Hi all,

First off, just wanted to say hello as I am new here!
I'm in the market for an LFA right now and have a few questions (in particular, regarding a specific car I'm currently looking at).
This is the car:
http://www.ilusso.com/2012-lexus-lfa-c-220.htm

My questions are:
-The VIN ends 447 but the chassis plaque reads 449. Do you know what accounts for the difference? I am used to those two numbers matching (for example, on a McLaren P1). I assume it may be due to a difference between when it was on the production line vs. the preassigned chassis number?
- On a copy of the window sticker that a salesperson who works there sourced, it had listed "Polished wheels - $2,500" on it although the car is on gunmetal wheels currently. Can somebody confirm that $2500 polished wheels were originally an option? I brought it to his attention that they may not be the original wheels on the car but he is apprehensive to accept that theory. He said according to Autoblog ( http://www.autoblog.com/buy/2012-Lex...Coupe/pricing/ ) only "Forged Aluminum Painted" and "Forged Aluminum Black" were wheel options.
- The car is missing several of the included "goodies" (Tumi luggage, crystal model, cradle, etc.). I was wondering if these items pop up separately often? I would love to get a complete set of these things if I end up purchasing the car.

Thank you for any help you may be able to provide!

 

Please see responses inline. Hope that helps. While it is an expensive car for a Lexus, you are making a great choice. You can browse this forum for many LFA owner reviews and you will never see anyone less than ecstatic about the ownership experience. Keep in mind many of them came from Ferraris, Mclarens, Porsches etc. and they stack this car next to the best of them.

 

05RollaXRS

Thanks so much for the information. I figured the VIN and chassis plaque difference was nothing, but for my own peace of mind I had to ask
I'll definitely reach out to the dealer regarding the wheels and lack of "goodies" that originally came with the car as well. I definitely appreciate your help and will report back if I do indeed end up with it!

Cheers

 

You are welcome. Glad I could help. Looking forward to hearing back from you especially pictures of your new LFA and a review/impressions.

 

I have a friend with a very high end car collection who originally convinced me to look at the LFA. I am glad he did because it is like a jewel - in my opinion there is nothing < $1m that has the care, thought or build construction of a LFA. I posted pics a few weeks ago of my car getting an oil change and the underside of the car is all carbon fiber panels that are incredible. The engine is no less than fantastic with the lightest, highest revving and best sounding V10 in the world.

I think in time the high end car market will come to appreciate the LFA, in terms of higher resale values, for what it is - a remarkable one of a kind car that will likely never be replicated.

Good luck with your purchase and btw, as Rolla commented - don't worry about the VIN and chassis plaque - same with every car I know of - they are all two off (I forgot the reason but 100% normal).

 

Thanks Contender, I appreciate your thoughts. Obviously I would buy the car to enjoy it, but I too have a sneaking suspicion that LFA's will appreciate with time. There are just so few cars built in such low numbers nowadays.

And thanks for the VIN reassurance as well. I don't necessarily come from one brand, however I am a pretty big McLaren guy and their chassis #'s and VINs match which is why I am used to that.

 

So, sbp1 - what do you think of the new Maclaren 720S ? I love the car - a lot of bang and technology for the buck - but will it experience the rampant depreciation of other Maclaren's in the past (save the LM1 and P1) ?

 

Although I haven't yet seen the 720s in person, I actually love the design. It is incredibly complex, with both the side profile and rear producing some quite fantastic shapes. The headlight areas actually don't bother me as much as they do others, although i think the most successful integrations are on cars whose paint contrasts nicely with black.

As an aside, I read an interesting viewpoint somewhere that noted how for decades, headlights have been a part of the design for the front of the car due to the amount of space they took up. With today's LED's, however, they take up much less space and therefore the frontal area of the car needs to incorporate new and different design elements. Different methods could include vents/louvers, or in this case the blacked out areas seen on the 720s. So this could become a more common design practice moving forward and it's possible the 720 is looked back upon as the first adapter of those design cues... just some food for thought.

Regarding resale values, I think this will be the first non-limited production car that will help buck the comparisons of a McLaren's resale value to throwing a bag of money into a fire (I was one of the poor souls who bought a 12C new in 2013). McLaren is obviously aware of their resale struggles and from all the McLaren HQ employees I've talked to they seem much more devoted to limiting production and creating the supply/demand delta all owners look for. Although I doubt one model can fully reverse this I think it will be a step in the right direction, and I personally have no doubt in my mind that the car will be a home run for them. I'm going to try and snag an LT version of it once that's announced.

 

OP, good luck on your purchase, I hope you get it if everything fits your requirements.

LFA is definitely legendary, hope I can pick one up one of these years as well.

Anybody know what the market is like right now for LFAs? trending up or down in value?

 

Welcome,

It looks like this car was previously in FL.

http://www.naplesmotorsports.com/veh...25fc7ea62af1d/

The listing above includes the window sticker and confirms that the car was ordered with polished wheels. They literally look like a chrome wheel.

May be worth while to ask what happened (i.e. did a hell get curbed and someone had the wheels refinished or did the polished wheels get swapped).

Also, has this car had an oil change?

If you purchase the car, you can reach out to Lexus and they may send you some luggage (but it will not have the chassis number) and they really take care of LFA owners.

 

Thanks so much for the information. I hadn't happened across the Naples listing of the car yet but that proves to be very helpful. I will try and figure out what caused the wheel change.

Yes, the car had a full service in April 2016 which included an oil change, per the Carfax.

And I wasn't aware Lexus still had extra luggage sets, but that is something I would be extremely interested in. Do you know the best avenue to go down in order to inquire about sourcing a set? Thanks again!

 

I think once you bring the car into a Lexus dealer, they will be able to ask a a regional rep about some luggage for you or put you in touch with some one at Lexus.

does the car have the car cover and trickle charger?

 

From what I understand the car has 2 keys (1 CF and one black), the car cover with bag, first aid kit, and the manual/books.

It seems like its missing the crystal model, cradle, serialized build book, luggage, test driving note, and the trickle charger. Do you know whether its possible to source any of these other items?

Also, do you think having non-original wheels negatively affects the value (or potential future value) of the car in a big way?

 

The wheels point would matter to the folks who want a car as close to the build sheet as possible.

you have factory wheels so that mitigates most of the issue

the wheels you have cost about $18k and that is not a typo

i have never seen pricing for the polished ones so getting the car to match the sticker would be a crazy expense

the trickle chargers are usually made by a third party, some company with a 3 letter name I believe

i am not familiar with the test drive note

i thought there was a letter from Lexus congratulating the new owner that folks received (was placed in the car at the factory)

regarding keys, there is the cf one, a genetic one and I believe a valet key (I may be off here)

i believe only a subset of cars were delivered with the build book

 

From what I remember as soon as the Nurburgring Edition LFA's came out it affected the VIN number being skewed by 2 so that's why the VIN numbers don't reflect exactly to the LFA plaque numbers.