They wanted it because it was only a better value when compared to a Merc C-Class or 3-Series bimmer. It was a ripoff compared to an Avalon. Smart buyers stayed away because Toyota fans try to hide the fact that all V6 front wheel drive Lexus/Toyota products break down with shitty transmissions and fragile motor mounts.
@@Skyisthelimit4me90s Toyotas/Lexuses also have problems with ECU failure. You also don’t hear about it outside of the community. I learned about it the hard way
@@Skyisthelimit4methe Lexus ES had better materials than the Avalon which was just a bigger Camry with same Toyota appointments. Things like leather, electro luminescent instrumentation, and wood trim as well as paint quality were absolutely higher on the ES then those other two.
@alexlarson2466 Sure, I am aware for THIS generation, yes. However, the ES is no longer based on the Camry. The comment is misleading. Someone might think the ES IS based on the camry, but it is NOT. The key is, WAS
@@mikeanthony706 That's great information. However, nowhere in my comment did I say that the current ES is Camry based. My comment was specifically about the car featured in the review, so...
Keep the oil and filter changes up to date, don't drive it like you stole it, and change the timing belt every 75k miles and it will outlast anything on the road today.
i drive a 97’ es300 with 236k. the timing belt was replaced at 200k. the oil stays CLEAN when i drain it after 3000 miles. I paid 1500 for the car and i’m gonna drive it until it dies!
My first car was an Avalon that was passed down to me. She had some problems but I slowly fixed her and sold it for 3500. Found an 01 gold es300 and man what a dream she has been. Very reliable, decent mpg, nice interior, and the list goes on. Definitely a car college kids should heavily consider. Going on year 9 with the ES, another great car made by Toyota
@@Skyisthelimit4me most misleading comment ever. If a vehicle is not reliable from the start then its does not matter how much of effort owner puts. So stop posting misinformation
this was the car that my dad had when i was growing up. only stopped working because it was rear ended and totaled. these were incredible cars and an incredible time for lexus, i have an sc400 now
These were well worth the money back in the day.. the Benchmark package for luxury & reliability .. it just did everything it was suppose too do.. & still grace the roads today.. ❤❤❤..!!!!
Right?! My grandparents bought a new es300 in 1993 and spent around 30k. With inflation that was a lot of money for a midsize lux sedan. It sure held up and stayed in the family for years. You pay a premium for quality I suppose
I bought a '99 about 5 years ago with about 80k miles, 1 owner garage kept, I was surprised when the transmission broke, but after I fixed it, it has been bulletproof, still driving it today and it's smooth as ever
Always loved the first few gens of the ES especially this 3rd gen. Super clean styling, rear end that reminds you of the LS, relatively low and long and the frameless doors have always been an awesome touch.
I think this the era where owners noticed that this car has the same engine as the regular economy box camry. Lexus had to stepped up their game after that.
I love the two-tone paint on the first three generations of the Lexus ES. This 3rd generation Lexus ES is the final generation with the two-tone exterior paint.
@@foxesamu thanks for the correction. Maybe I overlooked the generations of the Lexus ES. I'll edit my comment. I know that is the 3rd generation Lexus ES in the video.
@@theKevronHarrisTo be honest, the first generation model is often disregarded, as it was never supposed to exist in the first place. The big RWD LS 400 was planned from August 1983 and developed from January 1984 as a flagship 1988 Toyota model, above the Cressida to celebrate Toyota's 50th anniversary in 1987. They budgeted for 4 years of development. Took too long to develop, so they were gonna miss that target of late 1987. It was now mid-late 1989 introduction for this S-Class/Jaguar XJ competitor. Then the new E32 7-Series became another target (in 1986). In late 1986, Toyota USA execs pushed for a separate brand & dealer network, so Lexus was created. Problem was, Lexus needed additional models and no longer just one big luxury car. So a RWD midsize sedan (became GS), RWD luxury coupe (later SC), and FWD entry level sedan (ES) were ordered for development entering 1987. All using new platforms. This meant at least 4-5 years and not being available until 1991-92. In 1987, this encouraged stopgap models to be quickly conjured up for late 1989 intro, instead of waiting for the all-new 1992 models to arrive in 1991. In 1987, Toyota briefly thought about rebadging the upcoming Crown or 1989 X80 Cressida, Z20 JDM Soarer, or MK III A70 Supra, and V20 Camry to satisfy these segments for late 1989 intro until 1991, when new models developed from scratch were ready. Ultimately the Crown and X80 Cressida were skipped for a 1990 Lexus badged RWD midsize, as were either the MK III A70 Supra or JDM Z20 Soarer for what became the SC. The next generation Z30 Soarer and new model S140 (GS) became those new RWD models for 1991-92. Only the existing V20 Camry Prominent was modified during 1987 into the ES 250 and immediately sent to prototype testing. This happened quickly, while designers were still developing the 1992 ES 300 sedan in 1987. The ES 250 was not supposed to exist, so it's practically a footnote today. Toyota originally wanted the ES nameplate to be introduced as the 3.0 V6 ES 300 and never the dowdy ES 250. This was said many times during launch of the ES 300 in 1991.
