- The 2025 Lexus RC puts sense and style into a compact luxury coupe
- Pricing starts at $46,915, including the destination charge | Price it your way
- On sale now | See Lexus RC models for sale near you
Reliability, quality, great resale values and enjoyable dealership experiences come with the territory for buyers of the 2025 Lexus RC compact luxury coupe. For cutting a suburban dash, the RC also has plenty of presence and prestige. Factor in the fairly generous standard equipment, and the RC could be a good choice for an admittedly small section of the car-buying public.
This niche appeal has a downside, though, resulting in 2025 being the final year of production for the RC. Anyone toying with the idea of being an RC owner needs to act now. And if they have any concerns about the interior, what follows here should be educational.
Passenger Room and Comfort
Let’s not criticize a compact coupe for having only a couple of small seats in the back. That’s not why it exists. Small kids might fit (rear legroom measures just 27.3 inches), although we think it would be more humane to use the space for something like weekend bags or tennis rackets.
Up front, there’s sufficient legroom and shoulder room for a wide range of body shapes and sizes. And finding the ideal driving position takes hardly any time at all. The front seats are well-shaped and well-cushioned — and 10-way power-adjustable for the driver. If we had to do a long trip in an RC, our nether regions would consider it a pleasure rather than a chore. Another addition to overall comfort is the quiet cabin.
Features and Tech
The RC launched for the 2015 model year. Ten years is a long time in technology terms, and Lexus has never really been known for hanging out there on the cutting edge. This is our gentle way of saying that there’s nothing especially exciting about the tech in the RC, but at least it all works well enough.
There’s Apple CarPlay/Android Auto phone integration (not wireless, though), the infotainment system will respond to some voice commands like navigation prompts, and the standard infotainment touchscreen measures eight inches on the diagonal. A 10.3-inch touchscreen is available. The infotainment system also has a remote touchpad, but we’ve found it a bit fiddly and distracting.
Our usual favorite things in Lexus vehicles are the crystalline and punchy Mark Levinson audio systems. The RC offers a 17-speaker/835-watt surround-sound setup as an individual option or as part of a Premium Audio package that also includes the bigger infotainment touchscreen.
Lexus always packs a generous amount of safety features as standard, and in a small coupe with wide rear pillars and consequent limited outward vision, we’re glad to see blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert included in the 2025 RC. We like the self-dimming side mirrors as well.
Materials and Design
Standard seat covering is perforated simulated leather. It’s pretty convincing stuff and acceptably durable. Which is lucky, because Lexus doesn’t offer real leather even in the more expensive variants. Cabin materials in general are all of an appropriately high quality, with excellent fit and finish. This area is a Lexus strength, after all.
From a styling standpoint, well, it looked decent in 2015, although automotive interior design has moved on significantly since then. One thing we never really liked is how the infotainment touchscreen is kind of sunken into the dashboard. We think it should have been more prominent. We do like the little analog clock, however.
Cargo Room and Flexibility
Again, compact coupes aren’t meant to be great haulers of cargo. There’s 10.4 cubic feet of trunk space. For some kind of reference, a Toyota Corolla compact sedan has about three more cubes. Those seats do split and fold, allowing for some versatility.
Build and price your version of the 2025 Lexus RC to see this week’s Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price, or check out the Lexus RC models for sale near you.