Motor Trend Comparison: Lexus ES 350 vs. Acura TLX vs. Infiniti Q50 vs. Lincoln MKZ vs. Buick Lacrosse

Posted by Kevin on March 6th, 2019

Motor Trend has produced a curious comparison — an on-paper head-to-head with the new Lexus ES 350 versus the Acura TLX, Infiniti Q50, Lincoln MKZ, and Buick Lacrosse:

After a week in the Lexus I understand why the ES continues to outsell these four competitors by between 40 and 212 percent (Q50 and LaCrosse), and why its rate of sales decrease year-over-year was less than half what the others suffered from 2017 to 2018.

It’s a faithful automotive valet—solicitous, never argumentative, seen but not heard. Toss in a strong record for reliability and resale value, and what non-car enthusiast could resist?

So in a consumer-focused Big Test focusing on packaging, safety, reliability, refinement, and the like, I boldly predict that Lexus would grab the gold. Second place might be hotly contested by a heavily optioned 300-hp Q50 Luxe AWD and Acura TLX SH-AWD. I see a Lincoln MKZ 3.0 Reserve II AWD finishing a close third and Buick’s LaCrosse Avenir AWD bringing up the rear.

ComparisonsLexus ES: Sixth Generation
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Comments
S
I'm on a 7000km road trip and thus can't get a first look of the 7ES in dealers. However on our way I saw dozens of trucks loaded with the 7ES, C-HR, and new Corolla. Just from that rough impression I know this is a no-brainer.
S
I'm on a 7000km road trip and thus can't get a first look of the 7ES in dealers. However on our way I saw dozens of trucks loaded with the 7ES, C-HR, and new Corolla. Just from that rough impression I know this is a no-brainer.
S
spwolf
I dont think they are too similar? There will always be people who wont know the difference between old ES and new ES too, so I dont think we need to pay attention to them.

As long as LS looks great, filtering that down is not a problem, as we can see by MB. For instance, for me, BMW's dont make too much sense since 7 series does not look great... but I dont think anyone cares, they still sell, lol.
Agreed. There will always be people that won't know the difference between the cars and there will be car people that will. There are still people that get confused from older generation and newer generation of Audi, BMW, MB and Porsche. Especially - BMW and Porsche, they look the most similar to their older models.
S
spwolf
I dont think they are too similar? There will always be people who wont know the difference between old ES and new ES too, so I dont think we need to pay attention to them.

As long as LS looks great, filtering that down is not a problem, as we can see by MB. For instance, for me, BMW's dont make too much sense since 7 series does not look great... but I dont think anyone cares, they still sell, lol.
Agreed. There will always be people that won't know the difference between the cars and there will be car people that will. There are still people that get confused from older generation and newer generation of Audi, BMW, MB and Porsche. Especially - BMW and Porsche, they look the most similar to their older models.
J
2019 ES Configurator is Live:
https://www.lexus.com/models/ES
J
2019 ES Configurator is Live:
https://www.lexus.com/models/ES
J
2019 ES Brochure

https://www.lexus.com/documents/brochures/2019/MY19-Lexus-ES-and-ES-Hybrid-Brochure.pdf
J
2019 ES Brochure

https://www.lexus.com/documents/brochures/2019/MY19-Lexus-ES-and-ES-Hybrid-Brochure.pdf
N
JJohn341
2019 ES Configurator is Live:
https://www.lexus.com/models/ES

You beat me to it haha! Thanks for sharing!
N
JJohn341
2019 ES Configurator is Live:
https://www.lexus.com/models/ES

You beat me to it haha! Thanks for sharing!
N
All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!
N
All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!
Gecko
I have a real love affair going on with the ES F Sport in white :heart_eyes:

Gecko
I have a real love affair going on with the ES F Sport in white :heart_eyes:

S
Neezy216
All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!
did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?
S
Neezy216
All,

My fully loaded (Every single option) 300h has arrived at my dealer....AND:

My dealer has been authorized by Lexus corporate to sell me the vehicle before the official SEP 3 release date!!! I'm driving it off the lot tomorrow!
did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?
N
spwolf
did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?

Yes, I test drove a caviar/chateau linear dark mocha luxury build (without performance dampers) three days ago. Mine will be the ultra luxury, fully loaded build.

Here's a snippet of what I shared in clublexus:

Quick verdict:

- Extremely comfortable and smooth
- I did not hear as much whirring (only a little) compared to the 2018 300h
- Can't really notice any difference in acceleration between 2018 300h and 2019 300h (15hp difference)
- My tester did not have the Mark Levinson package, BUT the regular 10 speaker Premier audio sounded very good (albeit at low-mid volume).
- You can definitely tell they worked on the steering and handling! Very impressed
- Engine is VERY loud when demanding more power for getting on the interstate etc. It is noticeably louder compared to my current 2007 ES ONLY when demanding a lot of power out of the engine.
- Noticeable improvement with suspension setup (my tester did not have performance dampers). Definitely not floaty like my current one is!
- VERY good with absorbing bumps/cracks/road imperfections in road - this includes when I purposely and continuously ran over those yellow or white lane reflectors in the road! I thought my current 2007 ES was smooth, but this blows it away.


