Toyota Dealer Owner Had To Buy Never-Sold Lexus LFA, Here's Why

The V10 supercar had to be sold to avoid the risk of becoming unregistrable.

By: Adrian Padeanu

Jul 6, 2023 at 4:30am ET

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Enthusiasts say the Lexus LFA is one of the most desirable cars of our generation, but the fact of the matter is the V10 machine was a commercial flop. Even though production ended in 2012 after just 500 units, many vehicles were still reported as being sold new years later. For example, Lexus' US arm sold three "new" LFAs in 2019, or one more than in the previous year. Fast forward to 2023, someone from Australia has bought a previously unsold car.

According to Aussie magazine Drive, a Toyota dealer owner had no other way but to personally buy the car last month and report it as sold to meet a deadline. After July 1, the dealer would've risked not being able to register the car anymore in the country. At the beginning of the month, Australia transitioned from the Motor Vehicle Standards Act to the Road Vehicle Standards Act. Selling the car prior to July 1 allowed the LFA to be included in Australia's Register of Approved Vehicles (RAV).

2010 Lexus LFA

The LFA was one of the 124,926 new cars sold in Australia last month, according to the data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. Lexus' parent company Toyota sold the most vehicles in June, at 20,948 units. It also had the best-selling model, the Hilux, with 6,142 trucks delivered.

A new LFA is in the works, or at least something in the spirit of a flagship performance vehicle. Lexus teased it at the end of 2021 when it unveiled the Electrified Sport concept. It apparently has the LFA's "secret sauce" and can get to 62 mph (100 km/h) in the low two-second range. It'll benefit from the "performance cultivated via the development of the LFA" and feature a simulated manual gearbox.

It's also getting steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems along with next-gen battery tech to enable a driving range of 435 miles (700 kilometers). Solid-state batteries will be supported, but it's unclear whether the car will actually have them by the time it hits the market, which should be in 2026 judging by a recent product roadmap.