus discontinued the side-view monitor option on the 2013s, effectively replacing it with the Blind Spot Monitor option where the puddle lights make no difference.

 

I'm not aware of any programming that can be made to the puddle lamps. I notice they come on when I approach with the key fob. On a side note, you might want to consider switching the puddle lamp bulbs to LEDs. I find the brightness much better than the OE bulb. Here is the the thread to show you how.

 

I was going to switch to the LEDs, but don't forget if you do change them you will lose the neato look as they slowly brighten and dim while turning on and off. LEDs do it instantly.

 

The LEDS don't necessarily come on instantly. It's just maybe not as fluid as the OE bulbs. The brighter light more than makes up for it and looks better IMO.

 

Thanks for your comments, I just went outside, read the manual and it said to have the dash lights on full not off and they will work! They work now! It is under outside foot lights in the manual. What a nice surprise, I thought you had to purchase the ultra luxury to get these!

 

On new to me 2011 RX450-H, the passenger side puddle + interior lights come on as I approach the vehicle but no action on the driver side.
Lock/unlock from door handle works [although the lock action is not instantaneous]

Time to visit the dealership.

Salim

 

Perhaps the driver side puddle lamp is burnt out .... needs replacement ....

 

with some strange combination (I forgot how) the light does come on.

Also it is one of the things I might forgo as it is not essential ... I will have to weigh it out .. I prefer not to open up things for minor issues.

Salim

 

Salim, both of the puddle lamps should come on when you approach the RX with the key fob. Some of us (me included) changed the bulbs to LED. More info here. Hopefully you won't need to replace them. It's not exactly fun. But at least you have a guide.

 

I did some more experiments and this is what my RX is doing ..

Puddle light turns on ONLY for the door that is locked. If the door is unlocked the puddle light does not come on.

If this is the right behavior than the 'puddle light' should be renamed to something else.

Salim