By 2005 I was halfway between 30 and 40, and looking for a car with a more upmarket nameplate than the Toyotas and Hondas I’d been choosing in the past. As a longtime Toyota owner, I had been eyeing up a Lexus as the next logical step, and the sale of the Prius enabled me to step up (so much for high fuel economy, though).
Having owned several Camrys and liked them (mostly), the ES was my main choice. It also had the advantage of being in my price range – I might have liked to step up to a GS sedan or RX SUV, but those represented a big jump in price. In 2005, the ES was in its fourth generation on the XV30 platform (shared with the Camry from 2002-2006), with a 218 hp 3.3 liter V6 and 5-speed automatic transmission. This version moved more toward being a luxury sedan and away from any sporty intentions that previous models exhibited (a bit). Astute readers of my COAL series may note that this is the same platform that was used under the 2002 Camry SE I didn’t like at all, but the ES felt like a very different car to me.
I went shopping with intention of looking at both the BMW 3-series and the ES (as the closest BMW and Lexus dealers to my house were directly across the highway from each other) as lease estimators online said both could be in my price range. I headed for the Lexus dealer first and drove the ES330. I found it amusing that the salesperson made a big deal of the presence of a cassette player, as Lexus customers still listened to books on tape. Sounded like my kind of crowd!
The test drive demonstrated to me that the car felt like significantly more than a fancy Camry – quiet, adequately powerful, and very well assembled. It seemed like everything I touched inside the car felt expensive and high-quality, and the styling was relatively conservative outside and inside (Lexus was still quite a few years away from the spindle grill), which I liked. In the negotiation phase, I found the lease payments were within my budget with a reasonable mileage allocation. The brochure for the car (which also feels hefty and expensive) still has the monthly payments written on one of the back pages. As I had been interested in Lexus for a long time, I headed back home to discuss the purchase with my wife to get her agreement on the purchase. I didn’t even visit the BMW dealer (which some in the CC world will probably see as sacrilege). At the time, I could have gotten something sportier in the IS sedan, but the ES simply felt more…mature.
Once I got the go-ahead to lease the car, I returned to the dealer to make my selections. I really wanted the “Oasis Green”/”Cashmere” color combination (read medium green and light brown), but settled for “Blue Shale Mica” (slate blue) and black as the dealer didn’t have the green one. The ES I selected from their stock was probably the most highly equipped car I’d owned. It had heated and cooled seats that were interesting, adjusted by a pop-out knob to control the level of heating and cooling. The heated seats worked really well but the cooling was kind of a gimmick (it just meant the black leather seats weren’t burning hot in a Maryland summer, not that the seats ever got really cool).
The leather seats, door panels, and dash materials were all soft-touch and low gloss. I was not entirely a big fan of the shiny (real) wood dash trim and really didn’t want the mixed wood/leather wheel, but the car I chose came with it (and I paid extra for the option, unfortunately.) Amazingly, even in 2005 in a Lexus an in-dash CD changer was optional. The car also had the usual bells and whistles that were becoming common in higher-end cars, such as memory seats (driver and passenger seat both had memory features), a right hand outside mirror that tilted down to show the curb when in reverse, dual auto climate control, and an autochromic inside mirror with compass. This was also my first car with HID headlamps, which I really liked as they were very bright with a good light pattern.
This was my second car where I purchased paint protection film instead of a front end mask as it provided protection for the relatively dark blue paint while not being visible except up close. The fact that the film has a pretty long lifespan (longer than the lease duration, essentially) was another selling point. I installed this film myself from a kit I purchased online. I was much more nervous with the ES installation as the car was quite a bit fancier than the Matrix. I managed not to mess it up with any trapped air bubbles, cat hair, or unnecessary trimming to get rid of creases.
That’s not to say these installations went entirely smoothly, as the film pieces are relatively large and cumbersome (especially the hood and bumper pieces) and have to be stretched somewhat to conform to the contours of the bodywork. These first installations took me most of a day and probably every curse word in the English language. Since then, I’ve gotten pretty good at installing these, which saves quite a bit of money on installation labor. Still a lot of grunting and cursing, though…
From a driving perspective, I found the vehicle to be very enjoyable to drive, both as everyday transportation and for longer trips. The acceleration from the 3.3 liter V6 was quite good, the handling was safe but unexciting, and everything was very quiet and smooth. It was probably just my imagination, but the ES felt much more solid and enjoyable to drive.
