Does anyone have an opinion on how much the RC Fs have gone up in price after the chip shortage came to light? Is it worth shopping now for one or wait until shortage is resolved which I understand will last well into 2022 and beyond.

 

I began my search for a used RC-F about a year ago and they are easily 10k more than they were when I started shopping.

 

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1953721

Carvana is a good place to put your finger on the pulse of the market. This is about a 8% increase since last December when I got mine, considering the miles, rough estimate. Mine was CPO 78,000 miles for $36,000 ish at a Lexus dealer. Granted, my deal was pretty good, still you can see the increase. Now, that doesn't necessarily translate into $10,000 increase. I focus on 2015 high mileage because as a Lexus, no worries on the miles and they are built rock solid, I would have no fear saving thousands.

Look how a regular dealer, not Carvana, tries to price gauge, no way.....

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

 

I assume you want low mileage and mint condition ones (low wear and tire, brakes, tires etc.)

Low mileage, mint condition 2015 - 2016 RCFs depending on the option packages ( Carbon/TVD, leather, wheels weather package, intuitive parking assist, radar cruise control etc.) are going between high 40s and low-50s. The 2017 - 2018 are in the high-50s. The 2019s are in the the mid-to-high 60s.

Based on that, I would say you can wait a bit longer to see if the chip shortage resolves itself, but from what I hear it is going to be an issue for at least a year or so. Also, keep inflation in mind as high inflation is also driving prices up.. The 2020 and up are still quite a bit more expensive as someone on this board who sold his 2020 for something in the 70s.

 

Hi Mileage worries me especially in a sports car where you have no idea how was it driven or if it was maintained adequately. What's good about your car that it would be a L certified which gives you peace of mind for 2 more years

 

Buy a mint condition and low mileage one for a few grand more and you will get the odds at least in your favor.

Majority of the first owners for expensive cars are lease owners who plan on dumping the car after 3 or 4 years, which is why abuse especially in F cars is quite common. I bought mine with only 8K miles and paid a few grand premium on it. Still only has 10K miles, but it feels/looks brand new because I take very good care of it.

 

Man, every time I find one it is gone within minutes literally. There was one with Carbon/TVD package at Carmax for 51K, looked like new but had 28K miles. I was turned off because of the cat back that was on the car and no one would know if there was other mods on the car, so decided to let go. But wow, it was orange and looked beautiful.

 

Yeah, must be a 2015 - 2016 when Molten Pearl was available. I agree with you about about Molten Pearl. I was not sure about this color until I went to test drive it. I was sold right away and told the seller I was buying it before I left. It is quite a head turner especially when sunlight falls on it, you can see gold pearl flakes in the paint.

There is a 2019 pretty much brand new with only 900 miles on the ODO for sale with carbon/TVD package in grey in the marketplace. It is on for $70K, but it has quite a few upgrades including full exhaust, GSF wheels etc. and also might be negotiable as it has been posted for a while now. It is not even broken in so there is no abuse. The owner is selling it to get a track edition.

2019 Lexus RCF Single Owner - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

 

Do you maintain it yourself? If so, how hard is it to do the regular maintenance? How often do you do oil change considering you don't put on lot of mileage ?

 

Yeah, I saw that one, infact location is only few miles away but the price is out of my league. You're right about the Molten pearl color, it's gorgeous. If it had lower mileage I would have gotten it, the other thing, I prefer no after market modifications.

 

I take it to Lexus dealership where there is an F specialist who works on it. I have had zero issues with it. Maintenance is pretty much the same as my other Lexus RX450h. About $100 CAD for oil change and for full maintenance and inspection, it is around $300 CAD. I still have the OEM brakes at about 60% and the OEM PSS tires were worn out shortly after I bought it (because the previous owner drifted quite a bit) so I replaced the tires with MUCH better PS4S tires with extra load sidewalls to make the transitions very crispy and clean without rolling on the sidewalls. It cost about $2000 CAD, but it is totally worth it and the tires would last me about 15,000 - 20,000 miles hopefully.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks, but what do you mean by "extra load sidewalls to make the transitions very crispy and clean without rolling on the sidewalls" ? Are the sidewalls stiffer and therefore no roll?

 

Yes, that is correct. The OEM PSS tires are pretty good at balancing street drivability and high performance, but had relatively softer sidewalls so they had a tendency to deform under heavy turning load. I went with much higher load rated Pilot Sport 4S of 96Y front and 100Y rear so at 38 PSI front and 40 PSI rear, they feel perfect. The only downside is, the ride is a bit stiffer over rough pavement, but nothing harsh.

This picture is a good example with the OEM PSS tires. You can see the front sidewall collapsing/folding under a tight switchback turn while the wider rear looks very planted. I wanted to fix it so as soon as the tires were shot, I replaced them with reinforced sidewall PS4S tires and it made a big difference.

 

Your concerns are valid, and I did pass on one I saw up close that was lower mileage, around 40,000 priced much higher, but in worse condition. I saved almost $7,000 and got a nicer car, just more mileage. I would never focus on the number of miles on these cars, just the condition. Stick to Carvana for now and this is why, they are trying to grab market share with venture capital money, they would never disappoint a customer with a bad car and if they did they would bend over backwards to fix it. They are concentrating on doing as many transactions as possible to grab the market and that can lead to lower prices for no reason and their trial warranty is second to none. Carmax is close, but they aren't looking to grab market share at all costs, but they do select their cars to make sure they are good enough to sell.

The sweet spot is older guys who have this as a 3rd or 4th car, I only found one though over 6 months of looking, had a 2015 with 14,000 miles all options for $41,000 and some kind of Lexus Platinum extended warranty. In hindsight, that was a steal, but I passed, mostly because I was going to drive the heck out of as daily driver and didn't want silver. Sometimes regret that though.

Lexus dealers are kind of the same way, but are usually over priced, however, if a car isn't "good" they would just send it to auction rather than sell it.

I'm glad mine is a CPO, but I didn't pay extra for it and frankly this car is just as bullet proof as the LS430 I've owned, and more reliable than the SC430 I had. I doubt I got lucky, just well made cars.

Also you can check lexus.com for service records, in case you didn't know that already

 

Thanks for the info. I was about to buy one from Vroom with low mileage (12,000 miles) then I looked it up in with Epivin and found out that they had it shipped to an auction in Las Vegas, then I found that the description of the auction that the car had a dent and more than 10 light scratches. I must say that the price was good at 51K. I decided against it. Maybe was a wrong decision but didn't feel good about it. I noticed that Carvana will show you all the imperfections on the car and magnified, and that's a real good thing. Wow, that Lexus you mentioned had 14,000 miles would have been REALLY excellent buy.