Lexus ES 250 AWD: Pros and Cons to Consider

Good and Bad

Lexus has long been bucking trends in the automotive industry, and those moves have been paying off lately. One of those "rebellions" is expanding its sedan lineup rather than retracting it, which included giving customers the first all-wheel-drive ES last year. The ES 250 doesn't come with the more powerful 3.5-liter V6 so many love, however, but it does offer incredible value for the money. So let's take a look at all the pros and cons of this particular model.

Photos: Lexus

Pro: Effective AWD System

The allure of the ES 250 is its new all-wheel-drive system, which is a big deal for people that are forced to deal with winter weather every year. And the system works flawlessly, transferring torque to the front or rear as needed and decoupling whenever traction takes a backseat to fuel economy. 

Photos: Lexus


>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

Con: Lack of Power

The ES 250's 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is rated to produce just 203 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, which isn't terrible, per se, but it also has to move around a bit of extra weight thanks to the addition of the AWD system. Throw in the fact that it's a naturally-aspirated engine and extracting that power also requires the driver to keep it in the higher rev range to do so, which isn't ideal.

Photos: Lexus


>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

Pro: Feature Rich

Like all Lexus vehicles these days, the ES 250 is loaded with standard driver assist technology including adaptive cruise control with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning with lane centering, automatic braking, road sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, parking assist, automatic high beams, and blind-spot monitoring, to name a few.

Photos: Lexus


>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

Con: Touchpad Interface

Most everyone has long griped about Lexus' touchpad interface that has been around for years now, and the ES 250, unfortunately, comes equipped with it as well. Once you get used to it, the touchpad is doable, but we long for the day when Lexus fully commits to touchscreen infotainment systems that aren't laggy and difficult to navigate.

Photos: Lexus


>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

Pro: Pricing

The few drawbacks of the ES 250 - lack of power, old infotainment - also help make it a proper bargain, however, with a base price of $41,025. And since it has so much standard equipment, it isn't necessary to tack on expensive options.

Photos: Lexus


>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

Con: Superior Alternative?

On the flip side, for those that don't live in the snow belt, it makes a lot more sense to spend the exact same amount of money and get the ES 350 which isn't available with AWD but does offer a much more palatable 302 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque. And even then, there are plenty of folks that can operate a front-wheel-drive vehicle in the snow just fine.

Photos: Lexus

>>Join the conversation about the ES 250 AWD right here in the Club Lexus forum.

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