Compare the2022 Toyota AvalonVS 2021 Lexus ES Series

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Avalon are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The ES Series doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Avalon has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The ES Series doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Avalon has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the ES Series’ blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Avalon has a standard cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Cross-path warning costs extra on the ES Series.

Both the Avalon and the ES Series have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Avalon is safer than the Lexus ES Series:

	Avalon	ES Series
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	302	319
Chest Compression	.8 inches	.8 inches
Neck Injury Risk	25%	33%
Leg Forces (l/r)	447/453 lbs.	473/518 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Avalon is safer than the Lexus ES Series:

	Avalon	ES Series
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Abdominal Force	156 G’s	160 G’s
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	266	300
Spine Acceleration	41 G’s	43 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	13 inches
HIC	267	326

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Avalon for 1 year and 15000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the ES Series (2/25000 vs. 1/10,000).

There are over 5 times as many Toyota dealers as there are Lexus dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Avalon’s warranty.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Lexus vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in reliability. Lexus is ranked third.

Engine

The Avalon’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 98 more horsepower (301 vs. 203) and 83 lbs.-ft. more torque (267 vs. 184) than the ES 250 AWD’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Avalon’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 86 more horsepower (301 vs. 215) than the ES 300h’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the Toyota Avalon is faster than the ES 300h 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid:

	Avalon	ES Series
Zero to 60 MPH	6.1 sec	7.8 sec
Quarter Mile	14.6 sec	16 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	98.4 MPH	90.6 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Avalon XLE gets better fuel mileage than the ES 350 F Sport 3.5 DOHC V6 8 speed Auto FWD (22 city/32 hwy vs. 22 city/31 hwy).

The Avalon XLE’s standard fuel tank has 1.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the ES Series Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (14.5 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

The Avalon stops much shorter than the ES Series:

	Avalon	ES Series
60 to 0 MPH	122 feet	140 feet	Motor Trend

Suspension and Handling

The Avalon Touring handles at .82 G’s, while the ES 300h pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Avalon Touring executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the ES 300h (26.8 seconds @ .65 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

Passenger Space

The Avalon has 4.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the ES Series (104.3 vs. 99.9).

The Avalon has .8 inches more front hip room, 2.4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear legroom, .5 inches more rear hip room and 2.8 inches more rear shoulder room than the ES Series.

Cargo Capacity

The Avalon has a much larger trunk than the ES Series (16.1 vs. 13.9 cubic feet).

To allow full utilization of available cargo room, the Avalon’s trunk lid uses concealed beam hinges that don’t intrude into the trunk. The ES Series’ useful trunk space is reduced by its intrusive beam hinge.

The Avalon’s standard rear seats fold to accommodate long and bulky cargo. The ES Series doesn’t offer folding rear seats, only a ski pass-through.

Ergonomics

The Avalon’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The ES Series’ standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Avalon has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the ES Series. The Avalon Limited/Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the ES Series.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Avalon owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Avalon will cost $565 to $5690 less than the ES Series over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Avalon is less expensive to operate than the ES Series because typical repairs cost much less on the Avalon than the ES Series, including $133 less for a muffler, $99 less for front struts and $827 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Toyota Avalon will be $3918 to $4301 less than for the Lexus ES Series.

Recommendations

The Toyota Avalon has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

	Avalon	ES Series
Consumer Reports® Recommends	TRUE	TRUE
Car Book “Best Bet”	TRUE	FALSE