Rc-f's Taken A Big Hit!

[rayaans]

Cheapest one on Lexus website is £52995 with only 3333 miles and registered in Feb 2015. Comes with sunroof, metallic paint and ML!

Its pretty much taken a £9k hit in 5 months! :O

[ColinBarber]

and if you tried to trade one in you would probably only get £45k.

[Connoisseur]

Are these figures in any material way different from what happens to all high end cars? And whatever car you buy selling after 5 months means you are going to take a big hit, even if just for the VAT element........

Are RC-F owners on here planning such moves? maybe not......;)

[ColinBarber]

The VAT part is irrelevant. If the RC was sort after the used price would be more than new given the short supply, like with an F-type jag or RR Sport when it was only 6 months old.

[rayaans]

The VAT part is irrelevant. If the RC was sort after the used price would be more than new given the short supply, like with an F-type jag or RR Sport when it was only 6 months old.

Exactly my point! F-type Jag's and RR Sport's hold their value very well for how much they cost to buy in the first place, as does the M4 to an extent. The RC-F has taken a pretty big hit even though there are only 200 destined for the UK in the first year. There are 30 or so on the Lexus used website which only leaves another 170 left, some of which are probably in the showrooms and some of which are unsold.

[ColinBarber]

I guess it is to be expected given the almost universal poor reviews it has received.

[Martin F]

That car has now been reduced by £1k and something makes me think you'd have no trouble getting if for sub £50k. *gulp*

[rayaans]

That car has now been reduced by £1k and something makes me think you'd have no trouble getting if for sub £50k. *gulp*

Yep, pretty good spec and a good colour combo too

Ive heard the RC-F's in the states are having leather issues - specifically, the seatbelt rubs on the leather seat and goes through after 5-6k miles. Some have had stuck spoilers too but they've managed to fix that one. The leather issue is frightening though, after 30k you'd have a hole in the seat

[rayaans]

Update - Woodford are giving almost £5k off new RCFs.

Manchester had a used one for £50k. Wasn't long before they came down to £47k!! It had loads of swirls and it had a lot of light scratches though

[Stuno1]

As others have mentioned the poor reviews certainly didn't help. It was very hotly anticipated by enthusiasts and the enthusiasts were let down. Still a fantastic car but due to the weight it can't be 'hussled' like rivals.

[MNMJ]

Big hit = good news

I've just bought one from Manchester, but couldn't see any swirls or light scratches as mentioned by Rayaan. Was it the red one you looked at? If it was, their pre-delivery preparation certainly involved a good polish. Where did the £47,000 figure come from by the way? I would really hope no-one there is disclosing transaction details to third parties.

Interestingly it was advertised as March 2015, but was in fact registered in late June which was a bonus.

The colour is superb and very different from the old Mesa Red on the IS-F

[rayaans]

Big hit = good news

I've just bought one from Manchester, but couldn't see any swirls or light scratches as mentioned by Rayaan. Was it the red one you looked at? If it was, their pre-delivery preparation certainly involved a good polish. Where did the £47,000 figure come from by the way? I would really hope no-one there is disclosing transaction details to third parties.

Interestingly it was advertised as March 2015, but was in fact registered in late June which was a bonus.

The colour is superb and very different from the old Mesa Red on the IS-F

RCF Day 1.jpg

I happened to be in Manchester and went in and saw it there. They had it listed at £50k I think with 2k miles on it but a little chat and £47k was their figure in the end. Id be watching out a few weeks down the line, they don't actually polish the newer cars anymore because they're scared of damaging the paint, instead relying on filler heavy polishes. They've been using Autosmart Topaz and Platinum if I recall correctly.

[Vroomvroom]

Big hit = good news

Bloody great looking that !!!!!

I really wanted red, but was told the blue ones are faster :-)

[Martin F]

That does look nice in red any chance of a side pic?

Congratulations !

[MNMJ]

Its a bit grubby at the moment.

Weather permitting, I'll be giving it the clay bar and Armourshield treatment at the weekend. I'll take some more pictures then.

[MNMJ]

Its scrubbed up nicely. No sign of swirls or light scratches. The wheels are a pain to clean though

.

[Martin F]

That colour does compliment the lines well.

B)

[3 MSF]

A couple of points:

1. I have a blue one, and they are definitely faster! :D (Lovin' that red colour too - beautiful AND a bargain my friend!)

2. What's the issue with the depreciation? I had a pretty much fully loaded £67,000 BMW M4, purchased last November, and after 4 months (and a few issues with it...) the best price I could get was £50,000 (thank you Lexus), and most others were offering nearer £45k; that's a potential hit of £22,000 in 4 months!!

Depreciation is only really an issue if you're looking to sell your vehicle early doors - but I've had so many people comment about how beautiful the RC-F is, and how fantastic it sounds, I've never had a car that still put a grin on my face after 8 months of ownership every time I sat in it (see BMW M4, which lasted only 4 months...), and I'm looking forward to driving it home from work tonight. Simple answer; make it a 'keeper' and the depreciation won't be an issue - it suddenly becomes a value proposition, and a motor you can be really very proud to own. Compared with the 'opposition', I believe the price I paid for this exclusive vehicle wasn't excessive, and I'm very confident that it'll still be purring beautifully in 10 years time (for whoever owns it!)

3. The paintwork issue puzzles me. I don't have any minor scratches or swirls on mine at all, and I was told it has a 'self-healing' clear-coat lacquer that fuses with the UV light from the sun's rays(!?) I'm not sure, but whatever it has, mine looks great, and maybe the red one had healed nicely by the time it was collected from the dealership after being left out in the sun for a few days... :hocus-pokus:

Mark.

