When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Is the 7th gen proving to be as good or better than the 6th gen.
st1800 is right. Post this question under the 7th gen. That assumes that someone that had a 6th bought a 7th.
I just purchased a 2024 ES 350, 11/300/2023 base with most options. Compare good or better to what? Ride, interior design or materials, tech, etc.
My thoughts:
Tech is newer 2.5+ but not the latest. 2025 is supposed to be 8th gen.
Ride between base trim and Luxury trims is not much different. Luxury and Ultra suppose to have dampened suspension and optional run quiet wheel sets.
The ride is still very nice. It soaks up bumps and bad roads.
I would not get either of the F Sport trims. There is a F Sport vanity trim. Gives you the look of the F Sport but only on the outside also limited options. The F Sport handling trim gives you the exterior changes and different choices of paint and interior seats wheel, etc. It has a bit more jarring ride with 21" wheels but that's not what you buy an ES for in the 1st place.
I bought a 2013 Avalon limited. I also look at the 350 at that time. I liked the Avalon interior and options better for $4000 less.
I guess the new Toyota Crown is suppose to compete with the ES. The ES is a better value for the same or less money.
I'm betting that 2024 maybe the last year for the V6. Toyota and Lexus are both pushing hybrids and smaller engines.
Hope this helps. Go drive one, it's free.
When I was test driving the 19 and 20 models it was very evident, to the point I did not buy one. It was also an issue with Camry's. I drove a 23 model ES 350 recently and it shifted very normal for an 8 speed transmission. A lot of info on the 7 Gen page.
Still driving my 2016 as I just cannot justify paying a 30k difference (yet). May just move to the LS500 if they keep dropping.
Yes. Not as smooth as the 6 speed. Mostly on hills doing 25 mph or less. It's really not all that bad. It's minor and not harsh.
I had a 2023 ES 350 loaner the other day as I took my 2014 ES 350 in for 150k maintenance. The 2023 shifts better than the 2019 gen started out. I've had loaners through the years. I still prefer my 6-speed 2014, but driving the 2023 around town (and highway to work) for a day I didn't noticed the jerkiness of the first year 2019. YMMV FWIW. =)
Here's my experience with a 2017 ES350 Premium vs a 2019 ES350 F-Sport. The 2017 ES350 is my daily, the 2019 ES350 is my brothers vehicle, which I only drove for 10 hours~ max over the holidays. We also have a 2018 ES300h, but I don't drive that one.
These are all subjective and the truth is, you have to see it for yourself. Anything positive/negative about any of these generations said have to be taken with a grain of salt, because it is THEIR opinion and not yours.
I'm kind of just rambling with this post about my findings, its not going to be super cohesive and probably hard to read lol.
I am a firm believer that the 7th gen exterior is nicer than the 6th gen. I think the F-Sport grill style plays a huge factor into it, it's always been my favorite grill offered by Lexus.
From the front/sides/rear, I much prefer the look of the 7ES. The headlights were the triple-beam LED's with the diffused signature Lexus "L", the taillights look more updated and the body just looks "luxury" to me.
Comparing this to my 6ES, the headlights aren't diffused (individual DRL LED's), the body lines are a lot less aggressive, and I actually may prefer the taillights on the 6ES.
Another thing I noticed immediately was when I was parking in the garage, the 7ES is a bit longer, it barley fits inside our garage.
Wheels on the 7ES are a lot nicer. They look very good.
Interior-wise, I much prefer the interior on the 6ES. I don't know what it is, but the 7ES felt a lot more "cramped" on the inside. The 7ES I drove had the F-Sport interior, so it had the "bucket seats" and red/black interior.
The dashboard seems a little more raised and the door panels too. I felt pretty squished. Seats were comfortable and I'm a sucker for the red interiors. On the infotainment, the screen in my 6ES is an aftermarket 10.25'
with wireless AA/CP and touchscreen support. The 7ES I drove had the upgraded larger screen, with only wired aa/cp, and the infamous touchpad. No issues from me. Lexus has updated the infotainment on the 2023+ and it's a lot nicer.
Rear seats were spacious in both cars, the ES is a bigger sedan so both of these cars shouldn't have any issues with rear passengers. Even at our seating positions, there was plenty of legroom and nobody complained.