One area where the Lexus beat the cheaper Toyotas was in the area of dealer service, which was amazing to me. When I arrived at the service lane my dealer would match up the license of my car with the appointment entry in their computer to greet me by name and have the service information already preloaded. Unlike at the Toyota dealer where dropping off the car for service meant catching a shuttle bus, these dealers provided new Lexus loaners for every service (even just oil change) which made the services easy to fit into my schedule. Not that I visited the dealer very much, as I had no problems at all with vehicle – very reliable and durable. (Of course, since the Lexus cost more than the Toyota, I was well aware that this great service wasn’t coming for free!)
The only problem I had with the car had nothing to do with how well the car was built. At the time I owned the car, I worked in an office building near a Washington DC Metro subway station, so we had a lot of traffic through our parking lot from commuters as well as people who worked in the building. I tended to keep my car at the opposite end of the parking lot from where the commuters parked so it wouldn’t be dented by a careless parker.
One day, for a reason I can’t now recall, I parked the car close to the commuter end of the lot and a careless person backed into the front corner of the car. The damage was limited to a caved-in portion of the front bumper (analogous to the “Camry dent” that has been the subject of at least one CC article) and some scratches on the headlight. Of course, the person who backed into me didn’t leave a note or offer to have his/her insurance pay for the damage, so it was up to my insurance to do the repairs (including the paint protection film, luckily).
Overall, this ES was a high-quality and enjoyable car to drive that I was glad I leased. However, the reason why Lexus was so generous with loaner cars became obvious when I was given the next-generation XV40 model as a loaner. Getting behind the wheel of this larger and more substantial ES got me thinking about trading up…
I always thought these were very nice cars. Here in Japan, prior to introduction of the Lexus dealerships, they were marketed as the Toyota Windom. A friend has a 2003 model he bought new that he is still driving – hasn’t given him one problem.
I love that the Windom brochures made a big deal about how the car was a Lexus in America!
It is always interesting to see how Toyota markets the same car in different parts of the world. More so when they had Scion as the Youth/Value brand in the US.
Interesting to see a comparison from someone who’s lived with both the Camry and the ES of the same generation. My impression of the ES, at least the ones actually designed for Lexus duty (as opposed to the VZV20 Camry Prominent-based ES250), is that it offers enough extra — in content and in service — to make the price premium over a Camry XLE V-6 justifiable. Your comments support that idea.
I assume the more solid feeling was due to extra sound insulation. A lot of times hearing bump impacts or the sounds of broken pavement adds a sense of fragility even if the structure is pretty stout, so some strategic sound deadening material can make a car feel sturdier even if actual structural strength is the same.
I was never very thrilled with the front end styling of this generation (the headlights and grille look like the Chrysler 300M/LHS, which I didn’t like either), but the XV30 Camry isn’t any better, I guess.
If I were going to take an ES, I’d probably be most interested in the hybrid. I was impressed with the Camry Hybrid and the Lexus treatment of that seems like a solid family sedan package.
I’m not clear on why Toyota’s piss poor bumper designs that result in unsightly damage in minor parking lot shunts are not considered an indication of poor design and quality?
I drove into a rock (there was a spin out involved) hard enough to demolish my radiator support and crush my intercooler. The bumper deformed. When I backed away from the rock, my bumper snapped back into shape. That is what a plastic bumper is supposed to do.
Hi Gml,
I also think plastic bumpers should work that way. But, at least plastic bumpers do not seem to create stress on other connected areas.
Long ago, some one gently bumped into the right rear corner of the body (just above the shiny chrome bumper) of my almost new 1967 Tempest. There was a tiny dent at the point of impact BUT the very large right rear quarter panel had a large caved in center from its top to bottom in a very noticeable manner.
Of course no note on was left.
I was reluctant to have it fixed as I was under 25 and insurance companies were tough enough, so I thought I’d wait until someone else hit me in the same place. That never happened and that big concave quarter panel stayed with the car for its whole life.
