Sasan1990

Hello Guys
Hope you are all doing pretty good.
Im new here so Im not completely familiar with rules and everything. I had a question and any kind of help would be appreciated.
Im thinking of getting a used car, and one of my options is lexus es350 2008-2011. (my budget is limited to 10,000-11,000 CAD).
with my budget the average mileage would be like around 140,000 KM. My main concern is about the maintenance cost.
what is the average of maintenance cost?? how the parts are priced?? are they so expensive??
I would be grateful if any current owners could comment and share their experience about servicing cost and everything about this car.

Thank you all in advance.

mmarshall

Welcome to CL. Glad to have you as a new poster.

I haven't actually owned one, but did some reviews and test-drives on ES models of that vintage. I think you would be more satisfied with a 2010 or 2011 than one of the earlier ones. Lexus did a mid-cycle facelift for the 2010 model year, partly in response to consumer complaints, and gave the car some added equipment and nicer interior trim.


You did fine posting that question in Car Chat (we talk about all vehicles here), but we also have a dedicated ES forum for that specific line (and generation) of cars. This one is for that generation (2007-2012) ES.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...2007-2012-180/

Sasan1990

Thanks a lot marshall
You are absolutely right about 2010-2012 models, but the problem is my budget (( since they are at least 2K more expensive.

Stroock639

hello,

being that the ES 350 is essentially just a more softly sprung V6 camry xle with a bit more leather in it, the luxuriousness to maintenance cost ratio (or whatever you'd like to call it lol) is quite good. many of the parts can even be bought from a "regular" toyota dealer and not necessarily only a lexus one, same for repairs and service.

if however you consider yourself to be a driver then the ES will probably leave you wanting more. very nice for just going along and easily passing the lesser cars with fewer cylinders in front of you, but it's not too happy to be whipped around. very reliable comfortable car though, more than adequate for the average person's needs.

oh and an "ES 350 FWD" is just called an ES 350 lol, there's nothing other than FWD offered.

SW17LS

These cars are very reliable, simple and easy to work on, buy parts for, etc since its essentially a Camry. I had a 2010 ES350, it was a very nice car for what it was.

I wouldn't worry about maintenance costs at all.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I don't know how long you kept your ES350, but every single time I come to the Lexus dealer my brother works at, they have at least a few RX350 and ES350 of that generation up on lifts getting head gaskets done, transmissions replaced, etc.

He said it's probably the least reliable Lexus from that era. Those kinds of repairs are almost always $3,000+

Must drop the subframe and remove motor to do any work on them at all of that magnitude. Anything FWD is a PITA to work on. I remember the transmission just sht itself one day on our 01 ES300 and replacing that is a much more complicated task than on a RWD platform which is a piece of cake.

Sasan1990

Thanks a lot guys
97-SC300, I did some research on this generation of lexus ES. Apparently, the firs year of production (2007) they had some serious problems of head gasket, transmission and even penetration water into the cabin !!!
but it seems that they took care of these problems after 2008. Could you please kindly ask your brother about these issues? that would help a lot.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

It's not just 2007. You can call your Lexus dealer and they will tell you that pretty much ALL ES models dating back to 1997 have had transmission issues and the 5th generation had a bunch of engine issues with that crappy 3.5 motor. There are probably 100+ threads on it on this forum alone.

Fizzboy7

A great choice if you go with it. Consumer Reports, which I have felt mimics real world experiences quite accurately, ranks all past ES's quite high. There could have been some years with certain mechanical issues, but the data does not support anything widespread or worse than other cars of those years.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)