Car #5: 2025 Lexus LC 500 Bespoke Build Coupe

 

Almost 11 years ago, I embarked on a journey to understand what inspires car enthusiasts to love cars as they do. Back then, the plan was to get a different, highly depreciated, interesting car each year. Well, the annual cadence turned out to be too ambitious. But I did enjoy learning a lot during my time with a Porsche 911, a classic 1965 Corvette, and a modern Mercedes S Class. As well as returning to my true passion car, the Mazda Miata. 

That brings me to car #5 in my automotive journey: a 2025 Lexus LC 500 Coupe. 

Why the LC 500? Well, we are in the twilight of the internal combustion era, and this is among the peak final exemplars of the breed. This will almost certainly be the last naturally aspirated V8 engine that ever comes out of Japan. It's a "halo car" for Toyota, made in a special factory to extremely high quality standards, realizing a particularly Japanese take on the "GT car" -- a high performance highway cruiser. Basically, it's a Japanese Aston Martin -- long on luxury and performance, but without all the tech bells and whistles you would expect in a modern BMW 8 series or Mercedes SL. It's not optimized for performance like a Porsche 911 or AMG GT (here's a great video comparing the 911 and LC 500). Instead, it splits the difference between performance and luxury. 

Why this particular LC 500? I knew I wanted a 2024 or newer one, since that's when they upgraded the previously awful touchpad-based infotainment system. But the LC was always a limited production car, and since 2026 is expected to be the last model year, so new ones are hard to find. You need to order from a dealer that has an allocation available, then wait 4-6 months. Used ones from 2024 and 2025 are also rare. And I knew I wanted either the "ultrasonic blue" with the white and blue interior, or the "iridium silver" with the red interior. That left precisely two available cars in the United States, one in Virginia and one in Texas. 

I chose the blue one mostly because I love that blue, and I also love the white and blue interior. That combination is only available in the "Bespoke Edition" cars that are custom ordered, which makes it rarer than the silver/red combination. Plus, this particular car came loaded with options that matched my preferences almost perfectly: sunroof delete in favor of a carbon fiber roof, dark chrome trim instead of bright chrome, the upgraded Mark Levinson stereo, the heads-up display, 10 spoke wheels, and a retractable wing. 

And the kicker? This car came to me with 110 miles on it. So essentially new. The initial buyer apparently traded it in almost immediately because his wife wanted the convertible version instead. 

Did I overpay? Probably. Does this car violate my "only buy highly depreciated cars that won't lose much value" principle? Almost certainly. But sometimes when the perfect thing appears before you, you should get it.