Buying advice needed

[Groovy]

Hiya folks

So I'm getting some inheritance money soon and I'm looking at financing an F-type now then paying it off when the money comes through. I don't know what's a good deal and what isn't though so would appreciate it if someone more knowledgeable than myself could share their thoughts on whether this is a good car/price. Also, what is depreciation like on these cars right now? Any guesses where the price of this car might be in a few years?

Link to the car on autotrader below
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404168688745?fromSavedAds=true&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=relevance&postcode=po214rr

Any advice/information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[MajorTom]

Welcome! No idea if this would be a good deal and what the depreciation is like I'm afraid. When it comes to F-Types I'd say it's more important to focus on if it's a good and well looked after example with the right spec for your than if seems like a good deal. Mistreated F-Types may become a bad deal down the line even if they seem like a good deal at the time of purchase.

This particular car has a rather good spec and looks like it's in good condition. At first glance it looks like a good one. Being an early facelift car (before the particular filters were introduced) it's arguably one of the best model years. Since it has the simpler open RWD bonnet vents which let in a lot of water it may worst case have some issues with stuck injectors if it's been parked outside in its past life. I'd feel much more comfortable if I knew the car had been garaged.

One thing to be aware of with all these facelift cars with the LED lights is that the passenger side headlight DRL will fail sooner or later. So if you go ahead with a purchase, take a close look at that and have it sorted before the purchase if it has already failed.

 

[Groovy]

Thanks for the advice MajorTom. I wasn't aware of the problems with the headlight so I'll look into that. Do you know how much it would cost to fix?
And about the potential injector issue; I don't have a garage so I'll be parking it on the driveway, is that likely to be a problem in the future?

 

[MajorTom]

There's a thread or two about the DRLs here and there's also a facebook group with more details. So far the only way to fix it is to replace the whole headlight at the rather ridiculous price of around £3000. I'd say that's the only odd issue unique to the cars of the first facelift of the model years 18-20, before the second facelift where the front design changed to thinner lights.

If you'll be leaving it out in the rain there are two easy mods you can make to limit the water ingress issue. 1. Fit the "shrouded" vents that came with the black pack and let in much less water. 2. Add some pieces of heat resistant rubber mat on the sides of the engine cover to deflect any water that comes in away from the engine block.

 

[Anonymous]

Car 49935 (MY18 spec)
340ps (none S)

From the pictures, the AC is on but the centre vents have not risen. An older common issue so make sure when auto and AC is selected the vents do actually rise.

Do check the DRL lights, somewhere dark, as a new nearside headlight is £3k+

It also has a flat tyre.

And the red warning triangle on..but that might just be the door open with engine running.

It has previously been on plate 113PAA. 3 previous owners and has been for sale since 16th April. Still baffles me why an owner would drive around with a dangerous tyre which caused an MOT failure.

We are also setting new records for overdue online service history at 1,570 days overdue. I hope there is substantial and detailed paperwork with the car. However if a previous owned couldn't be arsed with a dangerous tyre I doubt they were bothered about servicing it. Maybe.

 

[Kev]

Definitely looks like the nearside headlamp DRL has failed so that’ll need replacing and it’s unlikely the dealer will fork out for one of those as their profit will be wiped out on the car

 

[scm]

From the pictures, the AC is on but the centre vents have not risen. An older common issue so make sure when auto and AC is selected the vents do actually rise.

The vents rising depends on the temperature if they're set to rise automatically - either set it to "always open" or turn the temp down to LO - that should get 'em up!

 

[Groovy]

Given the poor service history, or rather a lack of one, I think I'll give this one a miss. Too much risk for me. Shame because I love the colour and there's not many in my price range. Back to autotrader haha. I really appreciate all the input folks. Thanks very much!

 

[KM69MZX]

Pretty sure you dodged a bullet there. Way too many red flags. Good luck with the hunt.