What I want to point out is, the F-Sport gauge cluster is much nicer than what we have and the ventilated seats are much better. I found myself turning them down/off, while in the 6ES I end up just keeping it on max.
I also prefer the layout of the interior on the 6ES, it feels more open and "Luxury" with how the infotainment is integrated within the dashboard. The 7ES had a few more soft touch-points with leather on the door panel
and even a leather "knee" rest where the center console is, but the 6ES still felt more comfortable.
Driving impressions.
It's an ES. It's not engaging. It's not a BMW. It's not a Porsche.Both cars drive like an ES, it's FWD and just "drives". I can't really explain it more than that.
I've driven plenty of engaging cars and while I'm not a "EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE RWD/AWD OR IT SUCKS" person, you don't buy an ES for its handling and driver engagement.
Both vehicles are very comfortable and smooth when riding on the road. However, the 7ES I drove suffered from the infamous jerky 8-speed on the 2019-2020's.
My brother didn't seem to notice it at all when I pointed it out, so I guess he was used to it. But accelerating at low speeds without giving it some gas, or slowing down below 30~ MPH, you could really feel the upshifts/downshifts.
It was a night and day difference from the transmission on the 6ES where it's much smoother. I had a 2023 ES350 Luxury Loaner that didn't have this transmission issue as another info point.
Paddle shifters are also available with the 7ES, I don't know if I would really make use of them on the daily, but it was just okay. No lightning quick shifts like on a DCT, but it was "good" enough.
Stereo on the 7ES sucks. It was the base system, so not the Mark Levinson. It just sucked. Garbage. I didn't like it at all. Audio was super imbalanced like it was faded only to the front when it wasn't.
It sounded like I was listening to music underwater. I DID NOT have this issue on the 2023 7ES Loaner I got though, and I believe the 2019's also had issues with audio quality. I was very unhappy with it.
The 6ES system in my car is "aftermarket". I ended up replacing the front 3 dashboard speakers with aftermarket Infinity Reference speakers and the two front-door panel speakers too. I also added
a powered subwoofer in the trunk, which gives me audio I am happy with. If you are looking at either of these cars, I would recommend getting the Mark Levinson system if you consider yourself
an "audiophile". The 7ES Loaner I had was optioned with it and while it wasn't as good as the system I have in my 6ES, I was mostly happy with it.
Ride quality was better on the 7ES. Even with the 19" F-Sport wheels vs the 17" Inch wheels on my 6ES, it rode better. Not a crazy difference, but it did ride better.
It seemed to handle "bigger" bumps better, but otherwise it was mostly similar. Better noise isolation in the cabin too.
TLDR - 7ES is better. Some stuff is worse, but its all opinion.
In MY opinion. Please form your own after driving both.
7ES > 6ES - Exterior
7ES < 6ES - Interior
7ES > 6ES - Ride Quality
7ES < 6ES - Sound System (BOTH BASE)
7ES > 6ES - Technology (isn't this obvious? newer = better)
If you would like any more impressions about anything else, I would be happy to provide them.
I'll stick with my 6ES. I prefer the exterior of the 7ES by far though. As @rmak said, it's not worth the 10-20k~ price differential to upgrade to. Interested in an LS or LC myself.
Looking in the DFW Area though, I can find plenty of 7ES 2019/2020 ES350/ES300h for around 32~36k with less than 30k~ miles. With 6ES 2016-2018 (facelift) at around 24-28k.
Since I decided to stay with my 6ES for the time being, I have done small things to make it less boring and am enjoying it more. In fact, several people have actually had to ask what year it is, or "is that an ES?"
1. I put 20-inch wheels and tires on. Took away some ride quality but looks and handles awesome.
2. Added a front spoiler and painted the rear spoiler black. I had to cut and shape the front spoiler as it looked like *** during test fit. The pics show both spoilers before paint.
3. I changed out the mufflers to dynomax turbo's. Added custom tips. Still very quiet with stock resonator, but has a groan when accelerating.
4. Had the roof and grill painted gloss black when I had the front end repaired.
12-11-23, 10:01 PM
Move the question
