Would you run an LC outside of Lexus Relax.

Flytvr · April 28

A few years from now and some LC500s will fall outside of Lexus Relax.

Would you run an LC without a Lexus warranty?

Brian R · April 28

If the reliability is as good as claimed and experienced by Lexus owners, then why not. In years past I could cheerfully take much lesser cars well into 6 figures and apart from an Alfa Romeo, they all made it without any complications. I would also say they were all serviced by the book except the Alfa, lesson learned! Additionally, these were always new cars driven only by me.

Malc1 · April 28

Lexus LC 500 is surely of utmost Lexus quality similar ( or better ? ) to the brilliant renowned Ls400 and successors

With proper maintenance including known preventative maintenance the Ls400 and successors will endure many hundreds of thousands of amazing miles …….. and often, usually, without Main Dealer attention in later life

Buy the LC with confidence eh ! I’ve not read here of challenging problems to mitigate ownership …… just don’t be afraid to spend a little maintenance money to achieve wonderful longevity

Just an uninformed layman view with some 25 years of constant Ls400 ownership …… and a few hundred thousand, relatively inexpensive wonderful miles

Malc

Flytvr · April 28

Fair points.

However, even now the Lexus dealers seem to struggle with diagnosing issues with the LC (due to its rarity). Imagine if a dealer has to do 10 hrs diagnosis whilst you’re paying the bill outside of warranty.

Let’s take the gearbox as an example. It’s used in just the LC. Compare that to a ZF box.. if you have an issue with a ZF box, the chances are the issue will be very common and there’ll be lots of indies that can work on it. The LC gearbox on the other hand……..

The LC500 is my third Lexus. I’d put it’s build quality last.

I think the rarity of the LC500 may make it an expensive long termer.

Malc1 · April 28

Rolls Royce and Bentley are supreme quality but initial owners buy them usually for short term use and their on-life is decades with relatively tiny value …… to mitigate running costs no doubt …….. similarly the LC500 p’raps 🤔

Expensive cars new often require deep maintenance pockets in later life ….. the LC500 no exception maybe

No one, surely, buys an expensive car thinking they’ll be worrying about the maintenance costs 🤔

Malc

Flytvr · April 28

1 hour ago, Malc1 said:

Rolls Royce and Bentley are supreme quality but initial owners buy them usually for short term use and their on-life is decades with relatively tiny value …… to mitigate running costs no doubt …….. similarly the LC500 p’raps 🤔

Expensive cars new often require deep maintenance pockets in later life ….. the LC500 no exception maybe

No one, surely, buys an expensive car thinking they’ll be worrying about the maintenance costs 🤔

Malc

I always worry about maintenance costs. I considered an R8 before the LC, but decided against it because of potential large bills.

Spock66 · April 29

You can always take out an independent warranty cover for peace of mind.

Localhero · April 29

My latest car is a used Toyota Rav 4 2013 when I bought it , it had full AA inspection and an additional warranty at Spectrum, which has been totally useless, imo they use every excuse not to pay out, and if you look at their reviews on trust pilot, you will see their abysmall reviews, my fault is an error code which is probably a wiring problem, they told me they do cover electrics but do not cover wiring 🤔 most of these aftermarket warranties do not offer peace of mind as nearly everything is down to fair wear and tear which is not covered, rant over 🤐

Flytvr · April 29

7 hours ago, Localhero said:

My latest car is a used Toyota Rav 4 2013 when I bought it , it had full AA inspection and an additional warranty at Spectrum, which has been totally useless, imo they use every excuse not to pay out, and if you look at their reviews on trust pilot, you will see their abysmall reviews, my fault is an error code which is probably a wiring problem, they told me they do cover electrics but do not cover wiring 🤔 most of these aftermarket warranties do not offer peace of mind as nearly everything is down to fair wear and tear which is not covered, rant over 🤐

Point well made!

Also, there seems to be a lot of naivety about Lexus Relax.

ColinBarber · April 30

On 4/28/2024 at 6:39 PM, Flytvr said:

A few years from now and some LC500s will fall outside of Lexus Relax.

Lexus offer their old extended warranty for vehicles between 10 and 15 years old.

