Lan1

Sos.. just got my ‘14 GS and was driving it at night for the first time and noticed it has the embarrassing flashing third brake light. Flashes 5 times then stays on. My neighbor has exact same car and hers does not do it. Whenever I see them on other cars I cringe a little. Does anyone know how/if this can be switched off??

JDR76

Probably had a "Pulse" type product installed by the dealer.

https://www.pulseprotects.com/

I assume you'd need to locate it and remove it. I believe it's usually installed near the brake light.

Lan1

You were right!! Took me about 3 minutes. Popped up the third brake light out of the rear deck and there it was. I just unplugged one of the wires and now it stays steady. THANK YOU!!

This had me wondering about dealer installed options.. I found this little part for $4.95 on eBay. Checked the dealer website and sure enough - flashing third brake light is a option that they can install for “only” $995.

er34

Seen those before - very ricey.

ItzFilyO

Yeah I don't like it either.

bclexus

Lan1 - Does it make you wonder what else the previous owner did to the car?

Lan1

I got it off lease from an 70 yr old woman. It’s unbelievably clean. I don’t think she did it herself, if she did.. major props. The red leather looks newer than some of the ‘19s I saw on the lot. She never even took the protective plastic film off the “Lexus” door sills.

I assume she was talked up by my dealer to install it as a “good safety feature.” Doesn't surprise me that she forked over the cash either.

bclexus

That's funny. I still have the protective clear plastic film over my Lexus door sills too. Don't know why, but I do...

Enjoy and be safe!

Lan1

Haha agreed. I don’t really want to take them off 😂

thank you! 🤙🏻

JDR76

My dealer installs these on all of their inventory and charges $295 for it. I have always refused to pay that and they’ve dismissed the cost. I still have to remove it from my 19.

AJLex19

I've seen this "Strobe" type brake light on third-eye brake lights and standard brake lights as well - its actually distracting IMO...it feels more at home on an emergency vehicle or school bus with flashing lights.

Locally, seen it on a lot of riced-out Honda's that are begging for additional attention.

Lan1

I agree! Definitely distracting. It’s funny that you say that about the Honda’s because I did some extensive google searching and the only threads I could find are ones where people were wanting to ADD the strobe because it’s a “cool mod.” bleh.

Lan1

$300 for a $3 part 🙄

UDel

I have noticed my center brake light does that, flashes quickly several times, seems to do it when lightly applying the brake. Not sure why it does that, thought it might be standard.

So a dealership installs those things and they can be disabled?

Lan1

Yup! Learned a lot tonight. Dealership or owner installed. Can be disabled easily depending on where the module is. Mine was located under the 3rd brake light housing which is super easy to remove, it just pops right out of the rear deck. I found a little rectangular cube which is the flasher. Then I unplugged the cable that was clipped into the original wiring (I’m assuming that’s the power draw for the flasher module) and it now stays steady when I press the brake. No more flashing!