socal close encounter with the all new es350
 

since the other thread (mostly on the ls460) is moved to the new ls460 forum, i am going to start another thread here about the new es350. socal people had the honor to check out the all new es350 on 3/25. here are some pics and my review.

people, post more pics from the day and post your review too!


https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...90_Medium_.JPG
https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...review_001.jpg
https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...3-25-06_ES.JPG

for more information on that day's event, you can read here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...0&page=1&pp=40

anyway, i was already kinda carried away by the two very nice all new es350 parked outside the building. i couldn't help but get inside the car and checking everything about it.

the new es350 is probably about 3 steps ahead of the current one imho. it's sooo much nicer in pretty much every aspect. the exterior looks so much nicer imho, it's no longer the "huh?!" headlights in the front, and no longer the weird butt in the back. it's so smooth, elegant. it does speak a bit camry, but you can tell it's a class ahead too

interior is always what the es shines imho, and this one is no exception. i think it's even a more roomy inside. the dual roof is just crazy, and the new center console design is just sick. trim is nice, and personally i like the oval shape on the nav/radio area. overall the interior looks very modern and more sporty too. i do agree though, it probably lacks a bit class compared to the current es330, but i don't think they are going the wrong direction.

any interior pics?

The exterior is definitely an improvement over the old car...especially the headlights. :thumbup:

The interior, most definitely, IMO, is NOT. ( Sorry, Henry...I know you may disagree with me here :) ) The big problem inside is that they took the nice wood strip off the right ( passenger ) side of the dash and off of the door panels as well.....a bummer. :thumbdn:
Now it looks too much like the IS and GS inside. Actually, it's not so much that new interior looks bad ( it doesn't ). It just that the old interior was truly superb....and the new one seems to have lost some plushness.

I agree with mmarshall. :) The exterior is good looking in all aspects.
The two sunroofs are nice, now that the rear passengers can have some sunlight shine through, but is stationary.

Like what mmarshall said, it did seem to lack that plushness. To me it kinda felt like a "base" model, it just didn't have that luxurious feel to it :sad:
I like that 3-pod gauge with the wood strip that contoured it in the current model.

What do you guys think about the new sun roof? To me it looks terrible in the open position.

I won't automatically make conclusions about the interior's plushness based on wood trim, not until I've personally sat in the car first ( & I do like wood trims in luxury cars ). There are other factors to consider other than the amount of wood trim in the car ;)

There are still some wood trim on the arm rest BTW. :)

Outside looks good - there are hints of the IS tail light, which I like.

I noticed it has a wood steering wheel. I've never driven a car with a wood steering wheel. What is the advantage of that over leather? A lot of luxury cars seem to have it these days... I would think leather would have better grip? Wood is a good decoration, but for a part of the car you touch all the time, wouldn't it be too slippery?

Looking forward to seeing both the ES and LS at NYIAS... Opens a week from tomorrow!

suppose to go on sale in april, anyone know when in april

Wood steering wheels are not more slippery than leather based on my personal experience as I have both a wood & a leather steering wheel in my 2 cars. The surface on the wood steering wheel is wavy at the back, so it's not like the steering wheel will slip from your fingers, you can still get a good grip even in more spirited driving with wood.

Some does not like wood steering wheel because it " feels " slippery, but it isn't really slippery as far as grip is concerned IMO. Some doesn't like it because it can be feel icy cold in cold weather, leather in that sense is better, but if the weather is cold enough, even leather can still get pretty cold.

Two sunroofs are not that big a deal. 10 years ago the first 1996 2-door RAV4's also had two sunroofs.............interesting because the significantly larger 4-door RAV4 had only one. :uh:

Heck, my parents' old 1984 Toyota Van LE had two sunroofs. A glass tilt-up in the front and a steel sliding roof in the back. The rear sunroof was about three feet long!

I miss that van. Ours was unusual; it was a 5-speed manual with an Icemaker, dual sunroofs, and factory alloy wheels... factory two-tone, blue on the bottom & silver on the top. They just sold it last year... it had over 250K miles on it and was in cherry condition!

The new ES is NICE! The rear seat room is incredible. In spite of the "low brow" dash (I actually prefer the new design- cleaner & less busy-looking), I'm sure they'll sell a ton of them.

personally, i don't see what's the big deal of wood and that it's an indication of luxury. people know me know that i don't really care about the wood inside any luxury cars, even the LS for that matters. some are ok, but seeing more definitely wont' make me think the car is more luxurious. i would rather see more leather, better leather, etc....

it does look a bit funny when i first saw it. the shade is not just one piece but two piece instead. personally i am a bit worried if they are going to rattle or not (more pieces are just more chances in general). but i love the idea

my gs400 has leather and my sc430 has wood steering wheel, so i can tell you. wood is NOT more slippery, in some cases, the leather wheel are actually more slippery. but don't get me wrong, i am not saying the wood is better. it's hard, so sometimes it's not as comofortable. it can get scartched more easily by rings or so. and it's so damn cold suring winter time. the leather could be cold too, but probably not as cold as the wood

Lexus of Glendale called me today to say the new ES350 finally is showing up on their inventory. Which means it's getting on the boat right now. I would guess they'll be here in 2 weeks, give or take a few days. The colors and options show also, but they blanked out the prices.