Potential new RC 300h owner help

[Dibo201]

Hi all,

I’m a new member here but have been following the discussions for a while.

I’ve flirted with the idea of purchasing a Lexus RC 300h F-Sport (revised model) for the last 6 months.

However, with recent news the model is to be cancelled in Europe I‘m hoping to snag a used and approved one in the next 6 months… if the prices drop slightly.

Having researched reviews online, I feel most compare this model too harshly against German rivals and what they want it to be (the RC-350/RC-F) and not what it actually is, a luxury hybrid.

Why I want this car:

• Looks - IMO it’s one of the best-looking cars on the market.
• Functionality - I’m a city guy, always in stop start traffic but hit the motorways regularly. I want a car with good mpg, low emissions and hybrid.
• Driving style - Although I’d love it to have a faster 0-60 time, racing people at the lights and thrashing a car around isn’t really for me. Its cruise nature suits me.
• Reliability - My next car I intend to keep for at least 4-5 years minimum. Lexus build quality and hybrid system means less under the bonnet to go wrong... I'd hope.
• I test drove one recently and loved it. I felt completely at home behind the wheel and the ride was smooth and fast enough for someone coming from a 1.8 Honda.

However, I’d love to hear any RC 300h owners negative points only, your bad experiences, or maintenance issues with this model, both minor or major.

Even if its something like the headlights being awkward to change manually, or the servicing costs, any feedback to balance and inform my potential purchase would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, Dibo201 said:

• I test drove one recently and loved it. 

However, I’d love to hear any RC 300h owners negative points only, your bad experiences, or maintenance issues with this model, both minor or major.

I understand you looking at Face-lift model?

Well, if you drove it and you love it, then I guess there are NO major negative points about the car. With model being discontinued I don't think it will impact prices that much, on one hand fairly new late models with depreciate quicker than they would have otherwise as dealers will be keen to get them out, but cars at the middle and lower end of the market would not be impacted that much, these are rare cars and with them no longer for sale used market may even strengthen - I don't see them going up in value, but they may stay around the same cost for a while.

They are rock solid when it comes to reliability and cheap to maintain.

Make sure you get all relevant options you may want in the car you getting as aftermarket and retrofitting doesn't really exist for Lexus. One thing I would avoid like plague is the standard audio system which is recognisable by the round knob... it is objectively very bad audio system (it may not be an issue for you, as this was no longer fitted face-lift models):

That said there is widescreen android sat-nav replacement which is plug an play for ~ £600-900 if you wanted to get better experience from your car. But I would not recommend it unless you are certain type of "techie" person and android user.

Not many are aware, but there were 2 face-lifts for this model. From 2016 there was original 300h, then from 2018 there were cars with updated infotainment (wide-screen) and LSS+ and from 2019 there was full face-lift, with new mirrors, headlight and tail-light, but the same internally as 2018-2019 model. It is not easy to tell apart when the change happened as there are some late 2017MY models registered in 2018 and some early 2019MY cars pre-registered in 2018 - the way to tell the difference is "wide-screen" sat-nav (10.25" vs. old 8").

That is your personal choice buy I would consider 2018 cars as best option, as they have all the same tech, but not the style changes which to be honest I don't like (but that is my personal taste).

1 hour ago, Dibo201 said:

Even if its something like the headlights being awkward to change manually

Not sure I understood what you meant by this?

In terms of small niggle things, I have many:

• like boot being awkward to close
• cars from same year just being more modern (e.g. NX)
• I don't like how indicators work
• etc.

But that said, there is nothing you can do about it (you cannot just go and buy SUV instead) and you already said you felt in the cabin like at home, so I assume for you it is not a problem how indicators work.

[Dibo201]

Thanks for the reply @Linas.P that's a great insight.

Yes its the 2019 facelifted model I'd be looking for as I prefer the headlights and lack of 'fin' design on the rear end but that's just my personal taste.

In regards to the headlights I meant how easy are they to change. I've owned some cars that are impossible/awkward to access the area to change lights as the space around the engine is limited without the help of a garage mechanic.

I agree the indicators felt a bit weird on the test drive but nothing I couldn't live with. The sound system I experienced was the Mark Levison and to be honest I doubt I could go back to anything else 😎

 

[NemesisUK]

10 minutes ago, Dibo201 said:

In regards to the headlights I meant how easy are they to change. I've owned some cars that are impossible/awkward to access the area to change lights as the space around the engine is limited without the help of a garage mechanic.

