Car review: Lexus ES is the strong, silent type

Does Lexus’s ES have the power to transform the brand from unloved underdog to serious competitor? Sean O’Grady finds out

Sean O'Grady
Thursday 12 December 2019 16:39 GMT
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The car has everything a businessperson could want, except for a ‘prestige’ badge
The car has everything a businessperson could want, except for a ‘prestige’ badge

You may not have noticed the quiet – literally – progress of Toyota’s medium executive saloon, Lexus ES, and its predecessor the GS. This refined model has been around for quite a while now, but it has never made much of a noise, in any sense (hope I’m not labouring the aural point to much).

To be honest, this BMW 5-series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class competitor has never excited that much interest among buyers in this country. The older versions were bland, indoors and out, dynamically OK, but no more, and memorable only for their extreme reliability (no fault, that, of course). While Mercedes-Benz E-Class models were setting fire to themselves and rusting prematurely, the Lexus was still unable to take advantage of its rival’s spate of weakness in the 2000s. Reliability isn’t everything. Built by Toyota, with all that means for build quality and, in more recent times, longevity, the Lexus deserved to do better.

The Lexus badge was and, to be frank, still is a victim of some fairly hideous brand snobbery. That they sell about 15,000 cars a year in the UK is testament to how good they actually are, given all the sneering. Whereas in the rest of the world, and particularly the United States, Lexus cars sell in substantial numbers, in Europe this new-ish brand (launched in 1989), remains unloved.

The ES is unlikely to revolutionise things, I have to say, if only because such turnarounds in market perceptions usually occur very slowly. Yet the Toyota/Lexus engineers can hardly be faulted for the efforts they have put in to making a truly fine vehicle.

The ES will return about 50 miles per gallon

It is a sophisticated hybrid, for a start (electric/petrol) and it’s probably easiest to think of it as a bigger, fatter, posher version of the Prius. The hybrid powertrain should also mean lower running costs, with a low tax liability for business and company car users especially, and, of course, the thing won’t go wrong, inside or beyond its warranty period (three years, or 60,000 miles – with five-year cover for hybrid batteries and hybrid component cover). It will return about 50 miles per gallon, perfectly acceptable for luxury transport.

The new, more avant garde school of Toyota/Lexus styling has been seen recently in the latest Prius, the hydrogen fuel cell Mirai and the very weird C-HV small SUV. On the ES it works well, so that rather than fading into the background like an especially bashful chameleon, the zig-zag lines, low-slung stance and distinctive rear light shapes make the Lexus instantly recognisable (and easier to locate in a car park). The double-trapezoid grille with its intricately finned “spindle” grille is especially striking. They’ve fixed the Mr Blobby looks, at long last.

The cabin is a bit more dramatic too, which is a good thing. They claim the biggest touchscreen in the sector, at 12.9 inches, though it doesn’t seem quite as full-width as the ones on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. There’s also a remote touchpad between the front seats, a kind of crude version of a mouse. I found it a bit too trigger happy to use, though it does get better with familiarity. I prefer the way Lexus used to do things, with row upon row of buttons to press and dials and knobs to pull around: much more fun, more direct, more comprehensible. Then again, like Count Binface, the novelty candidate who stood against Boris Johnson in the election, I’d like to bring back Ceefax. A “clean” dashboard is an overrated virtue. Plus, what happens when the screen packs up?

The big leather chairs were superbly restful and the hybrid drive train helps bring noise levels close to zero. Lexus/Toyota talk a bit about making the chassis and steering more responsive and, indeed, there are four driving modes and a new F-Sport all-out performance version. Yet, at heart, the Lexus ES is a car made for slowcoaches, captain sensibles and the more relaxed motorist. The kind of owner who can’t afford a Bentley, and anyway regards them as a bit too racy.

Lexus claims the biggest touchscreen in the sector

There are only a couple of faults that will get on the nerves of the ES’s otherwise highly contented owners. The automatic gearbox is one of those smooth one-speed versions and, as with just about every other “continuously variable” transmission I’ve tried, it’s whiny and annoying. You’ll recognise the type from any time you’ve sat in an Uber Prius – it gives off a mournful moan as it tries to pick up speed. Despite the fuss, it doesn’t even do that very quickly, and it is a distressingly sluggish runner, given it’s got a 2.5-litre petrol engine plus an electric motor driving its front wheels. Even Toyota can’t sort it out.

The care and quality of the build are apparent

The spec

Lexus ES300h Takumi

Price: £45,655 (as tested; starts at £35,155)
Engine: 2.5 4-cylinder petrol + electric motor; CVT auto
Power output (bhp@rpm): 215@5,700
Top speed (mph): 112
0 to 60 (secs): 8.9
Fuel economy (mpg): 52.9​
CO2 emissions (g/km): 103 

My test car was a top-of-the-range Takumi model and represents everything a jaded businessperson would want for, except for a “prestige” badge for the status-conscious. Takumi, by the way, is Japanese for “artisan” and, while it’s obviously not some sort of hand-built creation, the care and quality of the build are perfectly apparent. For me, the Lexus might not yet be ready to beat the best of the German brands, but it is a very attractive offering, and in some areas – build, reliability, fit and finish – it is a match or better. Like Jaguar’s XF and the Volvo S90, however, which are also excellent products, the Lexus ES will struggle against the sillier instincts of far too many buyers. It’s time for real change in the car market, if not anywhere else.

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