2023 Lexus ES300h // Best Luxury Hybrid $50k Can Buy? // Full Detailed Review

The 2023 Lexus ES300h only sees a few updates, but they're good ones! This hybrid executive sedan embodies what Lexus is all about and delivers comfort, efficiency, and reliability as an excellent price point. Is the F Sport Handling package worth the price? Or should you go for one of the other trims? And how does this car stack up to the Acura TLX, Cadillac CT5, BMW 5-Series, and Audi A6? Let's take a look.
2023 Lexus ES300h (F Sport Handling / Hybrid) Review
2023 Lexus ES 300h Review
Merch:
gearbox-car-reviews.creator-s...
My setup:
GoPro 9 camera: www.amazon.com/GoPro-HERO9-Bl...
Rode Wireless II mic: www.amazon.com/dp/B09PXCZ24?t...
Tripod: www.amazon.com/dp/B083J6D5ZK?...
External Camera Mount: www.amazon.com/dp/B00F19Q7YI?...
Tether: www.amazon.com/dp/B073PV51NW?...
Internal Camera Mount: www.amazon.com/Suction-Gorill...
0:00 Intro
0:48 Exterior
3:40 Interior
6:39 Drive / Safety / Powertrain / Ride Quality
14:31 Conclusion
#es300h #lexus #lowkeycarreviews #lexuses #es350 #gearboxcarreviews

[@GearboxCarReviews]

What do you think of the ES300h? What else are you cross-shopping?

[@petergazarek9466]

LEXUS,👌😎 FIRST CLASS 😎👍

[@richardc6932]

I have been searching, researching and tired of it. The only choice that I see would be an ES350 or ES300h. My alternative to a Lexus is adding another Honda CR-V Touring but I just one in 2021 and my wife doesn’t want two in the family.😔

[@GearboxCarReviews]

@@richardc6932 What are the criteria that landed you on ES and CR-V? There are great cars in both segments. It just depends what's most important to you. If you're settled on the ES350/ES300h though, then go for it!

[@VS-fo9py]

Had my 2023 es300h for about six months. Upgraded my 16 year old Camry with almost 300k miles. While all my soccer mom friends drive SUVs, I’m happy with my sedan. I’m a 42 year old women, my very tall daughters have plenty of leg room in the back seats. The ride is so silky smooth and quiet.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

That's awesome! Always love to hear when people find something that works perfectly for them! :) Enjoy!

[@InternetDude]

I've had one for almost a year, 12000 miles, love it, no regrets. I do wish it was AWD and PHEV and had heated rear seats but for what it is, it's very dependable, efficient, smooth, quiet, etc.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Nice! Glad you're loving it! It'll be interesting to see what they do next with it. I have to imagine there'll be a hybrid AWD (and heated rear seats) in the next gen, based on everything else Toyota/Lexus is doing...if there is a next gen anyway. It's due for an update at this point, but Lexus has kept it up well with the incremental updates.

[@jml9550]

Yeah now I regret not getting the hybrid, instead I bought a new 2017 ES350 wanting more power delivery. Anyway, my 350 just hits 36k miles and not gonna buy a new 300H at $54K OTD. That $27K can still buys me a lot of gas. 😊 if anything does happen to my 350, ES300H will be my next car for sure.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Sorry to hear it, but hopefully you're enjoying yours anyway! There's still something to be said about an NA V6 and it's nice having that extra power.

[@jml9550]

@@GearboxCarReviews yes, the V6 is silky smooth and I still enjoy it very much. It rides smooth and quiet. If I keep it at 70MPH on HW, I can get 28-30MPG. City driving is bad though at 18-20MPG. My wife’s new NX350H hybrid should arrive in about 2-3 weeks. We gonna be using her SUV a lot more at 39MPG combined. :)

[@ygk6289]

in Europe, the most premium trim (equivilant to us ultra luxury) has the the rear seats with heating, and also a fencier arm rest with audio and 3rd climate zone control interface.

[@ChilledGuitarReviews]

I had this exact spec 2023 F Sport ES as a courtesy car last week and was blown away by the solidity and quality of the cabin and the serene silence when on the move. What wasn't so great was the ride quality that was worse than my older F Sport GS (possibly missing the adaptive dampers my GS has?) and at the times when the engine did kick in it was noticeably coarse and noisy at lower speeds. Overall an extremely high quality product from Lexus, expensive but worth it.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Yeah, they're really nice cars overall. I didn't necessarily notice the engine noise at low speeds, but definitely when under heavy load on hills and such. If you were in the F Sport Handling, it would've had adaptive dampers, but if it was the F Sport Design it wouldn't have. I haven't driven a GS, so I can't compare there, but surprised to hear that the ride quality is worse. Interesting. Appreciate the comments!

[@abhisheknauduri7013]

I love that Blue exterior! Gorgeous car. I am actually looking into getting a Lexus IS 350 F Sport. But, the ES is also a good option to look into. Although, the IS is more sportier especially in the F Sport trim, the IS looks absolutely amazing.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

For sure! I like the way IS looks as well. A bit more aggressive, but still classy. Definitely sportier, with the ES being more comfort-oriented, but the IS is still really comfortable. It's a great choice!

[@richardc6932]

The IS is sportier but uncomfortable for me at 5’-11”, 225 lbs. in the F series. If your looking for comfort and performance go with the roomy ES350. The interior is beautiful and gives you that “granddad’s daily driver. I’m going for the ES350.

