If you’re nervous right now, imagine how much more nervous you’d be if you were a big sedan. Over the past decade or so, it seems like crossovers have been coming for everything that isn’t shaped like them. Whether you like them or not, an upright two-box shape is pretty pragmatic, so it’s no surprise that large sedan sales have dwindled enough to take out several models. For 2026, the only Lexus LS you’ll be able to buy is one of 250 LS 500 AWD Heritage Edition models in America, and one of five in Canada – and you know what happens when they’re gone, right?
Right out of the gate, the LS 500 Heritage Edition is specced like a Warped Tour kid’s backpack. We’re talking black paint and dark trim on the outside, and red leather and black wood on the inside. If you ever think you’ve spotted a last-run LS in the wild, the easiest way to pick it out will be the special multi-spoke wheels, as they’re exclusive to this
Equipment levels are fair too, with a panoramic moonroof, 360-degree camera system, a 23-speaker Mark Levinson audio system, and advanced parking assistance on deck too. Mind you, prior model years of LS 500 offered cut-glass interior trim and gorgeous, folded-textile door card inserts, so it’s not like Lexus is going all-out here. A price tag of $99,280 including freight is reasonably attractive though, favorable when you consider what a new S-Class costs, but a few thousand more than the arguably more special-feeling Genesis G90.
Under the hood, you won’t find a hybrid powertrain, for the electrified LS 500h is discontinued in America. Instead, motive power is provided by a 415-horsepower 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that’s been a bit hard to love after a long history of buttery V8s. Don’t get me wrong, it makes great power, but it just doesn’t quite feel smooth enough for a flagship luxury sedan. Still, the 10-speed automatic keeps cruising hushed, and all-wheel drive ought to provide an extra bit of confidence in snowy climes.
Nothing’s been said about the future of the LS nameplate, and that’s saddening. While it’s still offered in multiple trims in Japan, it sure looks to be bowing out in North America, a quiet end to a car that changed luxury forever. When the first LS 400 appeared on the scene in 1989, it was a world-beater. An incredibly quiet, impeccably made S-Class competitor for E-Class money, it instantly disrupted the entire luxury car market. A few short years later, Lexus was outselling BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the American market, quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.
While the second-generation Lexus LS was an evolutionary model, it still kept to the same tenets of the original, just with some improvements. There was more rear legroom on deck, available air suspension, a slipperier shape, and the same great quad-cam four-liter V8 people fell in love with. The LS 430 of 2001 was a more substantial leap forward. Not only did it have an incredibly advanced climate control system, a drag coefficient of just 0.25, and available toys like adaptive cruise control, Mark Levinon Audio, and a fridge, it was famously reliable and the last great flagship sedan that felt seriously built to last.
In contrast, the fourth-generation Lexus LS of 2007 was more of a tech-fest. It brought air suspension to more trims, it offered computer-guided parking, it could be had with all-wheel-drive or a hybrid powertrain, and featured a complex braking system with notable actuator replacement costs. However, in the midst of such technology, Lexus still knew when to do things the old-fashioned way. Each LS 460 and LS 600hL featured a paint job that was wet-sanded twice by hand between coats, and the zinc window frames were polished by humans to a mirror finish. It was a big step forward into the modern age, but there was a problem: After a reasonably brisk start, sales slowed dramatically. By 2011, annual U.S. sales fell below the 10,000 mark, with a mere 4,094 new LS sedans making it into American driveways in 2017.
That takes us to the fifth-generation Lexus LS and its complicated legacy. While sales initially buoyed to 9,302 units in 2018, there hasn’t been a year with more than 4,000 units sold in America since 2019. From the start, it looked great and offered some excellent interior materials, but it just felt like it had its flaws. In addition to the somewhat coarse V6, the interior was weirdly cramped compared to an S-Class, the in-cabin tech didn’t feel state-of-the-art, and some of the materials in the lower trims just didn’t quite feel nicer than what you’d get in a more affordable ES sedan. Add in expensive pricing, and the current LS became a bit hard to justify.
