For those looking at buying a used RCF here is just some of my thoughts after one week of ownership. My Lexus experience is/was limited to my 14 year ownership (and counting) of my 1998 L-Tuned GS400. I am about to turn 50 years old this year.

Car is seriously fun to drive. It's fast. It does not have as smooth a ride as my Bilstein shockedL-tuned sprung GS on 17" L-tuned wheels, chassis is a little stiffer, but for that you get 0 body roll... the cornering is flat out nuts. It rides better than my 1985 Z51 Corvette even with 19's and less sidewall. When I replace the tires I will most likely go to something a little more comfortable though and less sporty than the pilot SS tires. I wasn't comfortable in the car at first, had to adjust the bucket seats to be more upright, I am getting used to the side bolsters not being adjustable, being more upright helped a ton... I have some lower back issues so seating position and comfort is a big deal to me. I am not completely sold yet on the ML Audio as it compares to my NAK in the GS4. It definitely gets louder and cleaner but I feel it lacks the warmth of the Soundstream/NAK system... I think I need to play a little more with the sound settings and tremble/mid/bass balance... don't get me wrong, it's a great audio system, I just have always really liked the NAK in the GS4. As a street car stop light to stop light it can be a little frustrating to drive slow because you can feel how much it wants to pull... what's nice is you can put it in ECO mode and tame it quite a bit, drive your grandmother to the Dr. or put it in Sport+ Expert and make your wife puke or give passengers whip flash... pretty crazy. It's a beautiful car, nice lines, awesome interior, and you see very few if any on the road... I like being in such an exclusive ownership club... it took getting the car from Cali to Florida, but it was worth it... The majority of cars in Florida are white and have been in accidents or have love bug stains already... there was honestly not one 2015 in Florida I was considering and I REALLY wanted the CF roof and spoiler which made it that much harder to come by. Most of the Miami cars had just not been taken care of. Being able to look up the Lexus history of the vehicle was key here, the one I found in Cali obviously had an **** retentive owner considering it went to the dealer for every little possible issue. Luckily the tires on the car are basically brand new but it's going to need rear rotors soon (doing myself). Front rotors look like they have been replaced already and good to go. PO put new pads on rear with rotors that definitely need to be replaced soon but whatever. I have no issues with the infotainment system. I get in, my phone connects, the music plays, good to go. I find the mouse pad controls work fine and there is little to no lag in the interface. I do wish the center console layout was a little different as the controls are a little behind me than I like but I tend to use the steering wheel control mainly anyway,

Cars I was considering...

Mustang GT/Eco Boost - Too cheap and uncomfortable inside / Dated interior
Camaro SS - See above
Kia Stinger GT, GTS, GT1, GT2 - I won't lie, this was tempting. HK Audio, good performance, I like the orange, sedan... but it's a Kia. Honestly I don't see it holding up over time. Was a good deal on a brand new 2019 at one point for the GTS at 37K which is what I basically paid for my 2015 RCF Used.
Lexus RC 350 F Sport - Honestly, I was really close on buying this car, but for the modest price difference between it (lower used miles) and the RCF (higher used miles) I didn't felt it made sense, I wanted something more special.
Lexus IS 350 F Sport - I didn't really need 4 doors and this didn't make sense to me over the more exotic looking RC line.
Lexus GS 350 F Sport - Very close to just replacing the GS400 with a brother... but my L-Tuned GS400 is so much sportier with my setup than a new GS350 imho... didn't want to go the full on sedan route and the new GS feels so much bigger than my old GS.
C6/C7 Corvette - My wife would have killed me. I already have a 25K miles all original C4 and 2 Corvettes would have been 1 too many. That and she knows a Corvette won't hold up like a Lexus. I also know a few C6/C7 owners that have a lot of issues and their cars are in the shop quite a bit. I really wanted more of a GT car anyway.
BMW M4/M3 / Audi RS5 - I don't buy German, I don't let friends buy German, I have 2 kids and a dog, I don't need any more headaches for track bragging rights that won't matter to me... I don't like these car interiors/exterior generally either... pretty boring.
Cadillac/Benz anything - Just no... HELL NO.
Infinity Q60 Red Sport - Not a big fan of the interior or exterior style.

If you are on the fence on buying a used or new RCF and have any questions on the car just ask.

 

Cool and detailed review. I think it is always helpful for perspective buyers to listen to opinions of new owners. ECO mode really dials it back and it feels like a 250 HP car.

Agreed with everything you wrote. It is a blast to drive and definitely difficult car to drive slow especially when you have sport+/manual mode combo on. It just keeps lunging forward at the slightest provocation. Use slalom mode for city driving as that is the best mode I find for slower speed high maneuverability. My favorite is 50 mph 2nd gear roll-on merge on to the highway where I downshift approaching the off-ramp and then gun it. It really is an experience to redline in 2nd gear and then go to 3rd gear.

Once you put a full catback exhaust, it will become 10x more fun as you will hear textures and tones that are too muffled by the OEM exhaust.

