XK140

4 hours ago, Rob RCF said:

Update on this. I had another look at the tyres, it actually has a Michelin Pilot Sport 3 on the front left, a Pilot Super Sport on the front right and Pilot Sport 4 on the rears! They all look similar with the Michelin branding so I guess I didn't pick up on this when first looking over the car.

The mismatched fronts in particular are bothering me, so I've decided to have a new set of Pilot Sport 4 S fitted all round. I knew tyres for this car were going to be expensive, but damn. 😅

More bad news,if you don’t already know,the correct PS4S tyres for the RC F are load rated 92 for the front and 96 for the rear and these are more expensive than the more usual 96/100…(don’t ask me why).

About £800 per set.

My RC F has some old school Bridgestone all round, but since they all have 6mm left I’ll stick with them a bit longer.

With a wrap what happens with areas like the door shuts,are they covered?

Looks nice enough and £37k is a lot better than £50k.

Also,will have the cheaper road tax....eventually !!!

Prices are only going up..

Since in Newcastle a dealer has an RC F for sale on AT and its status is described as a “rare collectors item”.

...and car dealers never lie !

47 minutes ago, Flytvr said:

Just like any F car, so few buyers out there for the RC-F. There are so many alternatives that the press rate much more highly.

Which doesn’t explain why at the back end of last year there averaged about 2/3 for sale when there are about 15 on sale now.

The competitors last year are the same as they are now.

Loss of income due to COVID, so trading down perhaps.

Just an observation,compared to last year there are a lot for sale at the moment,not sure why.

Mine isn’t !

13 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Why? Makes no difference to Lexus if they make a LHD or RHD one on the production line, and there are a number of differences between a European RHD vehicle and a JDM one anyway.

The 9 RC Fs sold in the UK in 2020 isn't going to have any say in whether to keep the vehicle available in Japan or not.

As much as I like my RC F with sales numbers like that why is any manufacturer going to persevere in that market.

If anyone in the UK really does want a new one now then there must be quite a few unregistered cars still available.

Let’s hope the low numbers of the car here hold up future prices...how many is it,only about 300 of them in the UK?

2 minutes ago, Silkmen said:

To add the the topic, I purchased brembo discs for ~£80 each. No issue with performance, however they aren't treated and look a bit nasty, see picture.

I don't ever recall seeing this with the Lexus discs, so I assume the OEM discs are treated. To confirm the fronts look ok, the the rears look nasty and I'll be replacing them with OEM discs next time.

Couple of coats of paint on the disc hub before fitting would do the job?

14 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

This is a good place for OEM discs 

https://www.buycarparts.co.uk/lexus/gs-grl1-gwl1/117800/10132/brake-disc

 

Thanks for that,great price for the discs compared to Lexus oem.

I will need pads also and I see they do brembo ones,but I believe there is a question mark as to whether the pad material will be up to the same spec as Lexus oem?

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

Michelin CC are a combination of summer and winter tyres and are therefore a compromise between the two. Due to the fact they are designed to operate in light snow the tread pattern doesn't move as much water as a good summer tyre on a full wet test above 8 deg C.

Thanks for actually answering my question,Colin.

Can someone answer a question about Michelin cross climate and other all season tyres.

I notice that the Michelin ones are rated “B” for wet grip,as are most all season ones,whereas nearly all premium summer tyres, and most mid range ones,gain an “A” rating for wet grip.

My simple logic tells me it should be the opposite !

Too expensive for a 2015 car IMO,whatever you think of the mods and the colour.

27 minutes ago, Libra500 said:

Thanks to all that have posted advice

I have had the time to look and drive the RC-f in question so thought I would update all who have posted

White RC-f auto (not carbon) 2015 39k miles, Mark Levinson, red seats, TVD (reg TD15 ZSF)

history of the car if known in this forum would be appreciated.

all discs and pads have been done 1000 miles ago

Tyres all good 

looks straight (Hpi will be done), little to no marks on the paint

Lexus only did the first service (I asked Lexus Cambridge) ,

other services have been done by independent (so I have been told) waiting to see invoices

As a private sale (as long as Lexus offer warranty when pre inspected) what sort of price is fair, as I am finding vastly different information out there ranging from £18K all the way over £30K (and not many prices on here)

Thank in advance

 

 

 

 

 

£18k is stupid,unless someone is mixing it up with one of the lesser RC models.

I would say from the prices I’ve seen in the last year £28/29 retail asking,so about £26k private.

I think a trade offer for the car would be about £23/24k

The early cars (2015),of which mine is one, are coming up to six years old and although they are pretty bullet proof,like any car there is potential for something to go wrong and if it does the damage to your pocket will be commensurate with the £60k + new cost...these are not Ford Fiestas.

