I recently purchased a 2012 ES 350 with 57,000 miles. A little squeak coming from the belt so I'll get that changed. If it was the water pump that was squeaking, that would have been an expensive fix. (check the water pump before you buy) Overall it's a great car. It'll probably depreciate at a rate of $1000 a year which is great. First 6 years it lost $20-$25K of its value...about $3500 a year. The next 6 years should lose about $6000. Also I would recommend getting a 2011 or 2012 since these cars accept regular gas instead of premium like the 2007-2010. It does like drinking gas, especially during local driving. For comfort and safety, this is a great car to get.
On a 500 mile road trip you will notice how Lexus cut corners. The pleather armrest irritated my elbow so bad that on the way back from Miami I had to buy a hand towel to cover armrest to keep elbow from hurting. Never had this issue on road trips in my Mercedes or Jaguar!
before you purchase a lexus their interior leather is the worst I have ever seen in a so called luxury car. have a 2012 and have already had to replace the seat covers the perforated inserts just plain ripp. Had to pay $1700.00 per seat to replace just the cushions. expected much better and they say normal wear and tear! 4 YEARS AND RIPPS. KIA has a better interior than this at 10th of the price. beware!
I have owned this 2012 ES350 car for one year and find it to be a real fine vehicle.I do wish mine had navigation and a rear camera but most everything about the car is satisfactory so far.Plenty of pep,seats are comfortable (heated and cooled)and ride is excellent. I would say the ride is the best feature as it is quiet and smooth.As far as transmission and handling I would say it is adequate and could have used some improvement but definitely not a big deal. I would like to see a heated steering wheel and definitely an all wheel option for the ES350.I also have HID lighting where the lights turn with the angle of the road and those are great to have.I really don't know how it handles in snow as I don't drive it in the snow but use my wife's Toyota Rav 4 in wimter weather.We have owned Toyotas for 12 years now (though I do have a Corvette also) and their reliability has been nothing but fantastic for us.I would love to own a Lexus LS 460 AW drive but not sure if that will ever happen.Maybe if I get to old for my Corvette I can use that for a tradeup. Anyways Toyota-Lexus make great automobiles as far as my family is concerned and I recommend them.