A window to the world of luxury
David Linklater.
The Lexus ES has the quietest power windows of any car I’ve ever driven.
Sit in the car with the engine off (but ignition on, of course), press the electric-window button and you will not hear a thing as the glass slides down. No motor noise, no friction. It’s astonishing.
If this appeals then the ES300h might be the car for you.
To be honest, the ES is not a car for many: Lexus has only sold five ES models so far this year, three of them the petrol-electric 300h featured here. Which means the ES has been outsold two-to-one by what many would say is its closest competitor, the Hyundai Genesis.
You could argue that the ES suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. It’s always been a ‘nearly’ kind of luxury car.
To many, not quite the real thing. It’s famously based on a front-drive Toyota platform: formerly Camry, but now the USmarket Avalon.
So it’s a large, soft, front-drive sedan from a brand that specialises in sporty rear-drive models and SUVs.
But the ES is also the secondlongest-running Lexus model (after the LS) and has always unashamedly put comfort first. Maybe its time is passing, but there’s no identity crisis here.
This generation more so than any previous ES, because while it retains feather-light steering and squishy suspension, it now has interior design and quality that’s the equal of any other Lexus model.
This is a car for buyers who like hush and aren’t in a hurry, which is why the 300h hybrid (the other version is a petrol-V6 called ES350) is the logical choice.
This luxury car’s petrol-electric powertrain is far from radical. In fact, it works in exactly the same way as the very familiar Toyota Prius - but it does give you the ability to glide along in nearsilence at low speed and provides excellent waftability (technical term) for motorway cruising.
The revised ES was the first model to carry the Lexus Safety System Plus (LSS+) package, which unites four key technologies under one banner: Pre-Crash, lane departure warning with lane-keep assist, automatic high-beam for the headlights and radar cruise control. But it’s also full of touchy feely textures and beautiful attention to detail.
The price is high, but the ES is still a value proposition next to bespoke Lexus models.
It’s a five-figure model in a sixfigure segment - at least if you’re comparing it with the similar-size, but very different rear-drive GS range (there’s a 300h in that lineup too, for $114,900).
With its exquisite interior and extreme on-road refinement, the ES300h is one of those models that you know you’re not supposed to like as a car enthusiast, but will have you purring contentedly all the same.
It’s a small window into how the other half live.