They rebadged and reworked the 3rd generation Camry for the ES250.

 

This is my personal experience after falling in love with the HS in paper and pictures, and finally test driving it:

When I test drove the car, I'm afraid to say I was not impressed. DISCLAIMER: I own an IS300 since 2001 and absolutely love it. Since the HS came out, I fell in love with it, and was looking forward to test it and finally change my overdue IS300 for a new Hybrid Lexus. I know hybrids are not supposed to be powerful, but when I pressed the accelerator to get some power in the road, the HS it wines like if the motor was going to explode. I also wasn't impressed by the dashboard look and angle. It feels like an SUV inside, without the space and roominess, and even though I tried to ignore the fact that it looks like a Camry or Corolla, it finally daunted on me; It looked like a Toyota.

There is also a lot of road noise inside the cabin, and the shift gear is placed in a weird console position and looks kind of wimpy and small.
The mouse interface to the screen looks very cool, but in reality, it feels awkward and I ended up wishing the screen was touch sensitive.

I was very disappointed, and ended up drive testing the IS250 and the IS350, and finally realized, once you have a powerful car like the IS300, it's hard to go down to anything less powerful. Even the 250 felt underpowered under my standards, and decided to get the IS350 for the same price I was going to pay for the HS.

I know is not fair or accurate to compare the HS to the IS, but I was someone who thought the HS could be for me, but when reality settled down, I knew that wasn't the car for me.

 

Not sure if this will work, but here's Consumer Reports' Review of the HS...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9487437...82616/sizes/l/

 

I'm starting to get depressed....

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/rev...h/#more-333344

 

Dont be. The reviews are written by guys that love their mother in the way they should love their girlfriend and the comments are usually written by people who have a collective I.Q of a saltine cracker. Every once in awhile they get it right and don't let bias rule the review.

The guy didn't even ELABORATE on ANY of the technology. Which is a huge point of the car. Instead the Neanderthal was more concerned on items that the HS does not prioritize. NO ONE buys a HS b/c of how it handles or b/c it is fast (except in the realm of most other hybrids).

Why does every dumbass reviewer think EVERY car should drive like a 911 2.7 RS.

Morons.

 

Actually, after my "I'm starting to get depressed" comment, I re-read the review and came to the same conclusion as you. All these HS reviews have been unnecessarily harsh (other than over the nondescript styling which, I believe, is worthy of criticism...). I'm getting an HS because of the techno gadgets and fuel economy, not because I view my sexual prowess in terms of how big my engine is...

 

Ya know, that article bugs me because its pretty clear that in my mind the only real comparisons that can be made to the HS250 are are the fusion/milan and Camry Hybrid. For the life of me, I dont see how you can even compare this to a prius or a corolla. Regardless, before I bought my HS, I test drove the aforementioned cars and for me, the closest competition was the Camry.

I think the folks commenting are just going by what they hear and not really driving it because if they did, they would find to me more than impressed with the HS250h.

 

Most people making "Corolla" comments about the HS have really never bothered to see what the car is really all about. Never judge a book by it's cover. That definitely applies with the HS.

 

Another review. This one quite positive!

http://www.thecarmagazine.com/en/details.asp?sno=2095

 

And another: http://www.nadaguides.com/garage-blo...s-hs-250h.aspx

 

Avensis looks so much better than HS, it doesnt have that ugly corolla like overhangs look... not sure why they didnt simply do that, afterall it uses same chasis...

 

Oh, boy.
Another lackluster review:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35585326/ns/business-autos/

 

That review was bad from the beginning. If you're afraid of getting the car because of bad reviews why don't you consider the ES. That car has always been top of class and will probably end up having better resale values...

 

Oh, I'm not bothered by the reviews (I know why *I* want the car, so not that concerned with the critics) -- it's just so annoying that the reviews so consistently fail to recognize the intent of the car.

 

I think reviews are mixed overall. And I don't like the Corolla comments. I did think that it looked somewhat like the Corolla when I was researching for a new car. But, when I went to the dealer a few days ago, I was sold. We brought the car home last night.