imz14u2nv

My car has BRIDGESTONE TURANZA EL400 (P225/45 R18 91V), apparently they are horrible and hated by all…lol, I don’t know enough so the jury’s still out on this.

Thanks so much!! A few other small items that I didn’t mention:

New Gauges:
The 2016 has new Gauges, they don’t make a lot of difference if you ask me but they are different, the only one I don’t like is the Fuel Gauge which just seems to have a short needle, I preferred the 2013 better (Only the Fuel Gauge though)

Visors:
My 2007 had Better Quality visors as they felt more solid and significant than my 2013 which had visors that felt like cardboard, I am happy to report that the 2016 has bought back the higher quality more solid feeling visors (Small thing but, I like the more quality feel)

2 USB Ports:
My 2013 had only 1 usb port, the 2016 has 2.

Thanks, Yes, I must confess, I never close mine either, the reason that I always got the Ultra Luxury Edition was for the Panoramic Roof because I like to keep everything closed for the quiet interior levels, but I love the cockpit being nicely and naturally lit.

Thanks, The salesman did mention that it is quieter (Actually, he said, I know your car was quiet, but listen to this…lol), this could be true, but the ES has always been quiet, so I’ll have to trust you guys on that.

Mhobizal

Great review! Thanks for posting. What is the new 2016 costing these days?

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

Congratulations on the pick up, hope you enjoy all the improvements!

Dave Mac

Some great information in this thread.

I believe the windshield wipers are also new from the 2013 - kind of like the new Michelin Stealth blades. All in all a much improved and very nice model.

Dave Mac

imz14u2nv

03-01-2016:
Front Center Armrest:
I held off on commenting on this item until I was convinced it was not just because the car was brand new. I have noticed that the Leather on the Center Front Armrest is a lot more robust, what I mean by this is that in my 2013 my elbow left a dimple on the leather very early on, In the 2016, I have noticed that it is not as prone to the dimple issue as if the material and craftsmanship is of higher quality, still very comfortable but less likely to pull apart/dimple.

Brn2fish

imz14u2nv, congratulations on a new car and thank you for the great review. IMO it is much more useful and informative than those magazines reviews.

lesz

I don't believe that the material that is covering the center armrest is actually leather. It is, instead, either the same NuLuxe material used on the seats of the base ES or some other man-made leather substitute.

imz14u2nv

Thanks, I really like the ES and anything I can do to help others make an informed decision I am more than happy to assist with.

You could be correct on the material itself, I know on the 2013 it was actual leather (That car was also an Ultra Luxury Edition), but my dog would make scratches in it as he likes to ride with back paws on rear seat and front paws on Center front armrest. I started covering it, but I know it dimpled pretty easily as the leather was more slack or not glued to the padding. On the new car I have noticed that the material could be man-made as it does not have the same natural looking sheen as the previous one, but looks like it will hold together better and is still nice and comfortable.

lesz

My ES is a 2013, and I am 100% certain that the cover on the center armrest is not leather. As I said above, I think it might be NuLuxe, but, if it isn't, it is some other form of fake leather. If you check closely, you will see that the material does not have the same feel as the actual seating surfaces, which are the only places where there is genuine leather. Instead, it has the same feel as the sides and backs of the seats, which are not genuine leather. One of the things that I have noticed about that material is that it is (at least, to an extent) self-healing. I had a puncture in mine from the point of a ball point pen, and the hole quickly disappeared, which it would not have done if it was real leather.

SW17LS

I would also agree that the console armrest has not been leather. It was not leather on my 2013 GS with semi-aniline leather, nor is it leather on my 2015 LS460. Would be very surprising if it was leather on the ES.

imz14u2nv

I most definitely agree that the material on the armrest (Whatever it is) is not even close to the the quality and feel of the semi-aniline leather on the seats and they are even nicer on the 2016 than they were on the 2013, every time my hand makes contact with them, I think “These are much nicer than the previous seats”, of course having the extra padding in the new seats don’t hurt either.

LexBob2

A good guideline is leather covered seating areas. Most other surfaces are usually synthetic. Some sales materials will specify this, while others are more vague.

bostonsnow

Since the 2016 was a refresh year, can we assume that there will be nothing significantly different for 2017? I ask a salesperson this , and he said that the 2017 ES and GS are not expected to have any changes - does this sound reasonable?

jollick

Yes it is reasonable.

lesz

I would be shocked if there were absolutely no changes, but any changes are likely to be quite minor.

Typically, any changes might include things like changing trim pieces, like door handles, from body color to chrome or from chrome to body color, minor changes in interior trim, changes in available interior or exterior colors, etc. I also wouldn't be surprised if there were minor improvements in the entertainment system, such as adding compatibility with more devices or improving the system's ability to use voice commands.