No air ride. Mark Levinson not all its cracked up to be.
Buy it.

I have a 14 ESh. Only problems I have had are that the sound system (radio, phone everything) mysteriously shuts off randomly. Only way to get it going is to shut off the ignition and start again. It is random and infrequent so dealer has not been able to diagnose it. Other problem is that the AC is prone to develop mold which then has to be cleaned by the dealer. A few, but not all owners have had this problem. Dealer says the AC needs to be service every year but I don’t do it. I have never had this problem with any other car.

Other than that it is a joy to own and drive.

I have a 2015 ES300h, purchased new and aside from rocks hitting the windshield we have had zero problems with it. We also have an NX hybrid which has the same drivetrain, but adds an electric motor for the rear wheels. My wife and I enjoy our hybrids and we are obviously fans as we are now on our fourth hybrid. With that said, do not be fooled into thinking a hybrid will save you money over the life of the vehicle. You will pay more for the hybrid drivetrain, and since you mentioned long term ownership you will eventually need to replace the main drive batteries (likely between 10 to 15 year point). With the cost of fuel today versus these additional costs of hybrid ownership, you would have to drive well over 100K miles to recoup the cost of a hybrid.

Now on I would argue there is more to like with a hybrid than merely the great gas mileage. We enjoy the quieter drive as the car is often in electric mode at low speeds. We also enjoy the smooth drive as a CVT transmission doesn’t have shift points like a standard transmission. The transmission is the very source of frustration for many drivers as they want that positive feel to the shift. This brings me to another point, if you enjoy spirited driving, you would probably be happier with the ES 350.

So do enjoy your test drive and remember to consider all aspects of the vehicle and not just the mileage (40 is hard to achieve but can be done). I just don’t feel the mileage benefit necessarily makes it cheaper to operate over long term ownership. However, there are enough other benefits that I wouldn’t consider any other drivetrain (well perhaps pure electric).

Good luck with your decision!

I have had Camrys, Altimas, Mazda Mellenias, and none of these cars have had a mold issue. They all had ACs and used in similar environments. I wonder why Lexus is plagued with it. If Toyota can build a Camry without this problem why does it happen with a Lexus?

Don’t know if you are concerned about your CO2 impact on the environment, given all the news about the global warming related catastrophe that humanity may be facing in a couple of generations.

I did did an interesting calculation a while ago. I chose a number of cars and trucks spanning a range of sizes and weights, say a F150, a Camry, an Altima, Explorer and yes ES 350 and ESh. I then got their weights and mpg off the internet from manaufacturers and sites like EPA.gov. Then assumed that each of these vehicles was driven 12,000 miles per year. Then used stoichiometry to determine that a gallon of gas produces 20 lbs CO2. Given this input I came to a very interesting and to me an eye opening result:

Most gasoline cars emit about three times their weight in CO2 every year. Or in other words your gasoline car will emit its own weight in CO2 every four months, if you drive 12,000 miles per year. Think about tthat when you a stuck in bumper to bumper traffic amid SUVs and trucks. The result for the ESh was different. It produced 1.7 times its weight in CO2 every year. It is significantly lower than a gasoline car. I had not done this calculation then but I bought mine because of lower emissions.

Also I don’t find the steady sound of the CVT under hard acceleration offensive. Think about the last time you travelled in an airplane. When those big GE or Rolls Royce engines on a 777 spool up and the airplane accelerates down the runway it has constant sound and thrust. I had a nice chuckle when I thought how funny it would be if the 777 was changing gears during acceleration like a car! It is just what one gets used to.

I agree, everyone will need to do their own math based on local fuel prices and miles driven. But for many of us, if based on pure economics, the math doesn’t work out. Our 4 year old ESh has 21K miles. The fuel savings will never pay for the additional cost of the hybrid drivetrain based on our current use of the car. We are OK with that as there are so many other aspects of a hybrid that we enjoy. I just hear many people try to rationalize a hybrid based on the economic benefits, and I wanted to share my perspective on that discussion. I still prefer the hybrid, but long term cost of ownership can actually be higher even after accounting for the improved fuel savings. That was the fact I was trying to convey.