Used 2020 Lexus ES 350 Consumer Reviews
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better than prior generation
The good: better ride, more supple and softer suspension with improved cornering abitity, better appearance inside and out, plenty of important standard features. mpg is good for class, I average 28-30 back and forth to work. Power is superb and instant. The bad: stereo sucks!! 95% of sound comes from front speakers no matter what you do. One time transmission slammed so hard in reverse I honestly thought I crashed into the car parked in front of me. It was that loud! When you want power transmission often shifts down too many gears. Acoustic glass not available on base ES. Come on lexus! the base chrysler 300 and avalon comes standard with it! Not kidding here folks..the rear side glass is much thinner than the front..why you ask? to save $$. No wonder it sounds a bit louder towards the rear while driving. Touch controller is an ongoing issue with lexus. no problem since I do adjustments before I drive. Overall though my car "base model" is better than my 2017 in most respects..a bit quieter, sleeker, more comfortable ride, more power.
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F-Sport avoids looking like your grandparents car
Started leasing an F Sport ES 350 in Feb of 2020. Was a bit of an impulse buy. Was driving a 2012 Chrysler 300 before that had loads of service issues. While the 300 was very comfortable, it would lean too much in turns and was just boring to drive compared to this car. The F-Sport gets dinged for not having more powerful engine, but the 302 HP is plenty unless you want to race high horsepower opponents on a regular basis. It is front wheel drive which might bother some, but it hasn't impacted daily driving experience in my opinion. The car will get up and go, especially in Sport Mode. Car slides down the freeway at 85 mph with tachometer at less than 1800 RPM. The best part of the car is the handling. The tuned suspension makes going around curves and turning at speed feel solid and confident.... always! Brakes are good, never nervous about getting from 60 mph to 0. It is a very nice balance of being tight but not rigid. I bought this car instead of a 2017 Mercedes CLS 550 due to back seat issues. The Benz was essentially a coupe with tight seating in back for smaller individuals. I'm 6'3 and usually that means the back seat behind the driver seat is useless. This car can comfortably fit a grown family of 4 in it for a longer trip. Head and leg room in the back is excellent. Front driving position is good, but could use a little more leg room if I am splitting hairs. B pillar does impede vision for me with seat moved back fully. Interior is generally very nice. The gauges on the F-sport and brushed aluminum around the dash give it a tech-aggressive feel that I like. The upgrade to the high end stereo would have been nice, but it required changing the head lamp configuration to small LED lights which are not as attractive as the base head lamps in my opinion. It was also a $2800 package upgrade. Only complaints about this car are that the standard stereo. When all windows are up, the surround features work well, but it needs to be louder when driving at speed with sunroof open, windows down. Also, to use the Apple Car Play need to plug into the jacks in front of shifter. Cord has to travel back to arm rest from there. There is a phone slot in front of jacks, but doesn't work with larger screen phones. Would have been nice if that jack was in arm rest. Agree with comments about the touch pad; it isn't great when driving. Not tactile/ specific enough. Have to spend more time looking at screen and fiddling with it than you should be when in motion. Outside of that, you might have to get used to the newer body lines (I did) when considering this car, but the car has good width and length dimensions. It has more presence than an Accord, Nissan, or Infinity which tend to be rather narrow. Stance could be a little more aggressive, but overall this car delivers if you want something that is comfortable, quiet, with a little edge. I think the standard model of this car suffers from the smaller wheels and the more standard instrumentation when sitting inside it. You would also miss out on the improved suspension of the F-Sport, which is no small matter if you are looking for a driver's car. It is a very fun car to drive and spend time in during your daily commute. Love the reliability so far and customer service of Lexus. It will be hard to shift gears to another brand once this lease expires.
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Serene and Engaging
The 2020 Lexus ES offers a near perfect driving experience. This car allows you to be perfectly insulated from surroundings, but driver engaged at the same time. Excellent handling and the lane assist keeps you perfectly in lane, even around curves. The Bridgestone Turanza tires could be less roll-resistant but are quiet and comfortable. The seats are very comfortable - perforated Nu-luxe man-made leather is as comfortable as real leather. I'd prefer a bit wider front seat - they must have taken an inch off to allow the center console to have more storage - it opens from either side! The driver seat front surface is a little too firm - sort of like an exercise ball, but you sink into the seat comfortably and it offers lots of adjustments to help with long drives (passenger as well). The often criticized touch pad can be adjusted by the dealer and is easy and accurate to use after the adjustment. I suspect Lexus did away with acoustic windshield as you can barely hear the wipers - not so in prior model. One especially new feature is the cruise control does not shut off if you slow to a crawl - it remains engaged - nice improvement. Mirrors self close with the Premium package or higher - a nice feature if you park in a small garage. The standard Pioneer 10 speaker stereo is crystal clear with great sound in the front but virtually no sound in the rear - making the surround sound a near impossibility. Lexus will have to improve the one weak rear speaker in the trunk. The interior and exterior are innovative and beautiful and the wrap around optional wood reminds me of the high end Lexus Models and the Jaguar XJ, costing much more . The paint is self sealing - something not available from many competitors; I’d suggest looking at eminent white pearl and also nightfall mica (dark blue) in direct sunlight to experience the amazing color changes - they have to be seen to be believed. car, rated a very high 87 by a major consumer organization, is a very good value and provides an exceptional ridership experience.
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900 Miles in a day with my 2020 ES350 F Sport
I took delivery of a 2020 ES350 F Sport about 2 weeks ago. Absolutely love the interior and the Mark Levenson audio system. The acceleration reminds me of my Benz E350 and the profile of the car looks so nice. Did I mention that it is the quietist car I've ever driven. Last Friday, I drove 900 Miles in 14 hrs from Michigan to Boston in my ES350 and it is such a joyful trip. I took advantages of the radar cruise control and lane centering function to do a lot of semi-automatic highway driving and then listened to my music and podcast along the way. I can't believe that I ended up with 35 MPG using 87 regular gas. Initially, I was a little concerned about the seat since it is harder than a regular ES350. However, at the end, it has been very comfortable! Can't say enough about the good things about ES350. Love it!
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Long time Lexus ES Owner a bit disappointed
This is our fifth ES. As the models have changed over the last 13 years the console design and storage has continually gotten worse. Leaving no place for sunglasses; top deck USB ports that interfere with what little space is provided and if you get the wireless phone charger option it takes up valuable console storage space. A poor interior design with little to no emphasis on delivering a stylish console with well designed and ample storage. The radio in the 2020 ES is not very good. The 2017 ES audio system blows the 2020 away; can't imagine what the Lexus engineers were thinking with this significant downgrade in base system sound quality. They have also eliminated the names of the XM stations on the display, even with the the over-sized screen. A car in this luxury class should have a base audio system that is simply outstanding as it was prior to 2019 model year, versus being the subject of numerous complaints. The emphasis starting with the 2019 ES moved to 'Sporty', which resulted in the car sitting lower and being less comfortable for short drivers, and is harder to get in and out of for all passengers. The smooth luxury sedan feel that the 2017 had is gone. Lastly the transmission is no longer silky smooth, now with hesitation upon acceleration from a stop.