AJLex19

Everything in the ES feels softer - the steering, the suspension, even the handles and little compartments IMHO. The ES likens its drive to an LS - comfortable, serene, and quiet...although not as good as the LS of course. The ES has adequate power and cruises well.

The GS feels nimble, quick and smaller than it actually is. Handling is excellent and it has two personalities: on the one hand, you can drive it so that the ride is super calm and luxurious...on the other, it has an amazing athletic and strong build, feel and overall driving capability.
If you like to drive your car through a curvy road, give it wide-open-throttle and want that sporty feel, you'll love the GS. If you want soft, cushy and compliant go for the ES. Driving the two back-to-back will help you make your decision.

Personally, I think a Lux Pkg GS is the best choice if you are comparing these two cars as it provides the right middle ground between the two. The ES can never feel like the GS though..the 4GS just has a great character.

peteharvey

ES has throttle/power understeer; squeezing the throttle increases the understeer, with more dialling of the steering wheel required around a turn.
GS has throttle/power oversteer: squeezing the throttle increases the oversteer, with less turning of the steering wheel required around a turn.

OneFunGS

I agree with almost everything in this post except the seats. With the lux package and the 18 way seats the ES cannot touch the comfort of this. My wife has severe back issues and could not even sit in the ES for the duration of the test drive. Once we got in the GS she said it was comfortable...that never happens lol.

Also, the memory seat thing...I have not found a single car brand where the seats move when not in park using the memory feature. My Hyundai Genesis, Kia K900 and Toyota 4Runner Limited all require being in park to use the memory seat option.

samsausage

What year is your GS? Because my seats are way too hard. I have a 2014 Lux and I could tell a big difference between the ES loaner I had and my GS. I love all the adjustability, just wish I had softer padding, because my butt doesn't have enough!

As far as the seat memory, I had a Benz S550 before this that worked while driving, I just needed to keep the button pressed down. My wife's Acura TL's Memory also works fine while driving. Surely it's a safety "Feature". Wish I could figure out a way to hack it...

Sam

OneFunGS

2013 GS here.

DJP333

I don't mean to be a ***** here, but you do realize that ES is front wheel drive and GS is rear wheel drive right? This makes all the difference in the world. I absolutely hate front wheel drive cars. As someone said in a prior comment: "Basically, you ride in an ES and you drive a GS", nuff said.

drgrant

They're both pretty damned reliable. We're talking Lexus here, that's why people buy this brand. . IMHO it depends on how you look at your ride- if you actually like to drive, the GS is much better choice. The handling is going to be much better and have much less body roll, and you'll have greater confidence if you drive even a touch aggressively. The ES can still hold its own pretty well, and has decent juice, but it's not in the same ball park as the GS's juice level- nor will it maneuver the way a GS does. I drive my 2015 GS F-sport CPO every day, and from time to time I drive a 2013 ES, both are great cars, but when I'm in the ES I tend to drive it much more conservatively because of the way the car handles. The body roll and squish, as it were, in the ES, is much more apparent. Assuming an F sport or lux package GS, the seats will hold you in place better too during more aggressive driving. If you're more of a point A to point B in comfort" kind of guy, the ES is probably a better
choice, particularly if you carry rear passengers on a regular basis, as they'll have extra legroom in the back, although the GS is no slouch in this department, it looks tighter than it actually is, that said, an ES would likely move 4 really tall people more comfortably. Also if you ever squish a 3rd person in the back, that's just about a no go on the GS because of the driveshaft hump, just isn't happening realistically.

WRT operating costs though- if you are not a high mileage driver (under 10-15K a year) the costs aren't going to matter much. however if you put on the miles, like I do (I go between 20-30K a year!) over time a GS will cost you more in brakes and maybe tires depending on the size wheels you have, etc, as well as the obvious gas price difference between premium and regular and the mileage hit.

As far as the warranty goes, you'd be silly to NOT get a CPO ES or GS, the current unlimited mileage vs time warranty being offered by Lexus is unparalelled, tells you
how reliable these cars really are. A lot of them are offering 20K worth of free maintenance, too. You could get either of these cars under your budget- hell my CPO 15 F-sport GS cost 38K but it was loaded and only had 11,500 miles on it and had all the options and the colors I wanted. That said, sometimes you might have to do some detective work to get the CPO car you want. I had to get mine from NJ, as none of the CPO GSes up in the northeast had the combination of features and low mileage that I wanted. (2015, Nebula Gray, under 20K miles, (mine was 11500) Cabernet interior, ML Audio, BSM, Nav, backup camera, F-Sport pkg AWD).

