Years ago, back when I worked for a different car site that regularly misspelled my name whenever something I wrote made it into the magazine, I got the incredible privilege of driving a brand-new Lexus LC 500. I’d seen it in pictures, but I wasn’t prepared for how gorgeous it looked in real life.
And then I drove it. I immediately fell in love. But like pretty much all of the new cars I’ve gotten to drive as part of my job, there wasn’t a chance in hell that I could afford it. After all, the MSRP of the LC 500 I was driving was way more than what I made in a year.
At the same time, though, I couldn’t help but hope that depreciation would help me out. Perhaps in another 10 years, I’d be making enough money to afford a used one. Sadly, we’re now halfway there, and I’m not confident it will still happen, especially since my plans to marry rich have yet to work out either.
But at the same time, I can happily report that used LC 500s aren’t completely immune from depreciation. You can easily find early ones for less than $70,000. And for the first time ever, I found one listed for sale for less than $60,000.
It’s not my preferred color, but it looks like it’s still in great condition. Which it should be because it’s a Lexus, and it’s been driven less than 10,000 miles a year. And it may still be too rich for my blood, but hey, we’re getting there. All I have to do is double my income in the next five years, and come 2029, I might be able to justify buying one.
Also, if you happen to have the money and assumed for whatever reason that LC 500 values were still annoyingly high, now you know that there’s at least one LC 500 out there that’s listed for less than $60,000. Maybe it’s time to pull the trigger. If you can afford it, you definitely deserve it.