Does anyone know the towing capacity for the LC 500 Convertible?

I can't find it anywhere.

Would it even be possible underneath to install a hitch to tow a WaveRunner?

 

Im pretty sure you have another vehicle that can tow that thing. Why in god's green earth would you even consider towing with an LC?!
what kind of a redneck water park are you going to if you show up with a jetski towed by a LC convertible!?

 

Trailer towing..... Lexus does not recommend towing a trailer with your vehicle. Lexus also does not recommend the installation of a tow hitch or the use of a tow hitch carrier for a wheelchair, scooter, bicycle, etc. Your vehicle is not designed for trailer towing or for the use of tow hitch mounted carriers. Page 139

 

355F1….Its not a good look per Lexus. But I see a lot of folks on the Net using their cars (luxury, sport and the like) to tow these jet skis. I wouldn’t do it but some folks treat it like a status symbol. So if this is something that you want to do, then don’t be influenced by what others mite say or think, Do You!

 

do note as well that the front and rear subframes of our vehicles are made of aluminium. You could probably fab up a custom tow hitch but I am not sure how well a heavy steel hitch towing something a ton or more in weight would work being welded/bolted to a much weaker alumnium section. Might be some risks there as well

 

even though the manual specifically says the car's not designed for it (in other words, don't do it)

might as well just get a huge enclosed trailer, rent a truck and tow the LC and waverunners.

 

Not even sure your negativity is even worth a reply but whatevevz.

I'm bored.

Decided I'd like to order a new little Yamaha 195s boat, or 1-2 WaveRunners.

Only reason I bought this LC was to downsize to one car.

GF has a new Cayenne that can tow but she works 5 days a week; I work like 15 hours a week and have too much free time. I used to spend many months/year traveling the world pre-covid but now that I have a gf who has a real job I can't jet off to Paris for the weekend like the old days.

I only have a 3-car garage. My LC, gf's Cayenne, plus 1 toy; and, I would want to keep the boat or WaveRunner(s) garaged. I have zero interest in leaving anything outside in the Arizona sun.

So I cannot buy another vehicle to tow with in the mornings that I would head over to the lake 30 mins North.

When I was a teen my roommate towed his WaveRunner with his lowered Honda Civic so I figured I'd inquire about maybe towing with this car.

So, in a nutshell, I have a 3-car garage, 2 vehicles, and one space for a toy. So, no....I don't have another vehicle I can tow with during the weekdays if I wanna head to the lake.

Probably just gonna order the boat and have it for a weekend thing with the gf.

Not gonna risk towing anything that doesn't have a listed towing capacity.

I don't really want to sell my LC, either...

 

Bit...People do all sorts of things that the owner’s manual says you shud not do as evidenced on this forum. So when you do them, you assume the risk. If 'the LC is built like a Tank' (your words 05/24/21 11:10 am) then why is it not able to pull a jet ski realistically. Either it is or it ain’t. So I guess it ain’t, Not Really.

 

Even Honda lists towing capacity for lowly Civics even though 99.99% of them will never tow anything.

If Lexus says Do Not Tow I will not tow.

 

Tow whatever you need to tow bro! As long as it is within the manual guidelines. You only live once!

 

that's just it, the manual says the car isn't designed to tow. MLMLC52K18 says above it's page 139.

not sure i follow. why was the lc the only car you wanted to downsize to? i have a small suv for work and the lc for play... but even with my cars, if water stuff is of interest, it kinda puts a crimp in things if you want to tow/take bigger water stuff somewhere but want to take the lc.

so... either swap vehicles with her when you want to go jetski, or you know

any land for a shed / out building? i have an old golf cart i use to maintain my place (pick up branches that fall of trees mostly!), and that was taking up my 3rd spot in the garage until recently i bought an 8x16' custom shed. now the golf cart's in there, and i keep 3 vehicles in the garage. works out great.



thanks for trolling me returning the favor, yesterday at 7:52AM EDT you said you wouldn't do it. but yeah, people mostly are and should be free to do all kinds of things most wouldn't do. people could drain all the oil out of their cars and drive them at redline for an hour even though that wouldn't be recommended either.

 

Not being negative. I’m just surprised why anyone would do this.

Take the suv, no brainer. So what if she works 5 days a week. That’s still 2 days you can tow a jet ski. Or else go rent a storage shed/garage to park all this stuff. I’m pretty sure this whole group of lc owners are all ball’in so I doubt the solution here is to tow a jet ski with an LC.

 

You don’t have to remind me of my position, because it hasn’t changed. I just wanted to remind you that yours has. Your comment about oil is totally illogical and does not apply to this situation. It is unreasonable for anyone to operate their vehicle’s engine without oil, but not so much for someone to assume that a car almost as large as an LS and just about as heavy, that even exceeds the LS in horsepower, would be physically unable to pull the weight of a jet ski.

 

folks let’s not get so nitpicky on wording please.

I’m certain it’s physically capable of it and plenty powerful for it, but certain vehicles just don’t have an effective design to mount a hitch, especially if they have weight saving materials and are pretty low to the ground, or have complex exhaust or suspension bits that would interfere. For example we added a hitch on my wife’s old M3 to tow a small tire trailer to the track and it ended up ripping a big gaping hole in the underside of her trunk. Had to get a bunch of stuff welded to fix and reinforce it.

lexus doesn’t recommend it, I wouldn’t do it with a car like an LC convertible

other options to consider:
- store the boat or wave runner at a marina on the water and have them pull out to launch
- rent a boat or wave runner when you want one a few times a year (also boating clubs do this near me and have pretty good availability during the week)

 

You will have issues with the rear muffler and diffuser locations. Then you still need a place to attach the hitch work too. A custom shop could likely come up with a workable "class 1" hitch - the kind rated for 1500lbs.
You could also run into warranty claims by Lexus when they see a hitch on the back and you come in with an issue that they could attribute to trailering since, well, page 139 says "do not trailer"

That said, other items to concern with, depending on the steepness of the loading area, is :
1) traction on the ramp
2) breakover angle for the hitch/trailer (ie, will it drag cresting the ramp)
3) Submitting your exhaust/rear of the car lake water
4) Getting stuck and needing some bro with a Coal Rolling diesel to pull you, your LC and waverunners out of the lake

It is unclear to my why you couldn't just swap with the GF and her Cayenne on those days that the lake calls you?