April 30

A good point The Car Care Nut YouTube channel made about LS400's was that "they are the most reliable cars in their segment". Compared to high end Mercedes... BMWs... especially Audi's, they will give you less trouble. That's not to say no trouble at all.

The rarity is the big factor here. As mentioned, dealers are fairly useless as troubleshooting (despite state of the art workshops and open access to proprietary systems and troubleshooting guides we could only DREAM of accessing at home).

Any one-off special panels, parts or modules will likely cost a small fortune and at some stage, possibly even a significant % of the cars value.

I think if you don't use it as a primary car, maintain it well, do low miles a few times a year, they'll virtually last forever. But everyday usage, even with superb servicing will mean scratches, dents, the odd low speed accident, deterioration of rubber parts, long-term heat damage from components like brakes and other parts like rubber seals. Things no car in use can escape fully. Granted, the Relax or even new car warranty wouldn't cover those anyway.

But make no mistake, these are are the utmost of Lexus quality. It's not a facade, or a box ticking model, every single aspect, finish and characteristic of the car is done with great intention. This will undoubtedly apply also to the long-term ownership and the engineering parts.

Malc1 · April 30

Dings and dents are part and parcel of everyday motoring and those who deign to keep their cars in aspic are wondrous owners ……… if ever I were to find a LS400 in perfect bodywork nick it’d scare me rigid to own it …… let alone use it !

Wondrous cars are great at car shows but even then unless one’s fanatical, there’ll be some blemishes I’m sure …….. I’d go mad trying to keep on top of all that prim’ness 😄

But I do admire those that do for sure 👍

Malc

MNMJ · May 3

On 4/30/2024 at 8:51 AM, ColinBarber said:

Lexus offer their old extended warranty for vehicles between 10 and 15 years old.

That is good news as it used to run out at 10yrs, though you could buy 2 years in advance taking it to 12. If it still includes their breakdown cover, it is very good value (or was when I had it on ISF and RCF)

Flytvr · May 7

Well, the good news is that Lexus parts direct have a sale.

Check out how cheap a wheel is - https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-lc-21-inch-type-wheel/

Yes, I'm being flippant, but the point I'm trying to make is that when things break, the fix may me extortionate. All LC500s (irrespective of value are £100k cars)

Malc1 · May 7

Does it have 5 wheels incl a spare ? £15k+ ….. just nuts

Malc

Flytvr · May 7

22 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

Does it have 5 wheels incl a spare ? £15k+ ….. just nuts

Malc

You can see why it doesn't take much to write these cars off!

Flytvr · May 7

AND, just hope your door handles don't stop working!

https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-lc-phase-1-o-s-door-handle-assembly/

ColinBarber · May 8

8 hours ago, Flytvr said:

AND, just hope your door handles don't stop working!

Luckily it only has two!

Malc1 · May 8

Repair Shop ( tv show ) skilled craftsmen to the rescue 😄

Malc

eightk · May 8

11 hours ago, Flytvr said:

AND, just hope your door handles don't stop working!

https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-lc-phase-1-o-s-door-handle-assembly/

Owww that stings. Having said that the handles on our Honda are £680 per side. Hopefully a few people will have crashed their LCs by the time I need one!

Wheels - I have a spare set sitting in the garage from eBay for less than the cost of an LC door handle.

It’s an undred grand car so it’s not surprising repair parts are expensive. Thing with Lexus is, in theory I shouldn’t need too many of them. Right? RIGHT?!

J Henderson · May 8

15 hours ago, Flytvr said:

Well, the good news is that Lexus parts direct have a sale.

Check out how cheap a wheel is - https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-lc-21-inch-type-wheel/

Yes, I'm being flippant, but the point I'm trying to make is that when things break, the fix may me extortionate. All LC500s (irrespective of value are £100k cars)

Wow, a 1% discount 😄

You could import that same wheel from the other side of the planet, get a new tyre for it, and still have £1K change.

Dealer prices really are ridiculous.

GMB · May 8

As an exercise I think someone once put a price on building a car from scratch using the parts prices. If I remember right the cost was enormous.

One check I made a while ago Standard plugs for an ISF £14 from a specialist, BMW M3 £25, Big Motorcycle £7. You can go mad and buy special ones for £25plus. :mad2: