Nor should they; everyone has a price at which they will sell their possessions (no matter how much they adore them). That just happens to be the point where the love of money would supersede my love of the car. Not a representation of the car's market value in any way.

I have bought a lot of cars and I usually don't regret buying cars but I almost always regret selling my cars because the money I got by selling them (which seemed justifiable at the time) loses its value over time compared to the sentimental value of the car itself. Maybe I'm weird but I would much rather have my old Honda Accord (first car) compared to the 12 grand I got for trading it in lol.

 

Not weird at all. I sold my "unicorn" mystic blue 2016 SLK55 and have regretted it every day since. It made sense at the time, but in hindsight I hate past-me for doing it.

I've told my wife if my 2026 LC purchase goes through this week to NEVER let me sell this car because I know I will inevitably regret it if I do. I cant even put a price on it. If I get the car it would take nothing short of life-changing quatities of money to get me to even consider parting with it.

 

I am a true car person so in retrospect I sometimes regret almost every car I ever sold, especially my '59/'75/'76 Corvettes, '72 Datsun 20Z, '92 Acura NSX, '69 Z/28 Camaro, '72 Triumph Spitfire, '87 Celica, '19 Honda Civic Si Coupe, '87 MBZ sedan...(but not my '09 BMW M-Sport convertible; what a piece of crap). I do still have pictures and great memories of each and are comforted by the fact that I am blessed to now drive an LC convertible instead (which I hope I never have to sell).

 

This was my initial impression as well. Not sure if that stereotype holds true in Japan. It certainly does with U.S. brands. The accountants and toothpaste salesmen nearly killed GM and Ford over the years. I am hopeful that Lexus has enough heritage to survive, but I also feel like maybe even Chairman Toyoda lacks an understanding of how much Lexus means to the US buyer. His focus on sports/exciting cars seems to have destroyed the core buyer for Lexus. Maybe with Lexus dealers getting Century and GR as subbrands, Lexus can return to soft, affordable, reliable luxury cars for the upper middle buyer. Not every Lexus needs to be a "sporty" option. The new ES seems to be growing on me as more info comes out. Time will tell, I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Crown sedan but we will not see it in North America. That car would have been a nice LS alternative for Lexus. I hope Lexus survives this shakeup.

 

If we are concerned about values, I don't know that options have been given enough attention. There is a very real difference in driver experience between the DHP/performance package cars and the touring-spec, aside the deployable wing being cool.

From what I've seen from cars on sale and on the road, I would surprised if 20% of LCs had DHP. I would guess that pre-touchscreen models well-equipped with performance options will have a premium, perhaps moreso than inspiration models. I would argue that right now, the used market isn't taking that in to account at all, which I'd attribute to a lack of awareness (inefficient markets and all that).

Long story short, if you're paranoid about values and are going to spec an LC now or buy one used, getting a fully loaded DHP (large wheels, 4 wheel steer, deployable wing, LSD, etc) is the way to go.

Most mods will reduce or not impact values, BUT*

*Mods that I think will increase or maintain value, from greatest to least likely, are as follow:
1. Hybrid Diff Swap & Aux transmission cooler - the former is the most cost-effective & reliable way to get more felt "oomph" out of the car by about .5 seconds 0-60 (rolling), while using OEM parts. There are probably about a dozen LCs that have this mod by my guess. The latter has no documentation, yet (I've just paid Tosshin for shipping), but would hopefully fix the trans overheating issues experienced in Sport+ by folks, which I can also imagine being a value booster since it again uses OEM parts and improves function.
2. TRD/Modelista aero kits - Extremely rare in the US, PARTICULARY as completed kits. These are Japan Market OEM kits that are pretty expensive to obtain but match the LC pretty well ( TRD moreso than Modelista in my opinion).
3. Any Tom's modifications and PE Headers- body kits, their brembo collab calipers, chassis stiffeners, etc. I can imagine these may actually outrank #2. Downside is their stupid expensive and and probably won't appreciate enough to offset the cost of purchase. PE headers might or might not do anything for value.
4. Black Chrome swaps - perhaps a very minor plus, probably not enough to offset the cost, but I think most folks agree the black chrome swapped cars look a bit better.
4. Stuff that probably won't do anything or minorly reduce values would include stuff like 3rd party cosmetics like carbon fiber engine covers, exhaust tips, "cold air intakes", stick-on interior/exterior CF, etc.
5. Other 3rd party mods pretty much always degrade values (wraps, coilovers, etc), albeit with some exceptions for popular ones - I can imagine Armytrix exhausts won't harm values given their popularity, but I can't imagine they'll increase them. But if a car has coilovers, aftermarket wheels, body kits, interior pieces, etc. from non-reputable brands then you'll see what you do with every other used car valuation.

