es300

[b4u2]

Isn't the lexus es300h just a glorified toyota camry?

[DTR]

I did think so at one point, but not sure now. I’ve never been in a Camry, so can’t make a comparison. However it is very common for manufacturers to have a limited number of floor pans and running gear etc.(see VW/Audi/ Seat/ Skoda) with considerable success. Nobody seems to bother about this do they?

Camry is no longer available new in UK. All I can say is the finished product I.e Lexus ES is an excellent vehicle.. Just enjoy it for what it is; well constructed, hopefully reliable, relatively economical and a very pleasant way of getting from A to B. (At least ignoring the other traffic on the road).

Oh yes, in my questionable opinion, it’s a stunning looking piece of kit. Seems to attract a fair bit of attention. I hope this is admiration, but I suppose some people will be wondering why I should buy a low and elegant vehicle when I could have purchased an ugly blobby Tonka toy. Better get ready to duck after that.

[Mincey]

59 minutes ago, DTR said:

Oh yes, in my questionable opinion, it’s a stunning looking piece of kit. Seems to attract a fair bit of attention. I hope this is admiration, but I suppose some people will be wondering why I should buy a low and elegant vehicle when I could have purchased an ugly blobby Tonka toy. Better get ready to duck after that.

My boss admitted last week that he covets Betsy. 

[Las Palmas]

8 hours ago, b4u2 said:

Isn't the lexus es300h just a glorified toyota camry?

It is. The CT is just a Prius in disguise. I was in a taxi yesterday. A Prius. No, the CT is not just a Prius. Have never been in es300h, but have been in a Camry 2007 or so. OK car. Have also been driving a Toyota Crown, 1978 I think and that was something I would then call a really fine car. Same quality as the SEL series from MB at that time.

But when Prius is not nearly as appealing as the CT, maybe the es300h is not just a camry.

[ColinBarber]

49 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

The CT is just a Prius in disguise.

The CT has more in common with an Auris than a Prius.

[Moleman]

22 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

The CT has more in common with an Auris than a Prius.

While it may have more in common, they are very different cars.

I test drove both when buying the CT, and they are worlds apart when driving and inside the car.

The CT was an easy choice in comparison.

[Las Palmas]

2 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

The CT has more in common with an Auris than a Prius.

I am sure you are right. Have only once been driving an Auris, 4 or 5 years ago, OK, but did not impress, far below the CT. Today was again in a taxi, a brand-new Prius, not bad at all. New Prius is better than old Prius, but more noise than in the CT. The one we have is now 6 years and 13 days and still drive like new. Have had this in

    and now have this   

Seats are easy to clean, no matter what kind of synthetic material (vegan leather) they are covered with. 82K km and still looks like new when just washed. Most cars here get miscoloured from the sun here, but no such thing on the CT. Only thing not correct is the room for sunglasses. It is far too tiny. Maybe just have too big a head, but my sunglasses cannot be in there.

 

[rayaans]

Yes in the same way an Audi A3 is a glorified Seat Leon. But you wouldnt really be able to tell if you didnt know

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, rayaans said:

Yes in the same way an Audi A3 is a glorified Seat Leon. But you wouldnt really be able to tell if you didnt know

Isn’t the A3 a glorified Golf which is a glorified Leon which is a glorified Skoda thingymabob

The ES is a Lexus because it just is!! 

[e-yes]

Isn’t Rolls Royce just a glorified BMW 7 series ?

[Tonyw]

Many cars share body, floor plan and engines, my wife’s Xtrail has a Mercedes’ 1.3 petrol engine from an A class and shares the same floor plan as the Renault Kadjar 

even going back as far as the Alpha 164 being a Saab 9000 underneath, and of course the Saab 93 being a variant of several GM cars including the Vectra, and of course the jaguar x type was famously a Mondeo 

 

[b4u2]

So effectively sometimes all your paying for is the badge! 

[beyond the blue]

2 hours ago, b4u2 said:

So effectively sometimes all your paying for is the badge! 

Can l ask what car you drive? If not a Lexus what make?

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, b4u2 said:

So effectively sometimes all your paying for is the badge! 

No. The Lexus vehicles has different styling, are more exclusive, typically have better quality interior materials and specification, and, depending on the model, have additional quality checks at the factory for paint finish and tighter tolerance for panel gaps etc.

Whether any of those things matter to you, or justify the additional expense, is a personal choice.

