AutoTrader SCORE
-
STYLING9/10
-
Safety9/10
-
PRACTICALITY5/10
-
USER-FRIENDLINESS8/10
-
FEATURES8/10
-
POWER9/10
-
COMFORT9/10
-
DRIVING FEEL8/10
-
FUEL ECONOMY6/10
-
VALUE8/10
So you’ve reached a stage in your life where it’s time to reward yourself.
Maybe the last kid made it through college, or you’ve just sold off the company you spent years building, or you’ve been drafted to the big leagues. No matter how you got here, it’s been a grind, and you deserve something special. And there’s little on the new-car market that’s more special than the 2024 Lexus LC 500 Convertible.
Value: 8/10
You didn’t get to where you are by making frivolous decisions, and although the purchase of a grand touring convertible isn’t necessarily the picture of pragmatism, this Lexus makes a pretty compelling value case. A basic 911 Cabriolet starts around $160,000, while BMW’s M850i Cabriolet commands $150,000 before option packages, and Mercedes-Benz is only offering up the new SL-Class with its pricey AMG package in Canada that’ll set you back at least $200,000. It all makes the $125,900 asking price for this LC 500 a veritable bargain.
Lexus’s history of building exceptionally durable and reliable machines lends further credence to the value quotient. And a fortune-teller might even suggest the LC 500 is poised for future collectability status, making long-term ownership all the more appealing.
Styling: 9.5/10
Emotion plays a big part in a purchase like this, and this car’s appearance evokes very strong reactions. When the production LC 500 launched for 2018, jaws dropped as it looked shockingly close to the stunning concept car revealed years before. The long, low, and wide LC has carried on since with precious few tweaks to that design, and looks as good in convertible format as its hardtop sibling.
Even driving around car-crazed Los Angeles, the LC commanded a surprising amount of attention – a triumph of both its design and rarity. The interior is every bit as lovely, especially finished in the elegant (if woefully impractical) white and blue leather seen here. Every surface is a tactile treat of metal or leather.
User-Friendliness: 8/10
It’s the LC’s improved user-friendliness that’s the biggest news for 2024 thanks to a dramatically overhauled infotainment system. The 12.3-inch touchscreen may not be as sleek as last year’s dash-wide expanse of glass, but the replacement of that loathsome touchpad controller in favour of this slick new interface makes it worth the stylistic downgrade. The new system provides wireless access to both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the baked-in navigation works well, too.
The rest of the controls in the driver-centric cockpit fall easily to hand. There’s a proper gear selector lever sprouting from the centre console, a large volume knob (albeit on the console instead of the dash), simple buttons for the climate system and on the steering wheel. The instrument display shows off the essentials and nothing more. It’s all very easy to get along with.
You sit low in the cabin, and while the visibility up front and to the sides is pretty good, the rearward view is obstructed with the top up. The simple solution is to drive with the top down as often as possible.
Comfort: 9/10
The ride is very good for a performance car, but what’s more impressive is how quiet the LC 500 Convertible is. The top is quite the engineering feat. Made of four separate layers, it helps keep occupants insulated from unpleasant weather, as well as sounds. In fact, even at highway speeds, the LC Convertible seems quieter than most hard top cars, owing not only to the multi-layer construction, but also the smooth fitment of the top against the windshield header and side glass.
With the press of a single button, the top silently folds away in 15 seconds, leaving the cabin decently free of buffeting and excess noise thanks to the low seating position and fixed glass deflector behind the rear seats. There are neck warmers for the front seat occupants, too. To calm the top-down air flow further, a large mesh wind deflector can pop in behind the front seats, but it renders the rear seats even more useless than their absence of legroom dictates.
Features: 8/10
Besides the creamy leather finishes throughout, the LC 500 is well sorted with heated and cooled front seats that also contribute to the car’s cruising comfort. The 13-speaker stereo sounds great, offering pure, crisp sound that somehow doesn’t seem to dull with the top down.
There’s onboard navigation, satellite radio, and adaptive cruise control, plus the car can be set to help a driver stay between the lines, should the need arise. Otherwise, it’s the LC’s relatively simple luxury (that is, exceptional build quality and materials) rather than oodles of trendy gadgets or gimmicky features that appeal here.
Safety: 9/10
Lexus fits its latest suite of driver aids as standard equipment. It includes lane departure warning and steering assist, pre-collision and pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking and high-beam control, plus a full collection of air bags to help keep passengers safe.