This was a quick 5 mile test drive in southern california. Heads were definitely turning!
N
spwolf
did you drive it before, or did you order before checking it out live? If you checked it out live first, what did you think? and what vehicle did you drive before?

Yes, I test drove a caviar/chateau linear dark mocha luxury build (without performance dampers) three days ago. Mine will be the ultra luxury, fully loaded build.

Here's a snippet of what I shared in clublexus:

Quick verdict:

- Extremely comfortable and smooth
- I did not hear as much whirring (only a little) compared to the 2018 300h
- Can't really notice any difference in acceleration between 2018 300h and 2019 300h (15hp difference)
- My tester did not have the Mark Levinson package, BUT the regular 10 speaker Premier audio sounded very good (albeit at low-mid volume).
- You can definitely tell they worked on the steering and handling! Very impressed
- Engine is VERY loud when demanding more power for getting on the interstate etc. It is noticeably louder compared to my current 2007 ES ONLY when demanding a lot of power out of the engine.
- Noticeable improvement with suspension setup (my tester did not have performance dampers). Definitely not floaty like my current one is!
- VERY good with absorbing bumps/cracks/road imperfections in road - this includes when I purposely and continuously ran over those yellow or white lane reflectors in the road! I thought my current 2007 ES was smooth, but this blows it away.


This was a quick 5 mile test drive in southern california. Heads were definitely turning!
mikeavelli
I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.
mikeavelli
I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.
J
mikeavelli
I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.
I agree. Through out the model years LS and ES has shared some design similarities. I have always found that 5th gen ES and and Pr-facelift 4th gen LS shared lot of exterior designs.
J
mikeavelli
I was at Lexus today and it is a great looking sedan and it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another, being the LS, especially from the front. I'm sure they are going to continue to sell every last ES they build.
I agree. Through out the model years LS and ES has shared some design similarities. I have always found that 5th gen ES and and Pr-facelift 4th gen LS shared lot of exterior designs.
Joaquin Ruhi
mikeavelli
...it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another...
I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday.

Roughly every other Saturday, a small group of local car journalists gets together for an indoor soccer match against the folks at DriveShop (managers for some of the local press car fleets), so it's interesting to see what new press cars they sometimes bring. I went outside to the parking lot to retrieve something from my car. Next to me, I see what, from the rear left 3/4 view appeared to be a Genesis G80. As I got closer, I did a stunned double-take when I started seeing Lexus logos and an ES 300h badge. Yes, it was a 7th-gen ES. I rarely confuse cars like that, but it happened.

It did, however, give me a begrudging newfound appreciation for the spindle grille upfront. Not much chance of confusing that with anything else!

I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.
Joaquin Ruhi
mikeavelli
...it is the first Lexus that I truly can confuse with another...
I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday.

Roughly every other Saturday, a small group of local car journalists gets together for an indoor soccer match against the folks at DriveShop (managers for some of the local press car fleets), so it's interesting to see what new press cars they sometimes bring. I went outside to the parking lot to retrieve something from my car. Next to me, I see what, from the rear left 3/4 view appeared to be a Genesis G80. As I got closer, I did a stunned double-take when I started seeing Lexus logos and an ES 300h badge. Yes, it was a 7th-gen ES. I rarely confuse cars like that, but it happened.

It did, however, give me a begrudging newfound appreciation for the spindle grille upfront. Not much chance of confusing that with anything else!

I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.
J
Joaquin Ruhi
I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday......
I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.
I own 14 300h so from my experience, after a while one can get used to the 0-60 time. But, The hybrid provides many other positive benefits overall; really good passing power on HWY, fast cabin cooling in TX heat, serenity in most conditions and also the car does not feel bog down when fully loaded with passengers like a typical NA 4 Cylinder car and most of all excellent fuel economy considering the size and weight of the car, hand calculated I get 35-36 mpg average on a tank of gas.
J
Joaquin Ruhi
I had a totally different experience in that regard this past Saturday......
I asked the journalist (and soccer teammate) driving it on his impressions. He said it's typically smooth and quiet and high-quality Lexus, but the 8.4-second 0-60 mph time for the hybrid seemed, to him, disappointingly subpar.
I own 14 300h so from my experience, after a while one can get used to the 0-60 time. But, The hybrid provides many other positive benefits overall; really good passing power on HWY, fast cabin cooling in TX heat, serenity in most conditions and also the car does not feel bog down when fully loaded with passengers like a typical NA 4 Cylinder car and most of all excellent fuel economy considering the size and weight of the car, hand calculated I get 35-36 mpg average on a tank of gas.
S
8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.
S
8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.
Joaquin Ruhi
ssun30
8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.
I haven't double-checked if those numbers are truly accurate. i'm just going by what this fellow journalist told me.
Joaquin Ruhi
ssun30
8.4s is really strange considering its power-to-weight ratio. A 1,700kg regular car with 215hp is usually sub-8s even on low resistance tyres, and hybrids should be faster at the same power-to-weight ratio.
I haven't double-checked if those numbers are truly accurate. i'm just going by what this fellow journalist told me.

J