why buying a lexus lc 500

[bvhout]

I suppose that most people think a while before they buy a car and I’ve recently made a down payment for a lexus lc 500. Now I have this horrible need to rationalize this.

I'm not sure whether other people are interseted in my reasoning, but hey.

Let me start wit saying that I am not a Lexus man, I’ve never owned one before. I’m more of a Jaguar man. In my life I’ve owned a number of XJ’s (series 3), two jaguar MKII’2 and two jaguar XK’s. Before I got to the XK’s I also owned a lotus elise, an audi TTS and a porsche boxter. And with that I owned a renault avantime (a great car) which I traded in for a citroen c6 which I still own. My last XK was traded in for a Mercedes cl 500 which is what I’m driving now.

I’ve never seriously contemplated buying a porsche 911. In all honesty, after the lotus, the boxster and the TTS, I realized that I don’t want a “real” sportscar. I want a grand tourer with a lot of spare power which I like to be available but rarely use. It pleases me that it is there, but I’m not a racer and I have little joy of going through corners as fast as possible.  Maybe I should mention that I also own a Ducati Monster 821, which passes the speed limit a lot more often than any car I have ever driven, and when I want to feel the buzz of fast acceleration, the Ducati is way more fun than any sportscar I have ever driven. 

So, I like a grand tourer and I like a v8. Jaguar has stopped production of the XK and I don’t like the F-type being – in my view-  a wannabe boxster or cayman. The new Mercedes S coupe is – again in my view – not as beautiful as the CL. I don’t like the lines as much and I don’t like the interior as much. They are more expensive but second hand ones with only a few thousand miles on the clock seem rather inexpensive and definitely in the same range as an lc 500 (especially the structural blue one).

I’ve never ever considered a BMW. I may also add that I don’t like the M3’s and Audi RS’s of this world. I always seem to think that these are nice cars but that they have spent too much time in the sport-school. I like a car that has been developed as a sportscar. I remember a test between a jaguar xj and a citroen cx prestige and the man from jaguar saying: there is a big difference between developing a luxury car and making a car luxurious. I also assume that there is a big difference between developing a sportscar and making a car sporty.

Now the LC isn’t a sportscar. It is a luxury GT, for me the real replacement of the jaguar XK.

Other alternatives that I’ve thought about are a second hand Bentley but I don’t play football anymore and I’ve never played at a level that I could afford a BentleAy, A second hand aston martin db9 would fit the bill and I’m not sure why I don’t want one of those.  And then there is the Maserati and I should admit that saying “honey I’m taking the Maserati” sounds better than “honey I’m taking the lexus”. 

But a lexus lc 500 it will be. A rational decision I would argue. Or not? 

[Linas.P]

To be honest the entire reasoning is too much for me to comprehend, but just focusing on last bit... I seems that Lexus was rational decision!

Lexus has build quality and reliability second to none. Certainly better built and more reliable than db9 and I am not even talking about Maserati. It might not sound as cool to say, but it will definitely be rarer and more exclusive. I guess when ti comes between MB S-Coupe and LC... again LC will be much more exclusive, but used S-Coupe would hold value better as somebody has already swallowed new car depreciation... 

The only thing I left unsure about LC is the option list.. It seems like a car which Lexus should allow to configure and the one which should have more standard equipment, but it seems to be stuck in 3 tiers approach e.g. standard, Sport, Sport+. Sport+ has nice things like rear wheel steering and LSD... but why carbon roof why polyester seats (I think they call it alcantara). As well it seems 360 view camera would kind kind of thin to choose? No not even an option... But maybe I just to technical and you just need to look at the car of face value and what it is and whenever it gives you the things YOU need from the car. If it does than it means it is right option...

[malcolmw]

Very interesting.

I have just sold my DB9 and have had a CL500 so I seem to be on a similar page to you.

I had the Aston for 12 years and, although great to drive, it always felt "fragile". The CL 500 was spectacularly fast and comfy but I eventually changed it for a Range Rover and then the RR for a RX450h.

On alternatives to the LC, I have test driven the AMG Coupe which I think is the nearest to the LC V8 in terms of feel and robustness (it's ugly, though). Also, there is the AM Vantage but both of these are £30K more than the LC. So that is really my rationalisation for my order.

BTW, I assume that you have ordered the V8 and not the hybrid. I have gone for the "base" model really for the reasons in your post. I don't want to race around either so 4WS, carbon roof and LSD are unnecessary while the glass roof and leather seats look good to me.

What delivery time were you quoted?

[rayaans]

Interesting views - but I dont really rationalise purchases

If I want it and like it, I usually just buy it without looking back - so I guess thats my rationalisation.

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, malcolmw said:

I don't want to race around either so 4WS, carbon roof and LSD are unnecessary while the glass roof and leather seats look good to me.

Even though I have no plans for LC, that would be my choice as well. It seems that Sport and Sport+ just takes away something nice from the car and replaces it with something unnecessary for GT for extra price. I still think 4WS and LSD are nice, but not when leather and glass roof is replaced with alcantara and carbon. Additionally, 76k for LC seems very reasonable price, whereas 86k not so much.

