The Pros:

1.) I like the Tech – Android Auto especially. And the seamless connection between my phone the car.

2.) I like the Climate concierge. Setting the Steering wheel heat and seats to Auto is great – Set it and forget it.

3.) I like the Smooth Ride – I had to get rid of the Bridstone Turanzos the first couple hundred miles (which were noisy and rough) and replaced with the 235/45R-18 Vredestein Quatrac Pro+ XL Tires to achieve a decent ride.

4.) Gas Mileage is great !

The Cons:

1.) The Drivers seat – With the stiff sharp angle Bolsters pressing into my Legs and it is slightly painful and very annoying. I tried a seat cushion, but after it wore and sunk into the seat, it was not helping. I am not prone to back pain, that others complain of so I think I can live with the pain and hope I get used to it. I’m going to try, but it’s not pleasant. I remember my 3 other Lexus Cars and the seats were the Big Plus and Comfort was a Lexus Trademark.

2.) This is a mild negative – The car does not feel like anything special. You see a lot of these on the road. It’s not like the feeling that I had my 99 Lexus GS300 or Any of my 3 Genesis Sedans that I have owned. It’s more like I felt with my 3 Honda Accords…. Which is OK, but Lexus does not have the prestige that it used to have. Overall, I like the car, and if it doesn’t give me any problems that can’t be fixed, I will be glad about the purchase.

And the Big Caveat:

I have read on these forums about Rattles on the ES350. Lots of people complaining about rattles and the dealership not being able to fix them. This is a real nightmare for myself as my 2007 Lexus GS350 had Dash Rattles, as well as many others did on these very forums. I had countless trips to the dealer, had my dash torn apart and re-assembled 3 times. They never were able to fix the rattles, ever! The dealership bent over backwards and were basically trying to ‘rebuild’ the GS350 to fix the rattles. All of the posts on this forums about rattles in the ES350 has me ‘Spooked’.

Having owned three Genesis Sedans (And I still own one) and spent a lot of time on the Genesis owners forums, rattles were rarely if ever mentioned. I never had rattles in my Genesis Sedans. They are built right.

I have not had any rattles thus far in my ES350…… But if I have a rattle, other than the dash, I will give the dealership one chance to fix it. If the dealership fails to fix it, or I have a dash rattle, I will run down to my local Genesis dealership and trade the Lexus for a brand new Genesis G80 and never look back. I won’t care if I ‘take a bath’ on the trade in either. I’m getting too old to f*ck around again with rattles. Rattles are the ONLY problem that sometimes cannot be fixed!

 

Rattles never mentioned in the Genesis forum. What about the drama that floods those forums🤣

 

I have no idea what you're talking about. I've only been on the G80 forum and the First Generation Genesis.
I cannot remember ever reading about rattles that could not be corrected there.

 

To each his own, of course, but why didn't you buy a G80 instead?

Personally, I couldn't bring myself to spending that much money for a glorified Hyundai. The equivalent of a G80 to a UL ES350 puts you in a price range where there are many other options (even BMW, etc). The value proposition of an ES (even in Ultra Lux form) can't really be beat, IMHO. My son actually told me to check out a Genesis...he was convinced I could find a good used one for $30K (lol)

Our 2015 ES350 is stellar...no rattles, etc, but it was also built in Japan. Our 2025 has a snap/crackle/pop pano roof (which many other brands experience as well), but so far so good...car only has 60 miles on it though lol

Ride is a little harsher on the 2025 than our 2015, but that could be the tires as you mentioned. I think they also made the 7th gen a bit "sportier" in regards to suspension (even in non-F-Sport form) which accounts for some harshness. I wouldnt say I like the smooth ride if it requires I buy new tires, though.

 

Because there was no inventory of the G80 I wanted last summer when I bought the ES350.....
I've owned 3 Genesis and I love them. Still own one. But it seems they are getting out of the U.S. Sedan Market
I detailed my purchase in a post back in June of 2025, if you're interested.

And No German Cars for me...

 

For me the ES350 all that matters is seat comfort and ride quality. When I owned one it was perfect for road trips or traffic. I actually liked that it was subdued and didnt stand out like say a Mercedes with their redesigns. Sadly it was the wife's car and what I liked about it she hated so she went with a german more "sporty" now.

 

A plethora of horror stories ranging from dealer service or lack thereof to strut assemblies crashing through the upper end but whatever. The Genesis models look sharp on first look but not for me at those prices and depreciation rates. Good luck with your ES and hope there's no rattles anytime soon🙃 My ES seven years old now and nearly 90k miles and never a single trip to the dealer for anything but routine maintenance stuff.

