I've been trying to get a 2024 LC500 Coupe with my spec for a few months now with no luck. After getting screwed over by my local dealer I'm trying to find good out of state dealers to try to get an LC or an allocation of sorts.
In short, my questions are:
- Are you able to place an "order" for non-bespoke LC coupe? I don't want a bespoke model because you can't get Rear Wheel Steer or VGRS with it...
- Any tips on finding good dealerships to place a deposit and hope they can trade for an allocation of my spec? All the LC500s that have popped up recently with all the stuff I want are already sold by the time I reach out to the respective dealerships.
- Unrelated but have any younger folks felt age discriminated at Lexus dealerships when going to buy a car? I'll explain more below about my experience but I was appalled at how much the experience at my local Lexus dealer sucked while trying to get an LC500... I've been to the local Porsche dealer and experienced zero issues, and the folks I worked with made me consider forgetting about the LC and getting a 911 instead.

My ideal spec:
- Infrared exterior
- Black interior
- Dynamic Handling Package
- All weather package
- Mark Levinson Audio
- Heads up display
- 21inch 10 spoke wheels

My experience:
More than a month ago I went into my local dealer and asked about an LC500. After test driving a convertible (they didn't have any coupes), we ended up finding a still-in-factory car that was not pre-sold but was allocated to another dealer. I was super excited and the salesman suggested putting a deposit down which I did. Before leaving I made sure that that deposit meant that the car was now fully reserved for me. He confirmed that was the case. A few days later he reached out again and said his manager wanted to run credit to make sure I could finance the car if they got it. That was a little odd but I agreed since these cars can be hard to move for dealers. Weeks passed and I heard nothing about my credit check nor the car. After getting antsy, I reached out asking for updates and didn't get a response for a few days. Finally, I got a call that the car was sold... to someone else. I was shocked since I had a deposit on the car already. The salesman said that the other dealership didn't honor their deposit and sold the car to someone else which was frustrating. I then asked about my credit check and it turned out they never ran it, but I also realized they never charged my card for the deposit either. I have a feeling that they never actually put a deposit down and were going to run my credit but simply forgot to, losing that car in the process.

I was able to go in a few days later and we ended up finding another car on the ground in another state that "wasn't sold yet." I said to put a deposit down so I could get that one and we all were in agreement. But, after getting home I got a text that they wanted the credit check pushed through again and asked that I get a cosigner since I'm younger and that will get me a better chance. Frustrated again, I said if its that big of a deal, I can just pay cash for the whole thing. Finally a few more days pass, I asked them to call the dealership with the car on the ground to make sure it wasn't sold, and guess what, no deposit was put down and that car was also sold! This was two cars now that were lost because (what I believe) the dealer's fault...

After all this, the dealer calls me up and says there is another car on the ground in another state that has everything I want, but they didn't mention it before because "the dealership has been difficult to work with in the past." At this point, I'm frustrated and call the out of state dealership myself only to discover that the car there is also sold already... I'm now at the point of not talking to my local dealer anymore and taking things into my own hands trying to find some out of state dealers to work with me. However, all the cars I find are sold by the time I reach out to them .

Sorry for the long post, was mostly to vent my horrible Lexus dealer experience and frustration at how hard it is to get a new LC500 with what I want. If anyone has good dealers or tips that helped them I'd appreciate it!

 

find another dealer...the 10 spokes may be a stop issue, U can always get car add new wheels...takes 4 months,,,search this site, U are not alone...forget the Porsche..been there done that..PITA.

 

Call them and get it delivered. You can even buy online it seems.
good luck. Coupes are very difficult to find.

https://express.jmlexus.com/express/JTHBP5AY9RA109939

 

The wheels aren’t important. Get the vehicle first. Change out wheels later.

 

Thanks, I've contacted that dealer already and it's sold :'(. Idk why dealers leave postings on their sites so long, probably to try to catch someone and sell them something else.

 

Yeah I think I'll lower the priority of the wheels.. And thats what drew me to Lexus, nothing beats their reliability.

 

I think at this point, if you really want to get what you want and the way you want, probably 911 is the better option. With Lexus, you will have to compromise something. Yes, it’s sad for a 110k+ vehicle and you cant have it a la carte.
If you really need the coupe and the color combo, best is to do a bespoke order. You’ll lose the RWS and VGRS but you’ll gain the dark chrome trim(can only be found in bespoke and inspiration series) and a Bespoke plaque and the matte black wheels.
If you really want the performance package, best is to wait for 2025 and see what comes out. Or get a second preferred color combo. Luckily, infrared and black interior is pretty common in both coupe and convertible so likely you’ll find one in the upcoming 2025.

 

Good points. I wonder if I even got an allocation soon, by the time build time came around would the 2025 models begin rolling out? I just worry that any day Lexus might announce the discontinuation of the glorious V8.

 

I think I'd spend a day or two with Anyone on the Mothership I could get ahold of wanting More help Giving Them Your Money.
I cannot imagine anyone at Corporate not Flipping Out over what You've been through.
Bruce in Fl

 

There is no need to imagine it. I will guarantee you they are not flipping out. My personal experience in dealing with corporate over a warranty paint issue, they don't care. They love to advertise attention to detail and custom built but absolutely refuse to back it up.

 

Your dealer is not good but they likely cannot get the dealer swaps done. It doesn’t matter if you put a deposit down or not, those cars were never your dealer’s to sell. Whether they put the legwork in or not is a different question, but I’d believe they were told “no” or weren’t willing to give something they had allocated that is desirable.

It also sounds like this dealer never actually tried to get an allocation for your spec. So, you can’t “order” a non-bespoke car but a good dealer will submit a request to get an allocation that will match what you want. Sounds like they never even did that.

There’s a spreadsheet kicking around here that shows sales numbers for LCs by dealer. I’d contact a couple of the closest high volume (the ones that have sold the most LCs) dealers and see what they can do.



But for what it’s worth, today they just announced the new 992.2 911 - at least the base and GTS.

 

just sold my 991.1 to buy the Lexus...17 Porsche is a POS..3 waterpumps in 50K,,all covered by warranty but each failed pump takes 2 weeks to get it back from dealer...no more Por for me...LUV the Lexus..:}

 

The 992.2 GTS is moving the water pump into the engine. Imagine the owners will have fun with that one.

my 997.2 was incredibly solid though. Miss that car. Only had wheel bearings go bad but that’s just age.

 

Yeah, you can order a non-bespoke LC500 Coupe. While bespoke models allow for customization, standard configurations like yours are usually available, depending on dealer allocations. Just make sure to confirm with the dealership that they can order the model with your desired specs, especially since you mentioned wanting the Dynamic Handling Package without Rear Wheel Steer or VGRS if going bespoke.

 

I agree that this dealership kinda sucks, I don't think they even tried to make a request either. I did follow the new 911 announcement and man those things keep creeping up in price. Just for the base spec with no options you are looking at over 100k. I saw the spreadsheet, good idea about filtering to see who has sold the most and reaching out to them. One dealer I talked to said they do make requests for folks but only if they are in state . Their reasons made sense though.