Hey guys, I went to Lexus and drove a RC F just to see how it drives. I was very impressed with the car, but there is no back seat room at all. The one I drove had the ML and carbon fiber package and sticker was 79K. My 2013 GS F Sport has 9600 miles on it and is flawless, the dealership wrote up an estimate giving 32k trade in and paying sticker price on the RCF. I can't beleoce the trade value was so low, and this would have been my third Lexus from the same dealership. I feel that I wouldnt pay sticker price for a car that depreciates that fast in two model years. anyone else feel that way?

 

Yeah thats close to what many have been getting you could probably squeeze 5k more, the RC-F are not being discounted yet might need to wait tell fall.

 

Yes my 2014 GS350 FSport with 9K miles is only valued at $38K trade in. Stay away from the RC right now cause there are no incentives for it, especially the RCF being so rare.

 

A one or two year old car is probably the worst to trade in because that's the period when they depreciate the fastest.

 

I thought it was the first year that was the biggest depreciation

 

Wow! Assuming the GS was $54K OTD, that is $22K for 9600 miles driven, $2.29/mile excluding gas, insurance and maintenance

 

Dealer can sell your tradein car for 40K or more. There is room for negotiation.

 

The first year is always the greatest depreciation followed by year two, three and so forth. Unless you plan to keep a new vehicle for 8+ years smart money is to buy a 2-3 year old car and let the original owner/lessee take the hit of the sizable depreciation...and let someone else's waste be your savings.

Per Kelly Blue Book a typical GS 350 depreciates:
Year 1: $12,986
Year 2: $5,102
Year 3: $4,638
Year 4: $3,710
Year 5: $3,247
Total Depreciation in 5 years: $29,683

 

Nice. Just found how to get these numbers from KBB.

 

Sadly that is a decent trade in quote. I just took my loaded 2013 Awd with luxury package to carmax and the best they would do is $29k

 

That's just terrible

 

I counted 17 new RCF in stock at the 4 San Diego County dealers-not exactly a rare car here...

 

I suspect you subtract the dealer discount from MSRP to get a buyer's true first year depreciation as it hits their pocketbook?

So, a selling price of $6000 discount from MSRP equals a real money first year depreciation of $6986, not $12986?

 

I have to say that I am really bothered about the depreciation on these cars. Most makes that depreciate like this had 5k in rebates and 0% financing, which Lexus would never offer since they say it hurts the resale value. I feel if their cars depreciate like this, I would never pay close to sticker on anything they sell.

 

You have to pay to play and the depreciation is not out of the ordinary for luxury cars. Lexus actually has some of the best resale values but you will still take a big hit the first two years regardless of low mileage.

This is why I tend to keep my cars at 10+ years. Going to switch it up with the GS though. I plan on keeping it 6 years only and see what's available when the 5th Gen GS comes out. Two years down, 4 more to go. Next car will probably be leased though as my situation has changed.