rai

The IS250 is about the same acceleration as your wifes Pilot. There is little reason for the 2.5L engine in this car IMO. Lexus should at least put the 3.0L from the GS300.

The IS250 AWD (from R&T) did 0-60 in 7.4 sec and 1/4 mile in 15.5s (spot on the Scion tC acceleration)

Honda Pilot (from C&D) did 7.6s/15.9s

The ES350 will be in the neighborhood (0-60/ 1/4 mile) of the Avalon 6.0s/14.6s in or the Acura TL 5.9s/14.6s

Note: I'm quoting actual magazine test numbers which may be quicker than manufacturers claim or estimate since the manufacturer don't want to promise more performance than they can easily delivery.

GFerg

Congrats man!! Glad everything is going to work out for you. ANd if you dont like it you still have the option of getting it reupholstered. man!!

Shred

Interesting you tell me about the similarity of the acceleration of the IS 250 and the Honda Pilot. The IS seemed faster, but you're a heck of a lot closer to the ground.

I like the acceleration on the Pilot, but to be honest anything feels much better than my old 140HP Camry so it's hard to tell.
I hardly ever drive any other vehicle except my own.

I think it's hard to tell by these numbers because I've seen many different numbers for say, the Avalon ranging from the 7's down to the 6 you say it was clocked at.

Someone on a Camry forum was commenting on the 2007 Lexus ES 0-60 Edmunds tested time of 7.1 seconds as being "terrible".

That doesn't sound too bad to me!

He was hoping for a mid 6 sec number.

Like it really makes a difference for a 0.5 second time?!!!

I'm sure this new Lexus will have plenty of power, even for those of us who like a fast start off the line.

dp5

Congrats on the order. I think I want a car just like yours. I definitely wnat Nav and ML but the panoramic roof and PreCollision System don't really do much for me. I'm glad to hear you can get all the options that you did w/o getting the full ultraluxury. Any idea how much it will cost? Also, do you get the dynamic radar system for the cruise control? That is about the only option you didn't mention that I think would be useful.

GFerg

The Radar Cruise is paired with the PreCollision System only.

Shred

No, you can only get that under the ultra LUX package.
I don't know how much it's going to cost but I'm predicting the base price is $34, 35G's
Maybe it will be close to last years $33G base price because they have cloth seats included in that price. But it could be more since VSC and TRAC control are now standard.

Mark Levinson on the IS is almost $4 grand alone.
On top of that I got the Premium Plus package and Park Assist.

I'm predicting between $38 -$43 Grand.

A lot of dough, but I waited a long time to buy my first new car.

You know, 10 years ago I had a Dodge Aries that I had to put water in the radiator twice a day because the heads were cracked.

15 years ago I drove a Dodge Dart for an entire summer with get this, just a ROPE covering the drivers side!!!

Believe it or not I had a short piece of one of those bank line ropes, with a latch on it to get in and out.!!! LOL!!!
It was pretty damn loud, and scary on the highway!!
Rain was a beeaach!!!

I got the car free, missing the door, and it was so rusted I couldn't latch a new door on it!!
I also couldn't find a door.

Eventually I did find a door but there was no way to attach it because of the massive rust so I had it WELDED on and I used the passenger door to get in and out!!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!

I was POOOOOOOOR!!!!

Today I'm much better off and can afford a Lexus

Shred

Just a thought, Don't ya think those little ventilation holes in the leather seats will get filled up with dirt over time and not work as well?

I guess you should keep the seats well vacumed.

XeroK00L

I saw a silver one today in my neighborhood which is strictly a residential area. Is it on sale already? Looks pretty good though.

carenthus

Shred, I have been lurking under the radar reading about your dilemma with leather seat. I am glad to hear that you had compromised to go with the ventilated leather seats. The leather does make the car more luxurious. I hope the ventilated leather seat will be to your liking and that you will not need to do a reupholster. If you decide to do a reupholster, maybe you can swap the leather seat for a cloth Camry or Avalon seat. They might fit perfectly.

stanes350

Hi Shred, sorry to hear about all your problems. I finally gave in and conformed because all the rest of my family has a Lexus. All this time I was sticking to the German cars. But the expense of upkeep for these cars has forced me to go for a more dependable car. I too preordered a 2007 ES 350 in February. The dealer had not even sent in his order for the dealerships allocation. So he let me choose whatever options I wanted and ordered the car exactly as I told them. I believe you should get whatever you want also. The wait for the car is driving me crazy. It's making me buy all kind of things for a car that I don't even have yet. I didn't order the panorama roof or the ten spoke wheel. I have seen the 7 spoke wheel and it looks nice enough. In fact I prefer it over the ten spoke wheel.

Shred

I will live with the leather ventilated seats for a while but I think as soon as it starts getting warm here in Virginia, and it gets hot here soon, that the black seats will be very hot after the car has been in the sun, and when I'm in shorts I won't want to be sticking to the leather.

I might try sitting on a towel when that happens, but I may just recover the seats with fabric this way I could still use the ventilation.

The Camry seats don't have the cushion extenders so I would keep the Lexus seats and simply recover them.

That brings up another question. I ordered a black interior which I guess will get very hot in the sun. I wonder if maybe I should have ordered the gray. I would not order that beige, I hate it.

But I don't know how light it will be, if it is too light I would not want it.
My 92 Camry has a nice gray seats, not too light, and our Honda Pilot has a very nice gray interior. But when I look at the current ES the gray on looks a bit light colored for my tastes. All the Lexus gray interiors seem to light for me.
I think I'm sticking to the Black even though I worry about the heat issue.

You know, once I found out I was stuck with leather seats I realized that I could buy any brand of car. So I looked through Mercedes and BMW's. But I found out they were more expensive and the reliability didn't seem as good. I have friends with Jaguars and Audi's and they have had mega problems with them.

My 92 Camry keeps chugging alone and all I've done are brakes, a timing belt, small stuff. It's been VERY reliable so I'm sticking with a Toyota product.

Something just tells me the new ES is the car I've been waiting for, and that I'm really gonna like it.

Shred

Anybody know what that slot above the P is for?
Is that maybe where you put the key that's in the fob if the key fob battery is dead or something?

badgis

That is the manual overide for the transmition. You know how you have to have your foot on the brake to allow the transmition to be put into gear, well if that saftey feature were to malfunction you could not put the trasmition into gear. Under that plastic cover is the manual release for the transmition.

flipside909

It's the SHIFT LOCK OVERRIDE button cover. Underneath is the actual button you push down on when your car is disabled and is unable to start. This will allow you to shift the car out of park without the brake pedal actuation.

badgis

Much better than what i said. Thanks.