The Lexus LC500

Since the weather is getting better I’m going to be reviewing cars again, mostly because there are a bunch of new cars I’ve been wanting to try. The Lexus LC500 was one of them, I hadn’t seen many on the road, maybe just two or three this past year and so it had always intrigued me. So I got in touch with the dealer and they lent me the car for five days to enjoy.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice how gorgeous this car is, it has an incredible rear end that looks like something from the future. As soon as I drove the car out of the dealership I could feel people checking out the car, and I really think its because of its futuristic look. The dealer used to have a yellow LC500 on display and before picking up the test drive car I was praying I wouldn’t end up with it. Luckily I got the best color combination I could have hoped for, a dark grey exterior with a maroon and black interior. The dark grey color helped with the futuristic look and made it super photogenic in front of the camera.

The LC500 has a 5.0L V8 engine sending 471HP to the rear wheels with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The car is pretty fast but what caught me off-guard the most was the exhaust sound. When you put the car into sports mode it starts sounding like an American muscle car, it was very un-Lexus like which is why I loved it. Sadly the soundproofing on the Lexus is so good, you really need to lower your windows to fully appreciate the sound. Lexus is still going to be Lexus and so the interior of the LC500 was, of course, comfortable, super quiet and just a wonderful place to be in. I had the car for five days and I just felt so chill driving it around. Even though Lexus are marketing the LC500 as a sports car (at least locally), it didn’t feel like one and I didn’t drive it like one. For me, the LC500 is a car that would take me from point A to B in style and comfort. Other than the infotainment system (more on that in a bit), the interior of the car is a fantastic place to be in during traffic. The car also comes standard with a lot of features like pre-crash safety system, lane keeping assist, dynamic radar cruise control, parking assist, a smart entry and start system, as well as a pretty kick-ass Mark Levinson sound system with 13 speakers.

But, like other Lexus’s, the LC500 has one major flaw and it’s the infotainment system. The interface not only looks outdated but is outdated without having modern features like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. If that wasn’t bad enough, the way you interact with the infotainment system is extremely clumsy using their touchpad which isn’t very intuitive, responsive nor practical when driving. I hated it. It’s really the only major issue I had with the car but one that would most likely drive me mad if I had to interact with it on a day to day basis. If all you want from your infotainment is to stream music via Bluetooth, then you’re going to be fine with a Lexus. But, if you want a visually pleasing interface that will run apps from your phone, you’re going to be extremely disappointed.

The Lexus LC500 starts at KD32,000 which I find mind-boggling because the car looks like it’s worth so much more. It really is a very hot looking car which is why I’ve been so eager to drive one. If you’re interested in test driving the LC500 yourself, the dealership has a car available. For more information, check out the LC500 product page on the Lexus Kuwait website [Here]

On a side note, I have a quick question. What do you want more from these car posts? I generally don’t try to go into too many details since I know a lot of people aren’t into cars, but what else would you want to see? Would a video walk around of the car and interior be something you’d like to see for example? Let me know in the comments.