The Lexus LC 500: V8 and hybrid grand tourer, specs and values

The Lexus LC 500 is the front-engined, rear-wheel-drive 2+2 grand tourer that Lexus built at its Motomachi plant in Japan from 2017, with a 471bhp naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 and a ten-speed automatic gearbox. Its sister car, the LC 500h, is a 354bhp V6 hybrid, and a Lexus LC 500 Convertible followed in 2020. More than 15,000 were sold worldwide by December 2025; 652 were sold in the UK, where the car cost £76,595 new in 2017. In January 2026 Lexus's plan was to end production in August 2026.

The shape reached production almost unchanged from the 2012 LF-LC concept, and Top Gear and Evo both judged the V8 the better of the two engines. The car left the UK range in 2024, so British buyers now choose from used cars, from about £48,000 in October 2026.

History of the Lexus LC 500

The LC began as a design study, the LF-LC, shown at the Detroit motor show on 9 January 2012, and reached showrooms five and a half years later. The maker's own UK timeline of the Lexus LC runs from that concept to the end of UK sales in January 2025.

The LF-LC concept, 2012

The Lexus Center in Japan asked Calty, the company's design studio in Newport Beach, California, for a future hybrid sports coupe, and the LF-LC was the answer. Lexus's release of 9 January 2012 called it a hybrid 2+2 with "Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive", a glass roof with a cantilevered pillar, tail lamps the US release likened to a jet's afterburner, and twin 12.3-inch screens inside. Kevin Hunter, Calty's president, said: "The LF-LC concept embodies our vision of what a premium sport coupe could be." Two days later it was named best concept car in the show's EyesOn Design Awards; Lexus's US office described it then as "a pure design exercise".

The teaser, December 2011

Lexus announced in December 2011 that it would show a new concept at Detroit on 9 January 2012, the same show at which Honda would unveil its NSX Concept. A SkiddMark report that month noted that the teaser picture showed 265/35 R21 front tyres and that the car came from Calty and was said to carry the design direction begun with the GS saloon; it set the car against the £330,000 LFA, Lexus's first sports car, and linked it to rumours of a revived Toyota Supra. The production LC 500 shown four years later ran on 245/40 front tyres on its 21-inch wheels, and the Supra came back as a separate Toyota.

From concept to production car

The decision to build the Lexus LC followed the concept's reception. Its 2017 European press kit says chief engineer Koji Sato and chief designer Tadao Mori were driven by "the hugely positive media and public reception for the LF-LC and the personal support of Akio Toyoda, who saw the concept as a route to introducing more emotion into the Lexus brand". Keeping the concept's low bonnet meant six months of work on the geometry of the front suspension arms, and new triple-LED headlamps small enough to keep the front overhang short. "It was probably the greatest challenge since Lexus created the original LS," Sato said in June 2016.

The production LC 500 was unveiled at Detroit on 11 January 2016, at the show where the concept had appeared four years earlier. The launch release quoted Toyoda: "The Lexus LC 500 has been an important product for Lexus and for me personally." The hybrid LC 500h was announced in February 2016 and shown at Geneva in March.

UK launch, 2016 to 2017

The first LC seen in Britain ran up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2016, driven by Mike Conway, Alex Wurz and Scott Pruett. The company announced UK prices on 14 February 2017: £76,595 for either the Lexus LC 500 or the LC 500h, with orders already taken for more than a third of the cars allocated to the UK that year. Production of European cars began on 22 May 2017, UK sales officially opened on 1 July at the 2017 Goodwood festival, and first deliveries followed from late July.

Updates from 2020 to 2024

The Lexus LC was changed in most years. For the 2021 model year, announced in June 2020, aluminium lower arms, hollow anti-roll bars and stronger springs took about 10kg of unsprung weight off the coupe, the V8's gearbox was reprogrammed to hold gears longer between 50 and 70 per cent throttle, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto arrived. The 2022 changes retuned the suspension and the Normal and Sport S+ modes. For 2024, announced in April 2023, a 12.3-inch touchscreen placed 86mm closer to the driver replaced the touchpad that reviewers had criticised, the V8 cars gained an Expert mode that switches off traction control, and the hybrid's battery cells gained capacity.

When did Lexus plan to end LC 500 production?

