Guess What I Got!

[SW03ES]

Hey all...

Well I finally pulled the trigger, brought home a new 2010 ES350 yesterday! Its truffle mica with the parchment interior. So far I love it! Didn't get the Ultra package, decided in the end it wasn't worth another $4k to me. Actually oddly enough I like the sound of the standard audio better than the ML...

Still trying to get it all figured out, has a lot of tech! I love that you don't need the dealer to set all the LPS settings.

Very happy with the car. I am going to keep my '03, for now at least. Manuevering the 350 around I'm surprised by how much bigger it feels than the 300...

[cduluk]

Hey congrats!!

The truffle mica is really nice, i've seen it on the Rx350 Pebble Beach Ed. and it's pretty classy. <_<

You've gotta post some pictures! :D

[SW03ES]

Oh yeah, I'll get pictures.

The whole thing happened really fast, we got back from vacation yesterday and I had been talking with a dealer about it and figured we wouldn't be able to come together, then Lexus came out with this "golden opportunity" deal and he called me the day before we left and said he could do it with the additional subsidy and that was that! $41,215 and I got it for $35k. I've been swamped at work after being away and haven't had a chance to really get it all set up.

Thats exactly what I paid for my ES300 in 2003, and it was $1,500 cheaper MSRP...

I really like the parchment interior, its a nice change after having the black for so long.

I LOVE the truffle color, you know me...I always gotta have some weird color.

[cduluk]

Hm, it's funny... because my Rx300 had the tan interior, and at the time i HATED black. But now that my Rx400h has the black interior, i kinda like it! I just don't like how the tan looks in the 04-09 RX... it looks GREAT in the ES though.

Odd question, but what shade of wood-grain does yours have? I have a suspicion that Lexus changed the tint to more of a light brown with the tan for the Es350 vs the maroon with the tan of the 02-04 ES's. :cries:

[Kyle Petree]

Congrats Dude! I love that Truffle Mica color, if I were to get a new Lexus that'd be the color I'd choose. What a deal you got, over $6k off sticker!? That's amazing!

[SW03ES]

The parchment is really light, almost white, lighter than the tan would have been in your RX300. Kind of like the Ecru on the LS430. The wood is much lighter than what is on my 300, its not orange like it is in the 04-06 Lexus vehicles with tan, but its definately a light brown. I really like it, it goes well with the parchment. It has a beautiful grain. The grey and black interiors have a deep brown espresso wood which is also very nice.

I think the parchment hides some of the material-quibbles I had with the 350, to me when I sit in one thats black it doesn't feel as rich...it was between this car and one that was smokey granite with grey. The grey interior has a black dash, console, door tops and wheel, black carpeting and just grey seats, armrest cover and door inserts. Its also very sharp, but I really wanted something different this time.

Just went out and got the phone all set up, the contacts downloaded perfectly from my BlackBerry. Now I just need to figure out how to make the system understand a tone pause for my office voicemail system. iPod works flawlessly through the USB port.

The car has the Lexus Enform system with Safety Connect, eDestination and Destination Assist. The Destination Assist has a 24/7 operator that will program a destination remotely...that's kinda bogus...it takes forever but its a decent workaround for the Nav lockouts. The eDestination lets you set up your nav destinations at the computer and it downloads them to the car. That might be kinda cool, I'm showing some properties tomorrow and we'll see how well that works. Apparently you can pre-send up to 200 destinations (say wha?) into folders of 20.

All that !Removed! is expensive though after the 1 year trial, its like $350 a year for the Enform and Safety Connect. Don't know that I would re-up that.

XMNavTraffic works very well, as does XMNavWeather. I can survive without my sports and stocks though...of course those are free! the Traffic and Weather are extra.

In terms of ride and drive, its much heavier and more substantial than my 300, much more like the LS. It REALLY feels larger, and seems larger inside. Could be the light interior vs dark. Just driving it around though...feels like a huge car...which I like.

Really really pleased with the car. I gave you 350 guys a hard time for a long time, but IMHO the upgrades for 2010 really make it a very nice car.

