Should you buy one?

The Lexus ES is rather an odd duck in the UK market, hamstrung versus most of the competition by a lack of choice. With no pure electric, plug-in hybrid or estate variants on offer it’s bound to remain a niche choice in the competitive UK market.

But its combination of great fuel economy, comfort-biased driving dynamics and unparalleled reliability and build quality – plus rather competitive value – means it could well find favour with private buyers. Particularly (and whisper this, because it’s not exactly flattering) the older motorist or retiree.

Standard equipment is excellent, and we rather like the way the ES looks, as it’s head-turning without being too divisive like some previous Lexus models.

If dependability and ease of ownership are of more value to you than having the fastest or the most desirable car on the block, then the Lexus ES could well be worth a look.

What we like

Lexus’ self-charging hybrid powertrain keeps evolving and is better than ever in everyday driving. Sure, it’s still a bit coarse under heavy acceleration. Will that matter 97% of the time? We don’t think so. It’s also hard to ignore the brand’s long warranty and storied service department.

What we don’t like

It’s slow, there’s not much choice in the range and it’s hardly going to turn that many heads. We could forgive the saloon-only body style if Lexus had fitted fold-down rear seats – an almost unforgivable oversight.