The plan, as reported in January 2026, was to end production in August 2026. According to Carscoops, a Lexus dealer letter dated 23 January 2026 set 2026 as the last model year for the coupe and Convertible in the US, with production "expected to wrap up at the end of August", and Lexus told the site: "The Lexus LC 500 will officially be discontinued after the 2026 model year." Britain lost the car earlier. Autocar reported on 12 April 2024 that Lexus had taken the LC and RC off sale in the UK, with a spokesperson citing "legislative and homologation issues", and that the UK allocation had sold out. The UK timeline puts the end of UK sales in January 2025, and the LC is absent from the price list Lexus UK published for October 2026.

Design and engineering of the Lexus LC

The Lexus LC is the first car on the GA-L (Global Architecture – Luxury) platform, which later went under the LS saloon, and the maker says its body shell is the stiffest it has built, more resistant to twisting than the carbon-fibre LFA. The engine sits behind the front axle line, the 12-volt battery is in the boot, and the result is a 52/48 front-to-rear weight split. Weight-saving parts include aluminium door skins on carbon-fibre inner doors, a composite boot floor and, on Sport and Sport+ cars, a carbon-fibre roof in place of the glass one.

The brief, in the words of the 2016 launch release, was "a more dynamic driving experience and character unlike that of any previous Lexus model" without losing the ride quality of earlier models. The suspension is multi-link front and rear, with double ball joints on the upper and lower front arms and all but one control arm forged in aluminium. Sato said the team spent "more than three times the usual R&D time" on steering feel. Run-flat tyres saved the space and weight of a spare wheel.

Built at Motomachi, where the LFA was made

The LC was assembled on a dedicated line at Motomachi, the plant in Japan that had built the Lexus LFA, and many of the takumi craftsmen who built the LFA moved to the LC. The final assembly area was painted white throughout, each worker spent up to 20 minutes on every car, and finished cars were checked in a glass-walled booth with LED lights set into the floor. Resin transfer moulding, developed for the LFA's carbon fibre, was adapted to make carbon parts for the LC in volume.

Interior and technology

The cabin is built around a low driving position: the engineers set the driver's hip point as close as they could to the car's centre of gravity. The 2017 cars had a 10.25-inch central display worked by a touchpad, a digital instrument dial with a sliding ring in the manner of the LFA's, magnesium gearchange paddles and seats whose backs wrap round the shoulders. Takumi craftsmen hand-stitched the leather and other materials and draped the Alcantara on the door panels. A 12-speaker Pioneer system was standard and a 13-speaker Mark Levinson system optional. The screen grew to 10.3 inches with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for 2021, and to a 12.3-inch touchscreen for 2024.

Exterior styling

The production car kept the original concept's proportions: a 2,870mm wheelbase, short overhangs (930mm front, 970mm rear) and a low bonnet. At the front is a mesh spindle grille whose pattern changes across its width, with arrowhead daytime running lights and triple-LED headlamps that Lexus says are half the size of conventional units. Chrome mouldings along the glass roof end in a curve meant to echo a Japanese sword, blacked-out rear pillars make the roof appear to float, and the tail lamps' night-time signature was inspired by a jet's afterburner, as on the concept. Lexus said the LC was the first car in its segment offered with 21-inch wheels; the coupe's drag coefficient is 0.33.

Trim levels: standard, Sport Pack and Sport+ Pack

UK cars came in three trim levels, the same for the V8 and the hybrid. Standard features on the base version were 20-inch wheels, a glass roof, semi-aniline leather, heated and ventilated ten-way front seats and the Lexus Safety System+ driver aids. The Sport Pack added 21-inch forged wheels, a carbon-fibre roof and leather and Alcantara sports seats. The Sport+ Pack added four-wheel steering, Variable Gear Ratio Steering, a Torsen limited-slip differential, a rear spoiler that rises above 50mph and an Alcantara headlining.

Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h engines

The Lexus LC came with two powertrains. The Lexus LC 500 has a 5.0-litre V8 and a ten-speed automatic; the LC 500h (often written LC500h) has a 3.5-litre V6 hybrid with what Lexus calls a Multi Stage Hybrid System. Both drive the rear wheels only.

The 5.0-litre V8 in the Lexus LC 500

The Lexus LC 500's V8, engine code 2UR-GSE, is a development of the unit in the RC F and GS F. It displaces 4,969cc, has forged connecting rods and titanium valves, uses D-4S fuel injection and Atkinson-cycle operation, and revs to 7,300rpm. Lexus quoted 471bhp at 7,100rpm and 540Nm at 4,800rpm in 2017; from 2018 its UK releases gave 457bhp (464 DIN hp) and 530Nm. Valves in the exhaust open at start-up and from about 4,000rpm. The ten-speed automatic was, Lexus said, the first ten-speed gearbox in a premium passenger car; its tenth gear let the engine turn at 1,155rpm on a motorway cruise in Autocar's 2017 road test.

