Potential LC500 Owner after a little advice

Dingle Dell · February 15

Bright Yellow tennis ball on bright yellow string duly ordered. It will blend in with the car rather well lol.

Hoping to pick the car up next week sometime - shame the weathers so crap.

Dingle Dell · February 21

Well, the merch arrived before the car! Two days till i'm picking her up and the 5hr drive home.

Sbrlx · February 22

Nice. So which one will you wear for the drive?

Ruffle · February 22

A five hour drive might give you time to get to grips with the touchpad :-) Enjoy.

shapiro · February 22

Top tips for the last gen info screen… use it in split mode. On the right you want climate. Left, whatever you want (music for me as sat nav is pants in all cars).

Then make sure climate is on Auto (concierge) for passenger seat, wheel and drivers seat.

if you find the auto function is a little too warm or hot change it the settings for a different default.

job done!

Dingle Dell · March 18

Picked the car up, though the journey home wasn't exactly relaxing what with Friday traffic, an A1 closure and my satnav taking me down increasingly narrow lanes on a diversion... anyway, I got home in one piece in the end. Work then got really busy and coupled with the rubbish weather, the car hasn't been out the garage too much - that should change very soon!

That being said, I have driven it enough to find out that the Bridgestones aren't the grippiest of tyres when it's cold and wet.

I haven't found the track-pad too bad to be honest, and personally, i'm glad my car has come with the 'old' dash rather than with the touch screen, as I wasn't a fan of how it had been implemented (and I like the clock..).

shapiro · March 18

Welcome to the fold. You can now “relax” for almost 10 years or whatever the balance of the warranty is. Not many cars you can say that about!

SH20 · March 19

Comforting to know the 10 year cover on Lexus cars will give peace of mind for owners if you just service it at your local Lexus dealer once a year. It's worth going on the Lexus UK website and find the section on their 10 year warranty and then print off the terms and conditions which drill down to the nitty gritty of the warranty. Comprehensive as it is there is a significant section on what's not covered over and above routine service items but let's face it Lexus cars have a great reliability reputation and when the principle high cost areas of the car like, engine, gearbox, differential, suspension, the ecu's etc are covered it gives you a sense of comfort and despite the hybrid Battery not being mentioned directly it is covered under it's own warranty with an annual health check certificate extending it for 12 months. If I'm quoting correctly there is a 15 year cover period on the hybrid Battery but not sure what happens after that as there doesn't appear to be any real evidence that Lexus replace these regularly due to failure.

Here is what is referenced in the warranty document in regard to EV components and Hydrogen fuel cells.

Hybrid Components (when above 5 years and 100,000 miles base warranty cover): Hybrid Battery Control Module; Hybrid Control Module; and Hybrid inverter with converter. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Components: Fuel Cell Air Compressor; Fuel Cell Boost Converter; Fuel Cell H2 Tanks; Fuel Cell PCU (Power Control Unit) and Fuel Cell Stack. EV Components: Drive motor and inverter with converter.

Maybe Colin Barber (Staff) can comment on the hybrid Battery itself and correct any incorrect assumptions.

Still if you have a car without a Hybrid Battery then there's nothing to go wrong.

talaipwros · March 22

Thinking of buying a used LC500 to replace my bimmer.

It would probably be either that or a new giulia QV that costs about the same money as a used 3 years old LC ( or nothing)

So the obvious question is, is the LC500 fast and engaging enough?

I have seen some youtube videos where 0-100 km/h is close to 5.5sec, which is not what I would expect at this price point.
I wiould be happy If it achieves the advertised 4.7 secm but 5.5 is a bit slow.

Don't get me wrong, I know it is a GT rather than a sports car, but even so I would expect a sub-5 seconds 0-100

Cheers

wendle · March 22

If your looking for a fast and engaging car then dont buy a LC, as you have said its a GT not a sports car that weighs close to two tons

the only difference between the LC and the Giulia QV is that your loose your licence 1.2 seconds quicker 😀

BrettMRC · March 22

The LC is a relaxing cruiser with enough grip and grunt to have a bit of fun, all the while looking and sounding stunning.

If you want engaging, get something lighter with a better power to weight ratio.

Flytvr · March 22

3 hours ago, talaipwros said:

Thinking of buying a used LC500 to replace my bimmer.

It would probably be either that or a new giulia QV that costs about the same money as a used 3 years old LC ( or nothing)

So the obvious question is, is the LC500 fast and engaging enough?

I have seen some youtube videos where 0-100 km/h is close to 5.5sec, which is not what I would expect at this price point.
I wiould be happy If it achieves the advertised 4.7 secm but 5.5 is a bit slow.

Don't get me wrong, I know it is a GT rather than a sports car, but even so I would expect a sub-5 seconds 0-100

Cheers

If Top Trump numbers are of importance to you, my gut feeling is.... don't buy one.

Dingle Dell · March 23

Having had a QV a couple of years ago, it's certainly more of an engaging car when driven hard, but unfortunately when driven hard, you will find yourself doing license losing speeds far too easily. When driven at legal speeds, I didn't find it that much of a thrill.

