jimbosr1

Yes it is

BBQapple

I like how you refer to yourself as an authority, then make a pretty glaring error that the ES is “based on” the Camry when in fact its closest sibling is the Avalon. Although in reality it’s not based on either car but rather they all share the same platform which is a different story. A car being “based on” another car means they used the original car as a starting point which is not how global platforms work.

BBQapple

For me that’s impossible to know until I spend some hours in the seat. It felt great during a couple test drives. Not so great after 100 miles in a day.

f sport seats in wife’s IS350 are amazing however

jimbosr1

I drove a 130 miles yesterday and the seat felt great so I am happy as a pig in heaven.

LexFinally

Excellent post, IMO. This point has been made countless times, and to this specific poster. You'd think that one requirement for being an authority would be the ability to assimiliate information, but evidently not.

Wilson2000

I don't understand why the topic of the "ES vs Camry" is so sensitive and controversial. Who cares if the ES shares parts and pieces with the Camry? Other than the parts they share, these are two distinct vehicles, both worthy of praise for their strengths, each in their own rights. Everything Lexus did to make the ES a Lexus (vs a Camry) works for me!

If I had a issue with people calling my ES a glorified Camry, it would say more about me than the vehicle.

LexFinally

In my personal opinion, the reason it's sensitive is because ES admirers correctly sense that those posturing about the ES's working-class roots are using the car as a proxy for copping a superior attitude about themselves. The smart-alecks are asserting that they alone recognize the ES's fraudulent nature because they thave purebred tastes that gullible, unsophisticated ES owners lack. In short, ES owners are tired of having the codpiece of car arguments constantly shoved in their face.

BBQapple

The ES isn’t “based on” the Camry though. That hasn’t been the case for two generations now. They share a platform, yes, but saying one is based on the other is liken saying my son is based on my daughter.

ATL350

I object to it, aside from accuracy issues debated above, because of the context in which it is most often used. Most of the time it is meant as a put down, implying that the ES is "just a glorified Camry", meaning it's really just a cheap sedan trimmed up with a higher price tag, nothing more. Despite this platform development sharing now being common globally, the criticism is usually only made against certain cars, the ES being a prime example, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, they all "base" higher models on lower DNA, if you will. You could say a Bentley is just an Audi, even sharing switch gear, for instance, yet you won't hear snark from the automotive press which is then parroted by the public. So the "based on" tag is not used universally because it's not relevant in modern automotive platform development.