The LC 500h Multi Stage Hybrid

The Lexus LC 500h pairs a 295bhp 3.5-litre V6 (8GR-FXS) with a 177bhp electric motor for a combined 354bhp. Behind the usual power-split device sits a four-speed automatic, and the electronics combine the two to imitate a ten-speed gearbox, with paddles in M mode. The 84-cell lithium-ion battery, the first in a production Lexus, sits between the rear seats and the boot. "In the past, people only associated hybrid with 'eco'," Sato said. "We wanted to broaden that perception and create a true high-performance powertrain." Lexus claimed 44.1mpg for the hybrid against 24.6mpg for the V8 on the old NEDC test, and said it could run on electric power alone at more than 80mph.

LC 500 or LC 500h: which is better?

British testers preferred the V8. Top Gear told readers to "ignore the hybrid and buy the V8, because the difference in powertrain response, overall performance and general driving satisfaction is night and day", and Evo wrote that the hybrid "feels sluggish and inert". The hybrid's case is running cost: it has the lower CO2 rating (145g/km against 263g/km in 2017) and Lexus priced the two the same in the UK from launch, at £76,595.

Lexus LC 500 specification and performance

The table gives the UK figures for the coupe at launch and for the Convertible, from the two press kits; the coupe's later releases quote 457bhp, 530Nm and 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds for the V8, and 5.0 seconds for the hybrid.

How fast is the Lexus LC 500?

The quoted top speed is 168mph for the V8 coupe and Convertible and 155mph for the hybrid. Its 0-62mph claim for the V8 coupe was 4.4 seconds at launch and 4.7 seconds in later releases. Autocar's test car in 2017 missed the claim "by fully half a second", ending up beyond 5.0 seconds. Lexus's 2016 Detroit release gave the US target as under 4.5 seconds to 60mph.

Lexus LC 500 Convertible

The Lexus LC 500 Convertible, the first Lexus soft-top, was shown as a concept at Detroit in January 2019, ran as a prototype at Goodwood that July and went on sale in the UK in autumn 2020. It came only with the V8. Its multi-layered canvas roof folds in 15 seconds at up to 31mph and survived about 18,000 cycles in testing, which Lexus reckons is 24 years' use, according to the Convertible press kit, and the options included neck-level heaters in the headrests. Chief designer Tadao Mori said: "For the first Lexus soft top, my team was determined to create the world's most seductive convertible." UK prices in August 2020 were £90,775, or £96,625 with 21-inch forged wheels, semi-aniline leather and the neck heaters; the LC Coupe then cost £80,100.

Lexus LC special editions

The Lexus LC came in a run of limited editions, most of them a colour and trim package on the Sport+ specification. The UK releases give these:

The Black Inspiration's wing is nearly two metres wide, with winglets copied from the tips of aircraft wings; takumi master driver Yoshiaki Ito said they "sharpened the LC's handling, but without using drag-creating downforce". Lexus's two releases on the Ultimate Edition differ on numbers: the April 2023 release said four Convertibles and one coupe would come to the UK, and the May 2023 release said "fewer than 10". The timeline also lists a Regatta Inspiration Convertible for 2022, and in the US Lexus sold Inspiration Series and Bespoke Build cars, which appear in the auction results below.

The Lexus LC in motor racing

The LC raced in two forms: a GT500 car in Japan's Super GT series from 2017 to 2019, which won two drivers' titles, and a production-based car that Toyota Gazoo Racing ran in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Super GT, 2017 to 2019

The Lexus LC 500 entered Super GT's GT500 class in 2017 and won races in its first season. Lexus's summary of November 2019 gives the record: five wins and the drivers' title in 2017 for Ryo Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy in the KeePer TOM'S car, three wins in 2018, and six wins from eight races in 2019, shared among five teams. Kazuya Oshima and Kenta Yamashita won the 2019 title in the Wako's-entered car by finishing second at Motegi, where LCs took the first three places.

