Test Driving an RC

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Yes it actually seems like base audio in this one, not even premium. Harder to tell in facelift, because they all got track pad thing.

 

59 minutes ago, DavidCM said:

I think the facelift RC only had the standard fit stereo.

 

The facelift ditched the base audio - they all get premium 10 speaker Pioneer audio system with track pad and premium nav.

Or the upgraded 17 speaker ML system with the Takumi grade/pack.

[CorkVilla]

There's another one situated close by that is cheaper with less mileage:

 

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/lexus/rc-300-h/fpa/3759115?journey=Search

[Linas.P]

No clue on Irish pricing, but it is red, so that automatically is less desirable (not personal opinion, but statistically all oddball colours are less desirable), also pre-facelift... so at least between these two cars the blue one seems to be better value for money.

Purely on spec. the 2019 car comes with some nice extras, Widescreen Sat-Nav, LSS+ (so BSD, RTCA active-LKA and DCC) also has premium audio as clarified by Colin, also I believe face-lift has electric boot - I know small detail, but that was one of things that I specifically found annoying on my car. 2017 car has none of that and standard horrible audio as easily indicated by rotary dial. 

[DavidCM]

I would take issue with Linas on red not being a desirable colour.My RC is Sonic Red and looks superb, especially in sunlight and even when not freshly washed.I have had numerous compliments on the colour ...many more than any other car I have driven,combined.The blue does look nice though.

[NemesisUK]

16 minutes ago, DavidCM said:

I would take issue with Linas on red not being a desirable colour.My RC is Sonic Red and looks superb, especially in sunlight and even when not freshly washed.I have had numerous compliments on the colour ...many more than any other car I have driven,combined.The blue does look nice though.

My red RC got lots of compliments, far more than the blue one that followed it. 

[H3XME]

Ofc the red owners will pipe up. Generally speaking, red, or most colours for that matter aren’t as popular as your “basic” blacks, whites and greys 

[Linas.P]

24 minutes ago, DavidCM said:

I would take issue with Linas on red not being a desirable colour.My RC is Sonic Red and looks superb, especially in sunlight and even when not freshly washed.I have had numerous compliments on the colour ...many more than any other car I have driven,combined.The blue does look nice though.

You no taking issue with me, but rather with statistics. You think it looks superb - that is absolutelly your right, colour is personal choice. But that does not make it "superb" or desirable colour. 

Full disclosure - I don't like red cars, but the statement I made is based on long establish colour choices in UK (other countries may vary). 

In UK for decades you have 3 colours that makes bulk of the cars ~70%, that is white, black and grey/silver. They switch places from time to time, but the are the most popular. Followed closely by dark blue, that is ~15%. So that is ~80% of all cars sold are in those 4 colours. Red comes a distant 5th with 7%. Also these are averages, but if we look specifically to luxury cars (BMW, MB, Audi, Jag) then black becomes clear leader, still followed by grey, white and blue... and various other shades of dark colours... and red barely makes top 10. One exception - there are more green Jags than there are blue, but that is British thing (British racing green). Also there is significant difference when looking at colour choice by genders - men are less likely to choose red... in either way, red is well below 10% and it is in that category of "odd colours" that can be considered undesirable.

I mean - you can draw the line where ever you like, I like to use 80/20% rule... So if the colour does not fit in what 80% of the market wants, then it is "undesirable", red clearly does not fit there and it is closer with other odd colours like green, brown etc. Generally speaking they form this ~10% of colours which I consider undesirable. Red is the biggest of them all... again with ~7.5% (so all the rest of the colours make-up only 2.5%).

That does not mean that RC in red does not look great, but if you ever selling the car that is considered "undesirable" colour and it will impact resale values... one can expect to lose about 10% of value when selling red car compared to 4 main colours.

[dutchie01]

Exactly that is why all cars come in the same color nowadays. If i look outside is see all shades of grey from silver to black and some dark blue or white. Everything looks the same. It is my personal opinion but for a car as striking as the RC ( or LC for that matter) i would always go for the color i adore and red or blue or wonderful metallic darkgreen will do just fine. Some of us will be old enough to remember the 70/80s. the wide spread of colors on the road? Orange! Yellow Red Lightblue Green everything!!

[H3XME]

Colours are just trends aren't they.. just like SUVs are a trend. "nobody" needs an SUV (maybe less than 5% of drivers). People used to buy estates if they needed the extra utility.

I agree that some colours are nice, I myself had the Sage Metallic IS250 and that was a beautiful colour. When I was looking into getting an RC, I actually wanted the sonic blue, it looks great in the sun. Like the red too, but red is not me. While those colours are really nice, the majority of people want those top 3-4 trending colours that aren't really colours at all, so it's not out of order to say that red, blue etc are less desirable. It's just sales stats unfortunately. 

For example, most GT86s sold were red, that's just simply because it was the base (free) colour and others were like £600 options.. The GT86 red is horrendous compared to the Lexus (almost cherry) sonic red. It really looks like a generic flat red you'd see on Royal mail vans 😂 Yet it's the most common colour on that car.. simply because it was free..

[Rabbers]

Purely as an observer I've always rather liked Mazda's signature premium red.  I believe they charge extra for it in respect of other metallic colours in the range, touting it as proprietary and consequently as desirable and exclusive, which is clever but cheeky.  Occasionally they reformulate it for added depth and sparkle and give it a new name.   Originally called Soul Red, it then became Soul Red Crystal, and now, either as a replacement or as a further option, I'm not sure which, it's called Artisan Premium Red.  Not unlike Lexus' "Sonic" colours, it has the reputation of being difficult to match in body repairs.

[H3XME]

46 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

Purely as an observer I've always rather liked Mazda's signature premium red.  I believe they charge extra for it in respect of other metallic colours in the range, touting it as proprietary and consequently as desirable and exclusive, which is clever but cheeky.  Occasionally they reformulate it for added depth and sparkle and give it a new name.   Originally called Soul Red, it then became Soul Red Crystal, and now, either as a replacement or as a further option, I'm not sure which, it's called Artisan Premium Red.  Not unlike Lexus' "Sonic" colours, it has the reputation of being difficult to match in body repairs.

100%. The recent Mazda red is amazing. 

Most colours today are difficult, especially pearls. I got quoted just over £10000 for a rear bumper respray just because they'd have to blend it in with the quarters due to the paint being pearl

[DavidCM]

31 minutes ago, H3XME said:

100%. The recent Mazda red is amazing. 

Most colours today are difficult, especially pearls. I got quoted just over £10000 for a rear bumper respray just because they'd have to blend it in with the quarters due to the paint being pearl

Some idiot drove into the back of me not long after I bought my RC in Sonic Red.The damage was comparatively minor ,mostly to having to replace the rear bumper.However,to get a colour match on the Sonic paint,they(Lexus) had to respray the rear third of the car..including taking out the rear side fixed windows.The finished job was perfect.

Whilst on the subject of colour,the last 3 cars I have bought ,I have kept away from silver/grey/black. Why ....those colours are a bit like ar5eholes.... everybody's got one .

[H3XME]

1 hour ago, DavidCM said:

Some idiot drove into the back of me not long after I bought my RC in Sonic Red.The damage was comparatively minor ,mostly to having to replace the rear bumper.However,to get a colour match on the Sonic paint,they(Lexus) had to respray the rear third of the car..including taking out the rear side fixed windows.The finished job was perfect.

Whilst on the subject of colour,the last 3 cars I have bought ,I have kept away from silver/grey/black. Why ....those colours are a bit like ar5eholes.... everybody's got one .

Whoops. Sorry typo. £1000* not ten grand😅

But yeah, it's not easy to get it done right. A lot of insurance companies write cars off due to expensive paint. My mates BRZ was vandalised. Paint stripper thrown over it. Insurance wrote the car off as being uneconomical to repair... I think we pay stupid money for paint jobs in the UK compared to Europe or US. 

[Jgtcracer]

On 7/31/2024 at 4:01 PM, DavidCM said:

I would take issue with Linas on red not being a desirable colour.My RC is Sonic Red and looks superb, especially in sunlight and even when not freshly washed.I have had numerous compliments on the colour ...many more than any other car I have driven,combined.The blue does look nice though.

I too agree,  desirable and practical/sensible are two different things!!

p.s I will no doubt have got my car cheap due to the colour.  It was for sale for months before I was daft enough to buy it.  I get loads of comments though because people love the colour but aren’t brave enough to have it on their car!!

[Linas.P]

On 8/3/2024 at 12:22 AM, Jgtcracer said:

I too agree,  desirable and practical/sensible are two different things!!

p.s I will no doubt have got my car cheap due to the colour.  It was for sale for months before I was daft enough to buy it.  I get loads of comments though because people love the colour but aren’t brave enough to have it on their car!!

Wasn't that my point exactly? 