 

[Madpig56]

Given the poor service history, or rather a lack of one, I think I'll give this one a miss. Too much risk for me. Shame because I love the colour and there's not many in my price range. Back to autotrader haha. I really appreciate all the input folks. Thanks very much!

There’s some great knowledge on here and, like you, I really appreciate all the help and advice I have been given so far

Like you said above…..back to Autotrader and hopefully one will turn up soon!

It’d be just my luck if summer’s over by that time!!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Given the poor service history, or rather a lack of one, I think I'll give this one a miss. Too much risk for me. Shame because I love the colour and there's not many in my price range. Back to autotrader haha. I really appreciate all the input folks. Thanks very much!

I’d always recommend a call to the seller before making conclusions. It’s perfectly possible they hold a full file of service information from a decent garage. Not everyone bothers or knows services can be uploaded to JLR. Spotted problems can be fixed as part of a sale.

On the other hand my long held view is that buying from tertiary sellers is always riskier. Prices are lower and it appears you gain get a better price, spec. later model, etc., but they tend to deal in cars with more negatives to them. Can be spec, servicing, mileage, colour combos, accidents. etc. Too old for main agents, not ‘just right’, for specialists.

 

[MajorTom]

Agreed. I also think that it's better to pay a bit extra and get a good and clean car from a JLR dealer with warranty which gives you peace of mind and time to sort out the common issues. JLR dealers are of course also often clueless and their 163 point approved used check is usually just a joke but it overall feels much safer than buying an F-Type from some random dealer.

A good option is probably a serious specialist Jaguar dealer and you seem to have few of those in the UK. Sports & Touring where I believe at least one forum member got this car seems like a good dealer.

 

[Anonymous]

Jeeps & Tom make some valid points. I wouldn’t discount direct private sale over some high street car dealers.

A mint F-Type with 10k less miles than your advert has just been put up for private sale on the UK F-Type FB group. Very well looked after, owner has just fitted two brand new PS4’s etc.

This is the sort of car that F-Type specialist dealers buy, get it detailed, & stick £4k+ on the price.

 

[Groovy]

Following the advice of some of the members here, and not quite ready to give up on this car yet, I reached out to the dealer in case they had additional service records on file and they do indeed. I'm not the most knowledgeable person with regards to this sort of thing though, so don't actually know if there's anything concerning in there. I'll attach the pictures the dealer sent me of the service records they have for the more mechanically inclined than I.

The latest service was on 28/10/22 so even though it's not as overdue as initially thought, it's still nearly 2 years since last service. I'll try and get a photo of the headlamps tomorrow; hopefully there's no DRL fault

 

[scm]

That 06/05/2020 invoice shows a stage 2 remap was carried out. That might impact your insurance.

 

[Andyp123]

Seems to have had a lot of tyres fitted!!

 

[Anonymous]

2020 stage 2 map. 2021 whoops, supercharger belt gone, tyres and then more tyres. I would also check the oil level if they only put in 6.5L of oil on the last service 22 months ago.

And I've never seen VAT receipt with no information of the garage that did it. Based on invoice numbers it must be a small garage averaging 2 cars a day.

 

[Groovy]

Seems to have had a lot of tyres fitted!!

It does, yeah. And yet despite that it still failed an MOT test for a very worn tyre. That and the remap makes me wonder if this was used as a track vehicle

 

[Groovy]

And I've never seen VAT receipt with no information of the garage that did it. Based on invoice numbers it must be a small garage averaging 2 cars a day.

I thought the lack of any branding on the service records was odd too. The deeper I dig into this car the worse it gets

I'll ring the dealer tomorrow and let them know I'm no longer interested. This can be someone elses £30,000 mistake. Appreciate all the input I've received from everyone so far.
You're all stars!

 

[MajorTom]

Looks like someone's been having fun in it. Stage two would be a remap, supercharger pulley and possibly also crank pulley sending at least 450 horses to the rear wheels. Hence the rear tyre and supercharger belt shredding. A remap doesn't have to be a show stopper but altogether the history looks a bit too dodgy. Wise choice to stay clear of this one.