Lexus ES has a great interior (I have one of them, with an exterior attached of course!). It's got more coherent lines than the TL but a little skimpy on padded materials on the door panels. Overall, it's more visually relaxing, almost like a futuristic lounge.

The Acura TL has swooping curves and busy lines everywhere, but it's cozy and the materials look good. The door looks like it has more padding than on the ES door. The interior gives off more of a cockpit impression. And the seats look far superior to those of the ES in lateral support.

OT, but I really wish Toyota/Lexus would put real handle grabs on all their doors like Honda/Acura! I don't like grabbing a pocket to close a door, I want some real grab bars.

 

Lexus ES materials are cheap. can't argue with that. But then so is its price.

 

I agree with your assessment of both the ES and TL interiors. I'm more familiar with the last gen TL which IMO had a very nice interior in most respects. With limited time in the new TL IMO it's pretty nice too.

 

I also have prodded, smelled, and squeezed a new 2009 TL and had exactly the opposite reaction. I found it a sea of unpleasant plastic. The plastic door handles (the RL has them also) are particularly egregious for a car at this price. The TL is a wannabe luxury car with zero elegance or sense of style and which missed the definition of "premium" by 1000 miles... It is THAT bad.

Chris

 

I respect your opinion, and also, that of the G man. All I can say, is that it is truly amazing how two different people can come away with completely opposite opinions about a car. Such is the nature of enthusiasts.
To that end, I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels the way I do, and the fact that Wards, a highly respected automotive journal, came away with the same opinion as myself, makes me feel better!

 

Car & Driver and Consumer Reports both agree with Ward's, with both of them giving the new TL high marks for the interior.

 

I have removed a couple posts about the posters that you disagree with instead of the content of their posts(which should be the focus).
Don't do that again or I will start giving infractions.

 

...........

 

Havning reviewed both the old and new TL and the old and new TSX, the new TL's interior doesn't impress me as much as the old TL's (same with the TSX). There is now too much plastic in both, but, overall, the new TL interior is better then the new TSX. Acura made a major error in both of the new interiors, however, by not having a wood-tone trim option any more.........that, in my book, especially for cars in this class, is a no-no.

 

I agree with Ward's Auto. The new TL interior is very nice. I was very impressed with it and found it to be a little more plush and use slightly nicer materials then my parents 2008TL. It has a very nice design and everything looks and feels high quality. I was particularly impressed with the soft brown Milano leather on one of the testers. The only disappointing piece was the harder plastic that surrounds the rear seat vents but it was not a big deal and I preferred the location of the NAV display in the 08 to the higher up and harder to glance at 09.

One issue though is that the RLs interior, especially the 09 refresh is noticeably nicer then the 08 and 09 TL in materials and design and is arguably the nicest in its class and I am surprised they chose the 09 TL interior over the refreshed RL. I agree with mmarshal it would be nice if the TL had a wood trim option instead of the metal but I guess that is what you have the RL for and the wood trim and how it wraps around the dash and doors is beautiful in the RL, one of the nicest wood applications/design I have ever seen in an interior.

 

I have to agree my wifes last gen TL is amazing on the inside. Better than my GS ( Not including the leather quality )

 

The last gen TL's interior is on a different level compare to the GS material-wise. The material used in the TL isn't even on par with the current IS...

Don't believe me? I'll give you one example that you can try it out yourself... Find a last gen TL, hold on to the door handle on the front door panel then TWIST it, guess what, it's all rubber... Also, the GS has an "all-soft" interior which isn't the case in the TL.

Design-wise Acura has one of the best interiors in the industry, material wise? It's somewhere between Honda and Lexus, probably a little better than the Infiniti

 

I have to admit I like the brown leather option Lexus needs to step it up in the color scheme department - people outside of the SC430 side want different options too...

 

I think its pretty impressive that the TL managed to capture this spot. Its a tribute to the design that they did this in spite of using cheaper materials. Acura could have easily used higher quality materials (as they do in the RL) but their strategy is to make these cars as value packed as possible and by using cheaper materials they can pass the savings down to the consumer. I think they managed to pull off the perfect blend of excellent design and choose the right blend of materials that would provide cost savings without adversely affecting the appearance of quality. This is the primary goal for a lot of manufacturers, but Honda and Acura appear to lead the pack in accomplishing this

 

Good points. Value was one of the criteria that Ward's used. I agree with them, C&D and CR that it is a good effort.