Lexus LC500 - Talk me out of one?

[BrettMRC]

wilksy61 said:

I've got one superb car to look at and to drive, however in the year that I have owned it, I have had to take it back to the dealer 4 times now for warranty work - speaker not working, mirror not folding back, faulty auto dimming headlights - this needs a windscreen recalibration at £180.00 not covered by the warranty, petrol flap not opening.

Last weekend the flap broke on the armrest tray that lifts it up, quick look on the web, can't by the part have to have a new armrest @ £4500 - don't quite believe that, so I decided to repair the flap, took 2hrs on my lathe/mill and cost 10p in parts.

The LC500 is currently my most unreliable car since I had a C200 Mercedes.

You do seem to have some bad luck with it!
Whats the age/mileage on it?

I do agree the centre console lid is not quite up to the usual levels of Lexus robustness!

[mersontheperson]

wilksy61 said:

I've got one superb car to look at and to drive, however in the year that I have owned it, I have had to take it back to the dealer 4 times now for warranty work - speaker not working, mirror not folding back, faulty auto dimming headlights - this needs a windscreen recalibration at £180.00 not covered by the warranty, petrol flap not opening.

Last weekend the flap broke on the armrest tray that lifts it up, quick look on the web, can't by the part have to have a new armrest @ £4500 - don't quite believe that, so I decided to repair the flap, took 2hrs on my lathe/mill and cost 10p in parts.

The LC500 is currently my most unreliable car since I had a C200 Mercedes.

I have always wondered about the ‘rogue’ car syndrome. Sometimes it’s seems that you either get a car with no faults or one with loads. Interesting that these are all seem to be electrical gremlins, you just wonder if something happened to the loom at some point, or when it was fitted something was incorrectly done, which has led to a series of problems.
You do seem to have been very unlucky

[andy43]

Mine comes next week
Any unreliability isn't a serious problem as long as it's less than 10 years old - just keep servicing at Lexus and Relaaax as advertised.
None of those faults are up to german standards to be fair - we need a constantly blocked exhaust filter or exploding flywheel or free-flying glass roof to really make it interesting. Someone must have a driveway covered in oil or a broken gearbox or something? Anybody?
Genuinely can't get my head round why there aren't more of these about. Sound amazing, look amazing, built better than anything else (apart from the above), longest warranty in the UK, an interior that makes Astons look 20 years out of date, and every bit of tech you need. Even the flakey touchpad doesn't bother me - if I can't get used to it voice control will do most things anyway.
Counting down the sleeps...

[spikyone]

Congratulations! What spec?

I'd tend to agree with you on the reliability stuff. I can understand @wilksy61 being frustrated but they're minor niggles and I wouldn't consider things like those to be reliability issues, they're not going to strand you at the side of the road. There's no such thing as a flawless car, or any other complex consumer product for that matter, and as you rightly point out it could be considerably worse.

[andy43]

Can’t wait. I’m coming from Maserati as well - a Grancabrio - very similar in theory but very different in practise to the LC. Agree the noise isn’t quite as good but everything else outweighs that. I’ve bought a ‘21 convertible, red with black interior.
I’m also on the Facebook group - I linked to a certain car park video
One of the posters on Club Lexus called these cars ‘the reliable unicorn’. I like that.

[BrettMRC]

Needs a readers cars thread!

[The Mad Monk]

Moodyman1 said:

They’re a bit dear.

They aren't dear. They are expensive.

[wilksy61]

Mine is a 2018 model with 25K miles, the fact that it has a 10 year warranty is not really the issue, the real problem is that every time I have a problem I have to drive it to the dealer, let them look at it, then book a slot, and then drive to dealer again to have it repaired.

The Lexus experience is supposed to be one the oozes quality and reliability, which unfortunately in my case just doesn't seem to be - today the drivers door handle refused to pop out when unlocked on the key, so if that persists then yet another trip to Lexus.

[wilksy61]

andy43 said:

Mine comes next week
Any unreliability isn't a serious problem as long as it's less than 10 years old - just keep servicing at Lexus and Relaaax as advertised.
None of those faults are up to german standards to be fair - we need a constantly blocked exhaust filter or exploding flywheel or free-flying glass roof to really make it interesting. Someone must have a driveway covered in oil or a broken gearbox or something? Anybody?
Genuinely can't get my head round why there aren't more of these about. Sound amazing, look amazing, built better than anything else (apart from the above), longest warranty in the UK, an interior that makes Astons look 20 years out of date, and every bit of tech you need. Even the flakey touchpad doesn't bother me - if I can't get used to it voice control will do most things anyway.
Counting down the sleeps...