"the car is cheaper because it is red"... I would add - cars in odd colours are not necessarily cheaper, they just take longer to sell. So if you private seller, then you can simply wait for a long time, until somebody who things it is gorgeous colour comes around and buys it, but when dealers sell them, they sell them for less, because they don't make much money on used cars and they work on margins from quantity of the sales, if inventory sits on the lot, then they are losing money. As such it is better for dealer to sell car for less, than have it standing for months... obviously they value PX with that in mind. So they buy cars with "odd" colour for less and they sell them for less. 

Also - I would totally buy/have orange RC-F... yellow Lambo, red - Ferrary, lime - Dodge Charger... when the car is more special, then the "odd" and flashy colour may even compliment it... but I am really praying for poor soul who bought "naples yellow" RC300h (especially the basic trim) in UK... imagine depreciation on that! Let's just hope he/she got the car on the lease. 

[CorkVilla]

While we are on the subject of unusual colours...

 

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/lexus-rc-300h-f-sport-2-5-e-cvt-coupe/37511934

 

Certainly, eye-catching, but I'm not sure I could drive one that colour.

[NemesisUK]

1 hour ago, CorkVilla said:

While we are on the subject of unusual colours...

 

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/lexus-rc-300h-f-sport-2-5-e-cvt-coupe/37511934

 

Certainly, eye-catching, but I'm not sure I could drive one that colour.

After a Sonic Red and then Azure Blue, this was to be the colour for my third RC (until knee issues encouraged a change of model) with the white leather interior.. 😎

[Rabbers]

I think that most purchasers of new cars give a lot of thought to their choice of colour but that a significant number of others, to their subsequent regret, fail to make an adequate distinction between the appeal of a colour as it strikes them in the showroom and the probable diminishing appeal it will have in the years that follow.  If this is true it would be interesting to know if there is a correlation between individual colour choices and the predicted or predictable lengths of ownership at the time of purchase.  I would bet on mainstream colour choices being favoured in firm predictions of long-term ownership. 

[Jgtcracer]

20 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

I think that most purchasers of new cars give a lot of thought to their choice of colour but that a significant number of others, to their subsequent regret, fail to make an adequate distinction between the appeal of a colour as it strikes them in the showroom and the probable diminishing appeal it will have in the years that follow.  If this is true it would be interesting to know if there is a correlation between individual colour choices and the predicted or predictable lengths of ownership at the time of purchase.  I would bet on mainstream colour choices being favoured in firm predictions of long-term ownership. 

I would have thought the opposite.  I don’t ever buy a car with the intention of selling and so get what I want, rather than what I think a potential buyer may be looking for in the future….

I would guess that if you only intend on owning for 3 years or so before selling, safe colours may be more of a consideration….

[Bezzer]

22 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

I would have thought the opposite.  I don’t ever buy a car with the intention of selling and so get what I want, rather than what I think a potential buyer may be looking for in the future….

I would guess that if you only intend on owning for 3 years or so before selling, safe colours may be more of a consideration….

Yep, totally sad you pick a colour thinking already about future resale rather than one that you would like better. 

[Linas.P]

Don't forget that majority of people lease cars (something like 2/3 of all luxury cars are leased out). Which kind of makes interesting conundrum then... Because the car is leased the owner does not care what resale value will be, as that was already agreed during the purchase. I kind of doubt that dealerships vary the interest, balloon payment etc. based on colour. So that should suggest that people should be able to buy any colour they want without worrying that cars will depreciate, as such why people choose the colours they choose? Seems to suggest perhaps greys, blacks, whites and blues are genuinely what people prefer, not impacted by resale values? I mean I know that I personally specifically like only dark colours - black or dark blue, I really really don't like red unless it is Ferrari, the only car that I would own in red would be Ferrari, or maybe if I share like SUV with my second half, then maybe it could sonic red (because it is kind of almost burgundy/maroon depending on the light) and on Lexus RX it looks alright. But I would never have RC in such colour, nor orange, nor yellow. I would have RC-F in orange maybe. Secondly, if I can't have car in black/blue, then my second choice is white, but only for newer cars, or silver for classic cars.

And those who buy cash, they buy for log term ownership and like Marcus does not care what the car would be worth when reselling, or at least that is not key criteria when making the choice. Also, just to be clear, as I said the difference isn't really that huge - it is not like red car is automatically worthless, for private sales it just takes longer to sell, for PX one may lose 10%, it is not end of the world if that makes you happy driving car in colour you want. So again it just seems to me that people buy the 4 popular colours more because they genuinely like them, and not because of resale values. Further, if at resale certain colours are more popular, then they genuinely are more popular.