 

Until recently within the UK you didn't get similar vehicles in the Toyota and Lexus range, unlike in the US for example. The CT was really the first to do so, with its sister being the Auris, then the UX and the C-HR, and now with the latest NX it has the RAV4 as a sister. The Camry has been dropped so the ES sits alone.

[MartinH]

As a former owner of two generations of Camry V6, I can say they were then by far the best cars I'd owned or driven, and LED me on to Lexus ownership, which has proved an even greater pleasure but — alas! — not so reliable or cost-effective an experience.

[e-yes]

Not sure whether @b4u2 is simply pranking us ES300h owners just because he knows how much love it gets from the owners or whether he's just trolling us 🙂

However, here is an excellent article on why the current generation ES300h is not a Camry - https://lexusenthusiast.com/2018/06/06/the-2019-lexus-es-350-es-300h-a-technical-review/

Also, the current generation ES300h is closer to the  (now discontinued) latest generation Avalon hybrid. Older ESes were closer to North American Camry of the seem peerage. And it seems the next major upgrade to ES will be closer to the North American Crown... unless the BEV concept materialises to be the next ES (if Toyota decide they want to continue to compete in the BEV market and figure out how to keep the wheels bolted to the cars)

And I think the similarities would be minimal. I am sure the engine and hybrid drive train is the same in Avalon Hybrid and ES300h. But there are all sorts of differences.

Avalon has a folding rear seat. ES doesn't due to the reinforcing cross brace behind the rear seat.

Avalon might be available with a panoramic roof. ES hybrid cannot be configured with a panoramic roof as the roof has additional bracing to maintain the rigidity.

The dampers are on Avalon and ES are different.

ES structure uses laser welding an body adhesives whereas Avalon still uses spot welds.

ES has miles more NVH mitigation than Avalon.

Interior wise I think ES is much better... the driver's seat especially with the lumbar support and extending thigh support is not available on the Avalon.

Kind of like how the 2.0TDI DCT drive train on Audi uses wet clutches whereas the same setup on a VW Passat uses dry clutches... and many more such examples. However it is hard to unsee the BMW parts bin radar sensor on a Rolls Royce.

--E

 

[b4u2]

I just came back from the USA 🇺🇸 and the Lexus are all over, extremely popular over there definitely much more than here in the UK 🇬🇧. We got driven in a very big GX suv by an uber driver to the airport which was super comfortable and spacious. The size is much more than what we get. All cars there actually larger.

[royoftherovers]

On 11/10/2022 at 12:30 PM, e-yes said:

Isn’t Rolls Royce just a glorified BMW 7 series ?

I`ve never heard that said before. Chalk and Cheese I would have said,but someone will explain it to me I`m sure.

[dutchie01]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:30 PM, e-yes said:

Isn’t Rolls Royce just a glorified BMW 7 series ?

Or is the 7 series a cheaper version of the Rolls?

[Illogan]

I think that British Rail bacon sandwiches were a poor imitation of proper sandwiches

[Las Palmas]

34 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Or is the 7 series a cheaper version of the Rolls?

They look rather different, but if you think so: OK.

So far I have not seen a glorified version of the Toyota Crown, a friend of mine had in 1986 I think it was. That was luxury then. Had a MB350SE then and the Toyota was in no way anything less than the MB.

[royoftherovers]

37 minutes ago, Illogan said:

I think that British Rail bacon sandwiches were a poor imitation of proper sandwiches

I was at Euston Station recently and stumbled across a big Party taking place. When I enquired as to the reason, I was told that one of the British Rail Pies was 21 !🤣

[Las Palmas]

3 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

I was at Euston Station recently and stumbled across a big Party taking place. When I enquired as to the reason, I was told that one of the British Rail Pies was 21 !🤣

Was it Umble pie? 

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Was it Umble pie? 

Brilliant.

[e-yes]

22 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Chalk and Cheese I would have said,but someone will explain it to me I`m sure.

Exactly the point I was trying to make and now you have said it 🙂 

The RR Ghost when it as launched was platform shared with 7-series and had a some non-trivial number of parts sharing.

Even to this day as BMW (a German company) owns Rolls Royce (almost a British heritage institution if I am not exaggerating 🙂 ) and engines and software are shared between the two.

So, even if Lexus ES shared parts and platform with Toyota Camry and currently with the Toyota Avalon... it is an over simplification to state that a Lexus ES is "just a Camry". The devil is in the details 🙂 

HTH,

--E