I am excited to begin a Lexus journey and looking at used ES models. Based on reputation, I no-brained an assumption that I would snag a current generation ES but the more I look, the more impressive other generations are, as well. Consumer Reports seemed to indicate a quality dropoff after 2019. Is that true? I know they base ratings from customer surveys and have consistently done so over many years. But everywhere I look on YouTube, the current generation gets high marks. My gut says over time, they may prove to be just as reliable but the CR ratings had me pausing.

Any thoughts on that or what review sources offer the best ratings? Thank you.

 

What are your goals and budget? All ratings are BS and paid advertiment. Lexus and Toyota are the most reliable vehicles general speaking, ES is 1 of the best if not the best selling cars in its segment. That speaks volume.

Get a 2023+ ES and enjoy it if you can, 2019 - 2022 are all good overall, yeah the 2007 and 2013 ES are good too but they are 10 - 20 years old, so old that it's irrelevant to discuss anything rather than if the engine and transmission are still good, because everything else could go bad tomorrow. You can visit the other ES sub forums for better findings, I've never heard nobody said 2019+ ES is worse than previous gen.

 

Just to be clear Consumer Reports doesn't accept advertising.

 

trust me bro
j/k numbers don't lie, people do, just look at statistics.

 

Some of these ratings also downgrade "quality" for things that are design choices and not flaws or defects, such as people who kept complaining about the continued presence of the track pad. JD Powers dings cars for things reflecting user error/uninformed users (like, gee, I never read the manual types) like "difficult" infotainment systems. If they are complicated (without knowing what you're doing) but function as designed then they're NOT quality issues.

 

You ask a great question in terms of goals. I want a nice looking, comfortable car that won't cost me a lot of money in maintenance. I had an A6 and although it never had any major issues, everything cost more. And I have to assume at some point it would have cost me a LOT more. I have no idea what the future holds in terms of car cost. I don't know how we ever get backwards on pricing, so my thought is to get something now that is enjoyable to drive, comfortable, looks good and allows me to feel comfortable when I budget a lower number for annual maintenance.

 

You ask a great question in terms of goals. I want a nice looking, comfortable car that won't cost me a lot of money in maintenance. I had an A6 and although it never had any major issues, everything cost more. And I have to assume at some point it would have cost me a LOT more. I have no idea what the future holds in terms of car cost. I don't know how we ever get backwards on pricing, so my thought is to get something now that is enjoyable to drive, comfortable, looks good and allows me to feel comfortable when I budget a lower number for annual maintenance.

 

Great point. Thank you for pointing that out. I will take a closer look at what those sources are saying in terms of mechanical vs. those things you noted.

 

I think a good number of the build quality complaints are due to the 7th Gen ES being built on the same plant as Camry in Kentucky. We all know many of us, including myself, experienced lots of squeaks and rattles. Some in the headliner which is nearly impossible to fix without risking doing further damage.

On my personal ES, (2021), I experienced:

Crooked doors
Crooked dash (driver's side)
Crooked hood (passenger's side)
Bubbling clear coat on trunk
Squeaks/rattles (most fixed DIY)
Occasional stalling (momentary cutoff of power) in intersection. No response whatsoever to gas pedal.
Thinner/hollower shutting/sounding doors than past Lexuses. For example the top of the door panel you rest your arm on is paper thin.

Reliability of the V6 should be fine, though many complain about the transmission, especially in earlier 19-21 years. they say it lags, skips, kicks etc. Check out the posts.

The V6 ES of this generation is last of the "simple ESes." Next time around they'll inherit the new NX/RX guts... go look at those sub forums and see what the quality/reliability is like. So if you want a simple ES, this is the last one to get.

 

op ask for thoughts so we gave him thoughts

 

Check out the Edmunds website and their review of the 7th Gen ES. It’s very positive and at, the same time, objective. Also read the owners’ reviews that are posted there. Again, generally quite positive but, also frank and revealing of real life ownership experiences of our model.

 

Get this, best bang your your buck for an ES:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...xus-es350.html

or go all in with a fully loaded ES 350 F-Sport handling package - it will look good and drive fun and last forever, what maintenance there none.
or go with a ES 350 Ultra Luxury - it will look elegant and drive cloudy and last forever, what maintenance there none.
or go with a ES 300H F-Sport design package - it will look good and drive super cloudy, save gas and last long, what maintenance there none.
or go with a ES 300H F-Sport handling package - it will look good and drive fun & cloudy, save gas and last long, what maintenance there none.

 

I like the FSport looks. It sounds like you said what I had thought on FSport - that the FSport model had appearance changes only, and the FSport handling packages actually had changes that affected the ride. Whether or not you like the ride effects is obviously subjective. Savagegeese guys said "just don't..." on getting FSport.

Does that mean an FSport appearance (not handling) drives the same as the other models?

Hoping for some good CPO deals to pop up, but we may be past the point of no return on prices.

 

Those model type configurations do NOT exist and have never existed with this generation of Lexus ES. There has never been any type of F-Sport add-on package for the Ultra Luxury model types ( or the Luxury model types either).

It is either ES 350 Ultra Luxury. ES 300H Ultra Luxury. ES 350 F-Sport Design, or ES 300H F-Sport Design. Also prior to the 2023 the F-Sport Design (as well as the F-Sport Handling) model types didn't exist - it was just F-Sport.

 

I had a 2017 built in Japan and a 2022 built in the US. I haven't noticed quality differences except with rattles and squeaks. Definitely more on the 2022. I also have a high-pitched whistle that seems to come from my drivers side mirror that I can't hunt down. 50K miles and so far, no suspension noises. The suspension noises started on the 2017 around 150K miles. We'll see how long it takes on the 2022.