Thinking of buying 2014 RCF

[LordByronUK]

Hey guys, I'm seriously considering a 2014 RCF on sale right now, but am worried about buying one of the first batch ever to arrive in the UK . Despite being Lexus approved, it has a few build quality issues on the interior (arm rest and center console littered with creaks). Also experienced bad throttle lag on the test drive, thought I was in normal mode only to my surprise was actually in Sport+ . Could this be the laggy throttle fuel pump issue I see discussed on earlier models?

Would love to know your thoughts, am I being overly paranoid, is it a risk buying a 2014 model, are there lots of early issues that got ironed out in 2015/16? The car is actually in great condition though and only 33k miles...

[Rob RCF]

51 minutes ago, LordByronUK said:

Hey guys, I'm seriously considering a 2014 RCF on sale right now, but am worried about buying one of the first batch ever to arrive in the UK . Despite being Lexus approved, it has a few build quality issues on the interior (arm rest and center console littered with creaks). Also experienced bad throttle lag on the test drive, thought I was in normal mode only to my surprise was actually in Sport+ . Could this be the laggy throttle fuel pump issue I see discussed on earlier models?

Would love to know your thoughts, am I being overly paranoid, is it a risk buying a 2014 model, are there lots of early issues that got ironed out in 2015/16? The car is actually in great condition though and only 33k miles...

Were you in auto or manual mode? The transmission can be pretty laggy at times, especially if you're driving normally and then suddenly floor it and it has to work out how to get from 8th > 2nd.

The throttle itself should feel very responsive though, especially in manual mode and Sport S+. If you're not sure, try to drive another one to compare.

I wouldn't want a creaky Lexus though. Keep it as a negotiation point maybe. "I'll buy it if you fix the interior creaks".

[LordByronUK]

The car did respond much better once I switched to manual mode, like night/day! I was just surprised an RCF wasn't more responsive in Sport+ auto mode, but maybe I wasn't driving hard enough... Yeah I do need to driver another one perhaps.

Yes I said to them they've got to investigate the creaky armrest, because that certainly was not normal in any Lexus I've ever driven or had. I suspect the armrest just needs replacing, but it concerns me in general there are more issues like this with the first model year. Such as shame though as the car was in fantastic condition overall...

thanks

[mr2lad]

3 hours ago, LordByronUK said:

The car did respond much better once I switched to manual mode, like night/day! I was just surprised an RCF wasn't more responsive in Sport+ auto mode, but maybe I wasn't driving hard enough... Yeah I do need to driver another one perhaps.

Yes I said to them they've got to investigate the creaky armrest, because that certainly was not normal in any Lexus I've ever driven or had. I suspect the armrest just needs replacing, but it concerns me in general there are more issues like this with the first model year. Such as shame though as the car was in fantastic condition overall...

thanks

I fitted a APEXI throttle controller (7 different modes,although i only use the red top mode) 3yrs ago , to eliminate the lack of instant response, and to this day im well happy with response in any mode…except eco ive never driven my car in the girlie eco mode 😂 

[Rob RCF]

16 hours ago, LordByronUK said:

The car did respond much better once I switched to manual mode, like night/day! I was just surprised an RCF wasn't more responsive in Sport+ auto mode, but maybe I wasn't driving hard enough... Yeah I do need to driver another one perhaps.

Yes I said to them they've got to investigate the creaky armrest, because that certainly was not normal in any Lexus I've ever driven or had. I suspect the armrest just needs replacing, but it concerns me in general there are more issues like this with the first model year. Such as shame though as the car was in fantastic condition overall...

thanks

Yeah I thought the same when I first drove it, the transmission seemed reluctant to downshift, especially on tighter roads when you don't have any long straights to keep your foot planted. Bear in mind I came from a car with a DSG.

Any frustrations faded away as soon as I switched to manual mode.

It can be fun in auto though, you need to at least be in sport mode and when you start getting on it the transmission does "wake up" and will really start to hold low gears and even blip the throttle when you get hard on the brakes which is quite awesome. Then if you relax your inputs for a few seconds it calms down again and goes back into a higher gear.

I don't think there's too much to worry about with the oldest ones per se, and one creak shouldn't be too hard to fix. If the car's in great condition otherwise I wouldn't let that put you off. But it's always a good idea to drive more than one.

[Jgtcracer]

16 hours ago, mr2lad said:

I fitted a APEXI throttle controller (7 different modes,although i only use the red top mode) 3yrs ago , to eliminate the lack of instant response, and to this day im well happy with response in any mode…except eco ive never driven my car in the girlie eco mode 😂 

Had one in my ISF, was really good.  I always drive in Eco in the RCF now though

I know, I’m weird!

[mr2lad]

9 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

 

I know, I’m weird!

VERY 😉😂😂😂😂

[Rob RCF]

21 hours ago, Jgtcracer said:

Had one in my ISF, was really good.  I always drive in Eco in the RCF now though

I know, I’m weird!

What do you like about eco? Not a loaded question, genuinely interested, as I find it so horrible, the accelerator pedal feels like pressing on a sponge.

[Jgtcracer]

1 hour ago, Rob RCF said:

What do you like about eco? Not a loaded question, genuinely interested, as I find it so horrible, the accelerator pedal feels like pressing on a sponge.

I’ll play with the drive modes depending on my mood, will never use Eco in manual for example.  I find the subdued pedal feel makes me drive in a more relaxed fashion and slows me down.  For me, Eco mode more than any other changes the character of the car.  Maybe I should have bought an S-class!

Ill tend to use normal/sport for manual use when going for a blat as I find sport+ Won’t let me shift up/down when I want quite as well.

When I want to drift around corners/junctions then sport+ expert is the only way to go!

Hope that helps.

