If you’re looking for a stylish midsize sedan with a variety of personalities and powertrains to choose from, then you should check out the Lexus ES if you haven’t already. Last year’s model snagged itself the Luxury Car Best Buy award from Kelley Blue Book, giving you some idea of what a beautifully designed car it is. KBB assesses hundreds of vehicles for this honor, ranking a variety of features from comfort to technology. Earning it is no small feat.
The ES delivers its striking styling with several engine options and trim options. Many drivers love how simple it is to mix and match the specific engine you want with the precise handling dynamics and features you’re after. With the 2024 Lexus ES hitting dealerships mostly unchanged since the 2023 model year, there are plenty of drivers on the hunt for a Lexus ES for sale. In order to help you make sense of the different trims and powertrains, here’s a helpful buyer’s guide for the 2024 Lexus ES. We’ll break down powertrains, trims, and packages to help you prepare for your visit to a dealership.
What You’ll Get No Matter Which Trim You Choose
Before we get into the various ways to build your 2024 ES, let’s look at what you’ll get, no matter what trim and powertrain you choose. We want to assure you that some of the most important features come standard across the board. Every ES will have generous rear legroom—something this midsize sedan is well known for—as well as terrific fuel economy. While hybrid variants can get you better gas mileage, the ES is a popular sedan because even its traditional gas engine variants are great on fuel consumption.
You’ll enjoy wireless smartphone compatibility for Apple and Android devices in every trim. That means you can sync your device up to the touchscreen and control your apps right there on the standard eight-inch touchscreen (or the available 12.3-inch one, which we’ll get to). You can stay connected at all times with the available Wi-Fi 4G hotspot. It can connect to up to five devices, so you and all of your passengers can keep streaming shows and answering emails from the road. A one-month trial comes with every trim. Should you get a Drive Connect subscription, you can also use the Intelligent Assistant. With this, you can use natural voice commands to interact with the many other tech features. Ask for directions, make hands-free calls, request weather reports, and more with Intelligent Assistant.
Every 2024 Lexus ES trim will have the Lexus Safety System+ 2.5. This is a standard suite of driver-assist features, including items like a Pre-Collision System, Road Sign Assist, and Lane Tracing Assist. You also get a standard Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and a Backup camera with dynamic gridlines, giving you an enhanced awareness of your surroundings. With these assist features, you’ll have more awareness of your environment and face a reduced risk of accidents.
A Look at the Powertrains
Next, we’ll look at the powertrain options. There are three choices for the 2024 Lexus ES, and they all give the car a unique personality. Each powertrain comes with specific trims, so it’s important to understand which variants have the powertrain you want before you begin shopping.
If you want the best possible fuel economy while sticking to a traditional gas engine, you’ll find that with the ES 250. This model gets a 2.5-liter I-4 engine that the EPA says achieves 28 MPG combined. It’s a great option for those with a long highway commute each day. Note that only the ES 250 has all-wheel drive—all other powertrains have front-wheel drive.
If you want more power from a traditional gas engine and are willing to see a slight fuel economy dip, look at the ES 350. This will get you a 3.5-liter V6 engine kicking out 302 hp and 267 lb-ft torque. The EPA estimates this engine achieves 26 MPG combined. It’s not a huge drop in fuel efficiency, so it could be worth it for those who want a little more kick under the hood.
When you see an “h” after any Lexus trim, that indicates a hybrid powertrain. For the 2024 ES, we get the ES 300h. This combines the 2.5-liter engine with a lithium-ion battery and electric motor. Lexus perfectly placed the battery to boost overall vehicle balance for excellent handling. The EPA gives the hybrid variant a fuel economy rating of 44 MPG combined, making it the top pick for anyone who puts a lot of miles on their car.
The Special Trims
Beyond choosing your powertrain, you can choose specialty trims. Each powertrain is available with the Luxury and Ultra Luxury trims for those looking for a boost in comfort and convenience features. Additionally, the V6 and hybrid options are available with the F Sport Handling trim on top of the F Sport Design, which is available for all three engines. As the F Sport trim names indicate, one gets you primarily sporty style features while the other gets you sporty performance dynamics.
Some features are standard or available across the luxury trims, including semi-aniline leather upholstery options in various colors and wood trim in various finishes. New for the 2024 model year are 18-inch wheels with Vapor Chrome finish, which are standard for the Ultra Luxury trims and available for the Luxury trims.
The F Sport Handling gets adaptive variable suspension, Sport drive modes, and bolstered front seats. The F Sport Design gets you a rear spoiler, large gloss Black wheels, and other F Sport styling details. Plus, there’s an available 17-speaker sound system, available power rear sunshade, and available hands-free power trunk.
The New Technology Package
New for the 2024 model year is an available Technology Package. It earns you a 12.3-inch touchscreen, giving you over four more inches of graphics for your turn-by-turn directions, playlists, and other apps. It also adds a head-up display, putting vehicle and journey stats directly in your line of vision. Finally, it gets you the Lexus SmartAccess Card Key, a credit card-shaped accessory that can replace your keyfob for convenient access to your vehicle. The Technology Package is available on all trims.
Pick and Choose the Features That Matter to You on the 2024 Lexus ES
Lexus has done a brilliant thing with how it designs its trim and powertrain options. Drivers get to enjoy a build-your-own experience, pairing their preferred powertrain with their preferred trim, enabling tons of customization freedom. The ES is a stunning midsize sedan that’s perfect for commuters, professionals, and anyone who wants a beautiful vehicle with great fuel economy and standard comfort features.
Thanks to the F Sport Handling variants, you don’t have to pay sports car prices to enjoy sporty performance. And even though the base level ES already feels high-end, you can take things up several notches with the Luxury and Ultra Luxury trims if you want a really premium interior. The 2023 model was just about perfect, so Lexus didn’t need to make too many changes for the 2024 model year. However, if you want to check out that Technology Package, you’ll need to shop for the 2024 model.
