Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh R
When I bought my Camry Hybrid, I drove an IS350, didn't really think of it as a tarted up Corolla, probably the same platform. It was an absolute rocketship. I drove an IS250 as well for comparison, plenty of car and engine if you want a very nice commuter. I bought the Camry because it runs on 89 octane, not 91 and it gets almost twice the mileage as a commuter, and about $15K less.
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Hugh, I hope you didn't think I was dissing the Camry. Quite the opposite. I would get a Camry over an ES350 any day. We only drove the IS250 and ES350.
IS250: cute little car, all wheel drive, not particularly quick, drove so-so, like any given Honda or Toyota would. Really nothing special about the car. I think if you bought a decked out Corolla and drove them back to back, there would be little difference. IS250 is stylish, but had more style than substance in my opinion.
ES350: very nice ride, but was more a product of badging than Lexus engineering. Again, for the price, just did not meet expectations.
I will say that if we hadn't driven the GS350, she would have been happy with the ES350. Like I said, the GS is in a whole other category. for the money, I'd rather have a gently used GS than a brand new ES. Much better value for the dollar.