LS430inDE.

Hello everyone. I've been shopping 2013-2015 ES's for a month now. I've read informative posts here on CL, and also disappointing threads as well. We aren't owners of an ES just yet, but for those of you who own 2013-2015's ES's, I'd like your candid opinions on what you DISLIKE, what you think needs IMPROVEMENT, and what you're DISSATISFIED and UNHAPPY with. If you have a hybrid, you can post your gripes/niggles/complaints, but please annotate if yours is a hybrid.

I'd like a statement of which year ES you own (2013, 2014, 2015), followed by a couple sentences to support your opinion. Your 1st complaint (if you have more than 1), should be the most significant, followed by your last as your most minor quibble. For example---, and these are examples as I'm not an ES owner........

1) Seats (NuLuxe) are shredding. After 20k miles of driving, the seats show terrible deterioration.
2) Condensation forming in headlight. 37k miles and water is visible in driver's side headlamp assembly and car is out of warranty.
3) Remote start poorly designed. Car shuts off after remotely started, and then a door is opened. Poor design.
4) Rattles/squeaks while driving. Multiple rattles/squeaks while driving coming from sunroof area, dash area, and driver's side window seal.

Before you ask, yes----I'm seeking to hear ALL the complaints/gripes that you owners have. This isn't a 'feel good pat ourselves on the back' thread. On the flipside, this isn't simply a bashing thread. These are REAL COMPLAINTS. Regardless how minor or major, please post it. If there's already a thread similar to this, sorry for a repeat!

Ratchey

My complaint with that series is the seat. It is curved at the top and I found it very uncomfortable. (I have a tall torso) Same problem with the '13 RX450h I had for a few weeks.
I was ready to buy a 2014 ES but after a 30 minute drive, my back was already aching. I did not want to buy a new one, but they changed the seat design in the '16s and it is much more comfortable for me.
Plus I much prefer the interior in the '16 over the previous series.

TechNut

We have a 15 300h. The seats fit us great so I believe it will depend greatly on your physical size. I am 5'8" and my wife is a few inches shorter. In general, I have no real complaints after two years. The NuLuxe seats are holding up just fine, really better than the leather in our previous RX. No rattles either. For a car at this price point, there just isn't much that I can "complain" about.

With that said, I guess there are just a couple of minor niggles. I think the remote start needs some attention. I am frustrated that it shuts off when opening the door even if the key is present. I also don't like that the app errors out about 50% of the time and requires a second attempt to start the car.

My second minor niggle is a frustration that most of the Nav functions are disabled while the vehicle is in motion. My wife and I generally carpool and the passenger is perfectly capable of using the system while the vehicle is in motion. The driver does not require the passenger's assistance, so why not let them use the system (sarcasm...). The car has a seat sensor and it knows if there is a passenger or not - so it could disable the system only if there is only one occupant.

My third niggle is that the deicer is really buried under the environmental controls and then only stays on for ten minutes. Is is very distracting to dig through the menus while driving on slick roads where the deicer might be helpful. Using the logic from up above on my second challenge, I'm surprised the Lexus legal people didn't disable that too while the vehicle is in motion. It should be easier (fewer menu levels) to reach and ask how long it needs to remain on. With temps here ranging from single digits to barely 20's, it would be helpful for more than a few minutes. Every time it shuts off you can hear the wipers start to scrape again at the bottom of their travel.

That's it for me. None of these are huge issues from my perspective. Just minor stuff. My only real "complaint" is the black interior and that was purely a bad color choice on my part. That has no bearing on anything other than my OCD nature. Our parchment interiors have been easier to take care of.

lesz

I had my 2013 ES 350 for about 3 1/2 years. My list of complaints would be very small, and I liked my 2013 ES so much that, when I traded it in, I bought a 2017 ES without hesitation.

My biggest complaint is with two design decisions made by Lexus related to the climate control system. First, I would prefer that there was a dedicated button on the dash for the AC compressor. Without such a button, you need to go into the menus to turn the compressor off. Also, I don't like the way that, when using the AC and when the outside temperature is above 75, the system defaults to the re-circulate mode every time the car is re-started, and constantly using the re-circulate mode results in somewhat stale air quality. When the temperature is above 75 and when you are using the AC, if you want to use the fresh air mode, you need to manually switch to it after every re-start.

On both of the Generation 6 ES vehicles that I've owned, I've only used the remote start once just to make sure that it worked, but, if I did use the remote start regularly, I'm sure that I'd agree with others who have complained about various aspects of its operation.

My 2013 ES originally had a bit of chatter in certain temperature conditions that came from the assist handles above the front doors, but I was able eliminate that with a bit of foam in about 5 minutes. Otherwise, it didn't have a hint of a rattle or a squeak. The 2017 seems to be completely quiet, but I haven't had it long enough to know if any extraneous sounds might appear as temperatures vary.

jollick

2013 ES300h UL, 33,000 miles. Purchased new in January 2013. No complaints, no rattles. It just works and does an excellent job.

azipod

I have no complaints. It does everything just right for what the car is. If I HAD to complain about something, I would say perhaps a more muted engine for the Hybrid, and better vehicle handling/response. But now i'm just being picky!

Maljunulo

I have no complaints, but I have only had my 2013 for a month, and just turned over 28,000 miles.

If I had ordered it from the factory, I would have chosen everything the same.