The LC is more of an event, and sounds nicer; it just wouldn't see which way a QV went in most situations, so if that would bother you, then go with the QV.

The other factor to consider is reliability; I had no issues with my QV, but many owners have had issues (mainly electrical), and the customer care is poor. The Lexus warranty and service will be far, far superior, giving peace of mind.

talaipwros · April 6

And that's why one can not seriously consider spending 78K for buying an alfa

Arth_Vader · April 7

At his insistence, took my young son for a drive yesterday and we had a lot of fun with the windows down, in a tunnel or two, “haha daddy so loud” all the while staying under the speed limits. At one point we encountered a few older hot hatches obviously racing each other in the opposite direction. I have no doubt that either of these young guns, in their SEATS or fiestas, would be faster than us, but not necessarily having more fun. That the beauty of the LC and the V8 - you’re having such an experience pootling around town with the engine burbling or going through the first 3 gears that you don’t have to push the boundaries on a public road.

I’ve got to say when the car is warm - the sound of up changes (a crack) down changes (autoblipped) are among the best I’ve ever experienced in an auto.

eightk · April 8

As above, the actual numbers are irrelevant. It’s the feel, the experience. 20 mph in traffic in this GT can in some ways be as rewarding as 70 mph on a country road in other supposedly similar cars. It’s mostly down to the engine but the design, quality and so on also play a part.

Dingle Dell · April 9

What i'm liking about the yellow is it really doesn't show the dirt. Hasn't been cleaned since I bought it and has been out in some miserable weather, but still looks great. Hopefully will get a chance to give it a clean this weekend, as the weather looks good.

ArtShapiro · April 21

I need a favor. Can someone provide the depth of the LC500 hardtop trunk. I have to place a handicap (stability) walker in the trunk. The trunk on a convertible is not deep enough. I hope the hardtop trunk is deeper because space to store the convertible soft top is no longer needed. This is the final thing I need to check off before I purchase a LC500. Thank you.

Arth_Vader · April 23

Mines a petrol coupe and it’s 94cm from the rear to where the back seats are. That’s where it’s deepest and where the roof mechanism will most probably intrude, not at the sides. That deepest area is 80cm wide.

The boot area has all sorts of bumps and bulges which diminish it, and the boot lid protrudes down in places, so id recommend finding a v8 coupe and see if your walker fits either in the boot or in the back seats, and don’t rely on abstract measurements.

i find it handy but I generally travel light or with multiple small bags and items that you can play Tetris with till they go in.

Dingle Dell · May 9

Boot is cavernous enough to swallow a Mini 😂

Dingle Dell · September 26

This will be a long-ish post, but after selling my LC a couple of weeks ago I’m just putting down in writing many of the thoughts spinning around my mind on my short ownership to use as a cathartic experience…

Ultimately, it was case of it’s not you, it’s me, with the LC500 and I think I came to the wrong conclusions when deciding what I wanted from a car. I wanted a big V8, etc as I missed the noise from some of my previous cars, and the plan was to keep the car for a very long time, and this would mean I didn’t really think about depreciation in the short-term. I wasn’t worried about ultimate performance, otherwise I would have bought a 911, but obviously it’s not exactly a slow car.

It’s worth saying now that most of my reasons for selling are not directly to do with the car but with my disillusionment with the roads, especially in the over congested South-east where I live. This includes the ridiculous amount of traffic on the road these days, where I seem unable to do a single journey without it being impacted by congestion, never-ending roadworks, accidents, speed-cameras, potholes, overgrown lanes, etc. Today has been a case in point with motorway closures due to serious accidents on the M2, M20, M26 and M25, all just in Kent. It’s crazy round here these days.

The Good

· I liked the noise it made when pressing on, though a friend was following me once and was gushing about it afterwards, so I suspect it’s even better for those outside the car

· The looks from most angles

· The uniqueness of the car and the positive attention it got

· It handles pretty well for a big car, though you can feel the mass of the car on sweeping A and B-Roads

· Cheap servicing costs and good fuel economy on long runs

· The 10-Year warranty (not that I needed it in the end, but it’s still great they do it)

The Bad

As I said, these are not criticisms of the car, but reasons for me personally why I have ended up not keeping it long-term. Many, if not all of these I was aware of going into ownership, so I should have known better.

· I had the same issues as with my previous Guilia Quad, and a lesser extent the Vantage. While pootling around doing legal speeds, the car was a nice place to be, but I didn’t feel particularly engaged or that it was a special driving experience

· The noise was nice higher in the revs, but for me it was all a bit muted when driving sensibly. I know that’s just me, in that it’s a refined GT car and isn’t supposed to be raucous, but I found myself wanting more noise and something a bit less civilised, and more connected to the road. With regard to the exhaust noise, I often found myself thinking I should have bought an earlier car without the PPF, but I don’t know how significant the difference is

· As we know, it’s a big car, and many of the journeys I hoped to do in the car, I ended up not doing because of concerns about parking and it getting dinged by other cars doors, or due to the state of the A & B roads around here

If I’m honest with myself, I wasn’t blown away with the car on the test-drive. Performance and handling were fine, though a little under-whelming in some respects, and I thought the sound was good but a bit muted much of the time. However, I had convinced myself this was the car for me and thought that the main reason the test-drive didn’t excite me as I hoped was because I was being sensible while driving an 80K car with the salesman sat alongside me. In my mind, once it was mine, I could push it harder, and it would all click. I guess that never really happened. The LC500 is a great car, but it didn’t really excite me in the way I hoped.