With flagship sedans on a downward trend as the C-suiters of the world turn to SUVs as their daily drivers, the writing was on the wall. Pretty soon, we’ll be living for the first time in 36 years without a new Lexus LS on sale. Godspeed, flagship. Another great chapter of history closes.
Top graphic image: Lexus
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I was shopping for my LS 3-ish years ago and went way out of my way, flying from DC to Detroit, to get a 2017 for the aforementioned “buttery V8”, avoiding the downgrade to a V6 and the other “updates” in the LS500. It’s a fantastic car, especially on the interstate. Even though it now shares the driveway with a Blacking, it’s still my unequivocal #1 ride. Truly a beautifully built beast of a car. RIP LS
I can’t see early LS’s without thinking about them being destroyed by Street Fighter II characters.
Lexus lost the plot when they stopped making the LS an elegant luxury sedan and tried making it a big performance sedan.
Despite product placements in productions such as “Suits” – where it played the part of “Generic Black Car with Driver”.
Should have stuck with the successful “Affordable S Class” formula.
Just a random comment- had an ’08 LS for 8 years that I bought used. A buddy told me “That car will ruin every subsequent car for you.”
Yup.
I’ve thought many times about just buying an older Lexus LS or LX.
Ever just seeing the pictures in the article is giving me that itch.
That red interior is making me feel things.
Would be interesting to see if a refresh might change its fortunes. No, it will not ever be a high seller – not made for that, but many are turned off by Lexus’ styling direction.
I think one of the biggest problems with the current LS (besides possibly the styling), is that none of its platform-mates are selling well either. Also none of them are crossovers – there are 4 slow selling sedans and 1 slow selling coupe. That seems like a massive miss for a company like Toyota. No high volume vehicle like a large crossover to amortize the large costs for developing and producing a platform.
Anecdotal, but when I was waiting on some service at my local Lexus dealership a year or so ago, I overheard a couple trading in a LS460 discussing the LS500 and deciding on an ES because the LS didn’t feel special enough to justify the price difference. At the time I wasn’t sure if that was a slam of the LS or a compliment to the ES, but now it seems apparent which it was.
Hopefully history’s chapter on that hideous grill design will close too.
In Japan, you buy a Century for top luxury.
ROTW is generally speaking very badge-snob, so instead of quality and refinement, they buy some German disaster on wheels.
Sad to see it go, it was the best of its class (except for markets with the Century on offer).
With the push towards electrification going from a V8 to electric makes a lot more sense to me than going from a V8 to a turbo V6. Spit out all of the power and efficiency figures you want, but consumers will see that as a downgrade. With a BEV LS you would also have a great opportunity to throw that Predator grill in the crusher where it belongs.
My dad bought a 1989 LS400 when they first came out to replace his Cadillac Allante(!) – it felt like it came from another planet. The interior was vault silent, the electroluminescent gauges were stunning, and as others have stated the fit and finish were impeccable. It’s really hard to overstate what a meteor strike this thing was, especially at the likely illegally dumped price of $35k. For comparison a Mercedes 560SEL cost $75k+. It wasn’t surprising that once the market took off on this the price shot up almost $20k.
It’s a shame that the executive luxury sedan is a dying breed. The current generation LS feels very much like Lexus was going bonkers on making this as artisanal and ‘Japanese’ as possible, almost like the automotive equivalent of a Grand Seiko watch.
Deeper question: did Lexus change, or did ‘luxury’ change?
In 1989, this was one of the finest cars money could buy. The flashiest? Absolutely not. In terms of bespoke quality? It basically upended things.
The definition of luxury has changed from 1989 to today.
I’m not sure how many luxury cars could go a million miles are coming out of assembly plants today. Ironically, I’d put money on a compact car or work pickup truck doing that feat today before many luxury vehicles.