[dcfish]

Congrats on the new ES I would have bet the farm that you would get an LS.

[smooth1]

Well Congrats SW! pics for sure....

[SW03ES]

Yeah I was going to do the LS, but what got me in the end was what got me back in '03, I just wanted a new car and I wanted to lease. The market is not so much better I'm comfortable with $1,000 lease payments for the LS...next time.

[cduluk]

Oh, so you leased this ES350?

[AZ08LexusES]

Wow, wow, wow! You did say that with what they added to the 2010 you would consider it, bu I thought you would go for an LS. I have had mine for three years now (hard to believe!) and I still love it!

[pj8708]

The parchment is really light, almost white, lighter than the tan would have been in your RX300. Kind of like the Ecru on the LS430. The wood is much lighter than what is on my 300, its not orange like it is in the 04-06 Lexus vehicles with tan, but its definately a light brown. I really like it, it goes well with the parchment. It has a beautiful grain. The grey and black interiors have a deep brown espresso wood which is also very nice.

I think the parchment hides some of the material-quibbles I had with the 350, to me when I sit in one thats black it doesn't feel as rich...it was between this car and one that was smokey granite with grey. The grey interior has a black dash, console, door tops and wheel, black carpeting and just grey seats, armrest cover and door inserts. Its also very sharp, but I really wanted something different this time.

Just went out and got the phone all set up, the contacts downloaded perfectly from my BlackBerry. Now I just need to figure out how to make the system understand a tone pause for my office voicemail system. iPod works flawlessly through the USB port.

The car has the Lexus Enform system with Safety Connect, eDestination and Destination Assist. The Destination Assist has a 24/7 operator that will program a destination remotely...that's kinda bogus...it takes forever but its a decent workaround for the Nav lockouts. The eDestination lets you set up your nav destinations at the computer and it downloads them to the car. That might be kinda cool, I'm showing some properties tomorrow and we'll see how well that works. Apparently you can pre-send up to 200 destinations (say wha?) into folders of 20.

All that !Removed! is expensive though after the 1 year trial, its like $350 a year for the Enform and Safety Connect. Don't know that I would re-up that.

XMNavTraffic works very well, as does XMNavWeather. I can survive without my sports and stocks though...of course those are free! the Traffic and Weather are extra.

In terms of ride and drive, its much heavier and more substantial than my 300, much more like the LS. It REALLY feels larger, and seems larger inside. Could be the light interior vs dark. Just driving it around though...feels like a huge car...which I like.

Really really pleased with the car. I gave you 350 guys a hard time for a long time, but IMHO the upgrades for 2010 really make it a very nice car.

Let me join the others in saying congatulations on a great decision. No matter what color or what price you will obviously enjoy your new baby. Please keep us informed of your experiences as you start to break it in.

Paul

[SW03ES]

Oh, so you leased this ES350?

Yeah for me the tax benefits of leasing are too good to ignore.

Thanks guys! i"ll get some pictures this weekend...

[mhawkin1]

A big congratulations! This is great - very excited for you!

I have had my 350 for nearly three years (longer than any other car in my life) and I like it more and more each day.

[moonrayker]

Congratulations :) Can't wait to see the pics

[SW03ES]

Here's a little teaser I took from my phone. I'm going to go out tomorrow and take much better pics.

So far really enjoying the car...

[dcfish]

And the tension mounts....

[smooth1]

Wait a minute, how is it that you have a new avatar already and we still haven't seen any pics?

* edit: I just saw you started a new thread with pictures. ( You're lucky, I was gonna start getting ugly about it! )

[SW03ES]

LOL!

[amf1932]

Hey Steve-

That's great! Knowing you for all these years I'm glad you finally bit the bullet. I'm still driving my old '07ES which on this date turned 13K miles on the ODO....I do most of my driving around town with my wifes Corolla(easier to park). When ever I travel long distances I rent a car....that's the reason my ES has such low mileage. Still drives and looks like new.

Getting back to your new baby......you have to admit that the tranny shifting is a helluva lot better than your '03.

Congratulations,

Alan

[SW03ES]

Oh yeah, there's no comparison in the transmission...