- Two 2025 Lexus LMs are listed for sale in California.
- Neither model was certified by Lexus for U.S. sales.
- One registered in Oregon, passed emissions too.
Minivans are decidedly uncool to most Americans these days. The segment is often overlooked, despite often being a better choice for large families than a giant SUV. However, one type of van that won’t go overlooked so easily in America is the Lexus LM.
Based on the Japanese domestic market Toyota Alphard, it’s about as luxurious as minivans get, but it’s also never been on sale in North America. That makes the appearance of two examples listed for sale in California, each for an eye-watering $258,000 or more, a genuine conundrum.
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First, let’s take a quick look at what we’re actually dealing with. Initially spotted by the folks over at Motor1, the LM is offered with two powertrain options. The two examples currently for sale in the U.S. both feature a hybrid setup producing around 250 horsepower.
How Did They Get Here?
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That is very similar to what one would get in a new Sienna, but to our understanding, it’s the only significant component that the LM and Sienna share. And that’s what puts it in legally sketchy water in the USA.
Neither Lexus nor Toyota ever certified the LM for sale in the States. To that end, these two examples listed for sale by Irvine Coast Motors need to have very special paperwork to be in the country in the first place, let alone registered for use on public roads.
What’s perhaps most surprising is that they’re not even old imports brought in under the 25-year rule. Both are 2025 models with minimal mileage. One, priced at $269,800, shows just 1,936 miles on the odometer. The other, listed for $258,888, has only 8,709 miles.
One Of Them Has a Carfax
Adding to the mystery, the lower-mileage example comes with a clean Carfax. According to that record, at least, it was first registered in Eugene, Oregon, this past February with just 125 miles on it. Ownership then transferred to someone in Montana by May, and in June it went up for sale. By July, it even reportedly passed California’s emissions test.
In the photos, both Lexus LMs appear to be fitted with Reviver digital frames displaying temporary California plates.
Is There A Legal Way In?
As we’ve covered many times before, vehicles under 25 years old must meet strict federal safety and emissions standards to be legally imported and registered in the U.S. Having a state title or license plate doesn’t necessarily mean a car complies with federal standards.
This is a distinction that has tripped up buyers before. Federal agencies like NHTSA, Customs and Border Protection, and the EPA have clear authority to seize and ultimately destroy non-compliant vehicles if they’re discovered, sometimes years after purchase. The risk doesn’t disappear just because a car slips through the cracks initially.
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This doesn’t mean these Lexus LMs are automatically illegal. There are legal pathways involving registered importers, crash testing, and emissions certification. But those processes are complex and extremely expensive. Without transparency from the seller, buyers are effectively gambling hundreds of thousands of dollars on the hope that everything was done by the book.
As far as we know, and we’ll note that additional rules can vary by state, there are only three viable paths to bring a modern vehicle like this into the country legally.
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First, full federalization by a registered importer, including crash testing and certification, which can easily run you well into seven figures. Second, the “Show or Display” exemption, which allows up to 2,500 miles per year of use, but only applies to historically significant or extremely rare cars like the Porsche 959.
And third, limited approval if the vehicle is substantially similar to an already federalized model, a test the LM likely wouldn’t pass.
Unanswered Questions
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To that end, we asked Lexus and Toyota USA if they had any knowledge of these vans or whether they had ever imported any LMs to the States. They told us they had no information about these specific vehicles and confirmed they have never brought any LM stateside. They also seemed genuinely curious about how they got here in the first place.
Naturally, we’ve also contacted Irvine Coast Motorcars for clarification, and we’ll update the story if we hear back.
Hopefully, whoever the buyers end up being, they check the paperwork twice before signing on the dotted line. Failure to ensure legality could turn these rare minivans into expensive driveway ornaments… or worse.