In the last month, I had a couple of drives in the car and found it was only really putting a smile on my face at speeds that could risk my license. You only have to rev the thing out to hear the glorious noise it makes in the first few gears to look down and see you are doing some excessive speeds. Not as bad as the Quad in that respect mind. It was after these drives, I started thinking about selling.

Ultimately, I think I would prefer a car that when it feels like I am doing 75MPH, I am actually doing 55MPH, rather than a car where when I feel like I am doing 75MPH I am actually well into 3 figures.

What will I replace it with? I was looking at the Vantages again, but most of my reasons for selling the LC will apply to that as well, though it has to be said, the Vantage is a rawer experience, especially if I went for the V12.

I may have one last throw of the dice to find some enjoyment from driving on the road and go for something completely different; something cheap, lightweight and fun. I may even buy a car, that previously I would have never even considered like an MX5. I'm old enough that the hairdresser comments I would get will go straight over my bald head.

Sorry for all the rambling; that’s how my brain works these days lol.

Malc1 · September 26

Sad for you ……. the car’s great just the wrong place you’re having to drive ……. whichever car you now buy the roads won’t be changing and you might get very fed up very quickly ……. feeling sad for you ……. maybe just buy an ordinary useable good car that ticks most of your boxes and that you can “ enjoy “ ……. on the roads you’re having to drive

I too live in Kent and likewise totally fed up with the continuous road mess-ups …… it’s amazingly frustrating and knowing I too can’t get great V8 performance from my cars …….. but quite frankly that experience hadn’t changed much these past 25 years of Lexus V8 driving ……. apart from getting worse ……. I see not much change for the better ahead

Let us know your way forward ….. maybe simply lower your quality journeying expectations

Good luck

Malc

Paul29bit · September 27

If what you want is the drama and theatre of performance without the silly high speeds, and you enjoy driving and especially a bit of rallying, then I can recommend something like a BBR MX5. I can guarantee it will make you smile within 10 seconds of passing 4000rpm followed shortly by the concentration removing the grin. They are a lot of fun. I recently managed to melt the BBR hub caps and they fell out of the wheels after she cooled down. Turbo vents a little too close to the front drivers side wheel and the additional focused braking did the rest.

I should add I don't intend to drive the LC like that and really for me it will become my daily driver for to and from the office and going to clients.

Arth_Vader · October 2

I’ve got a 67 plate and it makes plenty of noise specially in manual and sport plus, at quite reasonable and legal speeds. A dab of throttle at 1500rpm and it comes to life nicely.

A vantage is pretty tame until you get to 4000rpm unless you pull fuse 22, which opens the exhaust flaps and then it’s brilliant all the time. If you can somehow get both an LCs exhaust pipes to stay open all the time (there are a few options for this) then it’s similarly game on.

Shame if you’ve sold without exploring the options. Hope not.

Dingle Dell · October 6

On 9/26/2024 at 8:45 PM, Malc1 said:

Sad for you ……. the car’s great just the wrong place you’re having to drive ……. whichever car you now buy the roads won’t be changing and you might get very fed up very quickly ……. feeling sad for you ……. maybe just buy an ordinary useable good car that ticks most of your boxes and that you can “ enjoy “ ……. on the roads you’re having to drive

I too live in Kent and likewise totally fed up with the continuous road mess-ups …… it’s amazingly frustrating and knowing I too can’t get great V8 performance from my cars …….. but quite frankly that experience hadn’t changed much these past 25 years of Lexus V8 driving ……. apart from getting worse ……. I see not much change for the better ahead

Let us know your way forward ….. maybe simply lower your quality journeying expectations

Good luck

Malc

My daily is a 2019 Audi S4 and it is such a perfect daily driver. It's quick, when you need it, it's economical, reliability has been bullet-proof, and it's understated to look at, so I can leave it at railway station car parks without too much concern that it won't be there when I get home. The S4 is also able to put a smile on my face, and sounds quite nice throughout the rev range, but it is still my daily and I feel the need for something else.

After some thought, I have decided to get back into a little bit of motorsport, but without getting too serious. Having done circuit racing on and off for 20 years, I'm to old to get back into it properly, and after racing, track days generally hold no appeal whatsoever, but local car clubs hold lots of Autotests, Autosolo's and Sprints, so I'm going to pick up a MX5 NC for relatively little money and give that a go. I had always been snobby about MX5 (to my discredit), but by all accounts they are great little cars, fun to drive on the roads at legal speeds, and can be used successfully in the kind of competition i'm looking at.