Lexus ES review

The cheapest ES you can buy starts from £38,765 in entry-level ES trim. Next up, the Premium Edition, starts from £39,265, followed by the F Sport, which starts from £40,930. Want the range-topping Takumi trim? That’ll be an eye-watering £52,315, please. Monthly payments start at around £475, rising to a whopping £760 for the top-spec trim, on a four-year agreement with a six-month initial payment. 

Rivals include the Audi A6, which starts from just shy of £39k, along with the BMW 5 Series – certainly a better driving car – and the Mercedes E-Class – the biggest challenger in the comfort class – which start from around £41.5k. In plug-in hybrid guise you’re looking at around the £50k mark and around 35 miles of electric-only running for all three, significantly more than you’ll achieve in the mild-hybrid only ES.

WHAT ARE THE KIT OPTIONS?

As standard, the ES comes with a 10-speaker Pioneer audio system, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats with eight-way power adjustment, sunroof, parking sensors, smartphone mirroring and 17-inch alloy wheels. The Premium edition adds a 12.3-inch touchscreen, heated steering wheel, wireless smartphone charger, rear privacy glass and 18-inch alloys.

The F Sport version adds adaptive variable suspension and adjustable dampers, F Sport exterior and interior styling details, auto door mirrors and 19-inch alloy wheels, while the top-of-the-range Takumi model includes a 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, head-up display 12.3-inch multimedia display, power boot lid with hands-free kick sensor and head-up display.

SO, WHAT’S THE BEST SPEC?

If you’re buying on a budget and looking to avoid falling into the £40k tax trap the pick of the bunch is the Premium Edition, which comes with extensive additional equipment worth more than £3,000, but an on-the-road price tag just £590 greater than the entry-level ES. 

Otherwise we reckon the F-Sport variant might be the pick of the bunch due to the slightly improved handling and superior ride. That starts at £40,930, or £545 on lease.