The 2012 Lexus LFA went out of production almost a decade ago, but a like-new example that never left the dealership recently sold for $808,000 on Bring a Trailer.com.
The car was delivered to Arlington Lexus in Palatine, Illinois, and was purchased by the owner of the dealership, according to the listing. However, it spent most of the last nine years on display in the dealership's showroom, and now has just 72 miles on the odometer, the listing said. The $808,000 sale price represents a profit of $433,000 over the LFA's original $375,000 sticker price, plus whatever discount the dealer got on the car in the first place. Sometimes it's smart to hold on to a new car for almost a decade.
Several dealerships held onto LFAs as display items to drive showroom traffic. While LFA production ended in December 2012, and the final car reached the U.S. States in February 2013, five brand-new, unregistered cars remained available as of January 2020.
The carbon-fiber-bodied LFA was meant as a halo car for Lexus, giving the brand more prestige and using some of parent Toyota's Formula One experience to do it.
2012 Lexus LFA (Photo via Bring a Trailer)
The engine is a 5.2-liter V-10 that makes 552 hp and 334 lb-ft of torque, with a 9,000-rpm redline. The high-revving engine is coupled to a 6-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission.
Despite that glorious V-10, the idea of a Lexus supercar proved hard for people to understand. The $375,000 base price also seemed outlandish compared to the rest of the Lexus lineup. That might explain why Lexus had trouble selling even the small 500-unit production run.
This car is one of five produced for the U.S. market in Pearl Yellow, according to the listing. Less than 200 cars were imported to the U.S., though sources differ on the exact number.
The sale price was even higher than other recent LFA sales. A silver LFA sold for $720,000 at an auction earlier this year, while a brown LFA was listed for sale at a dealership in January with a $680,000 asking price.
