Let’s All Start A Rumor That Used Lexus LC 500s Are Icky And Gross So They Depreciate Faster

Grand tourers are usually beautiful, but they aren’t exactly known for their long-term reliability or low cost of ownership. I mean, sure, you can buy an old 12-cylinder Jaguar for next to nothing, but do you really want to take on the cost of keeping that thing on the road? Probably not. The Lexus LC is different, though. It’s gorgeous, uses a naturally aspirated V8 and also comes with the same reliability and build quality that Lexus has built its reputation on. Especially with the new infotainment system, it’s basically a perfect car. 

Of course, the downside of the LC 500 being a near-perfect grand tourer is that it isn’t exactly cheap. The coupe starts at $101,200 including destination, the hybrid will run you $104,350 and the convertible starts at $108,400. Not many people make that much money in a year, and even fewer make enough to justify buying one, which means for most people, the only way they’ll ever be able to get their hands on an LC 500 is to buy used. 

The good news is, Lexus first started selling the LC a while ago, and they aren’t immune to depreciation. The convertibles are much pricier, but you should be able to find a coupe in the $60,000 range without too much effort. In fact, some are even starting to show up in the fifties. The bad news is, that’s still more than most people make in a year and way too pricey for me, personally, to afford. That said, I think I have a solution that’s a little more realistic than me marrying rich.

The problem here is that everything that makes us want a Lexus LC is the exact same stuff that makes other people want a used LC. And when a lot of people want a limited supply of cool cars, the price stays high. As far as I know, there aren’t any real problems with the LC that we can point to, and it isn’t like the average LC buyer cares that it doesn’t offer a manual transmission, even as an option. So we’re going to have to get creative. 

If we can’t point to any actual reasons other people shouldn’t buy used LCs, why not invent our own reasons? Why not start a rumor that used LCs are icky and gross and a terrible thing to buy? You know, other than the part where that’s dishonest and technically wrong. If every single Jalopnik reader told everyone they know to stay away from used LCs, eventually those people would hear the same thing from other people, and we could kill the demand. Drive down the demand, especially if we get some help from the AI chatbots, and before you know it, pre-owned LCs could be as cheap as used Jaguars.

Would we be lying if we started telling people used LCs have a sludge problem and attract spiders? Sure, but is it really wrong if I can eventually put an LC convertible in my driveway? I would argue it is not. I keep hearing the ends justify the means, and personally, I wouldn’t mind people thinking my sweet new convertible has a sludge problem and might be full of spiders. Regular people would, though, and if we’re already in a post-truth era, why shouldn’t car enthusiasts benefit in some way, too?

But only the used ones, of course. We still need people to keep buying as many new spider and sludge-free LCs as possible. Otherwise, there won’t be enough cheap used ones to go around.