Hi Folks. I am seeking tips to shop for a 2019 or 2020 ES (probably Hybrid), ideally within the next few weeks.

I live in Boca Raton, FL
I can go new or used (though haven't seen many 2019 used hybrids)
I'm seeking a light colored exterior and interior to help better manage heat
Low road noise is a priority
Not too concerned about aesthetics or added speed/performance

Any particular dealership recommendations, tips, or tricks? Any features you advise I look for?

Not sure if you already own a Lexus so in case you do not. Consumer Reports ranks Lexus #1 in reliability. J D Power has ranked Lexus #1 in dependability for eight years in a row. They also rank Lexus #1 in brand loyalty. Lexus is also #1 in customer satisfaction. Now you should be sold on Lexus. Below is a great review on the ES h that was in the Wall Street Journal. Love the new design in 2019. Had a 2013 ES h and currently a 2017. Never had one problem. Had a loaner 2019 ES H and drove 55 miles one day and averaged 47 mpg. Great time to buy a hybrid with gas at $2.30 a gallon. Much more bargaining power then at $4.00. Lexus ES is the #1 selling luxury sedan. Based on what others are purchasing for my goal would be 15% of MSRP. There are some threads on pricing on here. Go through them and get a range of discounts. I use this as my offer. When I make my offer the sales person always says where did you come up with that figure. I tell the salesperson based on what I am reading on the Lexus forum the average discount is xx%. I am not looking for the best offer just the average and that is my offer. They have always accepted. Yes I fudge up that average on my first offer.

Lexus ES 300h: Spend on the Luxury, Save on Gas Money

With a stylish exterior, a spacious cabin and a ‘silky, near silent’ hybrid system that gets 44 mpg, this surprising overachiever meets the demands of most drivers. Dan Neil, for once, finds few faults

WELL RED The redesigned ES 300h averages 44 mpg, something no other car in its class can boast. PHOTO: LEXUS

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By
Dan Neil
Jan. 24, 2019 12:02 p.m. ETAT THE OUTSET of what will be a rave review of a slow beige hybrid sedan, I feel the need to lay out my car-guy bona fides. Naturally I enjoy being strapped in the nosecone of a hypercar like the McLaren Senna atop a blooming pillar of testosterone. I believe the greatest TV show in history is Alain de Cadenet’s “Victory by Design.” The three classics I would choose to be marooned with on a desert isle are the Citroën DS21 Decapotable, Facel Vega HK500, and a Porsche 959 Komfort.

But I contain multitudes. I also admire excellence in fuel-efficient, mass-produced large appliances such as our test subject, the redesigned-for-2019 Lexus ES 300h ($44,960 MSRP for Ultra Luxury package, $54,405 as tested). This is the most overachieving car I’ve driven lately, the most surprising, the one whose refinement and per-inch value will give snobby Mercedes and Audi intenders the longest pause. Toyota’s fourth-gen hybrid system is silky, near-silent and super-efficient: 44 mpg, combined. Even the beige—Moonbeam metallic—is fabulous.

I figure about 10% of this column’s annual mailbag is from readers seeking a car with the ES’s very attributes: full-size premium/entry-luxury sedan, extra spacious cabin, great seats, smooth ride, good fuel economy. Plenty o’ buttons. Not too dear—say, in the $50,000s. Lately these letters have been tinged with frustration as sedans themselves have become marginalized by crossover/SUV sales. These people don’t want an SUV, damn it.

Other notes are from longtime ES owners who, while loving their cars, would be interested in something a little less stolid, a little less of a bürgermeisterwagen.


The 2019 Lexus ES300H. PHOTO: LEXUSIt seems like Lexus designers have been talking to the same people. The seventh-generation ES—based on the Toyota Avalon box of parts—is longer, wider and lower than the outgoing model, over a wheelbase 2 inches longer. The rejiggering of dimensions has cascading effects, both practical and poetic. The wider front and rear track and longer wheelbase made the chassis engineers’ job that much easier, improving the platform’s roll resistance and drivability without compromising the ES’s ride quality, which is super-bueno deluxe.

The extra longitude also helped grow rear cabin legroom without compromising trunk space. At 16.7 cubic feet, the trunk was large enough to support a family trip to a destination wedding requiring wardrobe changes like a Cardi B show.

‘The ES’s refinement and per-inch value will give snobby Mercedes and Audi intenders pause.’

On this more ample canvas, Lexus’s exterior stylists composed a compelling shape of light and shadow, bulge and hollow, rake and curve, and above all shameless amounts of brightwork. Please note the vertical bars in the ES 300h’s “spindle” grille, as compared with the warp-and-weave pattern in the LS sedan. The ES now enjoys some of the presence and formality of Lexus’s grand piano, the LS 500, plus its own sidling quintessence.

I have a theory about this car, supported only by long experience with Toyota. Management tolerated above-the-line development and material costs on this iteration because of its being the first ES to be sold in Japan, after years of it being mostly a North American product. It seems clear that Toyota-Lexus’s product development team were rising to home market expectations.

In other words, the ES feels over-engineered, particularly in the realm of chassis construction. What the hell did they put in this thing? Oh, I see: extensive laser screw-welding; twice as much structure adhesive as before; elaborate structural reinforcement at the front strut towers; a third more sound deadening insulation, covering 93% of the floor. Our test car also sported the 18-inch wheels with noise-reducing profiles. So, to recap, dead quiet, solid as a rock.

Like the Avalon, the ES can be had with one of two power sources: a 3.5-liter, 302-hp V6 combined with an eight-speed transmission, returning 26 mpg combined fuel economy. That’s quite good. Our car was fitted with the optional hybrid powertrain: a 2.5-liter, Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder, paired with a hybrid transaxle with integrated electric motors, good for a system max of 215 hp. The 300h’s mileage is outstanding. At anywhere near the rated 44 mpg combined, a user would recoup the system’s $1,000 cost in 2.3 years (assuming 15,000 odometer miles annually and $2 a gallon for gas) and then just keep saving.

On my multiday, 800-mile round trip along the East Coast’s Blue Ridge Parkway, we averaged 41 mpg, which is a real-world number that few gas-burners can match.

It wasn’t what you would call fast. The hybrid gives away 87 hp to the V6-powered version while its max torque is curiously unspecified. It feels like about 260 lb-ft on either side of 3,500 rpm, pitted against a vehicle weighing 3,704 pounds. But whatever exertions the powertrain was making the 300h didn’t complain. Only occasionally, during moments of highest load, I could hear a faint whine, like a beehive in the trunk. Zero-to-60 mph acceleration is 8.1 seconds, a flaming catapult of temperance.

The ES line is front-drive only—no provision for all-wheel drive—so that limits the model’s appeal in the Snow Belt. And despite its disguising proportions, it is also resolutely a front-drive car, with almost 60% of the weight on the front wheels. No matter what engine Toyota puts in it, the ES will never be a sports sedan, running nose-to-tail with a BMW 5. Anywhere outside a racetrack, the BMW’s premium seems harder to fathom.

2019 LEXUS ES 300H ULTRA LUXURY

The Lexus ES 300h interior. PHOTO: LEXUSBase Price: $44,960

Price, as Tested: $54,405

Powertrain: Gas-electric hybrid: Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter DOHC direct-injection four-cylinder with variable-valve timing; dual electric motors integrated in front axle, with regenerative braking; 29.1 kW nickel-metal hydride battery; front-wheel drive

System Net Power: 215 hp (176 hp engine/39 hp electric)

Torque: 260 lb-ft at 3,600 rpm (est.)

0-60 mph: 8.1 seconds (manufacturer estimate)

Length/Width/Height/Wheelbase: 195.9/73.4/56.9/113.0 inches

Curb Weight: 3,704 pounds

EPA Fuel Economy: 43/45/44 mpg, city/highway/combined

Trunk Capacity: 16.7 cubic feet

Interesting. Not looking for the Hybrid, and would like some "Real" owner reviews of their Ultra Luxury model. Is this guy usually critical on Lexus or something?

Right around your corner - Pembroke Pines 954 443 2020
Ask for Sales Rep Joél, or Sales Manager André.
As much as I liked JM Lexus, which I use for service, Pembroke beat JM's "One Price" by two thousand dollars. This was right after release back in Oct '18. They found the car in North Carolina, and I had it in three days.

Go for the FSport.