[bvhout]

6 hours ago, malcolmw said:

Very interesting.

I have just sold my DB9 and have had a CL500 so I seem to be on a similar page to you.

I had the Aston for 12 years and, although great to drive, it always felt "fragile". The CL 500 was spectacularly fast and comfy but I eventually changed it for a Range Rover and then the RR for a RX450h.

On alternatives to the LC, I have test driven the AMG Coupe which I think is the nearest to the LC V8 in terms of feel and robustness (it's ugly, though). Also, there is the AM Vantage but both of these are £30K more than the LC. So that is really my rationalisation for my order.

BTW, I assume that you have ordered the V8 and not the hybrid. I have gone for the "base" model really for the reasons in your post. I don't want to race around either so 4WS, carbon roof and LSD are unnecessary while the glass roof and leather seats look good to me.

What delivery time were you quoted?

Yeah, the V8, the structural blue one, It is quoted to arrive on December 19. 

[malcolmw]

Merry Christmas. 

[dutchie01]

Interesting read Ben, spot on. Try this for  rationalization;   

My car is half the price of an Aston, has far superior build quality, is way more exclusive, looks identical to the show stopper introduced at the automobile  exhibition and is build by selected craftsmen in the most modern car factory in the world.

However, would you rationalize or defend a beautiful sculpture? a great painting?  your new house designed by your architect?

I personally see the LC as a great example of automotive art, a real connoiseurs car that is not for everybody. The buildquality, the attention to detail, the interior , the sculpted body, the uncompromising polarizing design. All very very impressive.

 Any Lexus has an air of exclusivity on it but the LC... you now belong to an Uber exclusive club! 

Happy motoring and please please some pics when available.

 

[malcolmw]

We have been discussing above about “rationalising” our decisions to order/buy the LC500. Although, as has been pointed out, we don’t need to really justify our purchasing choices, I did look at the possible alternative cars at this point in the market. It is difficult to get an exact comparison because of standard/optional equipment levels but, for pricing purposes, I roughly considered costs to equate to the LC500 base model features.

So, what is competitive in the 2 door coupe market?

AMG GT – Very similar to the LC but £105K

BMW 650 Msport – 450bhp and about £80K but there are a lot about.

BMW i8 – Is this really a LC500 hybrid competitor?

Porsche 911 Carerra – About £88K but only 370bhp and everybody’s got one.

Jaguar F-Type – 550bhp at about £93K with JLR build “quality”.

Aston Martin V8V – 470bhp but indifferent build quality at about £105K (new model coming)

I have probably left out a few choices but I am sure you understand the issues.

What other cars have people looked at?

[Jules640]

My previous car was a BMW 640 M Sport and it was a really good car but I had owned it for nearly 4 years and wanted a change. It is going to be discontinued soon and replaced by the 8 series.

The other cars that I looked at before going for the LC500 were a Mercedes C63 coupe, which I decided was too much like more basic versions. Also, I did not like the SatNav screen being stuck on the top of the dashboard.

I also looked at the Jaguar F Type. They look nice but not much comes as standard and there are far too many optional extras. Also the technology is quite old, there were no LED headlights available when I looked and the SatNav is a bit dated, although I know that there has been a recent facelift.

I also looked looked briefly at the Mercedes S Class coupe. Its a nice car but very big even more so than the LC500 and it felt very wallowy to drive. They also depreciate massively, although that is a unknown at the moment on the LC500. 

[rayaans]

5 hours ago, Jules640 said:

My previous car was a BMW 640 M Sport and it was a really good car but I had owned it for nearly 4 years and wanted a change. It is going to be discontinued soon and replaced by the 8 series.

The other cars that I looked at before going for the LC500 were a Mercedes C63 coupe, which I decided was too much like more basic versions. Also, I did not like the SatNav screen being stuck on the top of the dashboard.

I also looked at the Jaguar F Type. They look nice but not much comes as standard and there are far too many optional extras. Also the technology is quite old, there were no LED headlights available when I looked and the SatNav is a bit dated, although I know that there has been a recent facelift.

I also looked looked briefly at the Mercedes S Class coupe. Its a nice car but very big even more so than the LC500 and it felt very wallowy to drive. They also depreciate massively, although that is a unknown at the moment on the LC500. 

Most cars north of £70k will be dropping pretty swiftly in price apart from say the RR and I wouldn't expect the LC to be any different.

Ive seen pics of the new Vantage - looks almost like a bigger version of an MX5 RF. Also has cues from the Chevy Corvette.

[Linas.P]

On 11/21/2017 at 1:54 PM, Jules640 said:

My previous car was a BMW 640 M Sport and it was a really good car but I had owned it for nearly 4 years and wanted a change. It is going to be discontinued soon and replaced by the 8 series.

I am not sure about that. 6-series are coupe version of 5-series in the model line-up. 7-series is currently "flagship" and 8 series seems to be 2 doors version of that, similar to what Mercedes have with S-Class and S-Class coupe. As such I ten to believe BMW will add completely new series (or restart it) rather than replacing 6-series.