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Is it worth paying the extra money for the 2019 7 Gen.
Or is the 18 a better buy ?
Only you can answer that based on your personal needs and resources. The latest generation would be my choice. I took delivery of my 19 five years ago this month and nearly 70K miles later, it's still a great car. Test drive the 19 - some trannys are a bit jerky depending on your driving style.
19 has the noticeably renewed body style, too. That's part of what brought me to it, knowing the car would have that latest-gen look for some time. I can hardly tell, visually, the difference between 19-23, but an 18 is easy to identify as older-gen
If you choose the hybrid model, the battery was repositioned under the rear seat in 2019. The prior model used a significant portion of the trunk. Early 2019 300h models are bulletproof.
Echoing the other posters here, but it's largely a matter of your priorities and personal taste.
Pluses of '18:
•Rated even more reliable by Car Care Nut and Consumer Reports
•Old-school interior might look more luxurious to your eyes
•Softer ride
•Engine/transmission are simpler and more proven
•Probably cheaper to buy
Pluses of '19:
•Newer styling inside and out
•More and better electronic safety nannies and self-driving features
•All-new chassis, first in about 20 years, more rigid and more crash-safe
•Better handling
•Better performance no matter which powertrain you're shopping
•Should hold its value better
The good thing about this quiz is that there are really no wrong answers. If the car you're looking at has solid papers and passes an independent pre-purchase inspection, you can confidently buy whichever one floats your boat. Both are very, very solid bets.
Last edited by LexFinally; Dec 10, 2023 at 08:14 AM.
The 7th gen is a very large car for what it is. I really like my 300h but my wife hates to drive it because she says it’s hard to park.
Ive had a few large flagship sedans before and I also like that it looks a lot like the LS500 but if you don’t like large cars you should definitely drive one and park it a few times. It shares chassis with the Avalon instead of the Camry and as such it’s noticibly bigger. The last ES shared with the Camry and was more of a midsize. The 7ES also has a lot more refinement and punches way above its price if you like a very quiet ride. To me there’s no comparison between the 7 and the 6th gen.
Echoing the other posters here, but it's largely a matter of your priorities and personal taste.
Pluses of '18:
•Rated even more reliable by Car Care Nut and Consumer Reports
•Old-school interior might look more luxurious to your eyes
•Softer ride
•Engine/transmission are simpler and more proven
•Probably cheaper to buy
Pluses of '19:
•Newer styling inside and out
•More and better electronic safety nannies and self-driving features
•All-new chassis, first in about 20 years, more rigid and more crash-safe
•Better handling
•Better performance no matter which powertrain you're shopping
•Should hold its value better
The good thing about this quiz is that there are really no wrong answers. If the car you're looking at has solid papers and passes an independent pre--purchase inspection, you can confidently buy whichever one floats your boat. Both are very, very solid bets.