I remember back in 1992, my Mom was looking for a new sedan to replace our Grand Caravan that we no longer needed. She test drove an ES300 at Lexus Monterey Peninsula and liked it but my parents thought the $25,000 price at that time was too high. Ended up buying an Accord.
Lol, it was probably even more than that. A 1992 ad, shows it even started at $26k for a manual and automatic ES 300s cost almost $27-28k. Nice story btw.
I love these ES's. In 1997 I joined a Toyota dealer in Melbourne (Au) and the general manager had one of these. It was a two tone dark red with the beige interior, took me 5 mins to full in love with it!. It may have been Camry based, but looked, felt and drove on an entirely different level to the top of the range V6 Camry at the time (I know I drovethem back to back, and often). These cars are too old now, very hard to find something with low mileage. These days I drive a very low mileage Lexus IS350 (2012).
Yes, they cleaned up the styling language introduced for the 92 model and made it more crisp. They had to bastardize it next gen, in order to give room to the 2000.5 IS 300 sedan at the entry level. Problem is, that eventually killed both the Avalon and GS.
Can I just say, of all the awful music Motorweek has had over the years, the music in this video is GORGEOUS. I would LOVE to find a recording of the piece; it's begging to have a future funk or vaporwave remix!
My dad owned the 98 version of this car, and it was the smoothest car I ever drove. I inherited it when he passed and drove it until 2010. Unfortunately, he never took care of it, and it started falling apart on me. My dad never took care of his cars, he would swap them out every few years.
I bought one of these Lexus ES300 about 8 years ago with 179,000 miles on it and drove it until it had 298,000 miles. Never had any major issues other than regular maintenance and changing out one of the power steering hoses. Great car!
The last good looking lexus up until the latest redesigns. Minus the s class copy cat ls430 post face lift was also pretty good. I'd love one of those in charcoal grey metallic with the chrome 5 spoke wheels.
People kept complaining how boring lexus looked and drove so they took an audi grill and squeezed it by the hips 😂... That's really yo's fault because they was fine as they were😂
Graduated high school in 97, great times. My friend’s dad bought a brand new green ES in 98, that was a beautiful car……and they haven’t aged all that bad.
The facelift of this one was when they got it just right. Larger wheels and changes like new taillights made it look more premium than it was. All of them were great car with silent interior and perfect front seats. The competition was behind this model. Acura TL was way cheaper looking and materials were inferior. The Infiniti I30 was an ugly car and depreciated like a BMW in later years. Infiniti did have the J30 which was V6 RWD but had a love it or hate it styling from the C pillar back.
Yep, peak period to get an ES was late 1999 to early autumn 2001. Next gen was a convoluted late 90s effort to be experimental in the geriatric market, since the IS was now targeting the younger buyer at the bottom end.
This brought back some memories...I had this car in black and gray ext/tan int about 25-ish yrs ago. The "electroluminescent" guages were so ahead of their time and combined with the buttery smooth leather and quiet ride made the car feel extraordinary for its time. Such a fantastic car and so lovely to drive. It served us well until my wife was in a bad accident with our 1 yr old twins in the back, totaling the car (other car was an S10 Blazer, pretty sure it was totaled as well because it rolled). Everyone inside was safe, thankfully (the other driver was okay, too), in spite of serious damage to both cars. Because Lexus's hold their value so well and due to prices increasing in subsequent years we actually got more from the insurance payout than we paid for the car. Definitely one of my favorite cars that I've owned.
