Just drove from Greenville, SC, to Atlanta this evening - about 140 miles with one stop for dinner. Cruising between 73 and 75 most of the way in blissfully light traffic. Got around 35 miles per gallon in Eco mode. That's in the hybrid version of the car.

 

The V8 isn’t far behind the hybrid model in terms of highway speed MPG. No doubt the hybrid has greater advantage in city driving scenarios.

 

My car is about five months old now. When I first got it, I was getting about 28 mpg in the city. When the cold weather set it, it went down to about 26 mpg. I've been pleased!

Also, I only put non-ethanol gas into it. The first tank (provided by the dealership) was ethanol gas, and it got me closer to 24 or 25 mpg.

 

Are these tranny improvements made in the model year built or years service bulletins came out?

 

2019 Trans; https://pressroom.lexus.com/56077-2/

2021 Trans; https://pressroom.lexus.com/2021-lex...iving-evolved/

2023 Trans; https://pressroom.lexus.com/whats-new-2023-lc-500-500h/

Not sure about whether SB's can be incorporated or are available to update prior years.

 

If you don’t want to be stuck in a commitment flying in, you can just grab a refundable one way flight back to your home airport. If the purchase works out, take the car, if it doesn’t, fly back.

 

There's a thread going on about "Spontaneous Frame Crack". I would say skip that 2018 LC and get latest model like from 2022 - 2023. You would get better suspension NVH ride quality too as others mentioned. It's a bit expensive IMHO for a 2018 model to have around 61K price.

Did you get a chance to look at RCF (2021-2022) ? Try to test drive that one too, for that cash you can try to get one used at low miles around 5-10K miles, CPO, plus TVD (Torque Vectoring Differential) + Premium package. It's more rough but very driver focused car.

 

2959 thanks for the info. Next time in I'll ask if a SB ever came out in reference.

 

I’d also point out that in 2021 Lexus reduced the unsprung weight of LC 500 suspension by 21 pounds. I have to believe that this would be a pretty worthwhile refinement on their part.

 

You actually believe 21 lbs less against 4,200 would even be noticable?

😆
That's you losing 1 whole lb if you weighed 200.
Bruce in Fl

 

Losing unsprung weight has a significantly different impact than losing sprung weight.

 

I’m not an engineer who designs automobile chassis and suspensions. Among those who do this task they state these seemingly modest weight reductions in this area do matter. I’ll give Lexus engineers the benefit of doubt and they believe the effort and change is worthwhile. Night and day differences? Probably not, further refinement? Yes.

 

https://www.valoroffroad.com/blogs/t...EbwAbgLVoqfD49

In case anyone is interested in the explanation of vehicle unsprung weight. The engineers say it’s a significant factor.

 

Thanks everyone for the help and info. I am finally an owner! After several bad experiences A 2018 showed up for sale at the Toyota dealership close by in Alburquerque. As far as I can tell it has pretty. much everything available in 2018. Including performance pkg. Down side is it has 60k miles. You all were right, I love driving it! drove it home in a snow storm. I will have to figure it all out.
Shouldn't be to hard since I also Have the 2024 nx350. One question is, How can I tell if has Android auto? Does it have sd card or usb input for music? See ya on the road!

 

^^^^If it's a 2018, it does not have Android Auto. However, it may have Apple Car Play; if not, there is a software update that can add it. If you want Android Auto, like me, you can buy an aftermarket dongle that adds it to Car Play for less than a hundred bucks, or Beat-Sonic has a kit that would need a professional install for BIG bucks.

Lou