Smogonthealgarve

Agree with all that you say Renato. My 2 worst journeys ever (one of 5 hours and one of 3 hours) were both in Iberia in intense, torrential rain. Rear fogs were imperative in the circumstances. No doubt that the decision regarding the 300 was made on cost grounds. The manufacturer has looked to save money wherever possible e.g. my IS250 had 13 speakers (probably too many), the 300 only 6 (probably too few). The only difference is that I was well aware of this change in spec when I purchased the 300, it never even crossed my mind that a prestigious company like Lexus would change the rear light clusters in the way that they have.

Not sure of the point you're making Paul. If the 300 had dual fog and reversing lights as was the case with the 200/250, the rear light clusters would be the same whether the car was RH or LH drive and therefore there'd be no need for four types of cluster. There's little doubt that the decision on the spec of the IS300h has been made with a view to saving money. That's 1 LED strip and 1 clear bulb per car, and of course that all adds up over the life time of the model.

Really ? If you have to resort to being offensIve to make your point there's little point in continuing the discussion. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Richard, I think you'll find that the space where the second reversing light should be is actually the rear fog. Its a clear reflector with red LED's. I agree with you on the build quality. My 250 certainly feel better built than the 300. Now there's a thought, it's still in my garage. Perhaps I could palm the 300 off to my buyer and keep the 250 ! That would solve my rear fog problem !!!!! Only joking, just like you I also think the 300 is a great car, different and more fun to drive.

I too must disagree rayaans. For me this is definitely a safety issue. A lone high density fog on the near side of the vehicle could easily be mistaken for a motorbike and consquently lead to an unnecessary accident. As Linas says, the idea behind dual rear fogs is to delineate the width of the vehicle. What I don't understand is that Lexus saw fit to install the dual lights on the earlier models, so why have they been dropped from the third generation cars. Incidentally, I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that your RX450 has dual rear fogs !

I must admit Geoff, "penny pinching" is exactly how I saw it. It wouldn't have taken a genius to see how easily a double cluster (fog/reversing) could have been incorporated in the light clusters on both sides of the vehicle. It never even crossed my mind that dual fog and reversing lights wouldn't have been incorporated in the 300, particularly as they were present in the 200/250. It's the safety angle that bothers me so I've taken the issue up with Lexus Portugal, but I'm not holding my breath !

Thanks for your advice and observations guys. That certainly covers the legal side of things and perhaps my distant memories of gloomy days in the north of England have been exaggerated by time ! Perhaps if the 200 and 250 hadn't had twin rear fogs I'd never have noticed !

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but not to Lexus. Last month I purchased an IS 300h which replaces an IS 250, which in turn replaced an IS 200. I should also explain that I live on the continent and therefore my cars have all been LH drive. I've enjoyed every minute that I've driven each of these cars and will continue to do so with the 300, however I have one small niggle. It only has one rear fog light, which of course is on the off side of the vehicle. That's fine whenever I'm driving in continental Europe, but when I visit the UK (at least once a year) this will put the fog light on the "wrong" side of the car. UK law states that there should be one rear fog light which must be placed either on the off-side or centre of the vehicle. What concerns me more than the legal issue though is the safety aspect. I'm not sure if the UK spec is the same, but from photographs it appears that the rear light cluster matches the LH drive models, so this problem would of course apply to a UK registered RH drive 300 being driven abroad. Both the 250 and the 200 had dual rear fogs (a simple solution) so why the penny -pinching attitude towards safety with the 300 ? I'd be grateful for any observations/advice. Thanks