The actual manufacturer's warranty on a Lexus is only 3 years compared with a Toyota that is 5 years, yes you do get the 10 years providing its services at Lexus, but I still will have to pay to get the windscreen recalibrated which is not covered.

[BrettMRC]

wilksy61 said:

The actual manufacturer's warranty on a Lexus is only 3 years compared with a Toyota that is 5 years, yes you do get the 10 years providing its services at Lexus, but I still will have to pay to get the windscreen recalibrated which is not covered.

Talk to autoglass, they can probably do that for you! (I had to have a new screen fitted in mine, and it was all done at one of the autoglass centres)

[wilksy61]

Picture of the broken clip that had the potential to cost £4500

[spikyone]

wilksy61 said:

The actual manufacturer's warranty on a Lexus is only 3 years compared with a Toyota that is 5 years, yes you do get the 10 years providing its services at Lexus, but I still will have to pay to get the windscreen recalibrated which is not covered.

[Pedant]The Toyota warranty is now only 3 years without Relax[/pedant]

I get it, all the things that have caused issues will be an irritation and it will add up. Even if they're not stranding you at the side of the road, nobody wants to be repeatedly back at the dealer. It does seem like you've been a bit unfortunate with the number of things going wrong.
Hopefully once they're sorted you'll be able to get back to the business of enjoying the car. In the long term I suspect you'll be much better off reliability-wise with the LC than most similar cars!

[ChocolateFrog]

It's one of those cars where there's plenty of objective reasons not to like it or buy one but outside the world of automotive journalists and racetracks it's probably by far the best ownership proposition.

That'll be doubly the case in 10 years, which will no doubt help resale.

[BrettMRC]

wilksy61 said:

Picture of the broken clip that had the potential to cost £4500

Crying out for a 3D printed replacement, might be easier than shoving it in the mill.....

[wilksy61]

It was easy to make the brass replacement pin, if it had been the other side that broke it might have been a bit different, the new brass part is never going to break and the latch feels a lot more solid now.

[andy43]

I like this thread. A broken latch is top of the list for failures, breakdowns and mechanical explosions.

[andy43]

BrettMRC said:

Needs a readers cars thread!

Trackers being fitted today. It’s been hidden in my garage for two days waiting for theft cover!
I could do a thread but it’d literally be drove it, cleaned it, drove it, cleaned it I suspect.

[BrettMRC]

andy43 said:

BrettMRC said:

Needs a readers cars thread!

Trackers being fitted today. It’s been hidden in my garage for two days waiting for theft cover!
I could do a thread but it’d literally be drove it, cleaned it, drove it, cleaned it I suspect.

Sounds very similar to my thread!

[wilksy61]

andy43 said:

I like this thread. A broken latch is top of the list for failures, breakdowns and mechanical explosions.

So if it happens to your £100K car you will be happy, having to take a car back to the dealer over and over again is a right pain if you don't live near to one, and to put it into perspective none of my cars for years have had any returns to the dealers for anything other than services and some of them have gone to well over 100,000 miles.

The point I'm trying to make is that owning a Lexus is not necessarily any different than any other car except you are spending a lot of money, well for me it is, this was a leap from a Mustang circa £35K to a £70K, the Mustang needed nothing the Lexus not quite so good.

[BrettMRC]

wilksy61 said:

So if it happens to your £100K car you will be happy, having to take a car back to the dealer over and over again is a right pain if you don't live near to one, and to put it into perspective none of my cars for years have had any returns to the dealers for anything other than services and some of them have gone to well over 100,000 miles.

The point I'm trying to make is that owning a Lexus is not necessarily any different than any other car except you are spending a lot of money, well for me it is, this was a leap from a Mustang circa £35K to a £70K, the Mustang needed nothing the Lexus not quite so good.

You do sound particularly pissed off, and I can understand why...but, have you spoken to your Lexus concierge about it?
Every question, niggle or random thought I've had from the day I ordered to the present has been handled excellently by them.