So there is no way that I would own one without getting the Lexus warranty.For 2 years at only £80 odd per month over the first year it’s cheap for what it is.

If you buy the warranty and at the same time are aware that you can afford the road tax,insurance,consumeables such as brakes, tyres at £800 a set,and of course fuel at 20mpg (or worse!) then you will not have much to fear and enjoy a great car.

Many years ago I had an Impreza turbo and fitted Greenstuff pads mistakenly thinking they represented an upgrade.

They soon overheated and warped the discs...which Subaru confirmed because new discs were fitted under warranty.

When new discs and factory pads were fitted all was well.

As above,not suitable for an RCF...and probably not much.

1 hour ago, Arnett said:

Don't lie... It's not the only reason 5 Seats also 😂 (That's one of my reasons for buying a GSF 😅) 

 

If your near Colchester way I'm more than happy to show you mine 🤷.  Most UK famous reviewers like Chris Harris / Clarkson slammed the RCF but both loved the GSF based on its drivability. 

 

Personally I'd be happy with either. I probably would of saved 7 grand and gone for an RCF if I didn't need space for the kids.

There are many and varied reviews on the internet,but as a brisk but safety conscious road driver I don’t take a lot of notice of Clarkson and Harris reviews.

They both come from the school of “look how I can go on a deserted race track and get this car,that I don’t own,sideways on every corner.”

The RCF and GSF,as we know, are both great GT road cars.

21 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Blimey Keith. £300 to change 8 spark plugs? Now I don't know if there's a difference between the plugs in the 5.0 little V8 to the 2.5 V6 but fir my is250 Lexus Stockport quoted £25 per plug.

I can't see why you are concerning yourself so much regarding the plugs in your spectacular 20k mile car. Leave them be unless you have noticed a deterioration in performance in your car. Don't you have a service plan on your car? 

I recall when I had my IS250 changing 3 of the plugs was straightforward but the inlet manifold had to be removed to get at the other three.

I can’t imagine the a plug change on the V8 would be an easy diy job.

JayEmm is one of the best car reviewers on YouTube IMO.

Coherent,fair,not juvenile or sensational.

He has reviewed a lot of high performance cars,Porsche,Ferrari and the like,but can also appreciate other types new and older.

15 hours ago, BillNick said:

Bought mine privately with Bridgestones on it. Plenty of tread but will be going back to my fav PS4S once I have worn the 4-6mm down.

Would be interested to know the exact spec, load index etc that are being fitted OEM?

It seems to be as I stated above ,Bill.

The tyre load ratings specified by Lexus for the RC F are 92 front (255/35/19) and 96 rear (275/35/19).

Almost without exception all the other tyre brands except Michelin in these sizes have load ratings 96 front and 100 rear only.

So Lexus favour the lower load rated tyres,which seems counter intuitive at first,perhaps these tyres without the extra reinforcement are more flexible and grip better although they might not last as long.

So it seems Colin is,as expected,correct,it’s just strange that there is no official Lexus marking on the tyres but perhaps production numbers are not high enough for this.

The final thing is that the PS4S tyres do also come in the higher load ratings but it is the Lexus lower rated ones that are more expensive!!!

28 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

I think it is just a specific load index, same situation with the previous tyres.

OK,so just down to having 92 front,96 rear,rather than the higher load ratings available?

I’ve read that included in the changes for model year 2019 the car was factory fitted with Michelin PS4S tyres which replaced the previous fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

However the PS4S tyres fitted were said to be bespoke to the RC F,not just a general type.

Now I’ve searched around the various tyre sellers and can see no mention of any Lexus specific tyres....anyone (perhaps someone who has recently bought tyres) got any info on the above,please?

Good price, but a 2018 MY car, not registered until late 2019,  so has been has been hanging around for a long time.

Also looks to be basic spec.

Can’t help with advice on LED bulbs,as you say they may be legality or other issues.

The simple alternative is to fit uprated halogen bulbs.I’ve done this many times in the past,and while you won’t transform your lights to the brightness of LED or hid you will change them from poor to adequate.

There are so few you might have to work with what there is.

It might take six months for your criteria to be met and even then,being such a rare car,it could be reserved quickly over the phone on the day you aren’t looking.I like sunroofs,but they would never be a deal breaker for me.

However,I can see the advantage of a post April 17 car....cheaper road tax,eventually.

We all need to keep these V8 cars as long as possible...there are not going to be made for much longer!!

The fear is of course that as we get near to 2030 those damned politicians are going to introduce an horrendously penal road tax and petrol tax regime.