HondaDrive

The ES 350 is an amazing car for the money. It is a very good looking car with an awesome ride. It fits in quite nicely at the parking lot at my gym, where it seems as though every other car is a Lexus (slight exaggeration). I still have a little IS envy but I think that will pass over time. I love the IS convertible, though but I think that will have to wait until the kids are away at college, which is not for many years.

xfirechief

Looking to trade in the RX for the ES. My wife has back issues & has a hard time getting into the RX. How is the ride? Is the ES what u expected? I need GPS & all the other goodies too. I will have to check out the total cost compared to a LS.

Dave Mac

XFirechief, I think after comparing the ES to an LS you may have a hard time justifying the additional cost of the LS. I had and LS and believe it to be one of the finest cars in the world but they are really pricey and I can't justify the outlay. So check them both out - the ES is I think a real good buy. That is unless you can handle the cost of the LS. And as a side benefit I have neighbors who own LS's and think I have the same car as they do. Okay, so they aren't really into their cars, but I find it interesting.

Dave Mac

xfirechief

Very interesting, this is the kind of information I am looking.

Now what about the GS? That should lower the cost. Compare the GS to the ES?

I should have mentioned that I am 6' 4" tall, is the ES a car I can drive & be comfortable in? Need the leg room for sure.

AlexusAnja

Unless you must have the current 460, the LS430 is very affordable right now and probably less expensive than even a used '07 ES350. There is no comparison, I feel the LS430 is better in every way over the ES350 and that's from owning a 430 and having the ES350 several times as a loaner for my RX.

Don't get me wrong, the ES is a very nice entry level luxury vehicle and it handles okay, but if you want room for a 6'+ and room in back too for passengers, the LS430 is the way to go.

lgb0250

You will feel cramped in a 350. I'm only 5'9" and my ball cap will touch the roof if I leave it on in the car. Not as much leg room or shoulder room compared to the Avalon either. We had an 06 Avalon that had much more room that the 350. On the other hand my wife loves her 350 because of the smaller fit than the Avalon. Go figure!

HondaDrive

I agree. I am no LS expert but IMO, the extra $30,000 is excessive when considering the extras you get in a LS. If you go down the optional versus standard features and some of the other upgrades, it just is not worth it. Also, the LS is a very big car and might be hard to fit into a garage.

LexBob2

An ES/LS comparison is almost apples and oranges on many levels (size, price, features, segment etc.).

Probably better to compare it to the usual suspects like LaCrosse, Avalon, TL, G37, Genesis 3.8 and similar cars.

xfirechief

How about comparing the ES to the GS? Maybe the LS is way to much more.

racingt

I'm 6'4" and find that Im not cramped at all in my ES. lgb0250, are you sure you're using all of the seat adjustments correctly, including the one that raises and lowers the seats?!

lgb0250

Probably not. Went back to check specs on the new ES versus the old 2006 Avalon and found the head room was only 1.4" more in the Avalon. Shouldn't have made that much difference but it probably just feels smaller to me because I don't drive it that often.

QuachmanES

iTrader: (4)

The comparison between the ES and the LS is a very common one; the ES is often seen as a baby LS since they are both luxury cruisers for Lexus. Comparing the GS and the ES doesn't make sense because the GS is a higher end sport model, with nearly the same wheelbase and interior cabin room as the ES.

Concerning Avalon, it is definitely a larger car than the ES since the Avalon is built on an extended Camry platform, while the ES is built on a regular Camry platform.

zhivuyatut

I was choosing between 05/06 LS430 and 07/08 ES350 last year and chose in favor of ES, because all the features I loved in that generation of LS were already standard or available on ES. Like driver seat cushion extender, vented seats, swiveling HIDs, power sunshade, Bluetooth etc.
LS430 is built like a rock and was a better car than S-class or 7-series in its time. The ride is superb and feels much more powerful and reassuring than ES350. But the styling of LS was really getting dated, while ES350 still has at least five years to stay fresh.
At the same time LS460 is no longer a standout compared to competitors and can easily be confused with ES350 from a distance. If I were to step-up from ES350 I would choose GS or Infinity M instead. Especially with available AWD.

HondaDrive

Is the power sun shade standard on the ES?

Txwingz

I can pretty much mirror your comment. My wife picked up her new ES350 10 days ago. We left on a trip two days later and now we're back home with about 1200 miles on the car already. We went from a 2009 IS250 to the ES350. Totally different animal but that is what we were looking for. The IS was fun to drive ... very responsive and a real road hugger. But my wife wanted something a bit smoother, a bit larger, and more comfortable. The ES350 is all that. It is extremely comfortable and has lots of leg room both in front and back. Seats are adjustable so many ways that there is just no way you can't find a position you would like. Sound system is great as is pretty much everything else. Now, the CONS in my opinion.

The Navi system is a joke in my opinion. I have a Garmin Zumo GPS that I've had for a while, using it in various vehicles and my motorcycle. It costs about 1/4 what the Nav system in the Lexus costs and it's funtionality is orders of magnitude greater. When we left on the trip, I plowed through the book figuring out things and figured that while the wife was driving, I'd play with it and figure things out. Problem is, while you're moving you really can do very little. If there's a way to turn that "feature" off, I'd sure like to know how. The system is not intuitive at all and doesn't seem to be very current. We were trying to wind our way around to an Olive Garden that has been there for several years. I stopped so that I could do a search, put in Olive Garden and the closest it came up with was 50 miles away. I mean, that's a bit old.

I'm still learning and hopefully I've missed something and it's better then what I've experienced but if not, I am extremely disappointed that I spent that much money for the system. I could just as easily have used my Zumo in the 350. Also, in the IS there was an accessory audio jack that you could use to plug in any MP3 player. Not there on this one. But, there is a USB connection. But, when I tried my MP3 player, it didn't recognize it. The USB works because it charges the player but won't recognize any of the files on it. It will play tunes from a USB memory stick.

Hopefully this forum will help me out as I move forward and learn more about the new car.