1 Year Ownership Review (2019 Lexus ES)

Neezy216

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Hello everyone,

Now that I've owned my 2019 ESh since 8/30/2018 (1 day before the official labor day weekend release), I wanted to provide the community with my 1 year anniversary review:


1. I can still hear faint wind noise coming from behind my driver seat while on interstate. Dealer told me it was due to wind passing my side mirror. Others have also witness a noise similar to mine (if not the same). I am used to it now so it doesn't bother me.

2. My mark levinson is great, however, if I listen to it with bass turned all the way up and sound greater than 45-50, it eventually cuts out completely (after prolonged use around an hour or more) and I have to reboot the system (pressing and holding the power button). I told my dealer about this and they advised they couldn't reproduce (it randomly happens to me on road trips), but they recorded the issue in case I need to file a warranty claim. For now, anytime it happens, I just reboot and it works. Since my music is usually turned up high, I don't really care that the system is front-biased. I see many complaints about the system and the base pioneer system being front-biased, but it doesn't bother me. The system plays dvds and videos on my usb drive well and that's when you can really hear the system using several channels. Play a dvd in there or turn your sound up (including the bass) and you'll really hear mark levinson shine.

3. I've already had several people ding/scratch my baby WHILE IT WAS PARKED! The first offender was a hit-n-run (no note left) and I work on a military base! This damage was to the front passenger fender. Fender had to be replaced after 3 months of owning the car (NOV 2018). Second offender was an idiot pulling out of a parking spot and side swiped me (this one I caught). This damage was to the rear driver side bumper. Lexus quoted her insurance over $4k in damage and completely replaced the rear bumper instead of repairing (JUL 2019). Third offender was some fool in a parking lot (yet again). Someone hit my front passenger door handle with a shopping cart and left surface damage. My dealer simply repaired the damage and now you cant even tell ($80 on SEP 1). I guess the 3rd offender was leaving me a 1 year anniversary present! :(. All this bad luck or whatever you want to call it...occurred in southern California... home of the fabulous hit-n-runs.

4. I did not place any car bra on the hood of the car. I do a lot of road trips in the car, and I'm "possibly" the first owner to drive the 2019 ES hybrid Cross-Country from Southern California to DC! The cost of gas in my hybrid was roughly $140-$150!!! No lie. Average MPG across the country (estimated on the car), was exactly 44-45MPG!! Great job Lexus!

5. I am approaching 17,000 miles on the car after several road trips along the west coast and a cross country drive. No mechanical issues whatsoever (Take note GM and Fiat Chrysler America). Several rock chips from rocks flying off of trucks. One unfortunately hit the roof of my car and left a small dent. No one notices so I haven't fixed it. Even if I did get a car bra on the hood/front bumper, this rock hit my roof! The small rock chips on my front bumper don't bother me since Silver lining metallic paint hides them well unless look take a close look.

6. My car still has the lovely semi-aniline leather smell! My interior headliner, I keep clean with shout wipes lol! They have done a great job of getting rid of annoying stains (from people's hands when getting out of the car). My interior is the chateau color. My seats are doing great, the normal wear lines in the leather are appearing, but no where near the point where they look less than great.

7. I clean underneath the hood and the engine bay every once in a while. I want to keep my baby clean...in and out.

8. In California, my average MPG was upper 30s and low 40s when on highway or on road trip. In DC, my mpg has STAYED in the 43-45 range...much flatter terrain here!

9. I still haven't mounted my front license plate holder yet, I hate that it blocks a small part of the beautiful grill! Police need to understand that Lexus makes the best grills and owners are not trying to ruin the view with a dog-gone plate...they just need to give us a break on front plate!

10. I have small areas of curb rash on all four of my noise reduction wheels (SAD FACE), but it's completely my fault. This car is noticeable wider than my 2007 ES. Pulling close to curbs in drive thru, at home, or other areas, I am noticeably further away from the curb when compared to my 2007 ES...trying to avoid more curb rash. The 360 camera helps with this, but it took some getting used to when I first purchased the car.

11. I did not lease, I purchased. I plan on keeping until the wheels fall off (since that will happen before the 4 cylinder engine goes out!). I plan to set money aside over time...so when I do get close to hybrid battery/generator/etc. replacement time, I already have a stash set aside to keep my baby going. No need to purchase the extended warranty... just put that money to the side in a rainy day car fund! After all, a chunk of us wouldn't be buying a Lexus if they broke down as often as Fix Or Repair Daily/Found On Road Dead (FORD), Broken Mother******* Wheels (BMW), Fiat Craps on America (FCA), General Mess (GM), or Love Repairs (Land Rover). Left Mercedes out since they mainly have computers that crap out! lol

12. Lastly, the infotainment: I want to stress that the mouse pad... does NOT (drumroll please).... bother me whatsoever. I am completely used to using it and I now prefer it over a touchscreen. I understand it is all personal preference/opinion or whatever anyone would like to call it, however, please give it a shot and ignore the complaints coming from journalists that only have the car for a limited amount of time. Some will (understandably) continue to not like the mousepad, however, I learned that "changing the sensitivity and then using your finger to swipe to navigate to the selection you want on the screen" instead of "running/rubbing/keeping your finger on the pad to navigate to your selection" works better...in terms of accuracy...at least this has worked for me. I am even used to using the mousepad to select options by quickly glancing at the screen and swiping my finger toward the selection while driving since I'm very familiar with the menus. On touchscreens, I had to pay more attention to making sure my finger lands on the selection I want...while I'm driving. It would still be nice to have both as an option. My lexus dealer wasn't sure if/when a touchscreen option would come to the ES, however, I'm thinking Lexus will integrate the touchscreen when the 7th gen ES is refreshed. My dealer also told me (speculated) that the 2019 ES would get android auto by paying for the software update...similar to how carplay was pushed to the 2018 LS. We'll see, because none of that is stated on the main lexus site for the 2019 ES. There is a chance that Lexus will update their site to reflect that a "multimedia enhancement" will need to be installed. After all, the 2018 LS wasn't on the carplay list until later on (***I believe***). https://lexus2.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10491/related/1

Hope this review helps anyone interested in purchasing the new ES hybrid!

-Neezy
 
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Thank you for your review. Mine is 5 months now, and I’m so happy. No problems whatsoever. And agree totally on the touchpad. Easy and fast once you get used to it. Like it much more than the roll on my Wife’s NX. And yes, the gas consumption is even below promised.