Used 2019 Lexus ES 350 Sedan Consumer Reviews
T. Lewis of New Orleans
I have a 2019 ES350. Over 28 years I've owned 4 Lexus's. Why does the glove box look so big, and you can't get any thing in it. Other than that great car.
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The good outweighs the bad
If you like the styling, great. I find it gee-whiz fussy, and the cowcatcher grill is over the top. That said, the ride is very good, handling for this kind of car is very good, and it is very comfortable and quiet. Fit and finish are very good, and highway mileage on regular is 35-39 mpg. Surprising. The head-up display is great, and voice commands generally work well. The map display is impressive. Rain-sensing wipers and auto headlamp dimming are implemented nicely. The overhead camera view should be on every car. Seat adjustments are fine and real leg room is impressive. The interior is not well designed, however. The peculiar hump over the cluster has two of the least-used controls front and center like horns on a cow. How often do you need to turn off stability control in this kind of car? Or switch from ECO to SPORT? The trip reset is hidden behind the light stalk, the gas cap release is down in the dark where you are as likely to release the trunk. The touchpad is miserable until you get used to it, and then it's merely a dangerous distraction. The USB port for the phone is under a flip-up cover that also reveals the second cup holder. The manual warns about liquids getting in the port. Terrific. If you plug in the phone the wire can be routed into the console box, and the flip-up cover needs to be open so the CD slot isn't accessible and the second port is open to spills from the cup holder. Why not put the ports in the console box? There is no switch to turn off the AC compressor without turning the entire climate control system off. The stereo fader needs to be tuned after you sandpaper your fingers--it is that fussy. Your left leg rests against a metal edge on the armrest (that should be higher). The cluster displays more information than the space shuttle cockpit, most of which is distracting. The adaptive cruise control works well but the controls are small, cramped and have no tactile feedback so you have to look until you are trained. Annoyingly, it always defaults to the longest distance. There are too many switches on the steering wheel--more distractions. The designers need to drive a Honda for a while. Visibility to sides and rear isn't the best, but the blind spot monitors work well enough to compensate, it you pay attention to them. Getting all the bells and whistles for $50k is a decent deal, but if the Genesis G80 AWD got better mileage on regular gas the choice would not have been so clear. Overall, I'm getting used to (if not happy with) the interior quirks and the ride qualities make up for a lot. You need to drive one to see if the same compromises work for you. Update: The trackpad is still a distraction, but once you train yourself to find the click stops without looking (too much) it is more acceptable. Despite the scathing reviews of the sound system (Mark Levenson) I find it acceptable. I listen to classical music and don't want exaggerated surround sound or booming bass; I suspect that the system was tuned more for that than rap, country, or rock. YMMV. The navigation system, however, has become a real annoyance. It will choose routes that are ridiculous, including the ones suggested. It can't be trusted if you don't have some outside knowledge. Google Maps via iPhone is preferable. The owners manuals are a chore given the uncountable "lawyer boxes" peppering every page. Clarity wasn't a priority when the documents were written. I'm still enjoying the car over all, niggling annoyances aside. The Lexus so-called "Dealer Experience" is a crap shoot, and routine service is expensive.
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- Base SedanMSRP: $26,5909 mi away
- Luxury SedanMSRP: $29,89513 mi away
- Luxury SedanMSRP: $20,5698 mi away
Good Looks, But Entertainment Console is Terribl
Had the Lexus since 11/18. No problems and it rides smooth and gets good mileage and is still good looking. Wife has yet to learn how to use the entertainment system. Bad design that is not intuitive. Documentation is bizarre. Seems like it was written by Japanese Engineers for Chinese Engineers and then translated by Pakistani Engineers. Also have found that unlike other cars programming the garage door opener is a major task. Got a new garage door and it took at least 8 try’s to get it right. Took only one try with my 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. Wife is so down on the Entertainment System that this may be her last Toyota product. It is great to have wonderful bells and whistles, but you have to be able to use them. In this car the learning curve is super steep.
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Excellent car!
