Day-by-Day Review: 2013 Lexus ES300h

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

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I want to gush about the interior of the ES300h. There is so much that works so well; it isn’t perfect, though I’m getting the feeling this car is nearly perfect in a lot of ways.

Going from back to front, we start with the trunk, a huge expanse of space in which you can fit two 18-inch tires with ease; heck I bet you could fit three if you squeezed them in. But it’s not quite perfect. Because this is a hybrid, the batteries are located behind the rear seats, which do not fold, so you lose a little practicality here for longer items.

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Moving forward to the back seats themselves, there isn’t much but good things to say about the limousine-like leg room, comfortable seating and a nice centre armrest with cupholders. The rear window has a powered sun shade and both rear side windows have manual sun shades as well. I suppose heated and cooled seats would be nice, but let’s be honest: this area of the car will be used sparingly.

On to the most important seats in the house. The driver’s seat is a three memory affair with 12-way power adjustability. Both front seats are cooled and heated, and the steering wheel is also heated, which I have been loving this week. All the buttons are within easy reach, with dual-zone climate control that is set-it-and-forget-it good, and steering wheel controls. This car’s control centre is nearly perfect.

Lexus has a unique control system for their infotainment system. It uses a device that is similar to a computer mouse but with tactile feedback. The system is probably the best available on the market today; it is unbelievably easy to use, quick and simple and ergonomically perfect — big kudos to Lexus from me.

The only real complaint I have is with the door panels. At more than $50,000, I expect some leather inserts above the leather arm rest. For some reason, this is missing, leaving a simple plastic panel that would be more at home in a much lower class and lower-priced vehicle.

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