I knew a guy who owned a gold one.. well over 350K miles on it.. shame cause it got towed and he didn’t want to get it out.. he told me, pay the fee and I’ll give you title.. never thought it was worth it
@@nwezetx1 Agreed. I have an 04 es myself and that thing is really nice. I meant the platform changed in 2013. The 2002 really was the first one that started making the es more upscale than its camry sibling
@@ditiprel4The ES used the same universal midsize FWD "K Platform" as the Camry from July 2001 to September 2018, like the Camry also did from July 2001 to June 2017. What changed in September 2012, was the shift from the Camry shared shorter K Platform version to the larger Avalon "K Platform" variant. The 2002 ES 300 blurred the lines between the Camry much better than both this generation and the 1992 model year redesign. Unlike the 1992 ES, this ES generation kept the high quality tenets enjoyed by the outgoing ES generation, while for greater differentiation between the trio of Camry/Avalon/ES, Toyota downgraded the Camry for the 1997 model year based on marketing and fiscal reasons. The 1992 Camry was made as nice as it was, because back in 1988-89, Toyota was fumbling again on whether to replace the RWD 1992 Cressida with a 1993 model year version of the X90 JDM Mark II. This would be sold parallel to the future GS 300. Or they could develop a larger FWD sedan not yet in development, to rival the US domestic FWD big cars. In the end, Toyota decided by 1990 to cancel a RWD Cressida replacement and began developing the Avalon for late 1994 intro. In order to dominate in USA and satisfy demanding American execs, they also created the Camry SE V6 and XLE V6, to fill the gap to be left by the discontinued Cressida after 1992. They decided to base the Camry on the future ES 300 platform in 1988. Previously the top Camry model was the LE V6, but the XLE V6 was ridiculously high end for this class to cover Cressida buyers. Eventually when the Avalon joined 3 years later, this became an issue and with the Yen raising prices significantly, cost cutting was implemented much harsher for the '97 Camry. ES 300 also got a little hurt, because it was also at risk of becoming the equivalent of $60,000 MSRP per Bill Clinton's trade tariff threats against imports in 1995 at GM's request to charge 100% in duties on luxury cars. A $30k Acura or Lexus would become $60k and LS 400 would become $100k overnight. Ultimately this never happened, yet this meant that the ES kept its high quality compared to the notably dingier for '97 Camry. It meant the price premium for the ES and Avalon could be better justified too for once. So the ES 250 was heavily Camry derived for Gen 1, while the flip side for Gen 2. An all new platform was created for the 1992 ES, which was borrowed by the Camry instead and cut down moderately. For Gen 3 it kept those qualities, while the Camry was significantly downgraded. For Gen 4 in 2001, the ES 300 joined the K Platform, removing the sporty aspect and heavily leaned on the discount luxury side. Gen 5 ES 350 in 2006 just kept the same formula, just with much more tech added. Then the big change happened when the ES was moved to the Avalon sized class in late 2012, still on the same K Platform introduced in 2001, just much bigger. In 2018, all of the FWD mid-large cars were now on the new modular TNGA-K in different sizes.
@@WelcometofacsistubeI see them often living in South TX, they’re respectfully in moderate - decent condition. So probably depends on the climate of where you’re living.
@@WelcometofacsistubeBro, you're clearly the one here who needs to cope. These were incredibly reliable and you can find these for sale all day long for reasonable prices. Many are still on the road today due to the Toyota build quality.
Definitely the best looking iteration of this model. Just sold my 97 Es300. In 9 years of ownership, all that went wrong was a wire to one of the park lights coming loose.
I had 2 of these, one 97 and another 00. Loved both of them, 97 I did all sorts of work to slam it on coilovers but when it was all OEM, it was probably the smoothest most quiet vehicle I’d ever driven.
@@ThatFoo.frmTha713.Yes, but not true either. Windom was a JDM rebadge of this car with higher optional equipment. No wagon version, except the Camry Gracia. Both models had optional GPS navigation from introduction in 1996.
@@MYLIFEISLEGENDARYMYLIFE836 Telling the truth isn't hating. It's pitiful your brand new high dollar Tacoma can't outrun a 30yr old piece of shit Lexus. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@Skyisthelimit4me😂😂😂. I drive a mercedes s class and before that a ls400 . Other thing obviously truck is going to be slower than a sedan 😂.. dont try to insult other people when you talk bullshit .mr. truth social fan boy
That's shoddy reasoning. The ES became expensive due to the Yen exchange rate, during the mid-90s, when this generation was introduced. Lexus had to cost cut a little to hold the line on price
Anyone know why these weren’t big with tuner scene? It seems like if you changed wheels and tires, added exhaust and intake this would be a cool sporty sedan.