...a '98 ES300. I have always owned Hondas and Toyotas, but I currently own a '95 Benz E320. To give you some background, the E320 is known to be a VERY expensive car to own, but not to purchase. Common problems are leaking head gasket ($1200), biodegradable wiring harness ($900 DIY), and transmission failure ($1500). My car is barely worth that much, and there's still a ton of other things that can go wrong. It's usually about $1500-$3000 per year to keep up with the "maintenance" (head gasket is a maintenance item?!). It's a great car to drive, but not worth the headaches, I'm thinking.

So, how does the '97-'00 ES300 compare? I hear they are reliable, but are they fun to drive? Comfortable? Powerful? Any advice or input is appreciated. Thanks!

 

hmm comfortable, i woudnt call it powerful, but it gets around with out a problem, and well, it isnt an m3 but its still rewarding enough to drive, overall its still a great car and ull definetly be a lot happier with it, and itll be cheaper to maintain to. but if i were you, save up a little more and get a 2000 or 2001, hope u get the lexus .

 

^ Thanks for the reply! I don't need it to be a dragster, as long as it can keep up with traffic and the occasional single lane highway pass. I'm afraid to drive mine hard anyway because of the delicate transmission. I prefer the driving characteristics of a rear-drive car, but the ES would do better in the snow. I've been very impressed with my Toyotas ('83 Supra, '82 Cressida, 2 Camrys, 4-Runner, Highlander) in the past, so the Lexus should be even better.

 

Yea its a V6 Camry and they dont have any problems, so....
Just be sure you do all your scheduled maintenance. The only thing ive had to replace on my 92 are O2 Sensors and nothing else

 

Wow! There are guys on the MBWorld forum with cars like mine who have spent over $12,000 on repairs on a '92 with 100k miles, and they still have problems. I'm impressed!

 

Yea shes been good to me Youll be happy. The ES handles just like a Camry does. Stock its a bit floaty but still pretty tight. You can upgrade the rear sway bar to help that. Its very quiet, and you shouldnt have any tranny or h/g problems on a 98 asuuming it was taken care of. And yes they will move when you hit the go pedal

 

Mill the head flat, clean & check the block to be true, get an aftermarket stud kit, use graphite, or MLS head gaskets & ta-da. Aslong as you stay ontop of routine cooling system maintenance your benz won't blow up.

Most ES / Windom / Camry v6's are still rolling at 250-300,000 miles. When they brake parts are cheap (how many v6 Camry's you think Toyota makes a year? LoL).


Mostly it's just a preventative maintenance car. Stay ontop of preventative maintenance & it'll run far longer than you ever want to keep the car. Any mechanical failures will be your typical wear items. Anything involving rubber, or petrolium only lasts so long.
















AFA performance. No, but they're not complete dogs. The brakes are very good, the handling... You can fix to a good enough extint. $150 rear sway bar upgrade goes along way into a more neutral car & less body roll. It's not like a Honda, or Nissan, but there's plenty of aftermarket choices on the Camry platform suspension wise.

Power wise, they'll more than keep-up with traffic, but you won't be beating much bone-stock. They take well to forced induction...

 

Sounds good! I want one. So, what sort of things should I look for during a test drive? Also, what is the timing belt change interval, and is the 1MZ-FE an interference engine? (trashed by a broken t-belt)

 

non-int
90,000 miles replace the water pump & timing belt. especially on a car you've not owned. (water pump) i will not, however tell you i know many that have simply snapped (besides one of my own) inside of 150,000 miles.


the issue is much more change the pump before the aluminum fins corrode off from not changing the coolant often enough than the belt MUST be replaced before a catostrophic failure at 90,100 miles.

whcih is why toyota has always puts the water pump to be changed as apart of maintenance at 90-120,000m. they know ****** are not going to change the coolant on time, so they simply build in a pump replacement with routine maintenance.

 

Thanks! That's what I was looking for.

Everyone keeps mentioning the Camry XLE-V6. What is the difference between that and the ES? I like the looks of the ES a lot more, but what about everything else?

 

The ES rolls the windom platform, which is a modification of the Camry platform. Aside from all the obvious fascia changes & grossly better interior trim.
Engine & transmission wise, identical.
Mechanically, anything that were to ever break on an ES, you could replace it with the Camry part & there would be 0 differance noted. Minus the steering rack & the (springs & struts) So in the relative world of entry-luxury vehicles is cheaper than average.


So basically. We drive Camry's with, on average, an extra 100-150lbs of goodness (so we're always .1-.15 slower to 60 and the 1/4 mile) and the steering is softer & quicker.





We have alittle extra rear bracing (some camry SE's also have this depending on what year's you talk about), we don't have the hidden optional high gear ratio differential the Camry's had hidden access too. Our sturts & springs are different, but compatible. Our rear brakes are slightly larger.




That's about it... An ES is simply taking all the parts & moving up abunch in style & quality.