Just In: Lexus HS 250h

Walk into a Lexus dealer with $39,000 to spend on a new sedan and you’ll find you have a surprisingly wide array of choices. That will buy you a Lexus IS 350, a compact rear-wheel drive sedan aimed squarely at the BMW 3 Series. Or, you could get Lexus’ top-selling sedan, the Camry-based ES 350, which is aimed directly at those buyers who used to drive Buicks.
 
Now there’s a third option: the hybrid-only Lexus HS 250h. Based on the Prius and the sold-overseas Toyota Avensis, the HS uses the Camry Hybrid’s 2.4-liter four-cylinder drivetrain. The HS appears to be aimed at Prius-shopping professionals who want something “nicer” that still gets excellent mileage. Cars like the aforementioned Camry Hybrid, the fun-to-drive Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrid, or a diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta TDI might fit that bill, but they don’t have the cachet of the Lexus name. (Vehicle links point to the model overview pages, where online subscribers can access road tests and ratings.)
 
They don’t have the HS’s price tag, either. Our car is an HS 250h Premium, which gets you a wood and leather trimmed interior, power seats and steering wheel adjustment, and 18-inch wheels. A bunch of piddly little options (spoiler, glass breakage sensors, remote start, a cargo net and trunk mat, and all-weather mats) added a whopping $1,094, bringing the total with destination to $38,939.
 
We’ll let you know if the HS lives up to Lexus’ standards of quiet refinement as we put miles on our test car.
 
—Tom Mutchler

Comments

[DPD]

I'm comparing the 250h to the following: BMX 335d; Audi A3 TDI; Jetta TDI and Fusion Hybrid. I'm concerned about the Hybrid's resale value due to the battery replacement issue....the Audi A3 TDI (not at Dealers yet)is very short at 169"....the Jetta seems great but lacks some upscale features. All that said, I got a chance to drive the Fusion Hybrid for a week and it was great in just about every way but to get great mileage you have to drive like "grandma"! Leaning to the BMW but the rear wheel drive is a negative. How does the 3 series handle in snow & wet weather?

Any comments welcomed!

[coolcar]

Is there really a market for an expensive, high-end, compact hybrid?

For most people, if they buy a hybrid, it would probably not cost anywhere north of 30k. If it is a high-end car, it probably won't be a dedicated hybrid...

[coolcar]

DPD-

Agree with you. The 3-serie's rear-wheel drive format is probably not the best for snow and wet weather.

[Cale]

DPD, Some thoughts on your comments, neither 250h nor 335d is going to be an exceptional "snow" car but dedicated snow tires will make either an acceptable choice. The 335d might be fuel efficient but it is still very expensive, even compared to the expensive 250h. The Fusion Hybrid can run on battery power up to onramp speeds (47 mph) on battery juice alone...drive it like Grandma and you'll beat the 250h's fuel economy by a considerable margin. (NASCAR driver Carl Edwards squeezed out 81.5 mpg in a hypermiling challenge, http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/05/ford-fusion-hybrid-hypermiling-1445-miles-on-a-tank.html.)

coolcar, the 250h is for an increasing number of car shoppers that want a upscale car AND hybrid fuel economy. It is a relatively small market but Toyota has already made the investment in the hybrid technology that will be going into the 250h and at the asking price, won't have to sell as many to make a economic case to corporate bean counters.

[Tom Mutchler]

DPD, I usually get around 37-38 mpg out of the Fusion Hybrid on my commute, and that's not driving like Grandma. (No city driving though either.) I drove our test car again a few days ago and remain very, very impressed by the car.