Perhaps a silly question but I noticed on my new 2015 RX 350 the brake lights that are in the rear hatch don't come on when the brake is applied, only the brake lights in the body of the car on each of the outer corners. I was following another new 2015 the other day and noticed it was the same. When looking at the the part of the taillight assembly that's in the rear hatch, it appears there are LEDs in there. Anyone know why they don't light up?

 

It could be that those are not your brake lights. Only the outer corner part has the brake lights. The remainder are just your tail lights.

 

Those lights only get lit when driving at night. Try turning your headlight to the ON position and not the auto position. The go to the back to see if it is lit. If it is not lit i would then take the car to the dealership for further investigation.

 

If you're talking about the center strip high in the hatch, they are brake lights and work for me (2010 RX450h). Your manual should be able to clear up for you whether or not yours are brake lights and not working or just on with the headlights. But I think they should work when the other (corner) brake lights work.

 

Here's what I'm referring to. See the circled part of the tail light. This part does NOT light up at all. Not as a tail light, not as a brake light, nothing... but it appears there are LEDs in there. And yes I tried this with the car running, the headlights on and someone pressing on the brake pedal.

It's the same on both sides.

I'd like to hear from other owners of a 2015 RX 350 to know if it's the same or if yours lights up in this portion of the tail light.

 

I do not have a 2015 to physically validate for you, so we'll wait for someone with a current MY to chime in.

What I did just do though is search through the 2015 Owner's Manual online at lexusdriver.com. Interestingly, p721 specifically has a diagram and calls the part of what you circled as the "Tail Light". There are also instructions in that section on p727 about replacing the bulb in both the upper and lower part of the light on each side of the hatch. All that would be enough for me to point it out to my dealer and have them repaired or explained why the manual goes to such detail about replacing the bulbs if the lights are not supposed to ever come on.

 

Bert,
Thanks for pointing out the appropriate pages in the owners manual. With over 800 pages in that book I hadn't yet found that info. So to clarify based on the illustrations on replacing bulbs, yes the lower red tailight portion illuminates in the circled area on my photo, but not the upper portion that looks like LEDs behind the lens. Sorry if I implied that nothing in the circled area illuminated. Still though I find it strange that the upper portion above the tail light doesn't light up as a brake light. As I said I was following another brand new RX 350 and it was the same. I'll ask the dealer later this week while I'm there.

Also is there somewhere I can download the manual as one complete PDF rather than separate sections?

Thanks

 

Here's a photo I just took of my 2015 RX 350. The area you indicated lights up when the parking or headlights are on. The outside lights (the half on the car, not the tailgate) light up brighter when the brakes are applied. Hope this helps.

 

Not to take us off subject here, but No, not that I've found on the official Lexus site. I ended-up finding a 3rd party site that had one for my 2013 when I purchased it, so I'm able to maintain a PDF on my iPhone/iPad/iMac and just keep the physical manual tucked away in the hidden console storage area. In research I was doing yesterday to help answer your question, I couldn't find a single PDF for the 2015 -- so I went back to lexusdriver.com and started scanning multiple sections after narrowing it down via basic keyword search on the Lexus site.

I sent the suggestion in for a single PDF to Lexus Customer Service when I brought my 2013 home. You may want to do the same. More cards and letters may help Lexus prioritize making this available (like some other mfgrs, like MBZ, already provide. )

 

When I dropped off my car to have the body side molding installed and roof rack cross rails removed, I asked the SA about the tail light/brake lights. He said thee 2015's are all that way and the upper portion does not light up as a tail or brake light. Other than that he had no explanation. He agreed that it does look like there are LEDs in there.

By the way the body side moldings look great.

 

Umm, mine light up.

 

Here's another photo indicating what I'm talking about.

 

Same on my '13, but there are no visible LEDs in the top half, just small, round reflectors in there.

 

To JDR76,

Maybe theat's what I'm seeing in there, reflectors not LEDs. Thanks for the post and the photo.

 

JDR, sorry to hear about your rolled RX.