PsychDoc

...Just got my car yesterday and wanted to provide a little feedback for those of you who may not have yet taken the plunge (as well as those of you who have).

First of all, the increase of power is quite significant and is most apparent when accelerating from 20-30 mph. In the past (ES 300), you had to hope for the best and allow a great deal of distance to accelerate. Between the anemic engine and the horrible throttle response on earlier generations, acceleration from 20-30 mph was, shall we just say, "leisurely." No more. This thing's got *****. Yes, it still is more of a boulevard cruiser that a real sports sedan, but it now has an engine with some umph and a responsive transmission to go with it. The engine is a bit louder than previous generations, however and unlike the past, is a bit audible at idle with the audio system off. Depending on your tastes this is perhaps not such a bad thing, however.

I don't like where they put the seat ventillation/heat controls. You have to look under the armrest to see them and use them and I can easily imagine forgetting to reset them to their off, detent position. The ES 300/330 had them on the center stack with indicator lights, a much better arrangement. Also, as others have commented, the "ventillation" function of these seats is entirely worthless. They only blow the faintest amount of air. Perhaps Lexus will address this in the near future.

I do miss the strip of wood over the glove box though the interior is very modern and attractive. In typical Lexus fashion, everything works like a fine Swiss watch.

I wish they had left a seperate window for the climate control. As it is, it shares the main screen and to adjust anything you must switch away from the map display. This makes it a bit of a pain to cut out the A/C condenser after you press "Auto." In the past this had its own dedicated button on the center stack. No more. I also wish they had separate windows for the exterior temp and the trip computer displays. As it is they share a small rectangular window between the speedo and tach. If you want to display 'Average MPG,' for instance, the outside temp is only shown in very small numbers below this. In the past the outside temp had its own spot in a window on the center stack and the trip computer functions had their own display. Ah well, progress.

The swiveling headlights are VERY cool and really do exactly what they're advertised to do. What's best is that you can really see their illumination pattern moving as you turn the steering wheel.

The Bluetooth system works perfectly and the clarity is simply astounding. I have a feeling that once I start getting used to this I'll never even think of driving a car without it again (pretty much the same reaction I had to having a nav system).

Keyless entry and start?! Absolutely ridiculously useless feature. Where do I put all my keys? With a normal car they hung happily from the dash as I drove; now I think I'll just have to throw them in the cup holders while I'm driving. I know "everyone's doing it" but it's just plain dumb and an example of technology looking for an application. In this case it found one and it was worse than pointless. Again, 'oh well,' progress marches on I suppose.

The interior lighting is gorgeous and incredibly classy looking, as are the little "puddle lamps" (is that what they're called?) mounted under each side mirror.

The seat extender (on the driver's seat) is pretty much worthless. It hardly comes out at all but who cares, the seats are extremely comfortable anyway.

The ride is simply wonderful. Firmer than before but still able to soak up pretty much anything that comes its way. Much less body lean than in the past though it's still no BMW 5 series.

MPG you ask? So far on about 75% highway driving, I'm getting 26-27 mpg! Compared to the 18-19 mpg I was getting in the 2002 ES300, I'd say that's pretty damn impressive.

All in all, I give this car an A- on an absolute basis.

On a value for dollar basis, it gets a solid A+!!!

Ingram4868

The keyless ignition may grow on you. It did for me. I put the fob in my pocket in the morning and never touch it until the end of the day

amf1932

A nice writeup......and I must say, we might be Corsican Brothers because I agree with your findings exactly, although I haven't tried the Bluetooth feature yet. I'm now saving up for a new cellphone w/ bluetooth capabilities. I also give this car a solid A+.

richbutler

I was skeptical about the keyless ignition and entry initially. However, I can't live without it now. No more fumbling for the fob to unlock the doors when I'm holding my brief case or my daughter's hand. The fob just stays in my pocket the whole time. It also helps that I don't carry any other keys except for the fob.

My ventilated seats don't produce a lot of air movement either. But for me, I don't need a lot of air movement to feel much cooler.