 

Hey guys, I'm actually gonna go look at a used 2017 RC-F this weekend and if the numbers are in my favor, hopefully i can drive the car home. I've been searching for over a year and did my homework regarding knowing this vehicle inside and out so any info and insight is a bonus. I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and by the good grace of God, ill post pics on Monday.

 

Have you test driven it yet? If you are going to test drive it on the weekend then go straight to sport+/manual mode for spirited driving. Just make sure the car is properly warmed up (midway in the guage). The car transforms completely in sport+/manual because of the jekyll and hyde personality.

 

Congratulations!

I was looking for one and one popped up at a local Carmax a couple of years ago. The Lexus dealers had none at the time in my area new or used. I went to look at it and it was all stock one owner lease return. I was not going to buy it because I did not want black with red leather but it was very clean. I thought buy the condition, not the color. So I bought it. Now, I love the colors.

I was leary buying from Carmax. When I got the fuel pump recall at Lexus I asked them to go over it with a fine tooth comb and let me know if it needed anything. When I picked it up the Service guy said the car was perfect and if they sold it would have been certified. I also had them change the oil during the recall. Got home and checked and it was a quart over. Common.

I bough it with 17K and it now has 29K and not a single issue. I love the car and I am so glad I went for it.

 

Good luck and I hope it works!

Looking forward to Pictures!

 

IF I bring the baby home, I probably won't be sleeping that night. Will do!!

 

exactly, I was looking for white outside and red inside, but like you I'm gonna choose condition over color. Hopefully, I can have the same problems as you . This is my first dream car as I went thru multiple vehicles for other purposes rather than personal preference.

 

thats what I like about this specific forum. Everybody conduct themselves as gentlemen. I've been thru the Honda/Acura and Benz forums but have to say the people in this forum really feels almost like family and really do care.

 

1. Buy condition and color. Have more than one color you like. I have seen the UB, Infrared, Molten, LP (Mine), Etc in person. Outside of the White (I think it's boring) most of the other colors all pop and look good in their own way. I love the Infrared the best but as a semi DD I don't like red in Florida. I really wanted Molten but didn't want to wait forever to find one in nice condition... I think a lot of used ones were bought more by aggressive drivers, would make sense.

2. Do not drive the car in ECO or Normal on the test drive, you will be like WTF? ECO is very pleasant. Normal feels like my GS400 with 300HP. I have not used Sport... Sport+ is sensitive to pedal pressure for sure.

3. This car is smooth and has a very nice ride on good pavement. If you drive on crap pavement normally try to find some on your test drive, the car is a little stiffer than I expected and most certainly stiffer than a GT car IMHO. I still love it, I just avoid **** roads now when I can.

4. Don't be too turned off by the seat conditions on a used one. If the previous owners were not careful about getting in and out there might be some smallish imperfections. I set my driving position 3 with the seat way back and high to make it easy to get in and then once in I change it to my driving position. It just takes a second and will save your seats.

5. I bought mine from Carmax as well. Carmax has more in inventory than anyone, having the car you want transferred does not take long and there is no obligation to buy, you just have to pay the transfer fee. I also bought the Maxcare warranty only due to the amount of electronics involved and the fact that the car is somewhat scarce and newer. It's not like my old GS400 with a ton of aftermarket support, used parts, and a huge DIY owner base... YET. I can't imagine having to pay to get the dash gauge cluster replaced. Oh, and Carmax had the best interest rate I could find.

 

Congrats!!
I've had my RCF for a few weeks now coming from an 2008 ISF. I love both cars, the RCF feels more refined to me and the ISF had a more "raw" feel to it. I have no regrets and love driving it on the weekends! I can't wait to do a few minor mods to it in the spring/summer time

 

I had always wanted an ISF and was ready to upgrade and it just happens financially I could make the RCF happen and prefer the upgraded interior over the older ISF. I actually found a few real nice ISF's in Florida but early 2008 examples. I wish the 2015 RCF had the adjustable dampers but oh well... I don't know how much difference they would really make anyway. I should have listed the ISF in my original post, I had always wanted one when they came out. Had I not been able to swing the RCF I would have bought an ISF, if I had the money for a GSF I probable would have gotten it just for the added comfort... all I know is I wanted an Import V8 and not something German... same reason I bought my GS400. My GS has 207,000 miles and still pulls strong.

 

Yeah, can't go wrong with either of them. I posted it my ISF on BaT a few weeks ago. Sold it 2 weeks ago outside of BaT I miss it sometimes, never had an issue the 5 years i owned it.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2008-lexus-isf-8/

 

One thing I noticed that you want to go with more comfortable (at the cost of responsiveness) tires while I am the opposite. I want to go stiffer sidewall tires like the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S with XL rated reinforced sidewalls. The Pilot Super Sport are fine especially when I get 39 psi read and 37 psi front, but the car rides like a brick at that pressure and my head bobbles quite a bit even on relatively smooth roads. I would like to achieve sidewall stiffness at 36 psi so that the tire still has compliance with the road surrface and without having the whole tire turn into a brick.

 

Congrats!...coming from an 08 ISF as well. I do miss the ISF but I'm growing to love the RCF.