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Also - another poster was talking about pricing. They would NOT release anything at the show. However, the Lexus rep I talked to said they expected about the same starting price in the low 30's, and loaded would be around $40k. The optional full panorama roof is really cool also.
The ES350 beltline is definitely higher than the GS, and the headroom in the ES does not seem significantly better than in the GS.
I have the ES350 colors, but weren't these posted here earlier?
He doesn't even have brochures yet.
Interesting. Are you basing this on your interpretation of the specs or have you actually sat in a new ES? Just wondering.
I guess I will probably go to the 530xi but I hate the iDrive. It worries me for my wife's and family's safety. What idiot designs a system that takes the focus off the road.
i still find it worrisome that a car salesman would tell me to look elsewhere based on his experience. I am truly worried about this issue. I really want to get a lexus.
The first 20 pictures or so are of the ES 350.
Enjoy!
http://eddielena.smugmug.com/gallery/1211788
Plenty of people have plenty of dings on cars with bodyside moldings. Above, below, in front of and past the moldings.
Body side moldings provide a false sense of security.
Don't park next to other cars if you REALLY care about keeping the car 100% free of dings.
My car ownership experience goes back to 1968. Some of my cars have been equipped with body side moldings; others have not. I can't say that the presence or absence of these things has made much of a difference. If anything, moldings probably mattered more 30+ years ago, before SUVs came along.
My wife's 99 ES 300 doesn't have BSMs & it still looks pretty good 7 years later - probably because she parks away from other cars & walks an extra 50 feet. Her willingness to do that probably does far more to protect the car's appearance than BSMs would.
I can't say at this time if we'll replace her car with a new ES 350, but I can tell you that the absence of body side moldings won't affect our decision.
Agreed. But they work better than no side moldings.
As to parking away from other cars: been there, done that. Sometimes, or all too often, I return to my car only to find that others have parked next to me.
Nothing, other than keeping your car in the garage, offers perfect protection against dings. Side moldings simply move the odds a little in one's favor.
The first thing that occured to me was an Acura TL when I saw the pictures but I could be way off unless I see it in person.
I own '05 ES330 and happy with it and the design (wish it had telescopic steering wheel in this class). My biggest concern on the ES350 is getting it off the Camry platform stigma. Many associate the ES 300/330 as an expensive Camry.
I had an '04 ES and liked the interior. But, like you, I wanted more stuff. I like being able to get the smart access/push botton, tilt/telescope, backup camera, bluetooth, 10-way power seat with lumbar for the passenger too, etc.
I hope the ES350 doesn't look SO MUCH like a Camery from the outside.
Why would this be a new problem today?
Not sure how accurate his figures are though...
$33,000-$34,000 would be a more reasonable base; $38,000ish for Navigation and $41,000 loaded sounds more reasonable.
It'll all be guesswork until Lexus officially announces pricing.
I priced out a fully loaded '06 ES330, with the works, and it came to around 40. But the new one will have even more features, to distinguish it from the even more loaded Camry (compared to the '06 Camry). For example, not only will it have a telescoping steering column, but power tilt/telescope. They've got to do that, as I said, to distinguish it from the Camry which is competing with the Accord. So those who want to buy the new ES should thank Toyota for upgrading the Camry and Honda for upgrading the Accord.
To answer jaxs question about why we would even want to speculate about the price, the answer is because we want to.
A few weeks back went to a Lexus debut of the new ES350. Before going, I also wondered about the dash as it seemed to look very odd from some pictures I'd seen. But it doesn't really look odd at all when you're sitting behind the wheel. In fact, the whole dash just looks more contemporary.
They had an 06 and 07 sitting side by side, and when you looked at the 06, it just sort of looked plain in comparion - not bad, just not as "current" or something. (And again, I had never thought that about the current model until I could see the two side by side)
As for pricing - several people were signing up on a "waiting list" for when the new model arrived. I didn't really look that close at pricing, but I DO remember seeing some package/version at $35K.
Hope that helps.
38 American sounds absolutely insane to me. In Canada, the ES 330 starts at $39,950. If what the [non-permissible content removed] at the Chicago auto show said is true, then, in Canada, we can expect the base price to rise to $51,000. I don't think anybody can tell me with a straight face that that is in the least bit likely. So therefore, the person from the local Chicago dealership is an absolute idiot.
According to the current issue (April) of Car and Driver, the new ES base price will be right around $33,000 (their informed estimate).
Honestly, maybe he thought the poster was Canadian, so he gave him pricing in CND dollars!
On a more serious note, stop calling people names as in this is an ongoing thing? I am sorry, but I don't see the Chicago Auto Show dealership rep being a very bright one!
I give you respect for standing up for the little people though!
When you are caught in a lie for a deadline or a price, that destroys all the credibility you have.
Either they are dull themselves in the head, or they think their customers are bafoons that believe the base price for the new model is increasing ten large!
No matter which way you look at it, it is embarrassing to hear this, being of above average intelligence!
http://pressroom.toyota.com/presstxt/2007lexuskit/2007ES350_s.pdf
I wouldn't trust anything he said after that and I never returned (and I may buy a Lexus instead).