Power: 9/10
All of the safety features, fancy finishes, and show-car styling become extraneous as soon as the masterpiece of an engine comes to life beneath the LC 500’s long hood. Displacing five litres, the V8 isn’t complicated by turbochargers, superchargers, or electrification, instead delivering a classic normally-aspirated motoring experience.
Don’t mistake that for meaning the LC is some kind of NASCAR in a fancy convertible suit. It announces its presence at start-up before settling into liquid smoothness that recalls the Lexus commercials from the brand’s early days, when even revving the engine couldn’t disturb the stack of balanced champagne glasses on the hood. This is a mill content to serenely cruise all day with the sort of smoothness you’d think only came from a 12-cylinder – a dignified and posh warble coming from the tailpipes.
Introduce the throttle to the carpet and the LC 500’s tachometer sweeps around to 4,800 rpm before the peak torque of 398 lb-ft arrives, climbing to 7,100 rpm before dispensing its full 471 hp. Next to its boosted German competitors, those numbers pale in comparison, but in reality the drive experience of the Lexus is unmatched.
The LC 500 demands the sort of engagement that a driver’s car requires, and it rewards with a magnificent bass-rich concert and strong, fluid acceleration. The manufactured exhaust pops and belches emitted by the competitors are too crass and vulgar for this Lexus, whose tailpipe music is equal measures class and authority. It’s aural perfection, and while the coupe version is offered with a hybrid V6, that heresy isn’t available in the convertible.
Driving Feel: 8/10
While the LC’s V8 provides enough power for a respectable mid-four-second dash to 100 km/h, it’s not a light car, weighing in at 2,030 kg (4,476 lb). That mass, plus the car’s considerable width and length, means it’ll never be mistaken for a sports car when hustled through corners. The steering feel is good but not as razor-sharp or heavy as a 911’s, nor is the big Lexus capable of carving corners with the same sort of gusto as a Porsche.
The LC 500 coupe offers a rear-steering function that may help liven up the handling, but it’s not available in the convertible. Similarly, the brakes have strong stopping power, but the pedal doesn’t have the same initial bite that some competitor cars offer. The LC 500 is unapologetically the grandest of touring cars.
If there is a disappointment in the LC 500’s mechanical components it’s the 10-speed automatic transmission. It’s fine in most circumstances, offering appropriately smooth shifts with only a few occasional clunky changes at lower speeds. When driven hard and fast on winding roads, however, the transmission seems to get easily tripped up, often settling on the wrong gear only to then change its mind and aggressively swap to another. It gets better in manual mode, letting the driver choose his or her own gear changes with the paddles, but even at its best the LC’s transmission is no match for the swiftness or smoothness of those of its German rivals.
Practicality: 5/10
Accepting that the LC 500 Convertible isn’t a sports car but rather a grand touring machine, its miniscule trunk makes packing for anything more than a weekend getaway for two a challenge. Fortunately, the vestigial rear seat can swallow a bit of extra luggage, too, but up front there is precious little storage for items like sunglasses and phones, especially if occupants choose to use the second, awkwardly-placed cupholder in the console.
Fuel Economy: 6/10
While we’re griping, that beauty of an engine has a serious thirst for premium-grade gas, chugging it back at a rate of 15.2 L/100 km in the city and 9.5 on the highway. On a lengthy California road trip that favoured two-lane highways to freeways, we observed an overall average in the high 9s.
The Verdict
When Lexus unveiled its LC 500 flagship several years ago, it earned widespread adoration for its styling alone. To drive it is to love it even more since it exceeds most expectations as a fun and capable grand touring machine. It lacks practicality and has a thirst for fuel, but those are small prices to pay for such beauty, and the character of its magnificent engine.
The 2024 Lexus LC 500 Convertible is one of the most wonderfully memorable and endearing machines available for sale today, and one that recalls the greatness of the finest grand touring cars from past generations, but with modern refinement, safety and build quality. As far as rewarding oneself with a truly exceptional automobile, this is an excellent choice.
| Engine Displacement | 5.0L |
|---|---|
| Engine Cylinders | V8 |
| Peak Horsepower | 471 hp @ 7,100 rpm |
| Peak Torque | 398 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm |
| Fuel Economy | 16.0 / 9.5 / 13.0 L/100 km cty/hwy/cmb |
| Cargo Space | 85 L |
| Model Tested | 2024 Lexus LC 500 Convertible |
| Base Price | $125,900 |
| A/C Tax | $100 |
| Destination Fee | $2,205 |
| Price as Tested | $128,705 |
|
Optional Equipment
$500 – Cloudburst Grey paint, $500
|
|
You may also like