 

The time I spent on the Genesis forums, was before 2018, before I bought my last Genesis (Which I still own). So, I didn't see the 'horror' stories. And I was only on the G80 forums, not the other models, which may have had strut assembly problems. I don't think it was a G80 problem, as this is the first I have heard about it. My Genesis have been mostly flawless. I had a Headlight go out in my 2014 in the first 6 months, but that was about it. So, I've had great luck with them..... No rattles on all three of them.

I am hoping that the ES350 is as good as my 99 Lexus GS300 or my 2003 ES300... They were great cars..... My 2007 GS350 was a huge problem car, and there were dozens of people with the same experience on these forums back in 2007. I don't even mind a problem with a car, if the dealership can fix it..... Like I said they mostly can't fix rattles. And that seems to be experience of people that have had rattles here. And I have bet $57 Grand on not having a rattle. We'll see how it goes.

 

Genesis Forums are full of complaints and issues. Based on that, I would say that the reliability of these cars is crap.

 

Well, they could say the same about the ES also........ My experience after owning 3 Full Size Genesis Sedans are that they are mostly flawless. I've had less problems than the 3 Lexus that I've owned previously to my ES350. Also are you talking about the Original Genesis Models (I've owned 2) or the G80 ? They got into the SUV line also....

And remember people come to forums to complain and get help with problems.
So, no the reliability is not 'crap'.

 

Aren't the Quatrac pro + too stiff due to being XL instead of SL?

 

There definitely won't be an era like the 99 GS again for Lexus. I remember those cars brand new in the dealer back then. Japanese (and german) premium cars were special back then. Pleated leather, refined, smooth, elegant. In terms of that "Feel" for ES. I'd say 6ES and even 5ES were peak ES in that regard.

Despite the apparent design & QC issues Lexus still has today though, i'd still pick it over Genesis. I'd pick a lot of things over Genesis. I'm sure it's a "nice place to sit in" has nice materials etc, but so do other cars in its class. What can Genesis do that other cars cant. Do they make a gas guzzle only version or can they also have a car like the hybrid / Camry es powertrain that gets high 40s mpg? Cuz i dunno about 19mpg all for 5 seconds 0-60.

i'd much rather have a 2016 ES300h in old man color with 60k miles vs a new G80 lol. hands down.

 

I guess by definition the XL is supposed to be stiffer than SL. But, here is how I selected these Tires.
I went to Tire Rack and used their 'Tire Decision guide' and selection only One Criteria for the Grand Touring All Season Category
and that was 'Ride Quality & Noise'. And the Vredestein Quatrac Pro+ was the Number 1 Choice last summer for my Make and Model Car. This was last summer,
and today you get slightly different results, but this tire still comes in the Top 3 Choices. So, I never paid any attention to the Load Rating.
But apparently this tire is able to Ride better with less noise despite the Load Rating. I would definitely buy them again.
In fact .................................



I am going to have to buy Tires when I get back from the winter on my 2018 Genesis G80 and so I ran the same decision guide just now and also got this:
This is how I have bought tires the last 20 years and that Tire Rack Guide has never let me down.

 

Anyone who researches at any length quickly sees that the G80 is a costlier, "more premium car" than the ES. Savagegeese, an admirer of the ES, said it in exactly those words.

Those who can afford a costlier car such as the G80 and yet buy an ES generally do so for the ES's acknowledged advantages: Greater reliability (yes, greater reliability), better dealer support, cheaper maintenance, better fuel economy on regular gas, and longer trouble-free service life. If you don't view those as advantages, all that's left is to grouse about how it's not as luxurious as the Genesis. To be blunt, it's clear you will never be truly pleased with this car, and I would definitely advise you to sell it and buy another Genesis.

 

Wow !! - I guess you must have missed my first post on this thread, where I specifically mentioned better gas mileage, a great smooth quiet ride, and the Great Tech interface on the ES350. As far reliability goes, with Asian cars that pretty much goes without saying. I have owned 3 Honda Accords a Nissan Maxima and 3 Genesis and Now I'm on my 4th Lexus. All of them have been very reliable cars with the exception of the 2007 Lexus GS350. So, my personal experiences give the reliability edge to the Genesis Brand. And you must have missed this statement ---- "Overall, I like the car, and if it doesn’t give me any problems that can’t be fixed, I will be glad about the purchase."

My only real negative was the uncomfortable drivers seat, which I said I'm going to try and get used to. And I'm hardly alone on this seat complaint. And I am "spooked" about the rattle complaints on these forums, but I also said I have NOT had any rattles yet. Sorry, but I tried to give my honest assessment of the car thus far.