Manaray

Ok, as some of you may know, I wasn't a big fan of the new '02 ES300's designs...but I said I'd wait until I saw one in real life to make a final decision...

Well I not only saw one, but I test drove one...

I must say, it does look much better in person but I'm still having a hard time liking the front end. It's better than the pictures, but I still think it pokes out too far...

HOWEVER, the interior is GREAT! It drives really good too. Seems a little more firm than the previous ES300 which is good (just before I test drove the '02 ES300, I had returned a loaner '01 ES300 that only had 5000 miles on it). It now comes with a Strut Tower Bar (front) which is a nice (and ALL cars should have one).

The flip down Nav is nice with the updated user interface (I have '01 GS430 with Nav) and the fact that it has a single IN-DASH (behind the Nav) CD slot is AWESOME! My Infiniti had this (in addition to the CD-Changer...which, in the '02 ES300 is in the armrest) and I love having both a single CD and CD-Changer...

The dash looks nice, the wood look nice and the new shiftgate is also nice. Basically, the interior 1000x better than the previous ES (which was WAY to bland and featurless).

Lexus has done a great job with the ride quality of the '02 ES300 and the interior...my only gripes (still) is the lack of power (sorry, but it really should have at least 250 HP!) and the exterior styling...while not as bad as the pictures, still not that great...I think they could have made it looks a little better...I still think the new Camry's front end looks better (except for the grille...what's with the Toyota logo on TOP of the grille instead of the middle? Different yes, but ugly.)

And the new Camry looks too close in designs to the ES300 which is also bad. Lexus/Toyota needs to REALLY seperate these two cars in terms of overall looks...they should have made the front end look more like the LS430's...or something...

ramsee1

An official strut bar from lexus?! ya don't say...

robertito

Yeah the new ES interior is almost identical to the one in my '01 GS300. Veddy nice.

I just wish my GS had the unbelievable trunk space that the ES has.

kuruption213

am i the only one that think this car looks great. i agree with you that the camry (which also looks great for a change, should be interesting what they do with the solara) looks too much like the ES but i think it is noticeably different. The front grill makes it look much more aggressive.

sam82264

I love the new Es300 exterior! In fact I just purchased an Es300 over the weekend.