[LordByronUK]

Thanks for all the info guys, really informative and is definitely helping my decision. Glad to hear about the throttle, that's pretty much how it is in my IS300h, after going hard in Sport mode for a few seconds, it is seriously responsive after that until I ease off, seems like typical Lexus transmission programming then...

[k80]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:15 PM, Jgtcracer said:

Had one in my ISF, was really good.  I always drive in Eco in the RCF now though

I know, I’m weird!

It's not "weird" or "girly" - it's a fantastic feature to have on a sportier car that many folks may want to also daily for a smooth and economical drive. The stereotypes around this are tiring. It's fine to not bother with eco mode if you're not inclined, but it's actually really cool design IMO!

[MNMJ]

I love eco mode for motorways and when I just want  a relaxing cruise. It makes a great contrast to the times I want to wake myself and the car up

[Ala Larj]

Eco mode is great in stop start traffic or on motorways with average speed cameras in roadworks where brief acceleration is not desired or required. Gives a much more relaxing drive!

[Jgtcracer]

7 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

Eco mode is great in stop start traffic or on motorways with average speed cameras in roadworks where brief acceleration is not desired or required. Gives a much more relaxing drive!

It’s good to see a few of us are now coming out of the closet, I knew I wasn’t the only one!

 Wish the suspension softened up a bit though.

[B1RMA]

1 hour ago, Jgtcracer said:

It’s good to see a few of us are now coming out of the closet, I knew I wasn’t the only one!

 Wish the suspension softened up a bit though.

I thought your car was a later one with AVS, in which case it should soften up nicely. I'm running 20 inch wheels and with the car set on standard the AVS produces a very comfortable ride.

[Jgtcracer]

2 hours ago, B1RMA said:

I thought your car was a later one with AVS, in which case it should soften up nicely. I'm running 20 inch wheels and with the car set on standard the AVS produces a very comfortable ride.

Yea it is, though it’s going into Newcastle for its service beginning of Dec and I’ve asked them to look at it, always stiff and doesn’t seem to change irrespective of drive mode.  Passengers comment how uncomfortable it is so not convinced it’s right.  Not sure I will have much luck with Lexus, no errors so they won’t believe me!

[B1RMA]

5 hours ago, Jgtcracer said:

Yea it is, though it’s going into Newcastle for its service beginning of Dec and I’ve asked them to look at it, always stiff and doesn’t seem to change irrespective of drive mode.  Passengers comment how uncomfortable it is so not convinced it’s right.  Not sure I will have much luck with Lexus, no errors so they won’t believe me!

I can assure you there is a very noticeable difference to the settings. I may have mentioned this before but when I changed over to 20 inch wheels I was dreading the fact I may have lost that lovely smooth ride you can only get with the AVS car. But to my pleasant surprise it didn't so I would say it needs looking at.

When I first started to look for a RCF I was fortunate to find a dealer with both a non AVS and an AVS car. I drove them back to back and bought the later AVS car despite it being well over £14-15K more there was that much difference.

[ColinBarber]

34 minutes ago, B1RMA said:

I can assure you there is a very noticeable difference to the settings.

Interesting how different people perceive this.

There are only two settings, normal or sport so dropping into Eco doesn't soften things up. It is really stiff or really, really stiff.

[B1RMA]

10 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Interesting how different people perceive this.

There are only two settings, normal or sport so dropping into Eco doesn't soften things up. It is really stiff or really, really stiff.

I understood that the system reacted to the way you drive, this is one of the reasons I keep it out of Sport+ because if you really get a shift on it probably tightens up enough for really stiff.

There is a technical paper issued by Lexus that covers the unit in the RCF

[B1RMA]

Image.pdf

[B1RMA]

Did this PDF come out okay?

[B1RMA]

Just in case.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwig3rq69rX7AhUKIsAKHfxvCBEQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsroom.lexus.eu%2Flexus-upgrades-gs-f-and-rc-f-with-adaptive-variable-suspension%2F&usg=AOvVaw2hkBHnVSuOaDQKyf-uXnBa

[Jgtcracer]

2 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Interesting how different people perceive this.

There are only two settings, normal or sport so dropping into Eco doesn't soften things up. It is really stiff or really, really stiff.

I find this interesting as I thought I was the only one.  Having owned cars in the past with adaptive suspension it’s certainly not obvious if it’s working.

Stiff all the time!

[Jgtcracer]

50 minutes ago, B1RMA said:

Just in case.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwig3rq69rX7AhUKIsAKHfxvCBEQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsroom.lexus.eu%2Flexus-upgrades-gs-f-and-rc-f-with-adaptive-variable-suspension%2F&usg=AOvVaw2hkBHnVSuOaDQKyf-uXnBa

It’s a good read, find it interesting that the material said the dash has been reconfigured to show AVS sport selected.  I certainly don’t get any indication that AVS is on!

 Is the system able to ‘learn’ at all?  Perhaps I could reset it if that is the  case

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, B1RMA said:

Did this PDF come out okay?

Yes, all good.

The system reacts to what is happening to the car and tries to reduce body roll in corners, nose drive during braking, squat with acceleration and general jittering with uneven roads. It uses speed, acceleration, steering angle, yaw rate and if the brake pedal pressed to work out what is needed and to what level.

If it is in anything other than Sport+ the amount of damping it allows is limited, on both extension and compression, whereas with Sport+ it will allow maximum but not the minimum amount to try and keep the car as flat as possible, so it will feel harder in Sport+. E.g. of the 30 levels, normal could be 0-20 and Sport+ 10-30 (just an example I don't know the actual values).

 

But given it is a high performance car what it doesn't have is a soft and floaty mode. There is always a stiffness to it, both from adjustable damping and the fixed spring rates, and the system also doesn't really help over pot holes because it is a reactive system and the moment is over before it can react.