General Buying Advice

[Wondermint]

Hi all.

Looking for some general opinions or thoughts on buying an F-Type. I've been looking for a few months now trying to find the perfect car (not possible I know!)

I've decided on a V6 380bhp, I think V8 would be too much for me, and a coupe. My heart has always loved the convertible but the other half isn't keen as she thinks it won't get used as much. Budget is around £30k but might go more if the right car appears.

For that money I can get a 2015 that's done 14,500 miles or a 2018 that's done 54,000 miles and I keep flipping between the two. On the one hand low mileage has got to be good, but I'm slightly worried by the whole coolant pipes, water leaks issues on the earlier models and wonder if a 2017 or 2018 might be safer? Any thoughts gratefully received!

As an additional question, my perfect car would be British Racing Green but they seem to be very thin on the ground. Is it not a popular colour or too nice and everyone holds onto them?

Thanks

 

[Lord Farquad]

Welcome, as a recent buyer myself I faced a similar dilemma. Post 2017 cars suffer with an expensive headlight issue, although a warranty might protect you from that. You might find an earlier car has already had its Y pipe upgraded, you can usually tell by looking if it’s got the old or new style pipes.

I settled on a late Gen 1 car, 2016. Avoiding the headlight issue but benefited from a few years build development. I also think the original shape is my favorite.

Have you considered RWD/AWD, particularly around the bonnet vents and water ingress?

 

[Wondermint]

Ahh, I hadn't really clocked the whole bonnet vents thing being related to RWD\AWD. So RWD have the vents in a position that is more likely to allow water ingress? I'm not averse to either but most of the cars I've looked at so far have been RWD.

 

[Lord Farquad]

Yeah, although if a car’s been garaged and cleaned carefully it might not be an issue. I’ve found the handling of my AWD quite to my usual RWD taste.

 

[gasgas]

you need to both have a good drive in a convertible, don't understand why you would not use it so much, with the insulated roof up just as good as a hard top and fantastic when down.

 

[gasgas]

forgot to mention , don't get to hung up on a very few negaive post i.e coolent pipes and the like, a 3lts S is the way forward just try out a few

 

[Lord Farquad]

I think that condition is king. A low mileage car could’ve been neglected and left to dry out (pipes and joints). A well used car that’s been cherished and serviced correctly is going to be a good one. Whatever you buy you’re likely to get some issues, they are all 2nd hand. But find one in a spec you like, that’s been looked after, and then drive the wheels off it.

 

[scm]

I’ve found the handling of my AWD quite to my usual RWD taste.

That's because it's basically RWD until the system thinks that a bit of a pull from the front will help you stay out of the trees!