Hid (not Sure)

[majkmil]

Hi, just bought a 98LS, Mica Blue with 52k. SR, heated sets,cd changer etc. I'm don't know if I have HID headlights, is it easy to tell? THANKS M

PS I paid 19K. Does that seem OK?

EDIT does anyone know if the 98LS came with a first aid kit?

[SKperformance]

I didn't know a LS came in mica blue or maybe the spectra mica blue is different from the IS and GS ?

Hid's come with yellow fogs, halogen lights have white fogs.

also you can see them auto level when the car is started.

[1990LS400]

When your headlight switch is in the "Auto" position (and it is dark of course) and your car pointed towards a wall, start the car. If it has HID, the headlights will go through a little up and down autoleveling dance to compensate for the weight in the car. You will see the beams move up and down on the wall in front of you several times.

I am fairly sure that the cars without HID do not have the autoleveling feature since HID was usually marketed as "HID with autoleveling".

There are probably lots of other ways to tell if it has HID such as looking for the ballasts. I would have to check my repair manuals and will if the above doesn't work for you.

Of course the light should have a slight blue-ish tint (not nearly as blue as BMW HID though) but that is not a reliable way to check for HID since the blue tint could be the non-HID system with coated H4 bulbs. And of course HID spreads a very intense blanket of light in front of the car.

I would be surprised your car does not have HID since it has all those other options. The two or three 98 LS's I've seen without HID were very basically equipted. I remember a Lexus salesman complaining in 1997 that not all the new 98 LS's coming in his door had HID. He was not happy about it since everyone wanted the HID.

HID was a $500 option on 1998 models and later was available on 99-00 models in various option packages. It was never standard on 98-00 LS400's.

$19K for a 98 with 52K miles sounds OK to me. And 52K miles is quite low for a 98. A co-worker paid $20K a few weeks ago for an early 99 LS with just under 70K miles but with more than the average number of exterior cosmetic flaws. His is equipted like yours and has the Nakamichi audio system and Lexus chrome wheels.

[jzz30]

if the light looks like any other car than its probably halogen if the light turns on and its kind of blue at first then turns white then its hid.

[1990LS400]

Hid's come with yellow fogs, halogen lights have white fogs.

Must be a Canadian thing, eh? U.S. versions of the 98-00 LS came from the factory only with white fog lights and my 00 LS has white fog lights. My first LS did however have yellow fog lights.

[SW03ES]

GS and IS with HID have yellow fogs, LS and ES with HID have white fogs. I suppose it has something to do with "sport" vs "luxury"? Who knows why?

Actually HIDs were only truly optional on the 98, they basically became standard in 99 when they were adopted into the "premium package" that all LS400s that aren't special ordered come equipped with. So in short, you may find a 98 without HID but you won't find a 99 or 00, or at least they'll be more rare.

If you think you may not have HID you probably don't, they're very apaprent.

[majkmil]

Thanks, I'm pretty sure I have halogen lights , its just that with heated seat Lexus web site states that you need one of the premium packages to get the heated seats and I thought all the packages camme with the HID'S. Maybe it was a special order? Hey 1990LS thanks for the input, my LS's iside and out are all most pefect and with the low mileage I thought I did alright on the price. Thanks all. M

[1990LS400]

Here is documentation on the 98 LS (options, etc) that was formerly in the Lexus.com CPO model library. It is too big to attach to this post, so I uploaded it (for about 10 days) to a folder hanging on one of my web sites.

http://home.kc.rr.com/colchester/public/98%20LS.doc