Rob RCF

Thanks for your service and welcome. Nice RCF, I haven't seen many other white ones on here 🙂 Enjoy the pearlescent sparkle, it really shows up in the sun. I'm glad these cars are getting noticed and appreciated, sooo many people just jump straight for the German brands. Honestly most people have no idea what a Lexus RCF is and I've had nothing but positive reactions personally, with some people's minds genuinely being blown that Lexus makes a 5.0 V8 luxury sports coupe with 470 BHP. If you keep the traction control on the car is really safe and approachable. The back might slip a little, but the car keeps it minimal. If you go into expert mode you will get quite a bit of wheelspin at times and the back end will kick out a more easily in a turn, but only up to a point. You can also go fully off (hold traction control button for a few seconds), though obviously then you have little to no safety net if things get sideways. Enjoy the car. Use manual mode a lot that's my recommendation.

Yeah I've never understood this either. I've had a few comments / surprised reactions when I tell people my RCF is my only car. But like, what's the alternative, paying even more to run a second car? The whole point is it does both daily and fun driving very well, and if I was going to run 2 cars I would get an S2000 or something instead. Admittedly I work from home most of the time and don't do many miles in general, so fuel costs aren't a major concern.

I got my tax renewal through yesterday, and was a bit surprised that it's gone up to £615 per year! The newer RCFs with the GPF get really cheap road tax as well...

Maybe it's just me, but £2k seems excessively pricey for a stainless steel axle back. 😮 But I realise we don't exactly have many options... That claimed 15KG weight saving can't be right. Even a full titanium exhaust (catback) only saves about 20KG.

My experience with a cold start is the louder throaty idle at first, then after 5-10 seconds it settles to a lower rpm and is quieter. I haven't noticed a change when going into drive, but I'm usually shifting into drive after the revs have dropped down anyway.

What are you suggesting then? Pretty sure no RCF or GSF has factory exhaust valves.

Might a bit far for me (Hampshire).

Is there something about carbon roofs that makes the process different? I've heard this from someone else too, so just wondered. I'm not sure how much negotiation opportunity you'll have, but you could inform them you have a carbon roof and that you want a fitter who's experienced doing them. You never know they might decide to play it safe and send one of their best fitters out. I'd also be questioning what glass they plan to use. The Lexus glass has special properties such as UV and thermal insulation. So you want something that matches it. "Like for like" is the term I think. Out of interest how big are your chips and where are they on the windscreen? I also have a few, but they are quite tiny, MOT coming up soon as well.

Thanks for posting. This is the first actual written evidence I've seen suggesting that they should be done. How can I get my own copy of that scheduled maintenance manual?

It could be. Just seems odd that they wouldn't use the same purple wrap as the outside. Maybe it was a "fix" done later to hide the orange when you open the doors.

Wow the door jambs. Sprayed black? Quite a few potential red flags with this car.

Yeah this is the crux of the issue to me. My service book explicitly says they need replacing every 60k miles. Why does the dealer disagree and say they need changing anyway? Feels a bit like I'm (or many of us, apparently) are being taken for a ride.

It is kind of funny that even the latest RCFs that are being built today are still having brand new foot-operated parking brakes installed it. If it 'aint broke...

No worries. In fairness the 2UR-GSE is derived from the one in your LS 600. More info on the 2UR-GSE here (ISF version): https://mag.lexus.co.uk/a-closer-look-at-the-lexus-is-fs-v8/ and covering the additional upgrades for the RCF here: https://newsroom.lexus.eu/2014-lexus-rc-f-lexus-most-powerful-v8-engine/ I've always found it amazing that they were able to take the already good ISF version and get 50 extra bhp with the improvements to the RCF. What an engine.

What hand switch? I don't think the RC has one unless it's hidden somewhere. I've always just pressed it with my foot to release.

I like it as well. Nice feeling of the cable progressively tensioning up as you press it. And how does it know the difference between pressing to engage and releasing? It's a total novelty for me, I've only had normal handbrakes or the modern electronic switch type. The only problem I've had with it is it can be a bit hard to "find" with your foot the first few times you drive the car. You can't see it from the driver's seat so you have to feel for it with your foot.

