Looking at a rc 300h black specials edition

JRowe · July 25, 2021

Hi looking to move from a bmw 420i in to a rc 300h, iv had a test drive and enjoyed the cabin space and design, the drive is something it lacks compared to the 420 though.
the car seemed ok on test drive, is their anything i need to look out for on this model before handing any money over. It will be brought from a main dealer.

NemesisUK · July 25, 2021

What year and mileage is the car?

Apart from the usual, full Lexus service history and current hybrid health check.

The bonnet leading edge is prone to stone chips. The rear tyres wear on the inside edges, this is normal but worth checking how soon they may need replacing

JRowe · July 25, 2021

Thanks for the quick response,

The car is a 2018 and has 30k on the clock.

On the test drive seemed everything was ok, Ev coming in on stop start traffic no problems and no warning lights on display.

A quick blast through a city center and down a motorway lasting 30 min returned me over 40mpg.

Really like the car but being new to hybrid tech not sure what to look out for on this car, seems if you do a generic " what to look out for on a rc300h" on google nothing comes back apart from the drive performance.

I like the car not sure on the black wood panels on the interior, not sure if theirs options for a brushed aluminum insert later on.

link for car below

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105293241571?include-delivery-option=on&model=RC 300H&sort=relevance&radius=50&advertising-location=at_cars&make=LEXUS&postcode=me58ul&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&page=1

NemesisUK · July 25, 2021

You are looking at the special edition. It's all black.

Both my RC300h F-Sports came with turned aluminium trim panels, one with cream seats and the current one with red.

If you can find one and stretch the budget, the facelifted model offers more toys as standard and a revised suspension set-up, more adjustment steps in the AVS and better feedback through the steering. The hybrid control has been tweaked as well giving more speed in EV mode. The fronts discs become slightly larger and two-piece with orange calipers.

Las Palmas · July 25, 2021

If you love music. Really love music find one with Mark Levinson audio. It is superb. Have sold audio equipment costing as much as a car but even those are not as good as the ML audio. It was in 1985 so audio has improved since then; not really that much. The best Fujitsu Ten DSP system then was not bad, but did cost so much that we mostly made show cars and seldom sold any.

JRowe · July 25, 2021

Yip I checked this, defo has the ML system in said car

Linas.P · July 25, 2021

Black edition was only available in 2018 and it had all the options including ML.

One thing I would note is that buying 2018 car you will have to pay new road tax (I believe £140/year) compared to £20 on 2017 car. This is kind of annoying, because I think 2018MY are the best RCs in my opinion - not FL (I don't like how they look), but already includes LSS+ and Widescreen Sat-Nav.

To be fair I would not pay extra £3000-4000 they are are asking for this particular "black edition" - there are other cars with lower miles and lower price, or same price and FL models. Besides back on black is kind of too dark in my opinion, but that is personal preference I guess.

JRowe · July 25, 2021

6 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Black edition was only available in 2018 and it had all the options including ML.

One thing I would note is that buying 2018 car you will have to pay new road tax (I believe £140/year) compared to £20 on 2017 car. This is kind of annoying, because I think 2018MY are the best RCs - not FL (I don't like how they look), but already includes LSS+ and Widescreen Sat-Nav.

Yes i think this is the case, also the car is list priced at 45k so i will have to pay the additional £380 on top of the standard tax untill 2023 which is a factor i didnt see coming on a monthly cost 😞

serbarry · July 26, 2021

16 hours ago, Linas.P said:

This is kind of annoying, because I think 2018MY are the best RCs in my opinion - not FL (I don't like how they look), but already includes LSS+ and Widescreen Sat-Nav.

To be fair I would not pay extra £3000-4000 they are are asking for this particular "black edition" - there are other cars with lower miles and lower price, or same price and FL models.

Excuse me Linas could you please explain what FL and LSS mean? Thank you

Linas.P · July 26, 2021

Face-Lift and Lexus Safety System (Plus)... the "LSS+" is the minimum standard of active safety system Lexus fits to all of it's cars since ~2018MY

In the past various cars had various different systems, so perhaps LS600 Premier had equivalent of LSS+ in 2006, but other models did not... so Lexus decided that safety is kind of important and it should not be an option. It is same as Toyota Safety Sense 2.0, except Toyota doesn't fit it across the range as standard...

Now that is true in theory , but it does not mean that say 2020 CT/UX gets same system as 2020 NX/ES and there are still some variance in quality and functions of the system e.g. dynamic cruise control on CT only work from ~30MPH (it may be 28MPH =45KPH) whereas in NX it could work from the start (known as "full-range/speed" or "all-speed" system). The difference comes to when you approach the traffic (say traffic lights) in either car - CT would start slowing down and would disengage cruise control and then signal for you to brake, if you don't then it will trigger emergency braking (which is not at all pleasant) in contrast say NX would slowdown to stop by itself, turn off the engine and once traffic moves-off would start the engine and start moving by itself until it reaches the speed you have previously set. All that without you touching anything at all. To be fair in my experience as long as road is well marked it is almost as good as autopilot.

You can find more here:

https://www.lexus.com/documents/safety/Lexus-Safety-System-Plus-062017.pdf

JRowe · July 26, 2021

Thanks for all the extra info, I had my PX qoute back today and what my finace would be fore the car and its coming in a little more than hoped. Also on top of this it does have the extra road tax on top at £360 + the normal road tax. Think im going to be a little over what my budget can get on this Special Edition version.

