Compare the2022 Toyota AvalonVS 2022 Lexus ES

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 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 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Both the Avalon and the ES 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning 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:

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:

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

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Avalon for 1 year and 15000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the ES (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.

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.

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:

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 Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (14.5 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Avalon stops much shorter than the ES:

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).

The Avalon has 4.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the ES (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.

The Avalon has a much larger trunk than the ES (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’ 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 doesn’t offer folding rear seats, only a ski pass-through.

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’ 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. 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.

Insurance will cost less for the Avalon owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Avalon will cost $765 to $8525 less than the ES over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Avalon is less expensive to operate than the ES because typical repairs cost much less on the Avalon than the ES, 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 $3030 to $8671 less than for the Lexus ES.

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