• It’s a hybrid, so expect decent economy
• No plug-in versions for city dwellers
• Servicing expensive, but will be reliable

What are the running costs?

The Lexus ES’s has good fuel economy, as you’d hope from a hybrid car. The official WLTP combined economy figure is 52.3mpg, and we managed to exceed this with 55mpg averaged over a very long week of motorway driving. One of the pluses of a hybrid versus, say, a diesel, is that good fuel economy can also be achieved on short runs and round town where the electric motor takes the brunt of getting this heavy car back up to speed.

CO2 emissions range between 120-124g/km, which is as good as most diesel rivals. However, plug-in hybrids with their CO2 emissions in the 20s have become the darling of company car fleets, and the ES sits in the 29% BIK band making it a pricey option.

For private buyers, though, that excellent and crucially repeatable fuel economy should help reduce running costs in a meaningful and predictable way. Expect the ES to retain a good amount of its value at resale time, with buyers always willing to pay extra for a reliable, efficient car.

Servicing and warranty

Here’s where Lexus plays one of its trump cards. The ES comes as standard with a three-year warranty. But, every time you take it to a Lexus dealer for its 12 month/10,000 mile service, you get another year of warranty added, up to a maximum of 10 years and 100,000 miles.

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And unlike some dealers we can imagine you’d be happy to bring your car back to the official Lexus garage every time. Services aren’t the cheapest but they are fixed-price and published clearly, while Lexus dealers offer legendary levels of customer service – bending over backwards to ensure cars are serviced and repaired in a timely fashion and without inconveniencing the customer. They frequently top customer satisfaction surveys because of this.

Reliability

• No issues of concern
• Lexus reliability is typically very high
• Two minor recalls, none since 2019

Lexus reliability is also top-drawer. Toyota and Lexus hybrid systems have proved incredibly reliable in the two decades the company’s been building them – with regular maintenance they’ll easily top half a million miles.

The ES should be no different. It has had two minor recalls since launch in 2018 – one for the brake booster and another to make sure that the e-call system was enabled. Both should have been sorted under warranty, if you’re buying an ES used.