[@richardc6932]

It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t offer this in AWD. I read from individuals who have driven, tested and reviewed the ES350 that the front end lacks traction when the pedal is walked on in turning, straight on , no issues. I do a lot of winter driving here in Canada and don’t need that issue with the ES, especially when my last few cars have been Honda CR-V that perform well at winter driving. I also hear that the AWD ES250h is gutless.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

I didn't really have any traction issues, but maybe with the 350 it's worse since it has more power. I haven't driven the 250, but it has even less power than the 300h, so I can imagine it's probably pretty slow. Not really meant to be quick though. It's just not really Lexus's MO for the most part. If you want quick, there's a lot of other stuff out there that does that better. AWD would definitely be a nice add-on though. I imagine it's gotta be coming in the next gen hybrid.

[@mgmcd1]

ES and the old Avalon shared the larger platform. Camry is a smaller car. Also, and F Sport trim level is out of place with a hybrid, to my taste. I put a front strut tower brace on my Luxury trim ES to tame understeer, and otherwise it is a nice quite ride - what ESs do best.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Yep, I mentioned that it is going to be more similar to the Avalon, but also wanted to keep the Camry in the conversation because the Avalon is gone. I agree, the F Sport trim levels are odd on many of the Lexus models. Glad to hear yours is doing what it does best!

[@jwa7378]

CVT- transmission worry me, because of having a nissan maxima and the step motor going out on me before.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Nissan had an especially bad run of CVTs, but reliability-wise, a Toyota/Lexus CVT should be pretty solid.

[@ChilledGuitarReviews]

Toyotas "E-CVT" in this vehicle is completely different to the traditional CVT Nissan uses and far more proven for reliability. Search the Car Care Nuts explanation video for the E CVT transmission.

[@yumpinyiminy963]

$85 illuminated door sills. Try $450 add on for every trim. At $85 I would splurge for them.

[@ondrejs2]

Been eyeing the ES as our family cruiser .. I was pleasantly surprised how the massive child seats were no problem to fit onto the back seats. Do you find the boot space to be enough for a road trip of family of four?

[@GearboxCarReviews]

It'll certainly depend on your height and the size of your car seats, but yeah at 5'7" and my wife a bit shorter than me, we had no issues with the car seats. And it's definitely a comfy cruiser. The trunk space will depend of course on the bulkiness of your stuff and how much you typically pack for a road trip. If you have a big bulky double-stroller or something, you may have some issues, but if it's just backpacks and a couple of suitcases I imagine you may be able to squeeze it in, but may have to have one or two things in the back seat. I always find it a bit easier to pack our stuff into a hatch/wagon/small crossover for a long road trip just due to the better versatility of the space. We typically take my wife's Forester and it's usually packed pretty full. It may be worth taking a suitcase or two and a stroller to the dealership with you and seeing how your stuff fits.

[@randy74989]

Got mine a month ago. . It's the Ultra Luxury trim, which is what we wanted and is the highest trim for the ES hybrid. It is the Cloudburst Gray exterior with Acorn color semi-aniline leather interior. Total Installed Packages & Accessories: 1) Premium Triple-beam LED headlamps; 2) Smartacess Card Key; 3) Premium Paint; 4) Lexus Interface with 12.3-in Multimedia Touchscreen Display; 5) Ultra Luxury Package; 6) All weather floor liners and trunk mat; 7) Door edge film by 3M; 8) The Preferred Accessory Package; and 9) The Dealer added a 5-year windshield protection/replacement coverage package and tinted the driver and passenger windows. More: The three-projector headlamp design creates an eye-catching L shape. Adding to this brilliant design, the headlamps feature LED side turn signals, as well as an Adaptive Front Lighting System6 that uses steering and speed sensors to direct the angle of low-beam illumination as the vehicle enters a curve. The Adaptive Front Lighting System monitors steering and speed with a suite of sensors and will automatically adjust the angle of your low-beam headlights to improve visibility on curved roads. Ultra Luxury extras: 1) 18-inch split-five-spoke alloy noise-reduction wheels 2) Power rear sunshade with manual rear-door sunshades 3) Power open/close trunk with kick sensor 4) 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen display 10.2-inch Head-Up Display 5) Intuitive Parking Assist with Auto Braking and Rear Pedestrian Detection, and Panoramic View Monitor. Averaging 43+ MPG City/Hwy driving and I had the oil and filter changed at 1,000 miles for my own peace of mind. Just For Reference: I was not going to wait one-year or 10,000 miles to have the factory installed oil & filter changed. And, I shall be changing the Oil (Liqui Moly 0W-16 Spec V) and Toyota filter every 5,000 miles from now on. Like Scotty Kilmer says, oil & filters are cheap, engines are expensive. LOL

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Very nice! Great spec! Yeah, I definitely wouldn't leave the factory oil for that long. That's a good call. Enjoy the car!

[@junma8868]

60k

[@GearboxCarReviews]

The base starts at 43k and this one is about 50k sticker. If you bought a top spec and added tax, title, license, options, etc, then sure you'd probably be in the 55k-60k range.

[@411sponge72]

I just configured the ES300H Ultra Luxury model and it was around 56K. Still, not bad for what you get.

[@Glory-to-God.]

This car is too Long & too slow for me.

[@GearboxCarReviews]

Fair enough! That's kind of the MO of an executive luxury sedan. Big and comfy and not necessarily fast. Definitely not for everyone!

[@richardc6932]

Maybe the new Corvette may be more to your needs if you can get past a gas station, pay for repairs and stomach the insurance and of course keep it out of the hands of the “light fingered” car lovers.

[@jwa7378]

@@richardc6932 Right