Im trying to stick to a budget so im guessing maybe look for a non dealer approved rc or a slightly older one.

Linas.P · July 26, 2021

I think that is absolutely rational decision, older RC will give you 90% of the same features and I would not worry about "dealer approved" car either. Even Lexus dealers cannot be trusted and you must record all the interaction in writing e.g. e-mail. The whole "approved" thing makes no difference whatsoever - mere fact it is on the dealer lot makes it "approved", but does not guarantee car condition will be good. I guess the only advantage is that Lexus dealer will be in the same place tomorrow so if something is wrong you can find them, whereas private seller or independent dealer may not be so easy to find.

Secondly, if you would have wanted to get FL car then I would say - sadly there is no way to get it for less, but pre-FL cars can certainly be had for much less, either with more miles (or even less miles in this case), or older year. Whatever you do - do not buy car with standard audio system... it is just crime that Lexus fitted into RC. Get either Premium audio (10 speakers) or ML. You can see that car has standard audio system on pre-FL cars by round dial next to armrest, instead of "mouse pad".

Don't forget Lexus has now changed their warranty terms (called "Lexus Relax"), which means that as long as you service car with Lexus it will have extended warranty for 100k miles and 10years. In short - you can buy car anywhere provided you are happy with the condition of the car (I assume that includes full service history), service it at Lexus and it will automatically get warranty.

NemesisUK · July 26, 2021

4 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I assume that includes full service history), service it at Lexus and it will automatically get warranty.

The only stipulation is the car is technically free from faults at its first service. No requirement for service history.

Linas.P · July 26, 2021

37 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

The only stipulation is the car is technically free from faults at its first service. No requirement for service history.

Correct. My point was:

43 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

provided you are happy with the condition of the car (I assume that includes full service history)

I would be suspicious of any car of such age (3-4 years) which doesn't have service history. Simply... why would anyone buy £40k car and didn't bother servicing it?!

JRowe · July 26, 2021

Again thank you for the use full info, Its always great to be able to pop on an owners club and feel welcomed and not just passed links to other topics started months or years ago.

Just a quick look found this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250568076

I love the blue and cream but I fear it has the lesser audio system as you mentioned.

I will continue to keep my eyes out even with the option to move onto the 200t, The hybrid is not a big buying point for me but certainly the design of the car is. Only problem i can see with the 200t is it only ran production for a small amount of time.

Linas.P · July 26, 2021

By all means I would advise to try the standard audio and see what you think... perhaps not everyone have the same requirements and it would satisfy your needs. However, in my opinion it is totally unacceptable and borderline criminal to exist in any car never mind £40k luxury car. As well, several members here got IS/RC with this system and only realised how terrible it is and how little options there are for upgrade only after purchase.

Is there any particular reason why you looking at 2018 cars? Because for example your last car is clearly 2017MY with older smaller screen despite being registered in 2018.

Finally, note that you only need to copy advert ID in the link i.e. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250568076. Otherwise you sharing your post code in the link (may not be a big deal). As well I would not limit distance at 100 miles - these are rare cars and you would be lucky to find one you want even nationwide, so limiting it to 100 miles just limits your choice significantly.

rayaans · July 28, 2021

On 7/26/2021 at 7:07 PM, JRowe said:

Thanks for all the extra info, I had my PX qoute back today and what my finace would be fore the car and its coming in a little more than hoped. Also on top of this it does have the extra road tax on top at £360 + the normal road tax. Think im going to be a little over what my budget can get on this Special Edition version.

Im trying to stick to a budget so im guessing maybe look for a non dealer approved rc or a slightly older one.

The vehicle you posted was in poor condition anyway.

Look at all the footwell side sills and glovebox area - its got scratches all over it.

JRowe · August 1, 2021

On 7/28/2021 at 8:52 PM, rayaans said:

The vehicle you posted was in poor condition anyway.

Look at all the footwell side sills and glovebox area - its got scratches all over it.

The dealer has since called up with a better deal so will go back in over the next few days and see what's on offer.

JRowe · August 7, 2021

Good News, We came to an agreement and I picked the car up yesterday. Very happy with the car on the way home, although cant get anywhere near the so called mid 50's MPG so far... 🙄

royoftherovers · August 7, 2021

1 minute ago, JRowe said:

Good News, We came to an agreement and I picked the car up yesterday. Very happy with the car on the way home, although cant get anywhere near the so called mid 50's MPG so far... 🙄

Congratulations Jason.

Check the mpg consumed over the next 4 weeks and tell us what your answer is please.

rayaans · August 7, 2021

23 minutes ago, JRowe said:

Good News, We came to an agreement and I picked the car up yesterday. Very happy with the car on the way home, although cant get anywhere near the so called mid 50's MPG so far... 🙄

Pics when you get chance. ,didn't think we have the limited edition RC on here yet

Mpg wise you probably never will. The figures are botched by every company. I'd expect 40-45

Linas.P · August 7, 2021

3 hours ago, JRowe said:

Good News, We came to an agreement and I picked the car up yesterday. Very happy with the car on the way home, although cant get anywhere near the so called mid 50's MPG so far... 🙄

You never going to get 50MPG on RC300h, maybe if you drive it at 50... at most 60MPH for long time, but not in any realistic traffic conditions. Further, it will get you lower MPG then say IS300h, because RC comes with 19 inch wheels and much wider tyres on top of being heavier car. ~40MPG is probably the most you can get.