Nürburgring 24 Hours, 2018 and 2019

Toyota Gazoo Racing entered a modified V8 LC in the SP-PRO class, driven by Takeshi Tsuchiya, Takamitsu Matsui, Naoya Gamo and Yuichi Nakayama. In May 2018 it qualified 32nd of 147 cars with a lap of 8 minutes 34.591 seconds, was damaged at the start, and finished 96th overall and first in class. In June 2019 the same drivers started 35th of 158 and lost more than two hours replacing a leaking transmission, then finished 54th overall and again won the class, according to Toyota's race report. In December 2019 the company said a third entry would test a new twin-turbo V8 intended for future road cars.

How many Lexus LCs were made?

No production total has been published; Lexus told Carscoops in January 2026 that LC sales had passed 15,000 worldwide by December 2025, with production then planned to end in August 2026. In the UK, Lexus UK's sales figures record 652 LCs from 2017 to 2024 and none since. Autocar gave 624 in April 2024, early in the last year of sales.

For scale, Lexus UK sold 2,303 of its previous coupe, the SC 430, between 2001 and 2009, and 2,609 RCs.

Lexus LC 500 prices, new and used

New, the LC cost £76,595 in the UK in 2017 and about £99,000 by the end; used, the cheapest V8 coupes advertised in October 2026 were about £48,000.

How much is a Lexus LC 500 worth?

UK buyers can now choose only from used cars. On 27 October 2026 PistonHeads listed nine LCs for sale in the UK, all at dealers. Asking prices ran from £47,650 for a 2017 LC 500 with 32,800 miles to £109,999 for a 2024 car with 12,301 miles; other 2017 to 2019 V8 coupes were offered at £49,995 to £59,995, a 2017 LC 500h Sport+ at £57,574 and Convertibles at £89,999 (2021) and £99,999 (2023).

Sold prices are easier to find in the US. On Bring a Trailer, 57 LCs had sold by 24 October 2026 and 19 had failed to sell. In 2025, four V8 coupes sold for a median of $69,000 and four Convertibles for $87,500. In 2026, after the end of production was announced, eight coupes sold for a median of $100,500 and 19 Convertibles for $128,000, though that year's cars include more late, low-mileage and Inspiration Series examples. Like for like, a 2018 V8 coupe sold for $56,000 in September 2025, and two more sold for $76,000 and $80,000 in 2026. The highest price there was $182,000, in May 2022, for a 2021 Convertible Inspiration Series; a 2018 LC 500h made $42,000 in December 2025. The 2026 LC 500 coupe listed at $101,700 new in the US.

Is the Lexus LC 500 reliable?

Owners rated the Lexus LC highly: it was Coupe of the Year in the 2018 Auto Express Driver Power survey, which drew on more than 80,000 UK motorists. The car's faults on record are its safety recalls. The DVSA's vehicle recall database lists four campaigns for UK LCs:

The US list on NHTSA adds a 2019 recall for a brake booster pump on some 2019 LC 500s.

Fuel economy and running costs

Running costs start with servicing: the 2020 press kit gives service intervals of 10,000 miles or a year and a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. The coupes sat in insurance groups 48E and 49E, the Convertible in 50E. The V8 is thirsty in town (16.2mpg on the NEDC urban cycle) but long-geared on a motorway, where Autocar recorded touring economy close to 40mpg in 2017. The coupe runs on run-flat tyres, and Autocar blamed their stiff sidewalls for a ride that "fidgets and fiddles" over short bumps.

Lexus LC rivals

Evo described the LC as a car that "delicately straddles the line between sports car, GT and futuristic concept". Autocar's 2017 test compared its £76,595 price with the Porsche 911 (£1,296 more), the Jaguar F-Type 400 Sport (£5,000 less), the V8 F-Type R at £90,860, the BMW M6 at £95,580 and the Mercedes-Benz S500. Evo's later review lists the Porsche 911, BMW M850i and Bentley Continental GT, and says the LC ranked above the Continental GT V8 when Evo tested them together. Parkers names the Bentley Continental GT, BMW 6 Series Coupe and Maserati GranTurismo, and CAR measured the LC 500h's drivetrain against the GranTurismo's engine, gearbox and limited-slip differential. Evo and Car and Driver both single out the LC's build quality.

Lexus LC reviews and awards

Most of the praise was for the design. The production car won two EyesOn Design awards at Detroit in 2016, for exterior and interior design, and the 2016 Production Car Design of the Year from Car Design Review, whose editor Guy Bird said the concept had been "faithfully translated into the beautiful LC production car with so little compromise". It was named best coupe in the 2018 UK Car of the Year awards and was a finalist for World Performance Car and World Car Design of the Year in 2018. Auto Express editor-in-chief Steve Fowler said in 2018 that when the LF-LC appeared in 2012, "few people thought the car would make it to the showroom looking that good".