Many years later a friend’s son hit some parking lot ice and dented the mostly plastic front lower corner of his Matrix. I pulled off the parts beyond saving and hammered out the rest to result in a moderately functional and not quite terrible result. The rest of the car was unmarred by this event.
mdlaughlin, Interesting COAL. I’m not a luxury car fan, but I am tempted by the ES. You have very nicely described why a high end V6 Camry is not quite the same as a low end Lexus.
I love the concept of new loaner cars during service visits. What a great way to “sell” new and improved car models without the obvious “selling” of a show room visit and the “someone-looking-over-my-shoulder” test drive.
I still get my Tacoma’s oil changed at the dealership, but the experience is more of a waiting-room wait, cheerful but abrupt and mostly anonymous personal dealings, and a really badly coded computer follow up system. I am tempted to use my local garage and will need to do so when my 5 year NJ dealer inspection sticker ages out and the truck needs its first emissions check.
This is one of the cars that springs immediately to mind when I hear someone call a Lexus a “Japanese Buick.”
Although the first time I ever laid eyes on an ES it was first gen model with a 4 cyl/manual transmission. I can’t even imagine a Lexus equipped like that today.
The first generation ES250 was equipped with a 2.5L V6 available with manual or automatic transmission. I would love to be able to find one of the 5 speeds today!
Yeah, the ES250 had the same 2VZ-FE engine as the U.S.-market Camry V-6. (JDM Camry Prominent models had a 1,992cc 1VZ-FE.) The five-speed is apparently super-rare, although a former coworker of mine had one.
I think that at the time, Lexus’ seats were just ventilated, not cooled. That’s why you weren’t impressed.
In my mind, this generation of ES was the nameplate’s first big step toward luxury, although I tend to favor the 2007-2012 version.
Correct, turning them on just activates a little fan that directs air from the vent beneath the seat. I’ve said this in another thread, but its worth repeating. If you can focus the airflow towards those vents, the seats do actually cool your butt. This can be accomplished by cranking the AC, closing the vents to the back seat, closing unneeded passenger vents, and finally, by blocking the rear passenger footwell (curving the rear floor mats to cover it works). Pretty Macgyver, but it does work.
2007-2012 has a much better engine, but the interior isn’t as nice (to me). The refresh in 2010 did improve things a bit.
I was a HUGE fan of the XV20 ES, so I was a little underwhelmed by this iteration. Like you said, it definitely dropped any sporting pretensions. Although with the first generation IS now in play, Lexus was obviously freed up to push the ES in that plushier direction.
That first IS, man, what a machine. Right up there with the second generation GS and the first SC as top my three Lexuses. (Lexii?)
Had a 2001 Acura TL, mainly used by my wife, which was a fine car. When it came time to replace it in 2009, I had every intention of buying another TL. We went to the dealer to check out the new TL, where I then gaped slack jawed at what had to be one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen. Reliable or not, there was no way I could live with that beaked monstrosity for the next 8 years or so.
So, it was off to the Lexus store to look at the ES350. Didn’t excite me, but it was quiet, comfortable and powerful, with styling I could live with. As this was January, 2009, in the midst of the stock market crash, sales were slow and the dealer practically pleaded with me to buy. Got a great deal and 9 years and 75K miles later this has proved to have been the perfect car. Absolutely zero repairs, other than oil changes, tires at 50K and a battery. Original brake pads. Everything still works perfectly. Styling has worn well. Still quiet and powerful. This is a car that you like better and better over time, which I consider the true hallmark of a fine car. I usually get tired of a car after 8 years, but I’m keeping this one a while longer.
I NEVER understood how Acura could screw the TL up as badly as they did in 2009….the previous gen was a stellar design (and still looks good today); that ‘plenium’ beak was just atrocious. Looking at how TL sales fell off a cliff in 2009 and 2010, Acura should have rush-redesigned it. It took them 5 years to erase the last vestiges of that beak….
As the owner of a 2005 and 2008 TL, you couldn’t be more correct. These were among the best cars I’ve ever owned, but they royally screwed it up in 2009. They’ve tried to get back to where they were with the TLX (I have a 2015 now), but it’s still not the same. I really hope its next redesign is significant. At this point, a loaded out 2018 Accord Touring has largely made Acura irrelevant.
