bostonsnow

Hi all,
I am now 70,000 miles into my ES300h , which is running just fine with no problems, but starting to itch to switch car, and ready to jump up in price point.

Looking for combination of excellent ride and seat comfort, with reliability, and would like to stay hybrid (or even electric) if possible. Thoughts from the group?
LS 600h?
I've read though how the gas model LS's ride has deteriorated though from the last generation.
go with the hybrid Rx even though its SUV and not sedan?
try to go outside Lexus, but then reliability becomes the question. I find the Teslas are not comfortable and ride is too firm.
Mercedes electric S and E class are coming out - very intriguing but reliability will be a BIG question mark !!

thanks for any thoughts,

LeX2K

Mercedes is hard to beat if you want a soft, cocoon like ride. How long do you plan on keeping? If it's past the warranty stay away from Mercedes. Tesla Model S with air suspension has an excellent ride BTW.

bostonsnow

Thanks. I have not driven a Tesla S with air suspension - I should try

I usually like to keep cars past warranty, but thats a good point - I could always purchase for short term (or lease) a Merc or Tesla to avoiding getting out of warranty.....

swfla

iTrader: (1)

What did you end up doing?

bostonsnow

thanks for asking this timely and good question!

in this crazy 2022 for car buying , I ended up - making no moves!! I'm happily still driving my 2016 ES300h!

I looked at a few Mercs - the SUVs, and of course there is the S series that one can get for sublime comfort with the air suspension, but with high cost and low reliability that one needs to consider. Considering these factors plus the price craziness of 2022, I declined to pursue a Merc

I looked into the Tesla S. Boy are they nice and FAST. However then noted the price increases in Tesla also, and the crazy high prices in the Tesla used market. Then, I witnessed my wife's Tesla model 3 go through a minor fender bender but then spend 6 weeks in a body shop for what really should have been a minor and quick repair and saw how supply chain issues and relatively high costs affect Tesla body repairs (and hence are reflected in higher Tesla insurance rates), and so have thought less of Teslas too. (although this body shop scenario may be widespread I suppose with the pandemic related supply chain issues I guess, but it really seems to affect Tesla heavily ). The air suspension in the S does make for a nicer ride, but yet, not as much comfort factor as I would want.

There is the new Merc Electric Sedan, the EQS. it seems pretty cool but I have not attempted to test drive it yet. The price point is so so high, and being early in its model years, I'm reluctant to jump in to that as of yet. I suppose could lease one but the lease cost is just too high to justify in my mind.

So what I decided was: stick for a few more years with my ES300h!! it really is a great car. Its not a high-end luxury model, but for a mid-range luxury car, pretty darn good. Comfortable. And, even at now near 80,000 miles, knock on wood without problems and so has been super reliable to me. I suspect that over the next 3-4 years, we will see a flurry of new electric models out, and eventually one will come up with the right mix of comfort and reliability for me. Lexus seem to be quite behind in the electric movement, but thats ok, lots of manufacturers are making a lot of progress. In addition, Tesla are stubborn. They seem to not want to open up their cars to be a "storage battery " for your house, as they want you to buy the Tesla battery storage for homes. Having just put in solar panels , I would rather go for an electric car that may allow for bi-directional activity, so that the car can be used as an emergency battery for your house. From what I hear, the non-telsa manufacturers will increasingly offer this option in the upcoming years. I believe Ford already are allowing this. Charge your electric car, and it can serve as your house's backup battery too. So, I'm going to hold out for a couple of years for all of these reasons.