Reviews praised the engine and the handling more than the gearbox, the ride or the infotainment. Autocar's road test of 20 October 2017 found handling "you'd sooner associate with a mid-engined Porsche than a two-tonne Toyota", and a touchpad so confusing that "an ill-advised attempt to cancel route guidance almost reduced one road tester to tears". CAR gave it four stars out of five. Top Gear concluded: "The LFA proved there was a mad streak buried deep in the company; the LC proves it wasn't a flash in the pan." Evo, writing in March 2025 after UK sales had ended, called the LC500 "one of the most underappreciated cars of recent times".

Questions

Is the Lexus LC 500 a four-seater?

Lexus calls it a 2+2 and lists four seats. The 2017 press kit gives an interior length of 1,868mm for the coupe and 1,522mm for the Convertible.

Does the Lexus LC 500 have a manual gearbox?

No. The LC 500 has only a ten-speed automatic with magnesium paddles behind the wheel, and the LC 500h a Multi Stage Hybrid transmission that imitates ten ratios.

Is the Lexus LC 500 turbocharged?

No. Its 5.0-litre 2UR-GSE V8 is naturally aspirated; the twin-turbo V8 that Lexus planned to race in an LC at the Nürburgring in 2020 was meant for future road cars.

Does the Lexus LC 500h need to be plugged in?

No. It is a full hybrid that Lexus calls self-charging: the V6 and two motor-generators keep the 84-cell lithium-ion battery behind the rear seats charged.

Who designed the Lexus LC?

The LF-LC concept came from Calty, Lexus's studio in Newport Beach, California. The production car was led by chief designer Tadao Mori and chief engineer Koji Sato at Lexus in Japan.

Where was the Lexus LC built?

At Lexus's Motomachi plant in Japan, on a line set up in the factory where the LFA supercar had been built.

How big is the Lexus LC's boot?

Lexus quotes 197 litres for the LC 500 coupe, 172 litres for the LC 500h, whose battery takes some space, and 149 litres for the Convertible.

Sources

• Lexus (GB), Lexus LC European press kit, August 2017: development, platform, engines, Motomachi production, technical specifications and UK prices.
• Lexus (GB), LC Convertible press kit, September 2020: roof, specifications, servicing and warranty.
• Lexus (GB), LC Coupe and Convertible timeline and UK sales figures 1990–2026, read 27 October 2026: dates and UK sales by year.
• Lexus (GB) press releases, 2012–2023: LF-LC concept (9 January 2012); LC 500 world debut (11 January 2016); UK pricing (14 February 2017); European production (22 May 2017); UK sales start at Goodwood (12 June 2017); the 2021, 2022 and 2024 model-year changes; the Limited, Black Inspiration, Hokkaido and Ultimate editions; the Convertible concept and pricing; the Nürburgring entries of 2018 and 2019 and the Super GT summary of 6 November 2019; the design, Car of the Year and Driver Power awards.
• Lexus USA, LF-LC receives 2012 EyesOn Design Award, 11 January 2012.
• Toyota Motor Corporation, 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2019 report, June 2019: grid, transmission change and class win.
• Autocar, "Lexus line-up goes electrified only as LC and RC F retired", 12 April 2024: UK withdrawal and lifetime UK sales; and the Lexus LC road test, 20 October 2017: measured performance, ride, rivals and economy.
• Carscoops, "Lexus is closing the book on its most beautiful mistake", 29 January 2026: Lexus's statement on the end of production, global sales and US prices.
• DVSA, vehicle recalls data, and NHTSA, recalls by vehicle, both read 27 October 2026.
• Bring a Trailer, Lexus LC results, and PistonHeads, used Lexus LC for sale, both read 27 October 2026.
• Reviews: Top Gear, Lexus LC review; Evo, Lexus LC500 (2017–2024) review, 25 March 2025 (rivals, verdict and 2024 price); CAR, Lexus LC500 review (May 2023 update); Parkers, Lexus LC Coupe (2017–2024) review; Car and Driver, Lexus LC review: rivals and build quality.
• SkiddMark, "Could this be Lexus contender to Honda's NSX?", December 2011: the LF-LC teaser.