After a P380 V6 AWD

[NickN]

Hello all. I’m UK based with a 2025 plan: after a fair amount of research, I’m after a 2019 or 2020 P380 AWD coupé, less than 25k miles, with memory seats, not in white, black or grey (my wife’s insistence, and she must be obeyed). JLR or specialist FSH.

Why? Want a daily driver, and looking to keep it for 5+ years. Have tested the 4 and 8 as well, but love the V6 as I think it strikes the ideal balance (although I respect those who I expect will post lauding the power of the V8). Coupé for boot space; P380 for the power, and AWD for the safety (I’m not a race track man) and less likelihood of the injector problems. 19/20 model as they seem to have solved most of the initial issues, and I love Apple Car Play and some of the modern tech, which I’m used to. Memory seats: had them in recent years and since we share our cars I wouldn’t want the hassle.

Haven’t seen one recently that meets the criteria. There’s a grey one under Jaguar Approved at £40750. But grey won’t do.

Thoughts? Anyone have one or seen one for sake? Appreciate I may be looking for a unicorn…

 

[NaCl]

Hi Nick, I think your expectations are fair but it might be one of those cases of being patient until the right one appears (definitely worth the wait in my opinion). One of the forum members here named Tim Atkinson runs a company (Sports & Touring) that (primarily) specialises in F-Types so he might be able to help you source an example that matches your specification. I dealt with Tim a while back for storing my F-Type and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him, great guy all around.

Seeing as you're looking at getting a facelift model, the main thing to look out for is the recurring issues with the headlight's DRL. This is by far the most common issue with facelift models and there's an ongoing thread discussing this on the forum - https://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6411. It seems to be a case of when, not if the DRL will fail due to an inherent flaw in the design of one of the DRL's components, and generally it only seems to affect one side.

Aside from that there's not much else to worry about, I think most issues were ironed out by the time the facelift was introduced. The next most common issue is due to failed/seized injectors, with some cases being due to water ingress from the bonnet vents (mostly on pre-facelift models) and other times due to owner's running the car on low octane fuel (99 octane is recommended for the F-Type, although some forum members run it at 95 for the most part and don't seem to have faced any issues).

Good luck with the search and tbh as long as you find one with a comprehensive service history + clean MOT, you can't go wrong.

 

[scm]

... owner's running the car on low octane fuel (99 octane is recommended for the F-Type, although some forum members run it at 95 for the most part and don't seem to have faced any issues).

To clarify, Jaguar recommends 95 RON as the minimum octane rating to use, and my handbook says that 98 RON can be used as "an alternative to the standard 95 RON unleaded fuel". Most of us use the higher rated fuel as "she's worth it" (I'm a Shell VPower man, myself). The handbook also claims that E10 is acceptable but I haven't bothered to try that.

 

[MajorTom]

Great choice of requirements. That's pretty much the perfect F-Type spec. Three things to consider, which might increase your chances of finding one:

You could also consider RWD cars. They are certainly very safe too and unless you live in some very hilly and frequently slippery areas you'll be perfectly fine with RWD. Many of us are daily driving RWD F-Types without issues.

You could also consider MY18 cars which are exactly the same as MY19/20 but may have the 8" screen without CarPlay. You can fairly easily add CarPlay (check out Unique Audio Developments) to those cars and it works at least as well as the OEM CarPlay software in the 10" systems.

You might also consider getting a wrap if you find a car that's perfect in every way except the exterior colour.

 

[NickN]

Thank you for these excellent bits of advice. I’ve contacted Tim via one of the Facebook pages and since I live quite close to SAT may well go and see him in the new year to discuss. He’s clearly very knowledgeable, and his videos are first class, and very thorough.

Am aware of the DRL issue - not much one can do about it, I expect, other than inspect closely on purchase? On injectors, my understanding was that this is less of an issue in the AWD versions owing to the different placement of the bonnet vents?

On fuel - thanks for the advice. On the RWD / AWD debate, in addition to the injector issue, there will be 2 of us driving, and I guess it brings peace of mind. We live in the countryside, where mud and slippery winter roads are more prevalent.

On wrapping - I guess I have time, rather than a watch, so can be patient. But I’d be interested in the cost nonetheless, if anyone can give me an indication.