Compare the2023 Toyota CamryVS 2023 Lexus ES

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
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 Camry 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 Camry 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 Camry 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, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

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

	Camry	ES
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	20%	24%
Neck Compression	13 lbs.	30 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	432/527 lbs.	524/628 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.7 inches	.8 inches
Neck Injury Risk	21%	33%
Neck Stress	136 lbs.	159 lbs.
Neck Compression	45 lbs.	62 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	266/310 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 Camry is safer than the Lexus ES:

	Camry	ES
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Abdominal Force	136 lbs.	160 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	289	300
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	164	326
Spine Acceleration	35 G’s	36 G’s

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

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Toyota Camry is safer than the ES:

	Camry	ES
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	249	403
Neck Tension	290 lbs.	312 lbs.
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	89 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	1.1 in	1.54 in
Shoulder Force	290 lbs.	379 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.18 in	1.38 in
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	937 lbs.	1026 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	185	197
Neck Tension	45 lbs.	134 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Torso Deflection Rate	5 MPH	10 MPH
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	1049 lbs.	1205 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Camry its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The ES is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2023.

Warranty

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Camry 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 Camry’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Lexus vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Lexus is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Lexus vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota first in overall reliability. Lexus is ranked second.

Engine

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

	Camry	ES
Zero to 60 MPH	7.5 sec	7.8 sec
Quarter Mile	15.8 sec	16 sec

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Camry gets better mileage than the ES:

			MPG
Camry
	FWD	LE/SE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/39 hwy
		Camry XLE 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/33 hwy
		Camry XSE 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/32 hwy
		XLE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/38 hwy
ES
	FWD	3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/32 hwy
		F Sport 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/31 hwy

The Camry AWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the ES Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (14.4 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Camry TRD’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the ES:

	Camry TRD	ES
Front Rotors	12.9 inches	12 inches

The Camry stops much shorter than the ES:

	Camry	ES
60 to 0 MPH	122 feet	140 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	133 feet	139 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The Camry has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The ES’ suspension doesn’t offer rear gas-charged shocks.

The Camry SE handles at .85 G’s, while the ES 300h pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Camry XSE executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.7 seconds quicker than the ES 300h (26.7 seconds @ .66 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Camry LE’s turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the ES’ (37.4 feet vs. 38 feet).

Chassis

The Toyota Camry may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 to 400 pounds less than the Lexus ES.

The Camry LE/XLE is 3.8 inches shorter than the ES, making the Camry easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Camry has .8 inches more front headroom, .4 inches more front hip room, 1.8 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, .4 inches more rear hip room and 1.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the ES.

Cargo Capacity

The Camry has a much larger trunk than the ES (15.1 vs. 13.9 cubic feet).

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

Ergonomics

The Camry’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.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Camry is less expensive to operate than the ES because typical repairs cost much less on the Camry than the ES, including $129 less for a muffler, $135 less for front struts, $9 less for a timing belt/chain and $319 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

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

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

The Toyota Camry outsold the Lexus ES by over seven to one during 2022.

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