FreddyG

Do you have any shops in your area that do automotive upholstery? If so, you could go into one and ask them about tailoring the seat to your liking. It probably wouldn't be cheap but neither is buying new seats. They can give you different cushion densities (hardness or softness) and tailor the shape to fit what you want. They make custom seats for all kinds of cars nowadays and I'd think that it might be worth the trip (or at least a phone call).

Just a thought.

YumpinYiminy

I drove the base and luxury trims. I did not notice this problem in either and the seats where close in comfort. I am not a small guy and the seats are a bit firm for my liking. My 2013 Avalon also what I would call firm seats and the ride was not as smooth. In both cases the seats were OK, even on long drives.

tfischer

One big difference between the base 10 way adjustable seats and the 14 way adjustable seats (Lux and UL) is that the 14 way seats have an additional rocker switch which extends a bolster from the front of the seat through ninety degrees to where it's an extension of the seat itself. If the seat does not have the extra rocker switch (as shown in my swell photograph) then it's the 10 way seat.
I keep mine at about half way to provide support right behind my knees, which I find very comfortable, especially on long drives.
I have not tested the F Sport seats so I know nothing about them, but I find the 14 way seats more comfortable than the seats in my previous cars.

Denzlex

To me, in pictures, the bolstering looks identical except for the obvious added bolstering in the upper back/ shoulder area of the F-sport seats.

dezymond

The standard seats and the F Sport seats are more different than just aesthetics. The shape of the seats differ, specifically the seating position.

If I had to describe it, I would say with the standard seats it felt like I was sitting on top of something, like a bench seat. Where as with the F Sport seats I feel I am sitting in a chair. They both look fairly similar, but feel completely different.

BlainePDX

I found that leaning the seat bottom forward helped with this. We have Purple seat cushions in both front seats now because they're just too damned hard. It negates the seat heating/cooling though.

grp52

Using a cushion on the front passenger seat can also affect the proper deployment of the front airbags. One of the multitude of warnings in the Owner's Manual's "1-1. For safe use" subchapter, "SRS airbag system" section is:

jediweapon

I sold my 2023 premium because of the seats, I recently bought a 2020 es 350 luxury, the seats do not seem as bad (probably broken in more) but they still bother me a little bit. Is the purple cushion worth the money, and does it conform to the seat well? I have a cheaper one right now and it doesn't conform the best and I feel like I am sitting up a lot higher.

Denzlex

2020 and 2023 are the same generation. Wouldn’t the seats be the same?

Aggie85

I purchased the ES350 UL and when I returned to my dealership for a complementary car wash I asked one of the Service Advisors if the seat was supposed to have substantially harder section of seat on the right side of the seat. He asked me to accompany him to talk with the Service Manager about the issue. My Service advisor informed the Service Manager of my seat comfort issue without referencing the model of vehicle or trim level. The first words from the Service Managers mouth were ES350 Ultra luxury with panoramic sunroof. He knew everything about my vehicle before he knew anything about my vehicle without having laid eyes on it. They have replaced the seat cushion under warranty and if anything it made the situation worse. They then offered to have an outside upholstery shop alter the seat which would require me to sign a hold harmless document and would disable the seat cooling and heating feature of the seats. At this point I am not willing to modify my car to remedy an issue Lexus is aware of. I am 6"1" tall which places my tail bone on the hard spot which causes discomfort every time I drive the vehicle more than ten minutes or so. Are other taller drivers experiencing the same issue.

jediweapon

The 2023 I had I ended up taking a big loss and trading it in, I couldn't deal with the pain, it triggered something with my hip flexor I did 3 months of physical therapy and I am still dealing with pain. The 2024 seems to have the same issue. I bought a 2020 es 350 luxury a couple weeks ago and the seat is different, it has more miles than the 2023 had so it may just be more broken in. I test drove a 2021 es300H 2 weeks ago that had 25k miles on and the same issue occurred with causing leg pain, I test drove the 2020 ES I bought the same day and they are very different it seems.

Shaboom

I feel very badly for you. I have a 2021 ES 350. The seats clearly are firm and remain as firm today as the day I bought the car new 3.5 years ago. They struck me as incredibly firm when I bought the car. However, I’ve gotten used to them and don’t even notice them anymore as being unusually firm. I hope things work out for you. Our last car was a new Volvo and the seats were incredibly wonderful, designed possibly with consultation from an orthopedist. I could suggest you check out the Volvo S60. We enjoyed ours very much. It was a very comforttable car.

Aggie85

It not just that the seat is firm there is a hard spot on the right side in the middle which falls right my right hip which irritates my sciatic nerve. You can literally push down on the seat further back and will have 1 or 2 inches of give but halfway up the seat when pushdown you get 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of give and it is only on the right side of the seat. The same hard spot occurs on the passenger seat on the left side of the seat in the same location. Funny thing is when I've taken it to the dealer they refuse to even sit in the vehicle and just say we've never heard of this issue before.

BlainePDX

We find it fits right in between the bolsters on the sides. The airbags recognize when someone is sitting on the passenger side as well. It does raise you up a half inch or so.

ATL350

This is an area I hope Lexus improves in the nest generation (apparently for MY 2026) by putting in more padding. Finally, it seems, more makers, even lower end ones, are at last putting more cushioning in their seats after years of customer complaints about seats that are too hard for many. You can even see the difference in the interior shots of many cars in review publications like Car and Driver. It doesn’t take inches more of foam or a return to massive seats of years ago (which were actually super comfy), but there’s no reason for the hardness some cars have had. Perhaps in sports oriented models that firmness will remain as a desirable trait but we need to move away from the “every car needs to be sporty” thinking that has dominated the industry for too long now and lead to these seats and equally firm suspensions.

In a related area, and one I mentioned to Lexus in a survey after I got my car, is the, to me at least, overly aggressive front side bolsters. Getting into the seats was the topic of another thread recently, but on a non-F-Sport variant these seem too large to me and I brush against or bump into them often on entry. Related to the “sport everything” vibe, seat bolsters have grown a lot in recent years. Once again, we do not need to return to totally flat seats of the ’80’s but the reality is very few standard ES drivers are racing around so hard in corners and on curvy roads (which auto writers seem to think we traverse on a daily basis) to encounter the need to be “held in their seat” to this degree. Just my opinion, but I think both improvements will be appreciated by a huge swath of drivers.