Traded In Es 350 For Es 300H

[sharpcolorado]

Traded in our 2007 ES 350, which had the Mark Levinson stereo / Navigation / glass roof and other options for:

2014 ES 300h

Lexus Premium Audio

8 inch VGA screen

Pre-Collision Alert system

Navigation

Blind Spot system

Parking Assist

Backing Pre-Collision Alert system

Black exterior

Black interior

Remote start, including RES+ app.

- Love the car. Getting 38 MPG after about 300 miles.

- The audio quality is wonderful. Compared the sound of the Premium to Levinson, and preferred Premium, for the quality vs. price.

- iPhone integration with Bluetooth, Lexus Enform Apps works great

- Seats are more comfortable than our 2007. Lumbar support is especially nice.

- Range of over 600 miles after fill-up

The pre-collision system is amazing. Not relying upon it, of course, but yesterday, while cruising at 64 MPH, a car swung in my lane ahead of me. The PCS slowed me down to 52 MPH to obtain a safer following distance, then resumed at 64 MPH when the car changed lanes again away from me. Though I hovered my foot over the brake, the car did just what what was needed.

Yesterday in the grocery store parking lot, I was just about to back out of a parking spot. A guy was pushing a cart, and was two cars away. We made eye contact, and he stopped. But the Backing Pre-Collision Alert system was able to detect him, and sounded a beep-beep-beep, in a different pattern than the Parking Assist beeps.

Regarding the audio, I am a musician, from a large family of musicians. The Premium system is truly great.

The long sweeping lines of the interior design is sort of retro-Sixties.

Very happy with this move.

[07is250ed!]

Same here... I traded in my 2011 ES for a 2014 ES300h Thursday night...

Car is great ! 36mpg after only 85 miles, and it keeps increasing!

Ride and handling is much more sport oriented than the 2011.

Dispite many comments here re the Premium sound being sub-par, I do not agree !

With the proper tweaks, streaming Miles, Boz, or Jimmy Thackery over MOG or Spotify puts a big smile on my face !!!!!

Nice job, Lexus ! ... Now if they would only stop using Bridgestone tires .......

[Bluestary]

Amen on the stop in using Bridgestone tires.

[gpreston24]

Hi guys,

Looking to buy a new ES350 or ES300H, hopefully sometime this month. I'm trading in a 2010 Camry Hybrid, and I have loved the hybrid gas mileage, but not crazy about the CVT transmission. It's always seemed to me kind of "mushy" and lacking in immediate acceleration when needed. Haven't been hearing this complaint from ES300H owners, but I would think the Lexus transmission would be about the same. Obviously need to go out and drive one. Your thoughts on this issue?

Gerry

[sharpcolorado]

Hey, Gerry,

Just got back from a 300 mile round trip from Denver to Laramie, Wyoming. During the trip, I deliberately gave the CVT a workout. I used to own a Ford crossover with CVT, which was somewhat "mushy" like you say, especially when needing to accelerate uphill or to overtake.

I am VERY happy with the CVT response. I made this trip many times with my ES 350, and now with the ES 300H, I noticed a wonderfully snappy ride, and that is without even using the SPORT mode.

I also noticed less fatigue in my body, from a smoother ride.

By the way, I have the anti-collision system, which works great by slowing the car down to maintain an adjustable safe following distance, then resuming cruise control set speed as appropriate. That, combined with the CVT is a brilliant bit of engineering.

[07is250ed!]

Gerry,

I think you'll find the difference between your hybrid Camry and the ES 300H to be like night and day... The advances that have been made in the CVT and braking are big ones, and the car drives like a regular gas powered car... The car definitely has a mild "CVT effect", but it is much easer to modulate the accelerator and feel changes in acceleration. In the power mode, the effect is minimized, as the hybrid system provides more power. The response is very close to a non-hybrid.

I've had it for 6 weeks, driven 1000 miles, and averaged 36.8 MPG in very cold weather, with daily 3 mile trips to the LIRR parking lot.

My last round trip in to NYC, about 75 miles, averaged 43.7mpg on a warm Sunday.....

I'm very pleased with the car at this point, other than the Bridgestone tires (personal preference), and the fact that they discntinued the adaptive headlights that I had on my previous two ES 350s. The HID headlights have height adjustment, but no motorized side to side movement... Nonetheless, they provide adequate light to the front and sides, so this is a relatively minor point ...

Any comments you hear about this car "not driving like a hybrid", are accurate. Lexus did a great job on the entire car...

EBM

[gpreston24]

Many thanks for the comments, guys. I will definitely investigate the hybrid more closely. Would also love to have the pre-collision avoidance system, but it's very hard to find in this area. According to the Lexus.com build your car feature, there is exactly one ES300H within 150 miles of Sarasota, FL, out of the numerous dealerships here.

Gerry

[LEX-SV]

Great reports on the ES hybrid.

[sharpcolorado]

I drove my 2007 ES 350 for eight years. Because of the great performance of that car, I was very picky about the ES 300H, and ready to buy a different make of car if I wasn't satisfied.

My wife drove first for the test drive. For the first 30 seconds on the highway, she said it did not feel like it has enough power. But then, we all noticed that we had accelerated over the speed limit. It seems we get used to feeling a surge as gears change, no matter how slight, and if we don't feel that, we assume the car is not responding.

As a proof, test drive the ES 300H. Switch the ES300h to sport mode (turn dash dial to right). The guages change to a tachometer. Watch how smooth the tach is as you agressively accelerate.

Then buy the car!

