MY25 ES300h

[Ian J. Parsley]

I collected by Model Year '25 ES300h base spec (slightly oddly entitled "Premium") earlier this month, after the end of my lease on a '20 ES300h F-Sport.

Clearly, this is a lower spec; the main highlights of what I lost are probably the memory seats (including the seat moving back on exit), auto-tilt/closing mirrors and the climate concierge.

On the other hand, it is a newer car - complete with the new nav (and remote app functions), added safety (blind spot light, etc) and general improvements. I've also switched from dark grey to navy blue (my terminology!) - you take your pick on those, but I think I'm veering towards preferring the latter, as it looks particularly good from behind.

My early instinct is that the balance is considerably in favour of the newer car - so if you are switching, consider the base spec. You don't really lose out on much.

Cabin

Improvements are most obvious in the centre lower cabin; here there are now two regular cup holders and more storage as the "mouse pad" has been removed (given the infotainment is now via touchscreen).

(In my case, the colour has changed too - I'm now "forest brown" rather than black!)

Navigation

Of course the general nav and infotainment are completely different. It is well known that there is now a large touch screen, which incorporates a new on-board navigation system (which frankly looks huge, as much as anything) and a series of settings controlled now on what looks more like a tablet.

The system has also expanded voice commands, so you can say "Play Radio 1" and it will turn that on. But there are quite a few limitations to that, I have found.

There are some notable improvements that are not really mentioned in the literature:

- apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now wireless (this matters to me, as my Iphone is so old it cannot be connected by wire);

- Using the apple Maps app, you still get the turns presented on the dashboard (i.e. as if you were using the car's own system); and

- Once you have set "home" in the nav, the dashboard will tell you how far away you are once you are close by regardless of whether you have set it in your nav.

The remote functions work well, but are limited. You can lock the car (you will only do this if you receive a notification that you forgot to do so, as locking it from the app does not trigger the alarm); and you can turn on the climate system for 20 minutes. However, you cannot adjust the climate controls; so this may work as a defroster but it is unlikely to help, for example, with getting those heated seats on full blast when the rain suddenly starts. 

Safety

The safety system on board is now expanded to include cross alerts of various kinds, blind spot info, curve assist and a modified road-sign assist. Lane-keep assist also adds a "lane centring" option (also known as "lane trace"), which I find useful on expressways/motorways but less so otherwise.

There are some negatives here: if you turn road-sign assist off, no speed limit is displayed on the dashboard (in my previous car, the speed limit was still displayed, taken from the nav); audible alarms for breaching the speed limit and veering out of lane are now compulsory (in the sense you have to turn them off every time you start the car if you don't want them), which is a particular annoyance if you go past a temporary limit not actually in force (e.g. a 20mph sign at a school which only applies during school hours); there is no immediately evident way to turn lane-keep assist off (though actually if you hold the lane-keep button on the steering wheel for five seconds, that'll do it).

That said, the audible warning is not particularly intrusive and I have to say I have already become used to it. The key was to get all the other alerts turned off, such as the one for change of speed limit!

Driving

There is no doubt the driving experience is different; steering seems more direct (and therefore, in my view, much improved). There's an outside chance this is because it's no longer an F-Sport, but I think the passage of time is much likelier as I do not think it is all to do with the suspension.

Boot

Now, here is a funny thing.

Firstly, on the negative side, the "convenience pack" no longer exists - so if you have a cargo net and sports mats from your previous car, keep and transfer them. 

Secondly, the single most positive thing I have noticed about the newer car: the boot lid. Of course, you have to close this manually. On the 2020 version, this caused a truly horrible, mucky, tinny crash sound totally at odds with the rest of the car (I actually developed a technique to close it slowly to avoid it). On this version, this is much improved; I suspect there are a few extra springs in there so that it now closes with a much more satisfying cling. This is of course barely a difference, and some may not notice it at all, but it is now much more aligned to the quality finish of the rest of the car!

