2025 Lexus ES 350 Ultra Luxury Review.. FINAL V6 ES

Welcome friends to a review on the 2025 Lexus ES 350. This is the fully loaded ultra luxury trim level and to be honest this is the trim that I recommend. And a special thank you to Flow Lexus of Greensboro, North Carolina for giving me this opportunity. Please reach out to Levi Davidson if you're interested in purchasing a vehicle like this one for instance. I will have his information on the screen and in the description box for you to contact. Now the ES 350. This is a luxury sedan that I have been recommending for many years now especially in this trim because it truly offers you a near six-figure driving experience. If you love sedans and you're looking for a supple ride that is a true silent sanctuary, I mean really look nowhere else. This is the vehicle to consider and we have that phenomenal three and a half liter naturally aspirated v6 engine putting out 302 horsepower and 267 pounds-feet of torque. Lexus claims that these vehicles can do 0 to 60 in about 6.6 seconds however car and driver tested this vehicle and they were able to achieve a 0 to 60 time of around 6.1 seconds. With all that established let's go ahead and let's get this vehicle out on the road and let's see how it does. Okay so there's a couple of reasons why I like the ultra luxury trim level in particular. It's because these models actually get a few extra refinement enhancements if you will. We have here the 18 inch noise reduction wheels and if you look on the official Lexus spec sheet you'll see that the ultra luxury trim levels come with something known as the performance damper. This is different from the ES F-Sport models that come with the adaptive suspension. The performance damper is designed to enhance the comfort of the ES. It's supposed to reduce the vibrations felt throughout the cabin thus reducing the NVH of the ES as well. Once again only the ultra luxury trim level gets these luxury enhancements. We also have here the thicker double pane glass being used on the front side windows here and this car even at the highway speeds it is remarkably silent. It's been nearly half a decade since I've driven these cars but that naturally aspirated V6 engine I mean it's as smooth as ever. It's made into the 8-speed automatic transmission and everything here it just responds seamlessly. At 302 horsepower it's it's a strong number considering the fact that these vehicles don't really weigh that much compared to other luxury sedans. For instance both the ES 350 and the ES 300h they both weigh a little over 3,600 pounds. That is not bad at all. This car actually feels remarkably nimble in the corners. Your everyday handling like your everyday left hand right hand turns your long sweeping corners all of that is handled extremely well with this ES 350. Your high speed stability that's also excellent. It's truly a well executed package. I mean it definitely feels planted in these corners. I've been driving some of the newer Lexus products like the new RX and the TX and it seems like the Lexus driving signature that they have gone for with those newer products it's more of a light airy almost like a hovercraft driving experience. With this kind of if you will old school ES this actually doesn't feel quite like that. There's actually a sense of heft to the way this car feels and I kind of appreciate that. Like there's a heft to the steering and even in the way this car grips the road. Once again that sensation really enhances the confidence that you have behind the wheel. Now make no mistake this is not a sports sedan in any way shape or form. This is definitely a luxury vehicle first and even if you do go for like the F sport models the F sport handling it's still not going to transform this into a sports sedan. It's once again a confident luxury cruiser. It's a phenomenal highway car just eats up the miles thanks to the quiet and luxurious ride and also these seats as well. They're also excellent. I'll talk more about that during the interior segment. Yeah but things like bumps and potholes and expansion joints out on the highway just soaking that up effortlessly. Now another model I really recommend is actually the ES300h. I know on paper it's really down on power. It only has like 215 horsepower but trust me that is another phenomenal driving experience. The hybrid system is once again really smooth and those vehicles get like 43 to 44 mpgs and that's just incredible to achieve with your daily driver. Now these ES350s will also surprise you. These cars they are rated to get 22 city 32 out on the highway but certain sources and owners have managed to beat those EPA estimates and they have managed to get much higher fuel economy especially out on the highway so if you're doing primarily highway driving really the ES350 or the ES300h they're both going to serve you really well but if you do more around town driving I would really urge you to check out the ES300h as well but I mean this v6 engine it is such a delight and it is going away for that new generation ES so this is your last opportunity to take advantage of this powertrain and the fact that this v6 engine is not only plenty quick for everyday driving but actually gets decent fuel economy it's just a plus all round not to mention the reliability of this drivetrain. With all that established let's go ahead and let's transition into this interior segment now. Okay now that we are stopped let's go ahead and let's talk about this interior space now. The excellent lexus build quality it continues here with this model doors feel great and there's an overall sense of solidity to the cabin the way that you see it here this ultra luxury it's pretty much fully loaded you would think that a top-of-the-line ultra luxury just comes fully loaded but no if you want important options like the Mark Levinson audio system that's actually part of a separate package fortunately this vehicle does have that package and the ML audio system in my opinion easily one of the best in its price range so if you love your music I would suggest getting this audio system I'm liking this palomino or like this orange type of leather interior it's a great contrast with the black and some of the wood