Should You Buy a Loaded Toyota Avalon Hybrid or Base Lexus ES 300h?
CARS.COM — The Toyota Avalon sedan is a borderline luxury car with its high-quality interior and luxury-like exterior styling. But isn’t that what Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus is for? The 2016 Lexus ES that’s based on the Avalon is a legitimate luxury car, so we scratched our heads when a 2016 Toyota Avalon Hybrid came to Cars.com’s test fleet priced above a 2016 Lexus ES 300h hybrid being tested at the same time; $42,785 for the Toyota and $41,860 for the Lexus.
Related: 2016 Lexus ES: First Look
Both the Toyota Avalon and the Lexus ES 300h share underlying architecture and have the same wheelbase, engine and transmission. What we encountered isn’t an unlikely scenario: Someone who likes the similar roominess, driving experience and fuel economy of the two might have to decide between a loaded Toyota Avalon Limited or an entry-level Lexus ES 300h. Pricing overlaps at those two extremes, and that’s exactly how these two vehicles were delivered.
The entry-level, no-options, bare-bones ES 300h didn’t have any extras, while the Avalon Hybrid came decked out in the top-of-the-line Limited trim that’s loaded with premium features, which is $9,300 more than a base Avalon Hybrid ($33,485) — and only a few boxes remained unchecked. Compare specs and features of the trims here.
An entry-level ES 300h isn’t exactly a crank-window, bench-seat, no-air-conditioning stripped car, and it comes decently equipped at $41,860 with standard LED low-beam headlights, sunroof, power driver and passenger seat, smart keyless access and dual automatic climate control.
In Limited trim level, the Toyota Avalon Hybrid embarrasses the ES 300h in feature content with goodies such as blind spot warning with cross-traffic alert, a three-zone climate system with controls for rear passengers, an upgraded JBL stereo, genuine leather instead of the ES 300h’s standard imitation leather, heated front and rear seats plus ventilated front seats, a power rear sunshade and wireless phone charging with a compatible phone (and exhale). And as mentioned above, the Avalon holds its own in its segment (Chevrolet Impala, Nissan Maxima, Hyundai Azera) with its interior materials.
One feature on the Toyota but left out of the Lexus hits the ES 300h hard in this comparison: heated seats. Both cars arrived in the dead of winter and those cold fake leather seats really could have used some heat. It takes a minimum $1,670 to get heated seats in an ES 300h with the Premium Package ($730), three-spoke leather and wood steering wheel ($300) plus the heated and ventilated front seats themselves at $640.
Pricing an ES 300h with the options on our loaded Avalon test car quickly brings the price to $50,000, though the ES 300h has a few advantages that aren’t purely feature content. The Avalon’s audio and climate controls are strangely laid out and lack real buttons, while the ES 300h uses a more traditional layout that along with a center dial controller for the media system doesn’t deviate too far from the norm.
Lexus’ luxuriousness is well represented even on the base model with a more opulently designed interior covered in stylish and high-quality materials. It’s a completely different look and feel from the techy interior design of the Avalon.
Which one would we buy? Assistant Managing Editor Jennifer Geiger took pause at the fact that the Lexus didn’t have heated seats, but ultimately chose the Lexus instead of the overpriced Avalon with its maddening multimedia and climate controls. Senior Consumer Affairs Editor Kelsey Mays went the other way, saying the Lexus wasn’t nicer enough to make up for the missing features. Add in heated seats on the Lexus, however, and I would have completely forgotten about the extra fluff in the Avalon.
