Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

You are kidding right? Are you a slow driver or laid back driver? Then the ES is for you but god it handles like a boat. It has a sloppy steering feel, mushy brakes, and a wallowy handling on turns. The GS has a huge leap forward than the ES in feel and handling. There must be something wrong during your test drive or if they did not let you open it up more on the back roads, highways, etc. ES looks cheap and like a melting butter and interior is so poor. You should try to aim for the GS instead. I wish Lexus will get rid of the ES like they did with the HS which is a flop. No place for a FWD car anymore in a luxury brand.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i don't know what the new es would be like, but between the new gs and the current es, the gs handling is far superior in almost every way. but again, it really depends on driving. i can absolutely understand for most people both cars drive "similar"

maybe just watch out for the new es which is coming out soon. it might have a lot of things you see in the gs, just saying

jj14

@Rexus300, @rominl,
Thank you for your feedback! I am definitely not a laid back / slow driver. (my ES ends up giving me a max of 16mpg because of my driving style! lol!) That's why I was looking forward to the GS, but the low end torque didn't seem great - Don't get me wrong, it does handle better than the ES - of course, but $15k-20k better? It didn't feel like it - at least on the test drive). Handling, on sharp turns etc are good, but note that my comment was for the regular city driving conditions - not sure how much the handling improvement will come into play.

@Rexus300, you are right - the dealer didn't encourage (let) me to take it on highways or back roads (I guess he didn't want too many miles on his car - dunno).
(I know I'll probably get beat up for posting this on a lexus forum, but) I actually felt that the 528 had better low end torque than the GS.

@rominl - thank you! I didn't think about the new model of the ES - if it includes an interior similar to the GS, I'll almost certainly get that. The new GS was pretty well advertised, so I was eagerly looking forward to it. I'll look for some details on the new ES

itruns

Except the ES is their number one selling sedan in the lineup... The 2013 will be as large an improvement on the ES as it was the GS..... The reason they will no longer import the HS to the US... it still sells well in Europe... more of a european size... but with the new CT and the new ES hybrid... there would be too much of an overlap in sizes to support a car between "compact and midsize"... a tweenie just doest have the volume to support yet another model.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

jj14,

Anytime! : ). You will love the GS when you have a better test drive to be honest. So push them to let you drive it alone wherever you like to go and you will get an impression that is hands down a well rounded luxury/sports sedan.

KILLERGS4

13 ES will be on toyota avalon platform, so it will grow in size. if they make the 13 ES too nice, it will kill the GS AGAIN!!!