Here are some pictures of the Lexus LC in Smokey Granite -
2018 LC Touring in Smokey Granite Mica - North Park Lexus at Dominion
A picture we took when Patty Mills picked up his Smokey Granite LC at North Park Lexus Dominion in San Antonio, Texas.

Smokey Granite LC 500 at North Park Lexus Dominion.

 

Gorgeous color and car!

I was considering buying an LC 500, but my fear is that it would attract too much unwanted attention... I had a Porsche Cayman GTS in Sapphire Blue before, and it attracted way too much attention, and I was afraid to park it in most places. It became a "point A to point A" car, which is silly, but I just didn't feel that it was safe to leave it almost anywhere. I love sexy coupes and sports cars, but what do you do about the anxiety you get every time you need to park them somewhere... The funny thing is that you can get a sedan that's just as expensive or more expensive, and it will be much safer. Anyway, sorry about the rant, it's just frustrating that I would love to drive one of these, but can't deal with what comes with it...

 

All good points. I'm the exact same way with mine - always nervous to leave it parked anywhere. You can consider leasing one, which alleviates some of the anxiety of ownership, since you'll likely trade it in a a couple of years, or do what I did - buy it as your second car/garage queen - and just take it for therapy rides on nice days.

 

Yes, leasing reduces the anxiety, although it's still a shock and major headache if someone damages the car. At a 53% residual and relatively small discounts on this car, the lease terms aren't very attractive, though... Kind of doable because the money factor is very low, but still the overall lease cost relative to the buying price would be above the threshold of what I would consider acceptable for a lease.

One approach I was thinking about is to lease, and then purchase at the end of the lease for the residual if I still like the car and no one vandalized it. Maybe I will feel more comfortable then, although it may very well be damaged later, so this is probably just silly. Anyway, if I indeed buy it at the end of the lease, it's not a bad deal because the money factor is so low. However, if I don't buy it at the end, then it's expensive - I will have paid almost half what it would cost me to buy the car for the privilege of driving it for just 3 years.

I hear you about the second car/garage queen, and I even have garage space for it. This is exactly what I ended up doing with my Porsche. Initially, I tried using it as my daily driver, but then transitioned it to "special occasion car". I set a threshold where I promised to myself that if I started driving it consistently for less than 100 miles a month, I would sell it. Unfortunately, this happened... I was driving it less and less even though I still loved the car, and sold it when I was not driving it enough to be worth keeping it. I don't want to repeat that experience, so I'm done with the second car/garage queen approach. It has to be my daily driver, or I simply won't drive it enough. As it is, I only drive about 6K miles/year, so having two cars for that is pretty insane...

 

LOL, the LC is NOT a garage queen, weekend-only car, nor an “A to A” car. Yes it does garner looks, it’s still just a Lexus at the end of the day. Meant to be driven daily.

 

Yes, no argument there - it's comfortable and practical enough to be a daily driver. The problem is the unwanted attention that comes with the very striking looks... It's enough to draw the attention of the wrong person even just once. This will happen sooner or later if you use this car as a daily driver even if you are careful about where you park it. I've had cars vandalized before, so my preference is to be more stealthy with my daily drivers.

 

Then sadly, with that attitude, you will be relegated to lesser cars.

 

Not necessarily - the looks and color make a big difference. People don't notice a silver BMW, Mercedes, or Audi sedan so much even if they are higher end than a Cayman or an LC 500. I used to have a de-badged silver M5, and it didn't draw attention, but my "lesser" Estoril Blue Audi S5 got vandalized. Drawing the attention of random people on the streets with an eye-popping car is a bad thing, unfortunately...

I also got tired of people approaching me in gas stations and parking lots when I was driving my Cayman. There were sarcastic remarks as well... For example, going to a state park and the person in the booth at the entrance saying "do you want me to valet this for you?" Being a spectacle gets tiring pretty quickly. That's why I consider the LC 500 to be problematic as a daily driver - I got burned before... This is not a criticism of the car, just how some people behave.

 

Great, relevant discussion for me as I contemplate my next car. I'm looking for a second, part-time fun vehicle (yes, mid-life crisis), but not a garage queen / track car. Something I can drive on nice days to work and elsewhere, maybe 4k miles per year (I put 14k/yr on my HS250 now, which I'll keep a few more years then hand over to my kids for high school). Or just a nicer primary car, like a Panamera or Model S. But I too am a bit wary of parking an LC500 at work, or Walmart, or a fast food joint, or wherever I happen to need to go on an errand during lunch or after work. Same with a 911 or other 2+2 grand touring car in this class. This is much more expensive/exotic than cars I typically buy, so I'm just not used to thinking about this type of "first world" problem. I happily picture myself driving this car, but have a hard time picturing it parked in the types of places I frequent. My wife keeps asking "where would you drive this car?" Do most folks limit their LC500's to scenic drives and valet parking restaurants?

I'm also surprised to hear that blue cars attract attention - I always thought that was just red (my fav) or yellow. The color I was considering for the Panamera was Sapphire Blue!

 

As an LC owner myself, did any new owners encounter brake noise issue? Just want to get a short survey of how many owners are experiencing the second most talked about topic on LC 500 thread and most talked about technical/mechanical issue of LC 500 (yes, the brake noise topic about LC 500 already exists but this is to engage on new owners if they are experiencing the terrible 'brake noise' issue).

 

Would you happen to have any pics of your Atomic Silver LC? I'm currently looking into one with the black interior. How do you like it? I feel (no offence) that it's a color for an older age client.

 

None taken. The way Atomic Silver reflects light, especially at night, is pretty unique. Fits the car’s futuristic lines. Greys and silvers are a personal preference of mine and Lexus currently has some of the nicest ones out on the non-exotic market, along with Audi, Aston, Jaguar and BMW’s „Pure Metal Silver“.
The interior is a rich black and at night when the interior lighting is on, the stitching and metal accents offer a nice contrast. By going with AS and black, the car as a whole is kept in a two tone design (lights excluded). As someone that enjoys cold and elegant designs, I’m very happy with it and have no regrets.

 

WOW! In these pictures the color looks sick! It seems like it changes under different types of light...

 

My favorite are pretty much a tie for me. 1. Infrared with toasted caramel or, 2. Nightfall Mica blue with toasted caramel interior.

 

I have it narrowed down to one of these with the roja red interior:

• atomic silver: I'm surprised I like this in person. Shows the shape/lines well. Will it hold up in time or will it look dated in a few years?
• smoky granite mica: I usually like darker cars, but I'm not sure it shows the lines well or that it has the same pop as atomic silver or infrared.
• infrared: unfortunately, as gorgeous as the infrared is, I think it will be a cop magnet.