Three bad things

With regards to buying an ES, some things are still just less than optimal versus rivals in the same bracket:

- there is no trial zone climate control;

- although the spec is great, the removal of the climate concierge and reverse tilt just seems odd and out of character (the former is available on my wife's base spec 2020 UX);

- there is no all-electric version.

Three outstanding things

For all that, if you are in the market for an executive saloon (and I accept ever fewer people seem to be, unfortunately), personally I wouldn't even look at the competition. Here are just three reasons:

- the reliability is second to none;

- the build and ride quality, inside and out, is simply unparalleled; and

- for the spec and adding in the fact it is an automatic hybrid, the value is not even remotely matched elsewhere in the sector.

I'd add one other thing: I like the fact there are so few options. It is much clearer what you are getting and, to me, it gives me faith that Lexus is so confident about the quality of its product it can essentially say "Here it is: you take it or you leave it". I'd go with the former...

 

 

[Lexusjim]

Congratulations on what sounds like a beautiful car.....pictures..?....and a very comprehensive write-up

[PCM]

Very interesting comparison!

Thank you for taking the time to write it.

( Remind me of comparing a 2020 UX with a higher spec/newer, one. Similar updates in many cases. )

[Mincey]

Interesting point about wireless Android Auto. I was expecting Tiff to have wireless AA but she didn't. I haven't looked for it in Cordelia yet as I just assumed she'd be the same as Tiff. 

[Navnan2]

I took delivery of a MY23 in January and it seems to mirror your MY25. I did not understand the trial zone climate control, could you further explain? 

In relation to the above is the car clever enough to realise there is no point in feeding cooled or warmer air to the passengers behind if no one is sitting in the back? I've put my hand in front of the air vents in the rear when air con is on and nothing seems to be coming out when it is in the front. I have selected the whole cabin to be controlled by the system.

Cheers Barry

 

 

[george72]

I have the my23 without wireless android auto. Wasn't there some talk about getting a software update to get this? 

[Ian J. Parsley]

A few pictures as requested. 
 

“Trial zone” is a separate zone for the back, as well as for the passenger and driver. It’s not that uncommon now. 

[Lexusjim]

Lovely car....really like the interior.....

[Chris UXe]

Very nice car Ian, thanks for the pictures. The interior looks lovely too. I think I'm right that you have the 12.3 Lexus Link Pro screen and the separate clock. I gained the 'Link Pro' screen but lost the clock when changing to the updated UXe and miss it- it looked good and was so usefully positioned. Thanks also for your interesting and informative write up.  

[Mincey]

For trial airflow, see page 304 in the manual:



The car will detect whether there's anyone in the front passenger seat or back and adjust the air accordingly. 

[Duggie B]

On 8/10/2024 at 9:09 PM, Ian J. Parsley said:

Trial zone

Think you might mean 'tri' zone 🤔 

[Ian J. Parsley]

3 hours ago, Duggie B said:

Think you might mean 'tri' zone 🤔 

I have seen it called "tri-zone" (and actually also "triple zone") but, as a linguist, I can't have that - because if it's tri-zone, two zones should be bi-zone... 🙂 

[Duggie B]

19 minutes ago, Ian J. Parsley said:

I have seen it called "tri-zone" (and actually also "triple zone") but, as a linguist, I can't have that - because if it's tri-zone, two zones should be bi-zone... 🙂 

OK 3 zone then 

[Navnan2]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:53 PM, Mincey said:

For trial airflow, see page 304 in the manual:



The car will detect whether there's anyone in the front passenger seat or back and adjust the air accordingly. 

Cheers Mincey, will take a look at that.

[Ian J. Parsley]

Just as an update, the MY25 *does* appear to have Climate Concierge; I found it in a fairly nondescript menu the other day. We'll see how it works over the winter!

[Planning ahead]

I am quite happy with one zone for A/C inside any car. Its not like it as big as a house where different controls give different rooms different temps. All the passengers are little more than a metre apart for in reality.

The dogs never moaned that he cannot control the back seat temp and even the wife is happy syncing to 2 front zones when we have them.