As the headlamps are LED there really shouldn't be a need to change them and advised in the handbook they are dealer serviced only. I'm not even sure if the lamp units are available separately.

Either way they won't be cheap!!

[PRT68]

I've had my Luxury version coupe for 18 months now and love it. As mentioned, rare and always garners looks especially when parked. 

No problems or surprises.

Very, very quiet when cruising .

Have set my over taking indicator flashes for 8 times. 

Only disadvantage I can think about of, are the wide doors, possibly giving you a problem in city car parks. I'm retired, and as it's fairly low, getting out sometimes resembles falling out!

[Linas.P]

Yes lights won't need replacing in the "life-time" of the car, presumably 10-20 years or more. If one was to get faulty, I believe they are replaced as the whole unit.

I recently find out that only lights which may need changing are indicators as they are incandescent and not LED (aftermarket LED options available). This is bizarre - how did they decide to put incandescent lights indicators (in least suitable place for incandescent light to be) when whole car has LED and especially considering older models already had LEDs. Replacing them is not the easiest task either, but as far as I know they last long time anyway (see p.571😞

https://d24bc9lyrt5en5.cloudfront.net/Customer-Portal-Admin/emanuals/LEXUS/OM24728E.pdf

[NemesisUK]

On the face-lifted models, well on my 2019, all the lights are LEDs 

[Dibo201]

Thanks guys, more great feedback.

It sounds like the cars built to last, I didn't realise LED lights had that great a lifespan on paper.

@PRT68 the doors are definitely huge and I think parking in tight city centre car parks is something I'd be wary of.

I think I'll have to take one out again (after lockdown) for another test drive and try to hit a motorway, as I couldn't get a feel for overtaking last time and I've heard mixed reviews on that.

[Linas.P]

12 minutes ago, Dibo201 said:

I think I'll have to take one out again (after lockdown) for another test drive and try to hit a motorway, as I couldn't get a feel for overtaking last time and I've heard mixed reviews on that.

Motorway should be fine, fuel economy isn't as impressive over ~65mph (which is normal for hybrids), but apart of that it is fine for cruising. What I found little bit sketchy are A-Road overtakes, but they always are.

In terms of lights - Xenons lasted 10 years on my old IS250 and I am the guy who always turns on the lights even during the day (I am actually amazes that in UK is not mandatory like in the rest of Europe) and all LED lights in that car have never been changed for over 14 years. Yes LED headlights is newer things and still quite unusual, but I am sure they will last very long time. Actually, as I understand one failing would be a warranty job. 

 

[Dibo201]

@Linas.P Yes I agree, 60-65mph is usually the sweet spot for motorway driving economy I've found.

What would you say has been your RC's average mpg using the car in all types of conditions and roads?

I'll definitely be sure to take the car out on a few roads where I know I can test the overtaking performance in sports mode.

 

[Linas.P]

Mine is RC200t, so my fuel consumption is worse than cruise ship with 3 swimming pools, casino and 2000 passengers 😞 

I only have limited experience with RC300h (~1000miles), but when I reflect on it the fuel consumption was rather good, certainly not a weak point of the car, but not massively impressive either. I managed to knock it down to 28MPG in the city, but to be fair you really need to try hard if you want to see below 30, I was literally trashing the car all the time. So city would be at least around 30-32MPG in my experience. Outside of the city you can easily get it to low 40's if you don't exceed ~60-70MPH, but anything above is not very impressive. I was getting ~34MPG on my motorway tries London <> Gatwick.

I am sure there are many long time owners of RC300h here who can provide more accurate figures than I do.

[NemesisUK]

2 hours ago, Dibo201 said:

What would you say has been your RC's average mpg using the car in all types of conditions and roads?

 

My 2019 RC300h averages 43 mpg in everyday driving around country roads and urban commutes.

When long distance high speed drives on motorways this average drops to mid to low 30's 

The RC300h hybrid system is definitely a glorified  Stop/Start and in that respect performs faultlessly in town/urban traffic. Let it loose on open roads and it is basically a traditional 2.5ltr petrol engined car, with an extra boost from the traction Battery when needed.

[Dibo201]

Thanks @Linas.P and @NemesisUK, by the sounds of it the RC is perfectly suited to my needs on motorways and in urban traffic.

Hopefully I can get a test drive soon after lockdown and spend a bit more time to see what it can do.

I appreciate the advice.