It's not the same V8. RCF has the 2UR-GSE, LS 600h has the 2UR-FSE. I didn't want to comment on a resurrected thread, but I just couldn't let that one go. 😛

Oh really? I thought a condition for the Relax warranty was that you have to get it serviced with Lexus.

I would hope every reputable main dealer would do it, but you never know if they might take shortcuts occasionally, they do seem busy most of the time and probably work to tight schedules. The service advisor thought my RCF was a hybrid and told me I would be getting a "free hybrid health check", so who knows if they scheduled the time appropriately for changing all 8 plugs. When I questioned it she said "don't you have an RC 300h?" Apparently their system was showing my car as that. I don't understand how they can make such basic mistakes, when you make the booking you put in your number plate and it brings up the car details. When they last worked on my car they also put RC 300h on the receipt. Aren't F owners supposed to get some special treatment for having the flagship model as well? Has never felt like it in my experience. How about a complimentary courtesy car or something, nope, instead I have to pay £20 for a home pickup. At least take a look at my car when I drive all the way over to you on my day off because I have a problem with my car and want to speak to a technician. Nope, none of our technicians are free, not even for 5 minutes, you need to book it in and the next available date is 8+ weeks from now. At least have good service and put me through to the right person when I phone up, they can't even do that most of the time. That turned into a bit of a rant... I will ask for the old plugs to be left in the car, not so much that I want them, but it helps ensure that they actually do the job, as you said.

Thanks all for the replies. I think I'm leaning towards just leaving them to it and getting it done. It's less hassle and probably less future headaches in case any warranty issues come up etc. I also want to do what's right for the car and service history etc. I just wish the messaging in the service schedule was a bit clearer. The way it's written now strongly suggests that it's not required, so when the dealer insists that it has to be done or it could affect the warranty, it just gives a bad feeling like they are ripping you off.

My RCF's 6 year service is coming up, it's an expensive one at £850+. One topic of contention is the spark plugs, as they are a major part of the cost of this service and yet may not always be needed. The service schedule on pg. 13 of the service book states that the spark plugs (iridium type) should be replaced every 60,000 miles. There is no specified time interval. My car has only done around 20,000 miles, so it would seem they do not need replacing yet. I've been on the phone to my dealer's service department today who basically informed me that even though it is indeed stated that way in the owner's service schedule, their own internal servicing documentation includes the spark plug replacement as part of the 6 year service and that is what they go by and what they and Lexus recommend. They also spoke to someone from the warranty department and said that they can't guarantee it wouldn't affect my Lexus Relax warranty as in the event of a warranty claim they look through the service history to make sure it's all been carried out correctly. I'm just not very convinced. If Lexus recommends getting the spark plugs done as part of the 6 year service then they would just add the "or every 6 years" time interval to the service schedule, surely? And since warranty claims are handled by Lexus and not the dealer, I shouldn't be too concerned with the dealer's internal documentation since Lexus would go by the service schedule. Any thoughts? I'm also thinking about buying my own oil to save a bit more, probably Mobil 1 5W/30 unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Lol. You must have some older pics of the car or something, have you checked those? No way it left the factory like that imo.

Ah yes the manual calls that "shift ranges" or something. Not a true M mode, but you're telling the trans not to go above a certain gear. I use it for engine braking when going downhill, but never think to use it for overtakes, I think I just prefer manual in those cases as it's simpler and won't kick me out of the mode at an inopportune moment etc. Btw, to get out of that mode you can also hold down the "up" paddle for 2 sec.

That's the one! I was going to name drop AMMO NYC, but I usually assume most other people don't watch youtube as obsessively as me. 😅 Here's the aforementioned video in case anyone's interested: https://youtu.be/uDWWtk-XVtQ

I've seen a detailing video where they were peeling one of the early clear bras off a Porsche and talked about how careful they had to be as it had been on for a long time. Left adhesive residue all over the paint as well. I thought the modern "wraps" were designed to be easier to remove though, especially the higher quality ones.