Maybe Cadillac of the 1970s had ‘luxury’ right all along: festoon the barge with gee-gaws and tacky party tricks, then sell (er, maybe lease) the ‘rich’ owner another in three years with whatever party tricks the new one has after the current one has started its decline into unreliable decrepitude.
At least the Lexus’ bespoke quality eventually filtered down into Camrys and Corollas. So, if there’s a legacy to be had, perhaps the improvement in quality of working-class mobiles was it.
All the luxury features are just purposely disabled via software on the lower trims.
I think luxury has changed. These days, just buying a new car is a luxury and the gap between most mass market cars and a luxury car have never been smaller. But, I’d also argue that most “luxury” cars are just premium cars and a luxury car is a Rolls Royce and the like. Even most BMWs and Mercedes I’d consider premium cars except for a 7 Series or S Class.
Shame.
The LS used to beat the S class, 7 series and A7 at their own game. The LS400 came out when Cadillac was going down in reliability, and started to beat the Germans handily (okay, later DTS models with the Northstar head bolts fixed can be reliable but still do NOT match up to the QC of Lexus).
The LS400, 430 had amazing reliability. The LS460 had some issues, but still was reliable.
The LS500? Well, a mixed bag. They could have used the 5.0 from other Lexus cars, such as the LC, and hybridized it to create an INCREDIBLY RELIABLE unit. But, sadly, this was not to be.
The CT6 failed against the Germans too, and was, well…not up to Lexus QC. But it still is cheaper to maintain than the Germans.
I was turning wrenches when the LS appeared in 1989. The first time I touched one, it was like every other car I’d ever touched was a complete pile of shit.
I had been impressed by the build quality and materials on the Cressida, but this was otherworldly, so over-the-top. Those fancy gauge needles blew my mind.
RIP Lexus LS 🙁
It’s been around my whole lifetime, here’s hoping I outlive it by a ways, haha!
I forgot to mention that Lexus cars of the 90s and 00s were VERY POPULAR with rappers, hip hop stars, pop music stars as well.
The LS400 was probably the car that STARTED HIP HOP music. Even some of the newer hits seem to praise this car.
Now? Most stars seem to have moved past Lexus and Cadillac to the Germans and British.
“The LS400 was probably the car that STARTED HIP HOP music.”
Yeah – All those guys wearing Lexus hood ornaments on chains around their necks in the 80’s really knew what they were doing.
Oh wait – That wasn’t Lexus.
That was Mercedes-Benz.
So Lexus followed after Mercedes Benz….I see.
Hip-hop music started some 15 years before Lexus ever existed
Look how classy and stately they used to look. The Predator grill ruins everything.
That grill is the worst thing in automobile design, second only to squinty slanty headlights,
I’m SO with you
I make myself feel better whenever I see one by hearing Arnold say “You are one ahgly mothah fuckah” in my mind. Immediately followed by “Get to da choppah!” of course.
I live in DC and never, ever see these — and you’d think this would be a good market for Lexus, as what many Washingtonians want when shopping for luxury is something with quiet prestige. Except that isn’t Lexus anymore — everything they build is intensely over-designed. There’s no stealth or restraint. It’s just noise, and it’s ugly.
Over designed? It’s more like the designer gave up on the front end and just scribbled and crosshatched a placeholder design and got hit by a bus while crossing the street to get lunch. Someone went to the poor guy’s desk and said it was good enough.
That’s my charitable hypothesis, maybe it looks that way on purpose.
Okay, hideously designed.
They wanted to call back to toyota’s heritage of making looms, so the grill is supposed to be a spindle. No one stopped to ask if that would look horrible as a grill
A large portion of DC needs to drive something American for… reasons, and the only real entries are the Escalade and Navigator.
I see a lot of Mercedes, BMWs, Land Rovers, etc. What I don’t see are Lexuses.
There aren’t many LS sedans here in Qatar too.
For that price, people seem to prefer the Germans (even with their expensive-to-maintain overengineered designs).
I see more LXs and Escalades than LS sedans.