I'm sure I'm missing some brand or mod, but generally I think this is more or less what will happen.
At the end of the day, I didn't buy the car as an investment - if it goes up, cool, if not then that's what any car owner should expect.

 

I tend to be of the opposite mind on this with regard to the LC, mainly due to its audience. I dont think MOST potential current or future LC buyers care about the DHP much as the rear steer isnt all that beneficial unless you're really pushing the car hard, and for parking lot maneuvers (but this benefit is marginal having test driven a DHP car and a non DHP car). The LSD is the biggest must-have for drivers who like to drive more spiritedly.

The same goes for the upgraded cooling. Vast majority of buyers arent going to push their car hard enough long enough overheat it. The small % of buyers that will wont affect the longterm price delta of the LC on average, but may account for a handful of outlier higher-than-average values. Again I dont see this affecting most owners either as buyers or sellers.

I honestly think the biggest factor of an LC's value 10, 20, 30 years hence will be mileage, model year, condition, and maintenance history. The other stuff might swing the price a few grand, but I doubt it will be more than 3% bump on a pristine well-kept low mileage car in the long run, meaning the money spent on those things wont be recouped entirely.

A lot of folks think a highly-optioned car means better resale value, and while true the resale value increase is never 100% of the cost of the options, so money-wise more options just means more money lost in depreciation, at least if buying new not used. If the options or mods befit the current owner thats all that matters. Their impact on long-term value retention tends to be minimal on a car like the LC. Just my opinion though. You may be right and I may be crazy.


Personally I dont care if my LC's value goes to zero as long as I get 15-20 years' usage and smiles from her.

 

I completely agree with you. I bought my LC to enjoy driving and keep for many years....because she feels like the best set of clothes I own when I am in the driver seat!

 

From the first week of owning I realized this was the first car I did not get into, but put on. It was an electric experience.

 

Good news!

Mine is $94k, the same I paid in '23

'23
Dynamic
Atomic Silver
11K

 

My thought is based on what you see with the sport Chrono or LT packages, but time will tell. Like y'all said, let's get as many miles out of these things as we can haha, values should just make doing so a little bit easier

 

I sold my 2013 SLK55 P30 to get my LC. The LC is nice, but I haven't found anything more fun to drive on twisty roads than that SLK.

 

This could explain why some of the earlier LC’s I’ve come across with higher miles are more expensive than the ones I looked at last summer. I kick myself for not getting the white 2018 with 89k miles for $48,000. If it were Infrared, blue, or black/Caviar with a black or the white/blue/orange interior I would have it sitting in my driveway right now.

These cars should hold their value pretty well just like the F cars do, especially the later years and low mileage ones. Lexus as a brand seems to be falling apart in my opinion and this was the last fun car, along with IS500. There is still the IS350 but that tired, old V6 needs more power to be competitive to me. It feels like they are fine with going down to the premium segment with Infiniti and Acura.

 

Agreed. My 2016 was mystic blue. Only like 5 or 6 in that color in all of America. I cannot believe past-me was dumb enough to sell it. I will not make the same mistake with my LC (which should hopefully be purchased in the next 3 hours, omw to the dealer now).

 

 

@debrantley

“I sold my 2013 SLK55 P30 to get my LC. The LC is nice, but I haven't found anything more fun to drive on twisty roads than that SLK.”

How do these 2 cars compare with regard to daily driving comfort and long distance road trips ?
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