Driven: Lexus 2002 ES 300

By Gary S. Vasilash, Editor-in-Chief

There are two things that I don’t like about the 2002 Lexus ES 300:

The width of the B-pillar combined with the width of the driver’s side headrest makes it difficult to look back over your shoulder to see if there is another car in the lane next to you when making a lane change.

The gas cap requires some simple trick to undo—simple, that is, if one knows what it is; I quite nearly had to drive away from a service station with embarrassment due to what seemed like it would be a complete inability to release the cap (I managed to get it off—luck, not understanding, did the trick).

As that is the list of complaints that I have about this vehicle, all I can say is that this is one of the best cars I’ve ever spent time driving.

The driving experience is, indeed, precise, comfortable and safe.  There are such things as ABS and Electronic Brake Force Distribution; four-wheel independent suspension mounted to anti-vibration sub frames; Adaptive Variable Suspension (which allows the driver to adjust the shock absorber damping rate so that the car is setup in Sport, Comfort or Intermediate Modes); whiplash-lessening front seats.  The car is sufficiently powerful (all-aluminum 210-hp, 3.0-liter V6 engine mated to a five-speed electronic automatic transmission) and comparatively gas thrifty (rated at 21/29 mpg).  Because Lexus is now in the pursuit of passion (or so its advertising tells us, the styling is attractive and the vehicle appears to be much more substantial than it really is).  There are features like automatic rain sensors, interior wood trim, HID headlamps, and more, a list that is like a Henry James sentence in its length.  Yet the ES 300 is so remarkable two aspects that you don’t even need to drive it.

That is, the leather seats are living-room comfortable and the Mark Levinson audio system (CD/cassette/receiver/seven speakers) is so good that one could be inclined just to sit in one’s car, listening to music.

The base price for the all-new ES 300 is $32,080 (including delivery, handling, processing).  Which is the same price as the previous-generation ES 300.  How the clever Lexus people can do that is remarkable (sure, I imagine that there is something about the exchange rate involved—but I know that there is a lot about the Toyota Production System involved).

I just thought of a third thing I don’t like about this well-built, fantastically featured, quiet car: I only got to test it; I didn’t get to keep it.