[rayaans]

I drove the RC-F and GS-F back to back in Madrid last month. Got to say, the GS-F, although it has the same engine is miles apart - it handles better than the RC-F, something I didn't expect at all! No issues with weight either - its much more fluid and has a better ride.

Im struggling to see the appeal of the RC-F now as the GS-F comes fully loaded for £70k and an equivalent RC-F would cost £65k That difference in price is really minimal at that price point but wow they have done a great job on the GS-F!

Almost feels like they made a half arsed attempt on the RC-F after driving it.

[ColinBarber]

I don't really understand why the current IS platform wasn't used entirely for the RC-F instead of using three different chassis, including the middle section from the poor IS convertible. It would be understandable if they achieved some weight saving but the biggest failing of the RC-F is weight.

Depreciation on the RC-F is high because every dealer was convinced/told to purchase one but there are no buyers so those dealers are forced to try and sell of demonstrators and pre-registered vehicles at a large discount.

[rayaans]

I don't really understand why the current IS platform wasn't used entirely for the RC-F instead of using three different chassis, including the middle section from the poor IS convertible. It would be understandable if they achieved some weight saving but the biggest failing of the RC-F is weight.

Depreciation on the RC-F is high because every dealer was convinced/told to purchase one but there are no buyers so those dealers are forced to try and sell of demonstrators and pre-registered vehicles at a large discount.

Entirely agree. It would have been interesting if the IS chassis was used. The RC has a frankenstein chassis for no apparent reason.

I always tell myself its because they wanted to make it as a convertible and then changed their minds halfway through and left the chassis like it was.

But hey ho, the GS-F is very very good!

[3 MSF]

I sometimes wonder where on earth some of these comments come from. It may be that I'm an experienced automotive engineer with body structure design in the portfolio, and having had the pleasure of working with Lexus design and Manufacturing Engineers in the Motomachi Plant in Toyota City for some time, to hear comments like 'they did a half-arsed job' is just completely disrespectful to the team over there (who put out the LFA not so long ago...). Tooling-cost savings on a 'lower-volume' run product like the RCF alone would probably have been reason enough to develop the hybrid chassis option whilst introducing the newer welding technologies that the GS-F will now benefit from. Toyota = Evolution, not revolution.

Secondly, why would you even consider spending £65K on an RC-F when you can get one a week old for £45k?? Get one with the TVD whilst they're apparently giving them away and you'll have a real handler right there.

And how much of an issue is the weight in your daily driver?? Not a problem in my hands, and similar to the GS-F in weight I believe (which apparently has no problems with weight)?

Two doors may also be a preference on a number of points including styling amongst others, especially if you don't have to ferry kids around and want something that looks really good (looks far better than the four-door configuration in my humble opinion.)

Many of the comments appear to be a mash-up of all the 'faults' the sponsored media churn-out whilst looking for a story, but my comments are based on a real ownership experience; I think your short-changing what is an excellent piece of engineering here, but then with all due respect it depends on what your own personal values and expectations are.

Check-out some of the more recent on-line videos where the story is changing. There's a bit more love now for the RC-F and it's ability to get the power down where and when it really matters; I don't think many RC-Fs will be spending that much time on a race-track - surely you'd by a Cayman GT-4 or similar if that's what you were after.

[rayaans]

I drove the RC-F for a day and it just wasnt up there with the best - The GS-F is styled better and I would say yes, its a half arsed attempt at making a car.

They could have been smart and used the IS chassis or gone for a new aluminium platform but no, they just stuck existing ones together. The LFA was a completely different car, that was honed to perfection, something the RC-F lacks.

The GS-F is an improvement and at the price point its at, its a good proposition. I dont think the RC-F is all that its made up to be on here and I can't see how its better than an RS5 in daily driving either.

[Stuno1]

There is a series of reviews from 5th gear on YouTube (one so far) with the rcf and the m4. Annoyingly, none are on the roads! The one in the clip below is the sprint and auprisingly the rcf wins. Lexus are clever and the rcf gets the power down well. Still think it's a fatty though :)

[3 MSF]

In reality, the RC-F is a fantastic car with a host of different driving capabilities and characters all available at the simple turn of a dial. From a sonorous howling banshee to a relaxed, yet quiet, sporty luxury cruiser all in one package, with 835 watts of premium sounds on tap to help you further enjoy the experience if you can tear your ears away from that glorious engine note. :winky:

So to the 'elephant' in the room, why does the overweight RC-F beat the BMW M4 and Porsche Cayman GT4 amongst others in recent sprint tests? What is one of the key factors that enables this? The downward force and torque delivery rate required to ensure that the coefficient of friction isn't readily exceeded with the Michelin Pilot Sport tyres developed on the RC-F? Weight. Mass. Yes - its weight is one of the key factors making it able to get the traction on and the power down. You could put paving slabs in the boot of the M4 like folk used to do with their Ford Capris, but then the power to weight ratio becomes significantly in favour of the Lexus, and again it would be off into the distance with the M4 in tow and its balance all skewed. Smart engineering then, Lexus.

Having owned both from new, I can say through experience well in excess of a day, and through various weather and temperature conditions that the RC-F is the greater feat of engineering when comparing the two; a great all-round package. I'm yet to hear of anyone who owns an RC-F complaining about theirs yet, and surely they would be best placed to do so if it was at all necessary? Go figure... :D