2014 Prius THREE turn signals have LED's already???

Bob, I think you may be referring to the LED daytime running lights.

If so, it should be the first setting from off on the headlight control stalk.

 

Those are indeed daytime running lights, not turn signals.

 

The turn signals are amber halogen bulbs, both front & rear. I'm currently in the process of converting them to LED's.

And as was said above, you are seeing the DRL's, a set of clear LED's, just below the front amber turn signal.

 

If your light controls are the same as on my 2012-Three --- some are different, and mine is not pictured in the owners manual -- just turn the knob to 'DRL'. The car also needs to be ready, put into gear, and parking brake released. Once on, they don't go out until the ignition is turned off or the knob turned to something else. I.e. the don't go out when the car is shifted to Park and the parking brake is set.

If the headlights are all the way on, or the knob is 'OFF', the DRLS won't light up.

 

I think the op is refering to the 4 small, almost amber looking led's in the turn signal/indicator or maybe the 5 led looking things under the side marker light.

They're not led's despite looking like them and are there just for show. Some people have taken the light unit apart and replaced them with actual led's;




Light question... | PriusChat

 

As a former owner of a 2010 (like yours) and a current owner of a 2012 (like OP's), I have to go with the DRL interpretation. His description is a near perfect match to the DRLs that first appeared in the 2012 mid-cycle refresh.

 

I wish there was a way to keep the DRL's on while also turning on the headlights. They produce a good amount of light similar to fog/drive lights.

 

I believe some folks have so modified the DRLs, but only for appearance reasons. The LED DRLs are good for being seen by others, but have a completely useless pattern on the pavement surface and in fog.

 

The bright DRLs we have over here are way too bright, blinding and dazzlingly bright. They're brighter than a cars headlights and some (like Audi and Mercedes) are brighter than full headlights. That might be ok in bright light in Greece during the summer but they're too bright in northern Europe on a dark day.

So if the DRLs are brighter than full headlights, why would you want them at night blinding other drivers? You know that dazzling oncoming cars like that makes them more likely to driving into you head-on like a moth.

 

^^ What type of DRLs are you describing?

If you mean the reduced voltage highbeam DRls that have been around for a long time on some U.S. and all Canadian cars, hen I agree. Some are simply much too bright, stronger in the eyes of oncoming drivers than are normal lowbeams.

But the Prius LED DRLs are less bright, and have a relatively diffuse pattern, not the more sharply focused pattern of headlights.