And the panoramic roof is just awesome! The sleek exterior look of the seamless glass windshield, roof, and rear glass against my silver paint is very cool. My toddler daughter loves her roof in the back seat.

The semi-aniline leather is glove soft. I have not felt leather this soft in a $40K car!

I love the ride, quietness, and quality finish of this car. I wish it handled just a little better on the curves without the tires squealing. I'm hoping summer rated tires will help!

tnfan

Agree with most of what you said. Closing in on 3000 miles and getting a better feel for the car.

Do not understand why they didn't give us a full screen for the exterior temperature and trip computer displays. Had a RX300 loaner the other day and that was one of the first things I noticed about it's nav system. All the trip info was on a dedicated screen on the nav. That was the way the nav worked on my BMW also.

Ventilated seats are a disappointment. Sometimes the seat bottom cools great and then again it is very minimal. Absolutely nothing from the seat backs. Will get this looked at when I take it in for service.

The adaptive headlights are really great and very useful. They help tremendously when traveling on an unfamiliar curvy road at night.

I really like the keyless entry and start function. Just put the fob in my pocket and no more fumbling with the keys.

Once you get the address loaded, the navigation systems works exceptionally well and has a lot of neat features.

Overall I am very satisfied. Love the ride, power, amenities, looks, and finish. Unlike some others have posted, the ride is whisper quiet. Like the lighting features but would like to have had readling lights for the back seat passengers.

I am extremely happy with my first Lexus!

Trexus

Great write up. It just makes me want to sell my 1996 ES 300 and updgrade to the 2007 ES 350 but I'm waiting for the next generation Tundra which I will be purchasing when it arrives either this fall or spring 2007.

I have over 256,000 miles on my ES and she runs great. It still has the original engine and transmission. It's been a great car so far and I'm sure the car has much more life in her...

Macklin

Wow! You sure learned ALOT in one day!! Did you pull an all nighter? I've had mine for two weeks now and I'm still learning stuff about this car...even after reading the manual.

I agree with those above....the keyless entry is the shiznitz.

INHOCJP

I agree, the push button start is a great feature IMHO. Combined with Smart Access, I never have to take my keys out of my pocket.

In comparison, BMW's version is still cumbersome. You have to insert the key/fob into a slot and then press the start button.

PsychDoc

***Wow! You sure learned ALOT in one day!! Did you pull an all nighter?***

I've been pretty much 'studying' this car for the last three months on this and other message boards, etc. so when I finally got it yesterday I pretty much knew everything there was to know about the car in general. But, as they say, "the devil's in the details" so it was fun to play with things and get the feel behind the wheel. I was most impressed by the power. This baby has some real get up and go! You'll no longer feel apprehensive or tentative when you're merging onto a highway with an average speed of 65-70mph. You'll be there before you know it. And in complete serenity too.

Which brings up another issue, the much discussed "wind noise" issue. I don't know what people are talking about re: this. No car is going to be as quiet as a library at 70mph, but this baby comes pretty darn close. I listened around the A and B pillars and really couldn't hear a thing.

Here's what I'd recommend as a test. Take the car up to 70mph on a regular highway and open one or both of the front windows. Get a sense of the ambient noise at this speed and then close the windows. You'll be amazed how silent this car really is. Repeat with any other car of your choice and let me know the results.

I think anyone who tries this will be more than happy with this superb vehicle.

Gojirra99

Congrats for the new car & thanks for the write-up

I haven't had a keyless start car before also & don't think it's a very significant feature, but my next new car will most likely have it, maybe I'll think it's cool then.

NeverSatisfied

i for one can't wait for my next rx to have smart access... i think it would take some time getting used to.

i did seriously look into the es350, being priced way less than the is350, but small details were missing, such as led tails. i didn't care for the driving position either; it felt like the roof was like an inch above my head, and the windshield seemed very small, when looking out. i guess i'm too used to my rx's interior space.

but, congrats on the new purchase psychdoc!