Took Dad to a Lexus dealer to have him look at an IS in 2005 (he wanted something sporty). The salesman flat out refused my request to drive an IS350 once he understood it would be my mid-50’s Father’s car. He brings one of these around instead against our wishes and says “Your Dad will like this much better”. Can’t say I know for sure, since we couldn’t compare, but wow the ES was nice. Smooth, quiet, refined. Dad really liked it. Then he comes home in an Acura TL A-Spec. I ask him why. Apparently he was so turned off by the way we were treated at the dealer he didn’t care how nice the car was, it wasn’t happening. Can’t blame him when you are spending $45,000.
My father inherited a first gen Lexus from my aunt. It was a Canada only model it seemed and only offered for 2 years. An es250 I think, which was a tarted up up Camry and really hard to find a few body parts for with it’s short run and not sold state side. He was not your typical Lexus demographic and when the rust worm got to the front wheel well he injected some construction spray foam sanded it out and repainted it. It gave him a few years of trouble free service after about 15 for my aunt. Finally an expensive coolant leak forced him to send it to the wreckers. He is now driving an old Mercedes with similar results. My aunt switched to Audi for the benifit of all wheel drive but she says the Audi likes the service dept a lot more than the Lexus ever did.
I really like this ES body….they still look good and IMHO if this came out today as a 2018 somethingorother I think it would be well received. It’s interesting hearing the equipment differences compared to my 2016 ES I wrote about.
Not sure which packages you had, but the passenger memory is just on the rare top “Ultraluxury” package now. Maybe they figured it wasn’t sought after on the passenger side and they could get by without it?
That wood is very nice, and I think was standard in the ES at that time. It’s optional now; you do get 3 or 4 choices of wood color/type, and you can choose a matte finish. Standard is “piano black trim” which is glossy black plastic.
I just went in for my first oil change/scheduled service and was very pleased with the service department. This was my second time there after going back for the trunk seal replacement. Both times, very quick, very clean, very friendly, more loaners on hand than they need. Much better service experience than I have ever had at Mercedes or Land Rover.
But, I will note that what is essentially a glorified oil change at 20,000 miles would have been $260.00, if not for the L-Certified credit to bring the bill back to zero! They do rotate the tires and replace a $15 cabin filter, but come on…..
I have no experience with these, so it is good to read your report. Having reached the age where I am willing to trade excitement for a drama-free ride, I see the appeal. I really like that color.
To be honest, a car with no appeal to me. And I’m over 50, over 60 in fact. And feeling a bit down in the dumps today as a hoped-for CL purchase of a used 6 speed Type S Acura fell through due to the title being anything but clean. cjiguy’s Lexus dealer would have had me walking out. But I digress; every time I take my Tacoma to the dealer for service, the check-in procedure is a joke. rlplaut will recognize this. Even with appointments, even with buying the car there, there’s 20 repeated questions when I drive up. I always wondered why they couldn’t just scan your front plate and take it from there. And apparently, Lexus has it figured out. Years ago, when I had my 80 Series Land Cruiser, I met a guy with the Lexus equivalent, also a serious off-reader. I wondered why he picked the Lexus over the identical and slightly cheaper Toyota … and he described the dealership experience. If I could find an unmolested stick shift IS250 I’d perhaps join the ranks of Lexus owners.
You might want to check out a one or two year old off-lease, low miles GS. It won’t be a stick, but it is much tighter and sportier in feel than the ES. Having driven a GS and ES back to back, I chose the ES mainly because of higher content at a lower price. The ES is a heck of a value in my opinion. But the GS is a superior driving experience/feel from the wheel in many respects.
dman;
The time my Father and I had that day at Lexus of Minnetonka MN had to be a rare experience in a Lexus showroom. I looked at and drove the then brand new IS300 back around 2000 and was treated like royalty, and the owners at my previous job swore by their RX’s solely because of the dealership experiences they had (this was Lexus of Maplewood). The strangest part of the whole deal was that the ES he showed us was significantly cheaper than the IS we wanted to drive. What his end game was is beyond my scope; Dad wasn’t even considering an Acura until after this…