I recently had my car at the dealership for the ML amp replacement. I needed a loaner and decided to try the 2013 GS350...normally I would get either a '13 RX or ES. This car was not on my radar when I wanted to upgrade to a '13 Lexus mainly because of the GS Hybrid pricing. I felt the ES300h offered more bang-for-the-buck...although without the GSh performance.

GS350 review:
Performance - The car has solid power. My co-worker has the '13 GS F-Sport; now I know a little about what he was telling me about the performance. Of course, the GS loaner had the 18" wheels whereas the F-Sport wears 19".

Handling - Hands down; GS.

Interior - The GS has 'soft materials' on the door panels, dash, etc. versus the ES with mostly plastic. My '11 ES had some if not most these 'soft materials'. So, I've come to the conclusion that Lexus wanted to make a noticable separation between these two models with the new design change hence the material change on the ES (not to mention cost). The 12" Nav screen on the GS is nice but it makes the dash look disjointed...I like the ES dash better. Although both cars have analog clocks the ES one is better looking, cleaner. The ES seems to have more interior room than the GS.

Interior complaints - The armrest on the door is too short. I tried to adjust (moving the seat rearward) to the same sitting position as my ES but ran out of armrest on the door. Also, the door armrest-to-center armrest on the GS are not quite as level as in the ES. The ES wins out in long haul sitting positions. The GS return-to-center turn signal was one of the most annoying feature I have ever seen on any vehicle...this feature is re******. Fake woodgrain...Lexus how could you?

Exterior - (subjective) I like the GS F-Sport better than the regular GS.

Ride comfort - The GS rides nice; quiet and comfortable. But, the ES 350 edges it out...the ES300h widens the margin.

Fuel mileage - Hands down; ES300h

 

Toyota added soft touch surfaces to the door panels of the 2013 Camry:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...hancments.html

Perhaps Lexus will do the same for the 2014 ES350

 

ES and GS have real wood trim.

 

The '13 GS loaner I drove last week had the exact same faux wood they have in a '12 Toyota Sequoia Platinum. I test drove the Sequoia and thought to myself "for +65 grand they could at least put real wood in here". If it is wood grain, it is really low grade...it looked awful.

Now, the loaner may have been a base model but I don't really know how GSs are optioned. Another co-worker of mine has a '13 GS and it has real wood just like the one I saw on the showroom floor when they first came out...beautiful real wood.

Anyway, I feel even a base model '13 GS should have real wood. The base model '13 ES loaner had real wood. I don't understand why Lexus would offer faux wood in the GS.

 

Ok the GS has the 18 way or 16 way power seats, which I'm guessing your loaner did not have, also the wood in the GS is all real they even have a video of it being made. The wood in the new GS is a whole lot better than the previous year GS it looked to plastic looking even though it was wood. The turn signals are the same in the ES and GS the clocks are the same as in the ES as well. Not bashing just clarifying. The wood you speak of is matte dark brown walnut wood, may look like the Toyota Venza but not the same, it looks good and has also been in the Infiniti M.

 

The wood in the GS is 100% real, even the base car with the matte wood trim. I don't care for the look of that trim either, mine is the Luxury model with the glossy linear espresso wood, but it is real, just matte finished. No Lexus has fake wood trim.

See the website:

http://www.lexus.com/models/GS/features/

You get used to it. Bugged the hell out of me at first, but I don't even think about it now.

Certainly not with the 18 way power seats in the Luxury model GS.

I could see how someone could like the look of the ES dash better, but from a material standpoint the GS puts the ES to absolute shame. The 12" screen adds a lot to the interior too, both in aesthetics and in functionality.

Coming from many years in the ES, and having driven an ES as a loaner on Friday for the first time since being out of mine, the ES has the edge in low speed situations, the GS' stiffer springs are apparent when going over speed bumps and in and out of driveway aprons, etc. Where the GS really bests the ES is at speed, its more sophisticated suspension setup really flattens and dampens the ride, the GS glides down the road more effortlessly and flatter, while the ES is more active on local roads and on the highway. Thats not a difference I felt was there in the previous ES and GS, its not that the ES has degraded its that the GS has improved tremendously in body and frame rigidity. The GS feels much more premium driving down the road at 75 than the ES does, which you would expect given the price difference.

ES300h and ES350 ride identically, any difference is in your head, the suspension is the same.

This is absolutely true, especially in the rear.

 

I think almost every other post I've read of you in the ES350 forum bemoans the plastic quality used in some areas of the car. Clearly this is a big deal to you, enough to revise your previous assessment below and opt to instead lease the GS:

And now, it feels like this board constantly gets a fresh reminder of your revised thoughts on the subject. I think we got it.

 

Quite frankly it makes me angry, and yes it wasn't until I really spent some time in the interior of the car that I realized just how much quality they had cut.

I'm just responding to the thread at hand, I didn't bring it up in this thread. All I did here was agree with the OP that the materials in the GS are much better, although I could see how someone would like the look of the ES' dash more.

 

Well of course for another 10k you're going to get nicer materials everywhere, RWD, extra sportiness and more available toys. With the only trade off being rear legroom and trunk room. To each his own and what you're willing to spend for it.

 

Absolutely...and really its an extra $15k optioned similarly.

My frustration is that $40k and the ES used to buy you a lot of what you have to move up to the GS now to get.

 

I think Lexus did a much better job on differentiating their ES,GS and LS customers with these 2013 models. Now the GS truly fits between the ES and LS much better rather than being too far Left from the middle.

 

Sadly $40k doesn't get you much when it comes to a mid-sized car anymore.

 

This is definitely true...

 

I'm actually happy they did this, as many GS owners used to complain about this. The ES is the entry level lexus mid-size and the price and interior looked way better than the GS which people were paying a whole lot more to buy and looked like there was less in it. I think the ES is at the right spot, it's still better than some competitors.

Totally agree, it finally fits where it belongs.

 

Be aware, GS is clearly a 4 passenger car. The center back seat is positioned higher than the outer seats. Headroom is impossible for all but small children.