So after spending the last couple years trying to talk myself out of getting an LC500 until a 24-26 model year is available as a gently used certified pre-owned (maybe in 2027 or 2028), theres a good chance I will be buying one new in the very near future with them ending production.

That said, I noticed a text overlay on a Savagegeese video on the LC that mentioned oil consumption if the car is broken in gently, and that a more aggressive "break-in" phase will reduce (possibly eliminate??) Oil consumption long-term.

So I'd like to ask how owners here that bought theirs NEW (as buying used you wont know how it was broken in) broke in your LC500 and if you have any oil consumption at all (either when new or further down the road).

Any real-world experience of owners who purchased their LC new and drove "gently" or "aggressively" during break-in the first 500-1000 miles would be greatly appreciated.

I tried to do a forum search but didnt come up with any results. Granted my forum search tool prowess is likely lacking.

 

I bought mine new and generally followed the advice in the manual for the first st 500 miles. After that I let it rip no holds barred. Even in those first 500 miles I certainly did a few redline pulls as well.

I did a oil change at 1100 miles also.

No oil consumption issues for me yet, 19k miles now.

 

Awesome ty for the reply. That makes a lot of sense and is how I broke in my C8 vette but the LC is going to be a forever car so I'm hoping to buy new and treat it as perfectly suited to its mannerisms as possible during the early phase so it lasts 20+ years.

 

If it's any consolation, Lexus uses brand new LCs at their performance driving school track events and they get ragged on for several days at the track, driven harder than any of us would realistically drive them on the street. They then recon and sell them afterwards.

The bespoke LCs I drove at the event this year, one had 220 miles on it and the other one had 410 miles on it when I got in them.

 

I remember folks used to say "break it in how you intend on driving it regularly" like engines prefer to be driving on a daily basis however they were broken in. Doubt there is a ton of truth to that, but I know theres a school of thought that a more aggressive break in is good for high performance engines. I'm just looking forward to driving one that is "mine"!

 

@np20412
”If it's any consolation, Lexus uses brand new LCs at their performance driving school track events and they get ragged on for several days at the track, driven harder than any of us would realistically drive them on the street. They then recon and sell them afterwards.”

That is a very good point. They drive these new cars hard and then turn around and sell them without any apparent issues. Makes sense to me because the Lexus 2UR-GSE V8 is probably as durable and stout an engine as one can get.

 

Bought new, didn't really do much "red lining" but also didn't baby it. Did a pretty long trip (1200 miles) during the break-in period with minimal speeds of 70mph. So far no oil issues (10K miles). Also agree about the Performance school, we ran the LC"s HARD. They are pretty much only changing brakes, oil and tires. At Indy the only issue I heard about was a Brake light on one of the vehicles. Was told it was brake pad related.

 

I'm in Arizona, but bought my LC in Nebraska; a friend and I drove it home. The only thing we did differently was not let the engine stay at a static RPM for long. We were driving at night and into the morning, varying the speed. There was not a lot of traffic. I've never added oil between changes

Lou

 

@flowrider and @2959
Did you do the 1000 mile oil change That some people have recommend for the new engines? I’m curious also to know if the Lexus performance track new cars are given a 1000 mile oil change as part of their “reconditioning “ protocol before being publicly sold.

 

^^^^ My trip home was 1300 miles. I did my first oil change upon completion of the trip.

Lou

 

I varied my rpms for the first 1K miles and after that I have gotten on it pretty good (somewhere in the 6K+ rpm range) at least every 100 miles. I changed the oil at 1K, 5K, and 10K and plan to change it every 5k miles which is about 6 months for me. After 10K miles it hasn't used a drop of oil. I have followed this same protocol with all of my cars since I started using synthetic oil many years ago. I do very little highway driving and would never exceed 5k miles.

 

So my understanding is that, in the olden times, an engine would be run in gently at first, to seat everything in, in particular the camshaft (this shouldn’t be needed on our cars, as that’s done at the factory), then, with nice warm oil, you’d want to put some load (load, not max revs) on it, such as mid-range highway pulls, to bed in the piston rings fully. The biggest no-no during the running in period being to stay at static revs for long periods (leave the cruise control alone!)

That’s essentially what I did in the first hundred or so miles, then drove it normally (but without going over about 5,000 rpm) until 1,000 miles. Oil change, inspection, then open the taps!

 

Thanks all for the replies. More or less what I expected. Tbh I didnt recall seeing any talk of oil consumption on these cars prior to noticing that text in geese's vid.

Hoping the bespoke order I put in with my local dealer a few weeks ago gets accepted for production before they shut down the LC line for good.

 

I am at 1400 miles in 9 months. I checked the oil at 1000 with no oil usage. I 100 miles from my dealer so I will bring it up on it's one- year birthday for the first service and also have them change the oil. I drive it carefully but also get on it quite a bit. NO RED LINE use. It is a garage queen I plan to keep for a long time. I will probably change the oil every other year as it will get limited use and be stored in a climate controlled shop.

RKTINC

 

Here are the break in recommendations from the manual. Appears to be the typical “Be gentle” for the first 200 miles on the brakes and 700 miles on the engine.