My dealer told me today that RC-F is a special order only and will never be on the lot like the RC-350. Sales guy said their dealer has 12 people who ordered the RC-F and they will be arriving in Feb. He said the only way to see one in person at their dealership is if a customer doesn't pick theirs up right away then they will leave it showroom but definitely no test drives. Was it like this back in 08 when the IS-F came out? Is BMW doing this with the M4?

 

In Cali I've been told dealers are expecting to have RC F on the lot (at least one per dealer). I special ordered mine and expect it by Feb.

 

Sounds to me like the dealer you went to is not getting any allocated. While some salespeople are good about it, others still live up to the old stereotype - rather than direct you to a dealer which is getting an allocation (and thus quite possibly losing the sales commission themselves), they are feeding you a line in hopes that you will simply pony up the money.

No, BMW is not doing this with the M4. Maybe Bugatti could pull this type of action off, but as a general rule, most people, regardless of net worth, will want to try before they buy.

 

For what it is worth, I too was told that there will be an allocation of 1 per dealer in the East and that the RCF carbons will all be special orders.

I would assume that dealers can place a speculative order (purchase cars in advance of buyers), but production will be limited for this F as it was with all of its predecessors.

 

My dealer in Mass. said the same only one RC F coming this fall.

 

The one coming in next week is sold already and it aint to me...

 

The RC F won't be special order only... atleast not at our dealership. We have an RC F on its way and will be on our floor after our sales manager go through the deposit list and no one picksup.

 

Oh, I absolutely believe that all the ones coming in in the next month or two will likely be pre-sold. But the dealer in the OP's post was asserting it will always be "special order only", which is ridiculous.

It'll eventually (3 months or so I'm guessing) be on the lot for test drives and floor sales the same way the IS-F was - though probably not at all dealers.

 

im sure there will be ones on the floor, but is it loaded and colored the way you want? Thats a different story

 

I would not expect to find a lot of these sitting around at dealers.

 

I don't expect there to be a lot. But there will be some, and available to test drive - otherwise Lexus would be doing themselves a major disservice. Lexus has stated that this car is designed to pull buyers outside of their current core customer base into buying Lexus, and they won't be able to achieve that goal without having units available to test drive.

I expect it to be similar to how the Corvette and CLA45 launches were last year - the first few months of production will be taken up by brand loyalists, who already know they will like the product and placed orders pre-production - but after that period, the market will settle down and most of the larger (and higher end area) dealers will have at least one in inventory, if only to provide the test drives that lead to actual orders.

 

Fully agree. In our city, which has 4 Lexus dealerships, only the top dealer is getting 1 RC F allocated. That RC F has now been pre-sold, but it was not a special order. The dealership told me that the top dealers get 1 each.

I spoke to another dealer, who gave me the same malarkey that you were told: that RC Fs are special order only. I quickly realized that they were not getting any Fs allocated to them, and that they would not direct me to a dealer that was.

 

Yup, definitely varies depending on the dealer.

For the M3/4, The largest dealer in our city doesn't have a single one on the lot because they have many orders to be fulfilled, so there's no need for them to pay for one to sit there and get driven. I believe once the backlot is cleared up and initial frenzy dies down, then they will start to build a small inventory. I'm guessing it'll be likely the same for the RC-F.

When I bought the IS-F, each dealer had about 1, 2 at most. That was about 6 months after the initial allocation. I believe launch was similar where most dealers have pre-sold cars.

 

The dealership here is RI is not expecting an RC-F for a while but is getting their first allotment of RC 350s on Monday. I did have the privilege of seeing a Molten Pearl RC350 on Thursday up close and personal. It was the Lexus Reps car. My salesman called me to say it would be there for one hour. Pictures do not do the RC justice. It is spectacular in person.
The Lexus Rep also stated that the RC-F will be allocated to the larger dealerships but smaller ones will be special order. Also, he stated to get the Pre-Collision or Mark Levinson, then most likely the car will have to be special ordered.
The Rep stated that he got word that the Carbon Package will not be out until March at the earliest right now.
Finally, he stated that TVD is not being offered as a stand alone option here in the US.