Honestly try to test drive both, then make a decision. I think if you like driving at all, or like pushing the car at all, the GS is a no brainer... just be aware you're going to pay for it in terms of fuel economy/cost and perhaps giving up a TOUCH of ride softness on rough roads.... although honestly the damping on the newer ESes is pretty tight compared to the old ones; so the ride quality difference isn't as dramatic as a lot of people make it out to be. If ride quality (and road isolation) is king, the LS is really the only choice left at this point that has that old school ES/LS feel to it, problem is in your case that probably pushes you out of your price bracket unless you're willing to look at a higher mileage LS that isn't a CPO car. In my case I came from a 2010 Camry LE V6, and I wanted something that didn't have that damn body roll and I could drive it a little harder, the GS was the only rational choice given those constraints. I wouldn't have hated an ES but I'd basically feel like I was driving a really comfortable version of my old car; and that would have only felt like getting half of what I wanted. Obviously your personal calculus may be entirely different. Another way of putting it too is- if you're in a GS fsport/lux and you got that seat set up right, you feel like you are more "one with the car" than in an ES where basically you're just kinda sitting on a sofa driving the car. The GS just feels "more planted" to the road, too. I realize its an odd analogy but if you drive both for anything more than a few minutes down the street, you will see what I'm getting at. In either car spend some time adjusting the seat and steering wheel to your taste, it is imperative in either to really feel comfortable.

-Mike

drgrant

I think this is important too, I think depending on the given car and the driver's body type the seats are going to feel different. My GS's seats are firm but I've never found it lacking in comfort- but I can see how someone who is taller and heavier than I am might have a different opinion, etc.

It's worth noting though that it took me quite a bit of tinkering to find that happy medium- between the two lumbar settings, and the side bolsters and the thigh extension,
etc. The thing is though I'm like 5'5" and 180 lbs, and most of my excess weight is in the spare tire, so I'm not facing the same distribution as someone who is say, 6
feet tall and 200+ lbs with a more normal weight distribution.

-Mike

kadams1123

I would have never considered getting the old Camry based ES. It had very floaty suspension and spongy steering. But I am impressed with how improved the later Avalon based ES is. And they are a bit cheaper price wise than the GS. Although the price difference seems to narrow somewhat in the used car market over new.

If cost of ownership is an issue,I would not overlook that fact that the ES gets better gas mileage and runs on regular gas while the GS requires premium. The price difference does add up over the years.

I considered getting into an ES for years but the little boy in me kept gravitating towards the GS. You really need to test drive both to know what the difference is. For me, the GS is A LOT more fun to drive and I am very happy with the 2013 GS I recently purchased. My wallet might be a bit lighter but the little boy in me doesn’t seem to care.

abcchoier

Just pickup 2015 F-Sport 7500mi came with ML, HUD, LDH, BSM... for $35,580+ TTL is it good deal?

samsausage

Sounds like a fair deal, Summer of 2016 I purchased a CPO 2014 GS350 AWD with the Lux Package, Winter Package, BSM with ~22k miles for $32,500

Pacman9270

I picked the '14 GS350 F-Sport due to better interior finishes, exterior styling(Body/Wheels), and better performance. I say this, taking nothing away from the ES. That is a great car.

yllwneck86

I traded in my 2006 IS350 for a 2014 GS350. Not a big fan of front wheel drive cars. When my IS was at the dealership getting the water pump replaced, I was given a ES300h as a loaner during the service. It drove nice and the interior was okay. Just kept running in my head that the ES is a over-glorified Toyota Camry. When I was in the shop again for the Takata recall and wheel bearing replacement, I got a GS350 as a loaner and was pretty much sold on the car after having it for 3 days.

ilv1004s

iTrader: (8)

GS vs ES is that even a comaprison ?
and yes i have both 2014 ES and a 2014 GS

roblim

My family has both a 2014 GS350 and a 2014 ES400h. Hands down the GS is the more premium car. Rear wheel drive, a very powerful V6, and strong brakes. I love the GS. We are looking to trade in the ES soon. Its noisy for a Lexus (4 cyl doesnt help) and it doesnt feel all that premium. We should have gotten a Camry Hybrid instead.

I would skip the F sport version. Brake jobs on the F sport are pretty expensive ($900) and the pads do not last long on the GS so its an expensive repair that happens rather frequently. My 2014 was CPO with 13k miles and I bought it for $34k. Yes, it had some minor scrapes and dents that were imperfectly repaired by the dealership so CPO isnt perfect as someone mentioned above, but i still like the peace of mind of the warranty and the included maintenance is nice. I also happen to think that the better GSs are going to be sold as CPO. The crappy ones end up at carmax or non Lexus dealers.