Final part - a lot of people buy what is available, very few actually order the custom car, most just come into dealership and pick what dealership has in the showroom. 

Not sure what is conclusion - perhaps that 4 most popular colours are genuine what people like and not just rational thinking about resale... and perhaps that many people do not actually care for the colour that much? 

[Jgtcracer]

13 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Don't forget that majority of people lease cars (something like 2/3 of all luxury cars are leased out). Which kind of makes interesting conundrum then... Because the car is leased the owner does not care what resale value will be, as that was already agreed during the purchase. I kind of doubt that dealerships vary the interest, balloon payment etc. based on colour. So that should suggest that people should be able to buy any colour they want without worrying that cars will depreciate, as such why people choose the colours they choose? Seems to suggest perhaps greys, blacks, whites and blues are genuinely what people prefer, not impacted by resale values? I mean I know that I personally specifically like only dark colours - black or dark blue, I really really don't like red unless it is Ferrari, the only car that I would own in red would be Ferrari, or maybe if I share like SUV with my second half, then maybe it could sonic red (because it is kind of almost burgundy/maroon depending on the light) and on Lexus RX it looks alright. But I would never have RC in such colour, nor orange, nor yellow. I would have RC-F in orange maybe. Secondly, if I can't have car in black/blue, then my second choice is white, but only for newer cars, or silver for classic cars.

And those who buy cash, they buy for log term ownership and like Marcus does not care what the car would be worth when reselling, or at least that is not key criteria when making the choice. Also, just to be clear, as I said the difference isn't really that huge - it is not like red car is automatically worthless, for private sales it just takes longer to sell, for PX one may lose 10%, it is not end of the world if that makes you happy driving car in colour you want. So again it just seems to me that people buy the 4 popular colours more because they genuinely like them, and not because of resale values. Further, if at resale certain colours are more popular, then they genuinely are more popular.

Final part - a lot of people buy what is available, very few actually order the custom car, most just come into dealership and pick what dealership has in the showroom. 

Not sure what is conclusion - perhaps that 4 most popular colours are genuine what people like and not just rational thinking about resale... and perhaps that many people do not actually care for the colour that much? 

Good points….also worth considering that lots of people don’t actually care that much about cars so don’t feel the need to make a statement when choosing colour.

Most on the forum would consider themselves ‘car people’ so are a bit more inclined to be brave with colour etc.  

[H3XME]

10 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Not sure what is conclusion - perhaps that 4 most popular colours are genuine what people like and not just rational thinking about resale... and perhaps that many people do not actually care for the colour that much? 

Majority will definitely not think about re-sale value, and it would only apply to people who buy through HP or outright because you'll actually own it then. If you lease or get a PCP to change cars every so many years, colour has 0 effect on its "guaranteed future value". 
It's like I said before. Colours are just trends, like clothes. You see a certain type often, you start liking them, you get one. Silver was trendy at one point. It was associated with "luxury", then all of a sudden all cars were silver and now we look at a silver car and think "ew, base colour". 15 years from now people will say the same about current popular colours like the whites & greys. Trends will change again.

[H3XME]

3 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

Good points….also worth considering that lots of people don’t actually care that much about cars so don’t feel the need to make a statement when choosing colour.

Most on the forum would consider themselves ‘car people’ so are a bit more inclined to be brave with colour etc.  

Just because someone's a petrolhead, doesn't mean they would go for a bolder colour. It's a personality thing. I love cars, love working on them, driving them, modifying them etc. But you'd never catch me in a bright red, yellow, XYZ colour.. That, to me, just seems flashy & attention seeking. I said before, even if I could afford a super car, I'd be buying Ferrari F12 in Black. It's all subjective, but a lot to do with personality.

[Jgtcracer]

12 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Just because someone's a petrolhead, doesn't mean they would go for a bolder colour. It's a personality thing. I love cars, love working on them, driving them, modifying them etc. But you'd never catch me in a bright red, yellow, XYZ colour.. That, to me, just seems flashy & attention seeking. I said before, even if I could afford a super car, I'd be buying Ferrari F12 in Black. It's all subjective, but a lot to do with personality.

I don’t necessarily think being into cars means you need to buy a bright colour, I just think that some may be more inclined to do so.  I’m also not convinced that buying a bright colour is attention seeking….

As you say, it depends on the car/personality.