I noticed this in the pre-launch days, but don't think anybody has commented on it. I was wondering if there are differences between countries in their variety of ES350's. Is the car the same in every country?

My ES350 doesn't have a centre armrest in the back seat like this one. I don't think I have the Lexus logo on the carpeting either (but I'm not 100% on that one).




What do you think?

 

so what is in its place if no arm rest? how do you access trunk from inside, for example if you had a long ski to put in trunk? There should be a lock there hidden by the arm rest.

 

I meant I have the regular armrest that folds down and has the 2 cupholder flip-up cover at the front.

This Korean armrest is different to mine and looks like the one in the front of the ES, with the release button being a similar design. I'm not so sure about the whole massive flip up thing though. Sure you can store stuff, but what do you do when you put something in the cupholders. Where do you rest your arm?

 

Yeah, we don't have an armrest storage area. Odd.

wanderer99 has a point about cupholder use but I would've thought the cupholders would be separate from the box if they were to design one for us (i.e. just take the current design but add that box behind the cupholder). The other option is have pop-out cupholders but my past experience is that they tend to be flimsy.

 

I saw a Lexus ES350 in Korea last month, It has a automatic folding outside mirror with signal lamp as standard feature. I don't understand why Lexus in US did not include this feature.

 

It sounds like Lexus is trying to put certain features to entice buyers for a specific market.

In Korea, the roads and parking areas are so small that the mirror folding must be a necessity. But the back armrest....I dont see why that would be different than ours here....I would of appreciated the extra space....

 

Oh no - they have automatic folding mirrors and signal mirrors! And the storage armrest in the back seat. And the Lexus logo on the carpet, but I'm still not sure if I have that or not as my wife has the car right now.

I suddenly feel.............................. "de-contented".

I love my ES350... but now I want folding mirrors too!

 

Just don't tell me that the ES350 there has the illuminated Lexus door entry plates like the IS and RX. If it does, I'd rather not know about it. I saw the illuminated entry plates in the loaner RX350 I had last week. I wondered why the ES didn't have that feature.

Does Lexus sneak these in as part of the mid lifecycle refresh?

 

I've wondered about that too. Maybe it's like you said, they leave some room to upgrade for the next year model.