That's the plan, yeah. I though about going thr route you did, with making a conversion to the LC style setup, but decided it's probably more work than necessary. I'll likely go with a Pioneer HI, since I know them well and have had great luck with them. With thst in mind. I can get another radio side harness for cheap if I ever need to remove it from the LX. This will also save some space behind the HU for add-ons if I ever need any. I've kind of been eyeballing some OBDII scanners that are plug and play with Android Auto, you can get real time readings from various computers in the vehicle. Being in the VW/Audi world for ages, I've come to appreciate real time data, lol. I haven't seen a whole lot on what they can read on vehicles of this era, but even basic info could come in handy while out in the middle of nowhere.
I've also looked into the whole tablet style HUs, that take place of the HVAC controls, readio, etc. I can't say I'm totally sold on something that large, but the extra features are tempting...
If I can find the time, I'm playing with some ideas for either a raspberry Pi or arduino type control board for some other features. The space behind the radio should be sufficient for what I need if I go with mech-less HU or the tablet style.
One of the main things I'd like to address, most of my VWs folded in the mirrors when the vehicle was turned off, since the Lexus has a button for thos, it should be relatively easy to tie in a control board to make them automatically fold in or out on acc power. That's a whole other thread though, lol.