accents it's just a really nice special feeling cabin as standard you do get like an 8 inch infotainment screen but here we have the optional 12.3 inch infotainment screen and you do get things like the wireless apple carplay and the wireless android auto as standard across the board this infotainment system it is easy to use and the same thing goes for the gauge cluster as well if want that cool LFA inspired gauge cluster you do have to step up to the F sport handling trim and I feel like everyone's favorite is going to be the physical controls for your HVAC and it is completely separated from the infotainment screen I can't believe that's something that we are actually celebrating here but with so many manufacturers including Lexus themselves removing the physical controls it is truly a treat to see this so once again this is the final generation of this ES it's the last model year if you want to take advantage of this go ahead we also have your physical buttons for the heated and cooled seats the heated steering wheel we also have a electronic sunshade for the back and we also get manual sunshades for the rear side windows as well as mentioned in the drive these seats are truly comfortable soft and supple and I am 5 foot 11 it's really easy for me to get in and out of this vehicle because unlike some other new sedans that are out today including sedans from economy brands like Toyota Honda this is not quite as low slung as some of these newer sedans it's not sitting up like an SUV of course but I do appreciate the ingress and egress of this yes you have a really good sized center armrest but the glove box and the door pocket space pretty average but this fully loaded model it does come with a very cool pano moonroof we have the wireless phone charger here and I appreciate this soft headlining material as well it just makes the cabin feel even more special and premium now the rear seats they continue to be extremely comfortable and I am easily able to fit behind myself you just have some air vents back there surprisingly you don't have like heated or cooled seats back there you just have two cup holders and I will say one of the only real cons that I have with this ES sedan and with pretty much every generation of the ES sedan is the fact that you cannot fold down the seats of these vehicles now Lexus claims that the reason for that is because they wanted to enhance the rigidity of this chassis and they wanted to seal off the trunk area to help make this vehicle a bit more quieter but not being able to fold down the rear seats it's a bit of a con but you do have a little pass-through though where you can slide longer things so at least they give us that and the overall trunk size it's not bad it's a 13.9 cubic feet trunk I like the opening of it and this car is such an exceptional luxury sedan that I am willing to overlook the rear seats that can fold so with that established let's go ahead and let's conclude this review. Concluding thoughts on the 2025 Lexus ES 350 well after all these years I still really appreciate this driving experience still a vehicle that I can confidently recommend to someone who loves sedans and just wants a truly luxurious product that they can just get it out on the highway and just eat up the miles effortlessly and you can really do that when you go with this ultra luxury trim level now I completely understand this model that I checked out in this video it was about $57,000 that is considerably more expensive than an entry-level ES. Is that price point worth it? I absolutely think that it is but make no mistake I have driven base model ES vehicles before and I have enjoyed them they're not terrible but you do notice a difference when you step up to this ultra luxury and you know the typical Lexus buyer they are going to be a bit more affluent and that's why I'm telling them you know I usually don't recommend top-of-the-line cars but in this instance Lexus really does reward you for going with this ultra luxury model with the performance dampers and with the noise reduction 18-inch wheels and naturally you're just going to get a well-equipped vehicle you're going to enjoy the semi-aniline leather seats the Mark Levinson audio system the 360 camera everything is nicely appointed interior is sturdy same thing with the doors in fact that sturdiness even carries over to the drive I could have swore I remembered this vehicle driving a bit lighter in the past here with this 2025 I noticed that the steering was a bit more heftier and I mean that in a very good way you have plenty of confidence with this car once again this is not a sports sedan but all of the things that matter for everyday driving this vehicle truly excels that I would say the only real cons I've noticed and perhaps I'm reaching what I'm saying this but I did notice that this ES it didn't really have the best turning radius again maybe I'm just weird but it's just something that I noticed not really a big deal I'm not saying that this is an 18-wheeler by any means but I can get over the turning radius really the only con that I have with this car is the rear seats that don't fold down you do have that pass-through though and I have to say you know when I was younger and my family had a sedan to be fair they would almost never fold down the rear seats but they did use the pass-through I forgot for what reason but comment below let me know your thoughts do you care about the seats that don't fold down are you happy with just the pass-through I'd like to hear from you regardless this ES is absolutely a winner whether you go with this 350 model with the v6 engine or if you go with the hybrid es 300 h you're going to absolutely enjoy this vehicle but of course this 2025 this is the last model year if you want that v6 engine before they redesign it if you're interested in purchasing definitely consider contacting Levi Davidson with Flow Lexus of Greensboro North Carolina they are an excellent dealership highly rated good selection and Levi has just been phenomenal to work with so I'm going to have Levi's information on the screen for you to check out if you found value with this review make sure to like and subscribe thank you again for watching take care and goodbye