[gpreston24]

Got my 2014 ES300H last Friday. I'm extremely happy with the car--and it's definitely a big step up and a great improvement on the 2010 Camry Hybrid we had been driving!

In shopping for the car, I learned that the regional Lexus distributors strictly limit the packages available in their regions. So, while my local dealer--Wilde Lexus of Sarasota--had a very large inventory, there were only about three configurations available. Not one had what I was really interested in, the pre-collision system and lane departure alert. As far as I could tell, there was also not one in the whole state (16 dealerships). Since I didn't want to wait for a special order, I bought one out of inventory with nav, blind spot monitor, luxury package, premium audio, etc. I was interested in the Mark Levinson audio, but it was only available with ultra-luxury package which had too many things of no interest to me.

I LOVE the car! And in five minutes, I'm headed over to the dealer showroom for a scheduled class on the nav system. Even though I'm pretty familiar with it already, I'm sure I can pick up a few new things.

Gerry

[headhunter62]

I am a new owner. I find the seats, HARD. Hurts my theighs on trips over an hour. Bridgestone tires are too hard. They should have put Michelin on them. Also, it's just a Camrey with a nicer interior. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought an Avalon or Ford Fusion. I'm not happy, but I'm stuck with this thing. This is my 8th Lexus... first real dissapointment.

[LexBob2]

If it's still new with relatively low miles to you could trade it in for something meets your needs better. You'd have to go out of pocket a bit, but you'd be a happier camper.

Most of the reviews of the new gen ES have indicated that the new ones don't ride the same as previous generations. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to the individual.

[lenore]

I am so jealous of that collision avoidance system, that is exactly what I need, my reflexes just aren't as good as years ago....Next car...until than I have to drive my RX400h till it is broken in. Only 144k miles so far.....As for the CVT, well it is just outstanding...Love the smooth, powerful response.

[staudtlar]

I recently purchased an ES300h and still own a 2002 SC430. I agree with everything Doug says about the ES300h except for the sound of the Mark Levinson system. I purposely spent a lot in order to get the Mark Levinson because it is so FABULOUS in my SC430. But I find the sound in my new car to be overly bright and the center front speaker to be so loud that it overpowers the other speakers making it sound almost monaural. I like to listen at a rather loud volume and, unlike the SC430, the volume does not go down when the navigation gives an audible message. It is very easy to miss what is said.

I have been an audiophile for many years. The SC430 has the best sound I have ever heard, even on high priced indoor systems. However, the speakers in the SC430 have a common problem (at least the larger ones in the door). After only 3 years these speakers began to distort badly. It seems the surround material on the paper speakers deteriorates and the cone is no longer centered in the driver. Lexus replaced the speaker for free since the car was still under warranty, but unfortunately the same thing happened again a year ago. Lexus quoted $300 per speaker for replacement. My service contact recommended getting it done a lot cheaper at a local car audio shop. But after viewing videos of owners replacing the speakers, I decided to hold off and haven't yet decided what I will do.

I assume ML has corrected this speaker problem, especially since they advertise the quality of their new speakers. Now if I could just get the system to sound good to my ears. I tried lowering the treble and raising the bass but to no avail. At the price of this system, why doesn't it have an equalizer?

[hvailjr]

After 7 differentLexus Models I really like the ES300h. Unfortunately I did not get the adaptive cruise control which leads me to a question, doe the car actually stop when getting to close to an object in front of you? Secondly, can the feature be installed by the dealer?

[sharpcolorado]

The car will quickly decelerate, but only to around 15 MPH. A beeping alert sounds as cruise control is disengaged. If a collision is still imminent, an alarm sounds, but the driver is in control.

I do not think this is available after market. A radar system is part of the windshield and front end.

[staudtlar]

I recently purchased an ES300h and still own a 2002 SC430. I agree with everything Doug says about the ES300h except for the sound of the Mark Levinson system. I purposely spent a lot in order to get the Mark Levinson because it is so FABULOUS in my SC430. But I find the sound in my new car to be overly bright and the center front speaker to be so loud that it overpowers the other speakers making it sound almost monaural. I like to listen at a rather loud volume and, unlike the SC430, the volume does not go down when the navigation gives an audible message. It is very easy to miss what is said.

I have been an audiophile for many years. The SC430 has the best sound I have ever heard, even on high priced indoor systems. However, the speakers in the SC430 have a common problem (at least the larger ones in the door). After only 3 years these speakers began to distort badly. It seems the surround material on the paper speakers deteriorates and the cone is no longer centered in the driver. Lexus replaced the speaker for free since the car was still under warranty, but unfortunately the same thing happened again a year ago. Lexus quoted $300 per speaker for replacement. My service contact recommended getting it done a lot cheaper at a local car audio shop. But after viewing videos of owners replacing the speakers, I decided to hold off and haven't yet decided what I will do.

I assume ML has corrected this speaker problem, especially since they advertise the quality of their new speakers. Now if I could just get the system to sound good to my ears. I tried lowering the treble and raising the bass but to no avail. At the price of this system, why doesn't it have an equalizer?

Since this original post, I have taken my ES300h back to the dealer to check on the Mark Levinson system. After much adjusting, the audio is vastly improved. Had to set the phase almost all the way to the back to get sound balanced equally front-to-back. This made the biggest improvement. The tone is extremely bright with large peak in upper treble range. Found best sound to my ears by adjusting bass all the way up, and treble all the way down. Mid can be left at 0 or +1 or 2. Sound is very clear and free of distortion, but deep bass is still a little weak. On some recordings max. volume (62) isn't as loud as I would like. Good sound, but not quite up to that of my SC430.