In December we bought a 2019 ES 350, ultra luxury trim fully loaded including nav & Mark Levinson audio. We put a few hundred miles on the car before driving it on a cross-country road trip. By the time we arrived home in late February we had over 6000 miles on the car. So we got to know the car very well, very quickly. First the negatives; which are few & minor. First, there's not enough storage space in the front seat. The side door pockets will hold few maps & that's about it. They are not even deep enough to hold a water bottle. Also, the sun visors are too small. They don't totally cover the whole width of the window. There's a small opening on each side of the visor and they are not deep enough. This was very annoying driving east into the sun. Cabin lights could be a little brighter and finally, all the buttons on the dash should be larger. They are fine for me but not for someone with larger fingers. Now for the positives, which are many. The car is supremely quiet and comfortable and with the exception of the points noted above, beautifully appointed. We had 10 hour driving days and the seats and cabin were very comfortable. The Lexus dynamic navigation is outstanding with the maps being continually updated from the cloud. It also alerts to upcoming traffic/road issues. We got excellent gas mileage, a solid 33 mpg highway. We don't have good numbers yet for local driving but it looks like it will likely be 23/24 mpg. Contrary to other reports, our experience with the Mark levinson audio is nothing less than outstanding. We love music, listen to everything from classical to country and how it sounds in our car is very important. The fade works perfectly. In our cars, we always listen with the fade set just behind center. That's how it's set in the Lexus and it sounds as excellent. We've also tweeked the bass & treble to suit. In addition, we turned off the surround sound. The difference in sound is not subtle. When the surround sound is set to "on" it seems to flatten the sound. I don't know how else to explain it. So even with surround sound set to "off", we are listening to beautiful, rich surround sound. It's gorgeous sound. We can hear all the speakers, including the sub in the back. We read all the on-line audio complaints when we first started looking at the car. We took our iPod with us to the dealer so we could listen to our music at the dealer. In the course of our purchase experience, we listened in 2 different cars and had no issue with the fader. The touch pad works just fine for us. There was no steep learning curve and we didn't find it finicky. There's a series of logical, nested menus. It could be a problem if you had to constantly use the touch pad while driving but we don't find that necessary. Everything I need while driving is accessed either on the steering wheel or the small buttons on the dash. In addition, the voice recognition is excellent so you just talk to the car. For example, after we brought the car home I carefully set up all the radio presets we had in our old car. However, we've never once used the presets in the Lexus because it's so easy to talk to the car. It's just a matter of learning the voice commands. We made a little cheat sheet. I have just a couple of other notes. We had an excellent Lexus dealer experience. Also, Lexus has an 800 number you can call for technical support. I've called twice with questions & was completely satisfied with the response. I wasn't put on hold & the individuals I spoke with were knowledgeable & helpful. Bottom line, we love our ES 350 & would certainly recommend the car. September 2019 Update - We've had the car 9 months & we continue to be extremely pleased with our ES 350 Ultra Luxury Lexus. It is one fine car! Our only complaint, as mentioned in the earlier review, is the lack of adequate storage in the front seat. It's not an issue when driving around town but it does become a problem on long trips. Gas mileage is excellent. We just returned from a 1500 mile road trip. It was all highway driving (I-40) and perfect driving conditions & we averaged an incredible 40 mpg! Around town we're getting 23/24 mpg. The car is supremely comfortable & fun to drive. In spite of all the negative comments, we find the Mark Levinson audio to be superior. We're pretty fussy about our audio systems, both in our home & our car, & ML audio is outstanding. We've adjusted the fade to 3 clicks to the rear & the other audio settings to suit & it's beautiful sound. We also really like the dynamic nav & the car's voice recognition is excellent. We have no issues with the touch pad; the learning curve was minimal. In summary, we love the car & would certainly recommend it.
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My 6th Lexus
I got the base ES. It rides amazing and the comfort is great. The white paint with black interior looks sharp. I’m also impressed with the safety features. I was slightly disappointed that the interior was missing some features such as the electric steering wheel adjuster but this is the base model. I’m definitely pleased with the car overall.
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